I could use a good snow storm about now.

 It's so hot here the mosquitos have died.  I didn't know that was possible. 

We've had a fun and interesting week. We came across Phil Abbott and his wife on Monday and went out for...pizza together.  Robyn then convinced them to let us take the to our temple square and show them around. It was ten o'clock at night and none of the buildings were open; but we still had a good time.

I believe that some of the finest flower gardens in Rome are those at the Rome temple. These beautiful flowers only come out in full sun and they close up when dusk approaches.

That's me (Alma) standing in full sun next to the amazing flower display. I've tried to use sunscreen whenever outside and I noticed the other day that compared to some people I see, I could be mistaken for a pale vampire.

Most people take photos of this temple so that you can see the whole building; but I like the view through the flowers and olive trees.

We went to a birthday party for the temple president the other day.  A day or two before that, the people from our shift all went outside for a group photo in our white clothes. Many of the same people are in the photo from the birthday party.

They are the sweetest people I have ever known. It's so interesting to me that we can meet someone and within a day or two feel like they're some of our closest friends.  There is a high turnover here, in that people come for two or three weeks (often their vacation) and then return home. We learn about them, love them, and then they're gone.  We got really attached to a couple from Palermo, Sicily.  The husband, Alberto, always called me brother Alfred because many Italians say that instead of Allred.  

He calls me Alfred just for the fun of it because he can pronounce Allred with no problem.  The other day, they were headed back home to Sicily and Robyn and I drove them to the airport.  We both cried when we said goodbye.

The night before they left, they invited us over for some tiramasu. He also showed us how to make arancini. They look like oranges; but they are deep fried rice balls with meat and vegetables inside. 

A few minutes ago, I was sitting here on my bed writing this post and noticed a photo of one of my grandkids scroll across the screen. I miss them dearly but at the same time cannot believe how much fun we're having.  I expected this to be fun but had no idea how happy we would be here.