We've been very busy the past year--hence no updates.  We're approaching our last month in Rome before returning to our long time home in Utah.  Flowers here are incredible. Two weeks ago, we were invited to lunch with friends about 45 minutes outside of Rome.  Photos of the countryside don't seem to do it justice, but here's a photo of where we ate lunch at our friends' home. Robyn's in the photo to show the size of the patio.

While the flowers were stunning, the sound of hundreds of bees overhead was a little disconcerting.  An authentic lunch in Italy is at least four courses and takes two hours.  I don't know how Italians eat so much and still remain thinner than many people I know who eat much less.  The food was fantastic.

Flowers are everywhere. There's a weed growing next to our driveway that has beautiful purple flowers all over it (above). At the temple there are some brilliant red flowers that close up at dusk and on cloudy days. I took a photo just after sunset, but my camera compensates for low light and it looks like it was taken in daylight.  I'm going to try to put them side by side to show what they look like getting ready for the night and then in the direct sunlight.

Two weeks since we visited Cascade delle Marmore--the largest man-made waterfall (as we've been told) that was made by the ancient Romans.  The water was redirected to this location to help drain a swampy area, and the water is sent down twice per day. An alarm sounds about 20 minutes before the cataracts open and then over the next 30 minutes, the water volume increases to a prodigious amount.  Alberto and I hiked up to the lookout area and back while our wives waited below.

This is the vantage point from below the falls.