Istanbul, Turkey

This was one of our favorite places we visited. Here we took a tour to the Hagia Sophia, hung out at a Turkish Rug shop, went to the Grand Bazaar, visited the Sultan’s palace (The Topkapi Palace) and saw inside the Blue Mosque. I loved learning about their culture and the Muslim religion. I apologize, there are a lot pictures for this one...


The Grand Bazaar


400 streets of this and a whole lot of bargaining


Inside Hagia Sophia


Drinking some type of apple cider in the rug shop


We're on a magic carpet ride! Please, make this picture bigger and check out Scot's face. Its priceless! He is happy to be here!






The girls outside of the wives entrance at the Topkapi Palace. A favorite




Here is where the Sultan would have certain ceremonies take place. The musicians would sit up above and play. If you can tell, the Sultan would sit on the right side and not underneath the musicians because no one was ever allowed to sit above him.


His room


The View



Steps of the Blue Mosque

Mykonos, Greece

Mykonos was a day at the beach. Beautiful clear blue water but rocky beaches.



Scottie and I swam out to this rock and hung out there for awhile



James decided he wanted to join…



… in his Speedo. Surprised?



Of course, Scottie had to sport his Utah Jazz Williams jersey whenever he got the chance. Boys…

Santorini, Greece

Welcome to Santorini! Home of the blue and white!




James’ rad mullet. Business in the front, party in the back!


Grapes the size of our heads! Not really but pretty big. The picture doesn't do justice



Nice little Greek man


This is where they filmed the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” movie.


Krystal and I decided to be brave and take the donkeys down. What an experience! I was terrified for my life but glad we did. Now I can say I have officially used a donkey for transportation to get down a greek island.

The Boat

After three days in Rome, we headed to the boat...


...A big boat

Here are some pictures on things that we did on the boat while going from place to place:



Slept



Drank Pina Coladas



Ate way more than we should have



Drank more Pina Coladas



Got stylish with Scot’s do





Took cool pictures of sunsets with the brothers





...and slept some more


It was awesome. We loved this part just as much because we got the opportunity to just hang out and relax. On top of it all, we got to celebrate Dog's birthday by surprising him with cake at dinner. The best part was his gifts such as an orange life jacket (very chic and "in" right now), a boat magnet from the cruise shop and some chocolates that we all got on our beds at night (trust me, it added up every night). Haha! Such a good sport. Happy birthday dog. We love you




Yeah... that boat was paradise. Thank you mom and dad! We are so grateful!

Rome, Italy

We arrived in Rome the first day and immediately began our tour straight from the airport, hence the not looking too hot in these pictures. It was a 9-hour flight. But the first thing we got to see was the Colosseum, one of Scottie’s favorite, along with the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and few more sights from the bus.


















The next day we went to see the Vatican and took too many pictures.



They had this Egyptian exhibit going on and we got to see some mummies



The Sistine Chapel


Please ignore my double chin in this one…




The pieta, one of my favorite things we saw on this trip. It’s crazy to think that Michelangelo was only 24 when he sculpted this- my age. But this time I looked at it from a mother’s perspective. Even though I’m not a mother yet, I can’t imagine how Mary felt, holding her son after He died, knowing that He did it for her and everyone else on this earth. Not going to lie, I choked up a bit when I saw it.




On top of Roma, seeing the entire city.



So long Rome! Onto the boat!

EUROPE

This month, we had the opportunity to go with my family to Europe. My parents surprised us with this unbelievable cruise around the Mediterranean. We felt so lucky to go. Since we were over there, my brothers and I decided we might as well stay for a couple more days. Turns out the trip lasted a month. We had too much fun. So grateful for my parentals who got us over there and just made us get on the cruise... tough life. So grateful.

God Bless America

10 Reasons why we love AMERICA:

10. There is air conditioning in trains
9. Your Coke is refilled every 10 seconds
8. Portions are bigger
7. You don't have to pay to go to the bathroom
6. There are enough places to sit in the airport
5. When you ask how far, they reply with time not distance
4. You don't have to worry if you can drink out of the faucet
3. Chi straighteners will not overheat when plugged in
2. Big Cars
1. It's home and it's where our family is


10 Reasons why we love EUROPE:

10. Enough history to go around
9. Art- EVERYWHERE!
8. Coke bottles... and the coke! so good
7. Canyoning is legal
6. They have a 750 foot bungy jump
5. CoOp grocery stores
4. CHOCOLATE!!!!
3. You can be in a different country within hours
2. Little Cars
1. It's an experience of lifetime to travel there! So much to see, so little time.