For some of the last few days of our trip, we took the kids up to Bardonecchia, a ski town in the Alps that was used for part of the Torino Olympics.  We stayed at an all-inclusive resort, which was really nice since it snowed and rained quite a bit and it would’ve been kind of miserable to leave the hotel.  Tom took the kids out skiing a couple of the days, and then the other days we spent doing puzzles, playing games, having a scavenger hunt around the hotel, making a quilt, watching some seriously gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, and eating lots of yummy food!

Our final day in Italy was spent in Pinerolo, and thankfully we had the kids for most of the day!  We started the day having some amazing Italian pastries and spremuta for breakfast (honestly, I was in heaven!) and then we went sightseeing that morning around the city.  We saw the Basilica di San Maurizio, which sits at the top of the hill in Pinerolo and overlooks the city.  It was a gorgeous view!

We then spent the majority of the day celebrating Matthew’s birthday.  Tom took the kids swimming, then we went shopping with some of the Christmas money the kids had.  We then went to a movie (Disney’s “Ferdinand”), which, even though it was in Italian and I didn’t understand most of it, was a really cute film!  We then went to dinner at one of Matthew’s favorite restaurants and then spent some time opening gifts at the hotel where we were staying.  We then said goodbye to the kids, which included some tears, before packing up and getting ready to leave early the next morning.

Our flight back to the states wasn’t too bad thankfully — between sleeping, reading, and watching movies, the eight-hour flight was alright!  I had to stand up and walk around a lot because of the baby, but thankfully Tom and I were sitting together and he was great to help rub my legs.

So, the flight was supposed to be eight hours, but we actually ended up sitting on the plane for an hour before we took off, and then just about 20 minutes before we were supposed to land, we got word from the captain that we were being diverted from JFK to Boston!  Apparently due to the “Bomb Cyclone” storm hitting the northeast, the JFK international terminal had a pipe burst and was flooded, so we had to go to Boston.  We then ended up sitting on the plane for another two hours since they didn’t have a terminal for us when we arrived, making our total time on the plane not just eight hours (the actual flight) but 12!  It was a long night!  Then, as soon as we got to the Boston airport, we had to rush to the Delta counter to get rebooked for a flight the next day.  We waited in line there for about an hour, but thankfully they put us up in the Boston airport Hilton so we had a hotel room and were able to get some sleep.  The room was actually really nice — we had a corner room with lots of windows, so it was a really lovely view of the city, which has lots of memories for us! 🙂  We ordered room service, took nice hot showers, and then got some sleep before waking up super early to catch our new flight back to Salt Lake.  Thankfully it all worked out!

These two weeks and this trip were certainly one we’ll always remember.  It was neat for us to spend time together with the kids and start to build a family that we’ll all be part of.  Tom did a wonderful job helping all of us transition together, and he set a great example for all of us to follow.  We’re so grateful for each moment we shared and each memory we made, and we look forward to many more fun times together!  It was sad to see it end, but also nice to know it’s not our last trip to Italy!