CHRISTMAS!... and then taking on the Matterhorn

This year was a great christmas! On Christmas morning we (Andy, Mom, and Dad) went to the airport to pick up Tom. He was our first christmas present. After driving home, we began to distribute and open presents. The final present that we opened was the gift Tom brought with him from all the family!

Here is the order of events:

FIRST:
Mom opening the gift with Dad, both wondering what on earth it could be.

SECOND:

Opening it up to find the scrapbook/photos from everybody. Mom LOVED it! (her love is shown below :) haha)

The next day we took off for a ski resort called Cervinia in the Alps. Me and Tom had a great time skiing while Mom and Dad went on a hike leading up to the Matterhorn. After dodging rolling ice boulders and hiking for an hour, Mom and Dad conquered the mountain by hiking it and Tom and I conquered it by skiing. Tons of fun!

And no trip up in the mountains is complete without Mom begging for pictures to be taken. After continual nagging, Mom finally got us (more like continual nagging on Me), up to a perfect place to take a picture of the family with our ITALIA sweaters on and the Matterhorn in the background.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Thanksgiving, Italian Style

We're finally getting around to putting up some pictures about our Thanksgiving. It's been fun to see everyone else's Thanksgivings in Utah, with the big feasts and family gatherings. Unfortunately (and obviously) we weren't able to be there. So..... while everybody was piggin' out, here is what Mom, Dad, and I did for Thanksgiving.



This year, we went to the Verzasca Dam, located in Bellinzona, Switzerland. It was pretty cool to see it for real, after seeing it so many times in pictures and postcards. I think it is about 250+ meters tall. And I guess thats about 800 ft. tall. Thats a total guess, but who knows. Probably more like 1000 ft. Whatever.

Anyway, it is slightly difficult to see in this picture, but it was the home to the opening scene in James Bond's Goldeneye film, where he bungee jumps off the side of the dam. In fact, after the film was completed a bungee jump place was built right in the center of the dam, and you can kinda see it in this picture.


Here is a close up for you:

It looks awesome from way up there and I really want to come back here next spring or summer and jump it, much to Mom's dismay. After walking across the dam we came up to a small trail which we hiked for awhile... and Mom and Dad found a little hut to stay the night in. I opted for the hotel, and they followed afterward... haha.

Well it looks like Christmas is around the corner, so now we gotta start getting ready for that. Mom and Dad have already started putting up the Christmas tree...