Best Friends from Bologna

We made so many friends while we lived in Bologna. They were each an answer to prayer for us(Especially Laura). These are not in any particular order.

Paolo, Julie and Aaron
Unfortunately we don't have any pictures of Julie and Paulo and Aaron, so I stole this off their blog. ( I really hope you don't mind Julie, If you're upset about it I'll remove it!) They were some of the first people to talk to us when we moved to Bologna. Julie and Paulo moved to Utah just a few months after we arrived in Italy, but they did so much for us and were so kind that we will always consider them our good friends. ( This picture shows what they looked like when they moved from Bologna, Thanks again Julie!!!)

Julie and Spencer







Julie and Spencer were our "best friends by default." We spent a lot of time with the Nelsons, and we miss them a ton, now that we live so far apart. Spencer plays professional basketball in Europe and Julie just gave birth to their first child - a baby girl!!!

Mike and Gail
Mike was transferred to Bologna for work, and they're still there. They are both excellent photographers, and Gail even offered to take pictures of our family. They are the best family photos we've ever had, including our wedding photos. Thanks Gail! and Thanks Mike for taking Mac to IKEA so that Gail could take the photos! Good Luck in Italy!

Davide Trombetta
Davide was our home teacher with Spencer Nelson. They were the best home teachers we've ever had. Davide was such a big help to us! He took us to the airport when we moved back to the states, saving us a lot of money. He had to take two trips to get us and our luggage to the airport, and then he even came inside and stood in line with us while we checked it. Landon still asks about him. Usually when we're at church he'll ask me where Davide is.

Lucia and Davide
Lucia is superwoman. She gets up at 5:00 AM everyday to run 15 KM while reading her scriptures, then she spends the day taking care of 3- year-olds in her preschool, and she works so hard she doesn't get to bed until midnight. Davide was born partially paralyzed. He spent many years in a wheel chair, but he loved swimming. So he swam and swam and taught his body to work, so he now walks. He works hard all week, and then on Saturdays he spends around 9 hours helping people swim. They have three children. Nausica - a beautiful 20 year-old who speaks English and breaks mens' hearts. Sylvio - I only met once, but he seemed like a nice kid. Inti - is 11 years-old. she has a great sense of humor and is a really good friend to not only our boys but to Chris and Laura.

Dorotea and Carlo
The Bungini family drove us to Church every week for most of the time we were in Bologna. They work for the church doing family history. They spend many hours everyday going through old books of names and dates, they take pictures and send them back to the states to be processed by the church. They finished Ravenna and moved to Bologna about a month after we arrived in Italy.


Robert and Agnes
Originally from Ghana, both were baptized while we were in the Ward. They attended our English Gospel Doctrine class, so we became good friends. Agnes tried so hard to be friends with Sam, but he was always cranky with her (poor Agnes!!!). Robert was the best Usher. In the states you would never find an usher who keeps the congregation awake, but Robert was really good at keeping people awake and focused on the speakers.

Claudia and Bepe
Bepe was the Elders Quorum President and Claudia was in the Relief Society Presidency. They were married this last September. They loved playing with Sam and Bepe made us a really nice slide show for our going away party. (see previous post "Italian Top Ten").

The Philipinos
They all spoke English and Were my Visiting Teachers. They gave me thoughtful notes every month, and occasionally attended our English class.

Patrick, Alfonsia, Ethan and Jonathan
Patrick invited us to their home for Thanksgiving. It was a great holiday dinner. Jonathan was in Nursery with Landon and they were good friends. It was nice to have a friend that could speak English to Landon.

The Missionaries
We became friends with all the missionaries that went through our ward. Elders Kezerian, Bergeson, Aylet, Skanchy, Mckissic, Roeberry, Sheilds,and Bartlett. If I've forgotten any or misspelled your names please tell me, I will fix it!!!!

Melissa Allen
Melissa was a nanny for an Italian family for a little while. She shared Christmas and New Years with us and was fun to talk to about her love life.

Aidin Kharim
Aidin is a political refugee from Iran. We were able to share in his missionary discussions once a week for a little while. We enjoyed hanging out with him while he was in Bologna.