Five Very Important Visitors

Emily, Peter, and their three children, Jack (7), Andrew (6), and Eliza (2 1/2--the 1/2 is important!) visited us for almost two weeks June 14-27. We had a wonderful time together and managed to fit in some great sight-seeing despite some unseasonable rainy weather. We took a day trip to Kruje, and another day trip up Mt. Dajti, taking the long gondola ride up, eating at a nice restaurant on the mountain, exploring, and kicking balls around the meadow.

We attend church in the little branch in Fier, where the children joined one other child for Primary. Then we continued on from Fier to Gjirokaster where, alas, we ended up having to spend the night in the Relax Hotel where in April, Marty and I had spent a sleepless night on a rock-hard bed listening to bar music all night. Marty found it ironic and funny. I was not amused, but our stay was a bit more "relaxing" this time. The bar closed earlier this time, but we were awakened at midnight by the most fantastic half-hour thunder and lightning show we have ever heard and seen, with the noise ricocheting off the slate roofs, streets, and mountainside of Gjirokaster. Amazingly, the children slept through the storm. In the morning, the boys (big and small) loved exploring the underground rooms of the huge fortress. Emily was amazed at the openness of the castle. Unlike any other castle in Europe, tourists are free to roam the ancient stone tunnels and rooms, which are not restored. There are WW I cannons and armaments in the main hall. We ran into 13 missionaries at the castle, who were on their two-day "senior" trip (they call it their "dying" trip that they earned by finished the progression program in a year's time.) After exiting the castle, we drove on to the site of the "blue eye", a deep natural spring and grove, and continued on to Saranda, a picturesque bayside town on the Ionian Sea. There we found a very nice hotel for the night and toured the ancient Roman ruins in Butrint the next day. The kids didn't swim on the Ionian but had a great time skipping rocks. The beaches in Saranda are gravel and rock.

The kids were real troupers throughout the long drive and were happy as long as the snacks kept coming.

On the 19th of June, Emily and Peter celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary by going off by themselves to a nice restaurant while we babysat.

Some other activities of the visit included a Family Home Evening with a young convert family; walks through town; ice cream at Rudi's; Peter going with the missionaries to contact (and finding three interested investigators); the movie "Night at the Museum 2" at the new Krystal Center Theater (in English, with Albanian sub-titles); a visit to the Monument to the Martyrs, where Elder Oaks dedicated Albania for preaching the gospel in 1993; game playing; trying out my new Wii Fit they brought as a birthday gift from all our children; more ice cream; Emily and Eliza having a dress and skirt for Greg's August wedding, custom-made for them by a seamstress in one of our branches; and drinking lots and lots of Ivi Orange and Lemon soda.

Eliza and I were best friends, and as her mom was packing to go home, she kept saying, "We have to leave. Grandma will be so sad. She will miss me!" Indeed I do.


Jack and Andrew loved visiting Hassan, a shopkeeper across the street who gave them free Snicker's, and all three children had their cheeks pinched and kissed many times by complete strangers. Here are Jack and Andrew keeping Marty company in his office.