Happy Mother's Day to Me!

 Happy Mother's Day to me! And what a great one it was. Three of our children and their spouses, Britni and Richie, Brennen and Amy and Briel and Mitch arrived early on Mother's Day morning. As we waited anxiously at the train station for their arrival I could barely sit still, except for the fact that I had hurt my knee the day before and it was hard to stand for very long.The train finally arrived and we rushed over for our long awaited hugs. Britni and Richie were the first off because they had traveled from Rome in a sleeper car. The other four had just gotten on in Venice. After a quick embrace with Britni and Richie, we started looking for the others, but no one else got off the train. We started looking in the windows and when we reached the last car we saw four beautiful faces staring back at us from just inside the locked train door as it pulled away. Yep, they missed the stop. Granted, the train only stopped for about two minutes but our anticipated hello turned into a bewildered goodbye! Luckily the train had wi-fi and we were able to text with them and determine the train's next stop. Laughing all the way, we finally reached the next stop and got those hugs we had been waiting for. It was an entertaining way to start our week to say the least.

From the train station we headed to Lake Bled to enjoy the beautiful Julian Alps, jumping off ledges, tubing down ramps and whizzing down the mountain on the alpine slide.  I didn't really care what we were doing as long as we were together.

It started pouring rain and we saw this tent set up where you could
shoot a bow and arrow into targets from under the tent! It was actually
a lot of fun. We have some potentials for Robin Hoods merry men!

Mitch taking his arrow shooting very seriously!

This was taken at the castle at Lake Bled.

This frame is set up on the top of the mountain where
so you can take a picture while waiting in line for the
alpine slide. We've got some pretty good female
jumpers in this family! The view was spectacular! 

They actually paid to jump off that platform...? 

This is one of the best alpine slides I've ever been on! 

On Monday, Britni and I enjoyed a leisurely day hanging out in Bovec, eating pizza and catching up while the crazy people in the family jumped off cliffs into freezing cold water, rappelled down waterfalls and slid through a river canyon. It's hard to tell who's in the pictures but they all survived! Even Amy said it was fun, except for the thirty minute hike up the mountain to start the adventure back down.

Looks like they are being robbed at gunpoint, if they weren't all smiling!
Not sure if this was at the beginning or the end but they look excited. 

I might have been able to do this, might being the key word. 

Hold on, let me take your picture before you drop 30 feet!

Look how little those people below are...
I think this was a pretty long rappel down!

Plitvice National Park is absolutely stunning. There is a cool wooden plank walkway that runs along the edge of the lake with amazing views of waterfalls and several crystal clear lakes. We enjoyed our visit here and Britni got some amazing pictures.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent in Sarajevo. We enjoyed some fine Bosnian cuisine and got to introduce our family to many of our friends here. And in true Newton style, we engaged in some fun activities.

Lunch with the elders at Dveri, one of our favorite places!

It's a pizza party with all of our favorite Bosnians
and few sister missionaries!

How lucky are we to have so many friends here that they didn't
all fit in one picture?

It's ice cream season in Sarajevo! Pretty sure this wasn't the
only one Amy had that day. A cone full of delicious ice cream is
only about .50 cents here. Hard to eat just one.... 

Following the pizza party everyone headed to the indoor
Grand Prix go carts. We had some insane drivers among the group!

Standing on the edge of a burned out hotel overlooking Sarajevo.

Yes, those are my children on top of the hotel!

Doesn't this look like a movie poster? Taken at the bobsled
run from the 1984 Olympics.
A bit different from the one in Salt Lake City. 

We drove ATVs up to Lukomir, a remote village on the
highest point of the mountains surrounding Sarajevo. 

This is what it looks like in Lukomir. About 80 people live
there from spring to early fall but no one stays for the winter!

On top of the world... almost!
The view was unbelievable. 

After our time in Sarajevo, we headed to the coast. We made a quick stop in Mostar on our way to Dubrovnik. In Dubrovnik we rented a boat and visited several of the islands just off the coast of Dubronik. It was a nice relaxing day full of sunshine and blue skies! 

Our sweet ride for the day! 

The kids enjoyed a good game of water volleyball while some
of us relaxed on the beach and enjoyed the sunshine. 

The boat was nice and cozy, but it was a fun way to see the islands. 

This is the "blue hole." They swam into the cave and apparently
it glows blue inside from the reflection. 

Relaxing after his swim to the "blue hole". 

We still do not know how to take a good selfie!

As we arrived on one of the islands, we were greeted by this
young man from Osijak, Croatia. He recognized Denny's
missionary tag. He just returned from a mission to
Canada about five months ago. There aren't many other LDS
members so it was quite a surprise for both parties!

Walking the City Wall around Old Town Dubrovnik.

And just like that... the week was gone and they were all headed home. Hard to believe they have already come and gone! Hopefully we will be able to get more of our family here to visit, but in the meantime, we are now back to work and planning our next projects. So thankful for the many small blessings we receive each and every day.