I must catch you up!! :) :) :)

I have oh so much to tell you!! First off, let me begin by explain why I haven't stayed updated lately!

We went to Rome from 10/24 - 11/2! Unfortunately, our apartment did not have internet access and we had to use public computers and internet to get on, so I was not able to upload pictures and we didn't get on for long when we were on..

Well anyways! John (one of the boys here with me) had his former youth group leader from high school studying in Rome! Father John. He is truly amazing. We were so blessed to have John introduce us to him. He helped us in so many ways. He got us tickets and guided tours, he personally hung out with us which was always a great time. Although he is a Catholic priest, he is not an ordinary one, that's for sure! He's probably 6'4", looks like a lineman, gels his hair, and is still pretty young! But boy did he have us busy!! Although our days consisted of waking up at 5am ( on our break!!! ) it was soooo worth it! I am probably going to use a few different blogs to show you pictures. I took so many!

Day 1: Boy was this a long day! We woke up around 5 and met Father John in the Vatican at 6:30!! We had our own private mass in the Vatican. There are small chapels that priests can give mass whenever they want. Very convenient! We saw all 8 apostles tombs who are in Rome....within one day!! One of Father John's friends (who is also studying here) didn't even know there were 8 in Rome!! haha. Well enough of me rambling on.. let me show you some pictures!! :) :) :)

Here it is... Saint Peters! The sky looks pretty cool :)

Here it is.. INSIDE!! Now I have some explaining to do...
This is the aisle the Pope walked down whenever we went to Mass on Sunday, first of all.
Secondly, Saint Peter's is approximately 2 football fields in length!!
Allsoooo! Do you see the letters that are under the window? They are 8 FEET HIGH!!

Here is the Dome inside! Father John told us you could fit the Statue of Liberty & the base inside of this dome!!

This is the Alter the Pope uses during Mass.

Here is the Cross that Pope John Paul the 2nd used!

Here is where Pope John Paul the 2nd would always kneel to pray.

I have many pictures...but here is one from the Vatican Gardens. They were absolutely gorgeous... and huge!!
They have trees from everywhere! They have their own Palm Trees for Palm Sunday.
The soil here is holy; therefore, anything can grow on it! Somewhere near by, must had Parrots...
well, they escaped and are now living in these gardens! There are tons of them now and a bunch of nests!!
It was pretty cool :)

Here is a picture of Saint Paul outside the Wall. This church was gorgeous inside.

We also visited another church and saw (inside the gold case) the actual Crib of Christ.
If you look closely, you can see the wood!

I'm not sure how many pictures this will hold...
so I'll start a new post with more pictures of throughout the week :) :) :)