The comforts of home

Today we decided we needed to get to church!  Michael looked online last night and and discovered that the Barcelona Second ward started at 10 am.  So we woke up early, got ourselves dressed and caught the metro. 

This was the first church service that the kids had attended that wasn't in English.  Initially they were excited.  Then they were bored.  I told them to listen with their hearts, and I was proud of how quiet they were.  I understood enough to get the main message from each speaker.  Then a beautiful miracle happened.  Two great grandpa aged men got up to sing a duet of "I Stand All Amazed."  Its a beautiful song.  And the first verse was sung in English.  You should have seen how fast my kids' heads snapped up the second they heard English.  I started crying - it was like Heavenly Father  just found a way to reach out and tell His little children that they were loved.  Plus, how can you not be touched when two men who have seen so many years are singing their hearts out?  I had never seen that before.  Ever.  I had goosebumps. Here is a link to the lyrics if you don't know the song.  I Stand All Amazed lyrics

We headed home after sacrament meeting - I had promised the kids that I wouldn't make them go to all three hours of church in a language they couldn't speak - and rested up for a bit.
After a few hours we headed out to the beach for a relaxing romp in the Mediterranean.

 The kids actually cooperated on a project - they were digging a hole big enough to sit in - and it was nice to just sit back and let them do their thing.




Of course with their backs to the ocean they didn't realize that the tide was getting ever closer.....

Michael loves it here.  Sitting on the beach with nowhere to hurry off to and nothing to do is pretty much his idea of a perfect day.  As evidenced by the grin.  I can't figure out why this picture insists on displaying sideways, but since I am working with a netbook there isn't much I can do about it right now!



Here is the hole project completed.  This is version number two, since version number one was washed out by the tide before it was deep enough for him to climb into.  Loving the simple things in life.

For dinner tonight we broke one of our travel rules.  "Never eat food on vacation that you can easily access at home....." But it was a day to think about the comforts of home - church, English, and .......American fast food.  (Hanging head in shame here)  Yes, we let the kids have Burger King for dinner.  Sigh.  On a positive note I got to watch my ten year old shamelessly wear a Burger King crown for what may be the last time as he walked down the street towards the apartment.  Can't see that happening for much longer as my little boy approaches middle school.

Tomorrow we will be hitting the beach one last time and then packing up because it will be our last full day in Barcelona.