Family Convegno

This weekend is full of big gatherings and birthdays! Thus a lot of my time recently has been spent preparing for these events.

Thursday afternoon I turned all my permesso di soggiorno paperwork in to the post office, after which a celebratory gelato was in order. That evening David and I went to the church early for an English study with a church member who is from Russia! The mid-week Bible study here is on Thursday instead of Wednesday; in attendance were four people and Mario's eternally happy dog.

Friday was Mona's 50th birthday! She and Robbie are the directors of HUF (Harding University in Florence). We had a surprise party for her at the Bible School with about seventy people and then paraded (literally) to Gallo's pizzeria. The parade involved fifty black balloons and about as many of those party noise makers, and Robbie pushed Mona in a wheelchair. It was quite a spectacle, and the Italian bystanders were definitely wondering what was going on, and some of them asked what kind of celebration this was. They only thought Carnevale ended Tuesday.

Sorpresa! Tanti auguri Mona!

Today was a Family Convegno (a word used for conference/convention/retreat). About 75 people from Florence, Prato, and Pistoia gathered at the Florence church building, and Vittorio and Tonia Vitalone came up from Rome to speak about parenting. Two other ladies and I watched the 18 children, which was lots of fun though of course slightly crazy. Since an adorable little girl named Deborah turned 7 today, Sarah made a beautifully-decorated and delicious cake. The convegno went really well, and I'm glad so many people were able to participate!

the children at the convegno