Life at "The Villa"

I think it is kind of funny that we have a "villa" that we go to when we visit home...most people are kind of confused by that.  When we were packed up and ready to leave at the beginning of Christmas break, Nathan was loading up the van and our kids were waiting inside the school for him.  One of our friends was walking by and saw that we were headed out and asked our kids, "Are you guys going to your grandparents' house?"  And they told her, "No, we are going to the villa!!"  She told me later that she was thinking..."the villa?"  Haha, I thought that was funny:)

So anyway...the villa is an apartment that Nathan's dad built (but they are called "villas" because people buy them instead of renting...).  We are so thankful to Dad for this...he fixed it up for us and totally furnished it for our use anytime we want to stay there these next few years!  What a blessing!  It is also for other missionaries to use if they need a place to stay.  And it is so nice!  We had such a great month staying there and we are already excited for summer:)

The villa has 2 bedrooms.  The kids' bedroom is really big:

One of the best things about the villa is the garage...Nathan's dad closed off the big garage door and ran heat out into the garage, and put carpet down.  It was like a big living room!  We really appreciated this because in the winter we can't go outside, and it can feel kind of cramped with 4 kiddos!  So this extra room was big enough to play soccer...

or football! (notice Layla watching the football game?  We are working on potty training her right now...she isn't quite getting the concept, though:)

And we just had some fun times...



Thanks so much, Dad!  We really really really appreciate our "villa" :)