Quinn Andrew Rammell Arrives

Quinn Andrew Rammell made his appearance on Dec. 31 about 10 minutes before midnight!! A perfect tax break and beautiful little baby boy! He was about a month early and so had some problems breathing and eating. We are grateful that he figured out how to do both of those soon so he could go home to Mom and Dad in Pleasant Grove, Utah.
Three months later
Quinn has lost some hair and has "filled out" nicely. What a cute baby!! (And his parents aren't bad either!!) We love them all. This was Quinn's blessing day March 29, 2009.
Quinn is looking quite handsome in his blessing outfit. I guess this makes us grandparents--finalmente!!!
Little Quinn has wonderful parents who are taking very good care of him, until we can get home and begin spoiling him!

Torontos in Sicily

All of Jim's brothers and sisters and the spouses and Diana came to Sicily to see us and to become acquainted with their Italian heritage. Front row: Rick and Marilyn, Ken and Linda Cox. Second row: Sharman Toronto, Diana Henrie, Ruth Flake, Diane.
Back row: Roger and Jim. This picture was taken in Taormina.
Okay, imagine moving 10 people through this open market in Catania!! Scary thought huh? We did do it and didn't even lose anyone--that we know of!! There were lots of "sights" and smells and sounds here that you just don't find anywhere in America!

Marilyn and Diane came out ready for our day of travel--looking alike! It means we were ready for fun and good luck (I think). It was amazing to have our family all here with us for a few days.

Sites Around Sicily

What another beautiful day in Sicily!! Here is a shot of Mt. Etna with the city of Catania in the foreground.
Palermo--on the other side of the island and the boat dock. This is the city Jim's great grandfather was from.
This is a picture taken from the top of Erice looking down at Trapani.
One of my personal favorites--Here is what retired men do in Italy!! I think their wives kick them out of the house and they all meet at the park and play cards until it is time for lunch.

Roots in Italy

After most of the family left we went with Rick and Marilyn in search of her ancestoral roots. Cirella (the town where Marilyn's granfather was from) is in the Calabria, up in the mountains. We followed a narrow and worn out road acrossed the tops of the mountains into the little city of Cirella. There we were met by many of Marilyn's relatives. It was so fun to be with them all!
Rick also has ties to Italy. The last name Toronto was originally spelled Taranto.







This is a view looking down from the mountains at Cirella.
Here we are in the Cirella cemetary recording information about Marilyn's family. Marilyn (green coat, cousin Giuseppe, Diane, Rick). A wonderful experience.

Catania Maxi Conference

Mar. 20-21
The Sicily Maxi Conference included Malta, Catania, Palermo, and Ragusa zones. We had lots of food, training, skits and sporting events. This was a modified sack race (we used garbage bags).
A skit with an alligator??
Good missionaries, good times, good memories!

Maxi Conference in Taranto

Mar. 6-7, 2009
They may look a bit scraggly, but they are some of the best missionaries ever! We had a maxi conference in Taranto with Bari, Cosenza, and Taranto zones all meeting together. We had "sports"-some serious and some not so serious, food, skits, food, training, food and testimonies. It was fun to see them all together and feel of their energy, love and testimonies.







I started to take this picture with about three missionaries. Others saw and jumped into the picture. We love them all!
The field in Taranto may look green, but there are some rough spots there when you are playing soccer. Ouch!!