Can 14 Kids Keep a Secret? The Amazing Christmas Gift that Sent Us to Italy

Florence, Italy

Julie and I had dreamed of going to Italy for a very long time. We wanted to go for our 25th wedding anniversary but didn't have the money. It was like that every year.

Something always came up. Someone needs braces, or unexpected medical costs, or just life in a big family.

We held onto the dream. Italy enchanted us. The history and places like the Colosseum or the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or the Sistine Chapel. The culture, Tuscany, the art, the architectural wonders like the Duomo in Florence or San Marco Square in Venice. The home of da Vinci and Michelangelo. Those colorful coastal villages clinging to hills. The tasty amazing Mediterranean food. Its connection to Christianity. The place where the Apostle Paul walked and was imprisoned.

The Colosseum

The place that always just seemed out of reach.

Then on Christmas Day, 2018, with all 14 kids and two daughters-in-law and one grandson stuffed into our living room with wads of crumpled Christmas wrapping and toys and clothes and assorted other gifts decorating the floor and every other nook and cranny, Julie and I were handed a paper bag.

It was one of those little brown bags you pack a lunch in. It was well-worn, like a third- or fourth-hand paper bag. A shabby chic paper bag that was soft and rumpled from being stuffed full of something -- baloney sandwiches maybe? -- repeatedly and saved to be used over and over.

Venice, Italy

We peeked in the bag. I looked at Julie. Looked at the kids. Then reached inside and pulled out ... a huge wad of cash. I was stunned. The kids were laughing. Giggling. Julie was in shock.

We counted it out: $1,300. The kids told us we were going to Italy.

Our oldest eight kids had started a fund and put money into it each month for the whole year. Evie had been the taskmaster, sending out monthly texts and cajoling her brothers and sisters into contributing. There may have been some feigned bitterness about it.

Here's the crazy part: How did 14 kids, two daughters-in-law, and a 1-year-old grandson* keep that a secret from us? For a whole year!

It was an amazing, humbling gift. I may have cried.

Parmigiano Reggiano cheese from Italy

A couple of weeks later I started checking airfares. I was expecting tickets for something in the $1,000 range, or $800 maybe if we could score a mega-deal. I started looking at flights from Dulles in Washington D.C. to Rome. The cost of a ticket was about what I was expecting.

I was searching for after summer in September, thinking the airfares might be cheaper because demand would lessen. Plus the summer heat would be dissipated. And it would be our 29th anniversary on Sept. 1.

Then I expanded the search to include JFK in New York City. It's not a bad ride up there, only seven hours, and maybe flights would be cheaper.

Riomaggiore, Italy, in Cinque Terre

A number popped up that seemed really out of whack. I refreshed the screen and tried again. Same unbelievable number.

Four hundred dollars. That's $400, roundtrip from JFK to Rome in mid-September.

"Babe," I said to Julie. "We're going to Italy."

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

*Editor's Note: Maybe at 1 years old James wasn't in on the secret. I'm pretty sure if he had known he would've told me. ;-)

My Summer Garden Has Been Bountiful, Delicious, and Amazing!

Heirloom tomatoes from my garden

My fascination with gardening probably now qualifies as an addiction. Healthy addiction, I would say. I think about it all year round. I have secret stashes of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds seed catalogs. My Twitter and Instagram feeds are chock full of random photos of heirloom tomatoes, green beans, purple green beans, soup beans, corn, squash, pumpkins, sunflowers, zinnias ... my iPhone screen is a photo of 3 varieties of my heirloom corn. I might have more photos of my garden than my kids on my phone ... uh-oh.

Heirloom soup beans: Sorana (white), Rosso di Lucca (red) and Tiger's Eye (self-explanatory)

I like to experiment with new varieties and veggies. For example, this year I took the plunge into soup beans. I decided to grow several different varieties because I love to make soups in the winter and fall. I bought the seeds from Uprising Organic Seeds in Bellingham, Washington, and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange in Mineral, Virginia. Judging from the photo up there ^ it's been quite a successful bean growing adventure, wouldn't you say?

Red Sun Sunflowers are gorgeous! Birds love 'em.

I also dedicated some space for flowers this year. I planted two different varieties of sunflowers (the red sun you see up there ^ are particularly gorgeous, eh?), zinnias, and strawflowers. They have been a striking and eye-pleasing addition to the garden. Plus there's been an added bonus: Butterflies, bees, dragonflies, and birds galore such as yellow finches, cardinals, and even hummingbirds. My Red Sun Sunflowers grew up to 8 or 9 feet high and attracted lots of birds. My neighbor told me that she's lived here 6 years and this is the first time she's seen American Goldfinches around and they practically lived in my sunflowers.

Oaxacan Green corn. Tortillas! Cornbread!

My second year of growing heirloom Oaxacan Green corn was a rousing success. Some of the stalks reached 10 feet and I am flush with corn to grind up for cornbread and to make into delicious tortillas this winter. I think the corn is just gorgeous as well. Looks good, tastes good. An excellent combination.

Bread 'n Salt tomato baby! That's 20 oz. of goodness!

June and into mid- to late July were amazing for my tomatoes that I transplanted from seeds I grew under grow lights in my shed. I was harvesting several different varities off of 30+ plants 20 lbs. at a time. Then disease set in. So sad. But that's life in Virginia's humid summers I suppose. Gardening will break your heart sometimes. I am thinking of staggering my planting next year and giving them more space, hoping that will make a difference. Once again we had boatloads of amazing pico de gallo this year and I froze and canned somewhere around 20 lbs. of tomatoes. You know I love to bake and cook and one thing I started doing is making my own spaghetti sauce. It's unbelievable. That's not hyperbole. Ask my family. Just for you, I've included a slightly modified recipe I cribbed from Marcella Hazan (Link to her recipe: Marcella Hazan spaghetti sauce) See my modified version below.

Extremely rare Tomato 'n Pepper Starfish I found in my garden!

My garden is still going. I have more soup beans, green beans, and blue Jarrahdale pumpkins coming along. I'm truly stoked to be making soup out of my beans this winter. I'll keep you posted.

Spaghetti Sauce recipe That Will Change the Way You Think of Spaghetti Sauce

28 oz. of tomatoes chopped up & drained

1 stick butter

1-2 t of Diamond Crystal kosher salt

2 green bell peppers seeded and cut in chunks (Love growing Carolina Wonder bell peppers!)

1 Vidalia or Walla Walla sweet onion cut in half (otherwise a plain ol' yeller onion will have to do)

At least 10 fresh basil leaves (I grew basil this year)

Fresh oregano (another herb I grow)

Combine it all and bring to a simmer. Then let simmer uncovered for 45-60 min. to burn off liquid. Blend it all in a blender. Put on spaghetti noodles after tasting. Immediately be wrecked for ever buying spaghetti sauce in a can or jar at the store again.

Note: This uses no sugar. Next time you check the label on your store-bought spaghetti sauce notice the 2nd ingredient. Sugar. Ew.