Reunions

This holiday I had the opportunity to reconnect with some of my oldest and best friends. It was so wonderful to see everyone and to reconnect. Our lives have surely taken us in different directions, and it is truly beautiful to see how each of us has found what we are passionate about in such different ways. I love you girls.
This is Robyn and her wonderful son Lucas. I am in awe at what a wonderful mom Rob is. I will surely be calling her when I have my own kids for advice.

This is Rob and Lucas, me, Karlee (who just texted me saying she was asked to interview for vet school at her top choice - whoooooooooooo!!), and Cat, who is hands down the most successful and motivated person I know. These girls are all part of what I think of as home.

And here is my favorite person on earth, my brother. He took me out on a date to the classiest restaurant in town (ha!) - and it was perfect. Love you Bri.

Christmastime

My heart warms just thinking of Christmas at home. My mom and dad have always been incredible about making holidays extra-special, and Christmas is no different. Our house is literally bursting with Christmas cheer - here is a picture of our living room in all of its glory.

Even the squirrels in our yard want in on the action.

We didn't have any candy canes in the house this year, so Mom and I decided to fill the gap:

And on Christmas morning, we had a very special visitor come and visit - humpy bear. I'll have to let one of the boys in our family explain that one.

This is a picture of Sophie, the adorable bulldog puppy that belongs to my aunt Donna. She is one of the most precious puppies I've ever seen.

Family Time in the Mountains

My dad arranged for a mini family vacation before Christmas, so that we would actually all have some quality time together before the chaos of the holidays fully set in. Though I was VERY skeptical about this idea (mainly because the HIGH was supposed to be 3 degrees), I think we all agreed that it was an absolutely wonderful time.

We stayed in a condo overlooking the mountains of Ketchum, Idaho. It was snowy and wonderful, but cooooooooooold cold cold. Here is the view from our condo:
The first night we were there we took a sleigh ride to dinner and froze the whole way.... or I WOULD have frozen the whole way, but fortunately for my time in South Africa, I had one of THESE tucked under my sweater:
Yes, that's right, a hot water bottle. I am telling you, they are the best things EVER. Everyone in South Africa uses them since there is no central heating, and they make a world of difference. Trust me. I could do an infomercial on them.

Here are the gigantic horses that pulled our sleigh.

Here's me and my cute little brother on the sleigh ride. I am personally impressed that I kept my hands out of my mittens long enough to take some pictures.

The cute padres.

My mom and I spent the days shopping for last minute Christmas gifts and enjoying the snow. :)

On the drive home we drove through Hailey...

Home Sweet Home.

I made it!! After essentially 4 straight days of travel, I am officially back on American soil, snuggled into the folds of freezing Burley, Idaho. I've been home now for about 60 hours, so I'm already forgetting some of my first impressions of being back.

Some Thoughts:
1. There a lot of white people in America.
2. There is also a ridiculous amount of 'stuff'.
3. People are wonderfully friendly and smile all of the time, I love it.
4. Thank you Lord for Mexican food.
5. I still can't figure out what side of the car to get on, and I definitely turned the wrong way onto Main Street yesterday.
6. I love the fact I can just pick up the phone and call my loved ones.
7. No one does customer service like the USA.
8. It is cold, and I may never be warm again.

I am still all off on when I eat and sleep - I ate two tacos al carbon before 5 am this morning.

Today, my family and I are taking a mini-vacation to Sun Valley, Idaho, where my Dad has lined up a sleigh ride for us. This does not exactly sound appealing at the moment as the HIGH temperature of the day is supposed to be 6 degrees Fahrenheit (-14.4 C). I'll let you know if I make it back alive. Considering less than a week ago I was in Zanzibar, where it was around 90 degrees F (33 C), I will be experiencing more than a 85 degree temperature change in less than 6 days.

Much more coming about my last week in Grahamstown, travels in East Africa, and wonderful homecoming. The Merriest of Christmases to you all!!!


Here are links to pictures from Kenya and Tanzania, more pics coming soon:
Lamu, Kenya:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057169&l=4ca63&id=3000795
Zanzibar, Tanzania:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057190&l=e3068&id=3000795