Christmas, Part 2

After a filling brunch and opening gifts, everyone split up, heading to various houses of family/friends. Thanks to the invite of friends, Miah tag-teamed with me back to my friend's house. With his dry sense of humor he had some laughing and many sighing throughout the evening :)

~Alayna Follett~

Just about every time my mum had another baby ( often ;) ) or my parents went on a mission's trip, I was farmed out to the Folletts. Many thanks to their family opening their home once again & for putting up with me for a couple weeks! It was like stepping back a dozen yrs and reliving memories. 

Someone was pretty stoked about his new stash of goodies...

Between games, an impressive amount of food, good company and a lot of laughter, the evening flew by. We even squeezed in phone calls to long-distance relatives (a definite highlight of my day) & a skype call home to Africa. My family there invited several nationals to celebrate with them. Mum roasted a leg of pork. It must have been a pretty special day, seeing as folks are still reminiscing about it. :)

Never knew that it was an American tradition to have shrimp on Christmas. For those who like seafood...all the more power to you. I'll gladly give you mine ;)

:: Home ::

Home. To some, the word means relaxation. To others, maybe a bit of quiet and tranquility, family. At the moment, I'm enjoying both meanings, though "quiet" might be a stretch. Mozzies buzzing, the neighbor's macaws cawing for dinner, kids zipping around my chair on their bikes. Well, so much for tranquility. But I'll take the noise over absolute silence. 

Climbing over Dubai

My flight(s) went better than expected. Early Wednesday morning, I lifted my shade and took in one of the most spectacular sunrises I've ever seen. It was as if a rainbow was stretching itself across the top of the clouds. My camera was tucked away, but it gave me time to dwell on my amazing Creator. Baffles my mind that there are those out there who don't believe in God. Really? In the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth. How simple, yet how complex. And to think that such a great God would stoop to care about me. Just meditate on that...

In my comfort zone...

Due to an influx of veggies from the garden, one of my first priorities was to clean out the deep freeze. After collecting a container of  ice, Brianna created a "snowman". When you never see snow down here, you take what you can get! Creativity in action, eh?

Someone lost weight while I was away...He looks great, don't ya think?

My siblings are still into the whole crazy jump thing.  Joel's broken arm didn't deter them much ;) okay, so I'll admit, I've done some flips myself, but only when there's a trampoline beneath and not only terra firma.

And lest you think we play/relax all day, think again. Life is far from dull. With a garden that is producing fruit like crazy, there's always something boiling in the pot. We've put up quarts upon quarts of sweet corn, carrots, green beans & butternut. Tomatoes will be ready soon (too soon) and whatever else is out in that maze. 

Goodbyes

My last full day in the States is drawing just about over and the final goodbyes will be said tomorrow. I detest goodbyes. Anyone with me on that one?? And those tear jerking moments when you have to say "see ya later", without knowing how long "later" will be...Yeah. Not fun. Bid adieu to 3 of my siblings on Friday, 1 on Sunday and 1 more to go tomorrow. Prayer's appreciated...gonna be a rough flight ;)

Jeremiah, Derek, Jon, me, Dyanna

Homework time for our Kindergartner.

Shout out to my sister, Dea, who's an amazing packer!!! And those bags are still underweight ;)