It seems that when one returns to her own country, the need to chronicle her life evaporates slightly. We have been having a splendid summer, nevertheless. We flew into our favorite America on the 1st of August, when I was able to see the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty with my very own eyes (from the airplane). We hopped on a plane from Newark to Houston, where we stayed the night, and finally made it to Utah the next day. Mere hours later, we were seated, with popcorn in hand (thanks to the coolest niece ever, Alyssa), anxiously anticipating the start of the end of all things: Harry Potter 7.2. This was, after all, the obvious first event of our welcome home activities.
The following day, I was able to have several birthday highlights. In the morning, Chanelle, Alyssa and I treated ourselves to delightful manicures and pedicures while David ran errands for me and got our car ready for the long miles we were gearing up to put on it. I got to open some super sweet presents from my favorites and then, after over two years of separation and poor communication, I got to see my brother, Garet! His first words to me were, "Hi sister! You look like a hippie." Apparently my cool peace sign red sun glasses were winners. He made sure the yellow ones were for him. We drove up to Boise and stayed the night at Sam and Andy's. Mom and Jim treated us to Tucanos, which I LOVE!
The next morning, we met up with Jimmy and Vanessa and the JD Bunch made its debut as a family in McCall, Idaho for our first official family reunion (should it just be union since it was the first time?). My favorite part of the trip was the Italian Soda bar mom brought and the Chloraseptic Jim bought me to continually coat my burning throat. The most intense moment was probably when Vanessa lost the purple skittles during the candy bar game. :)
As one reunion came to a close, David and I made our way to Bear Lake to begin another with the Love Bugs. We had a great time out on the lake, lounging in the hammock, eating raspberry ice cream and playing hearts through the night. We finished the trip in Logan at the Martin Harris Pageant and after two and a half months, made our way home to Rexburg. On the way, we made a few stops to do some back to school shopping and ended up with a car piled to the ceiling with delights. (Pictures to be posted soon of the Love reunion.)
Since we have been home, we have been getting back into the swing of things. We have absolutely LOVED:
drinking milk (3 gallons per week!)
having our own bed/sheets/pillows
having our own washer/dryer again
our carpet
being able to stay up and watch movies and sleep in if we want
being able to get up and go to work if we want
seeing our favorite Rexburg friends again
eating free baked potatoes at the Madison County Fair
conducting Sacrament meeting at the retirement home across the street
getting my classroom ready for a new year
learning to use logic to write music
playing basketball and going to Zumba and
just being together in our own space.
In all of the traveling we have done this summer, it has been draining at times to live out of a suitcase and not have a permanent place to call home. But through it all, we have gone each day hand in hand, whether riding in a crowded guagua, strolling on the beach in Cabarete, hiking up waterfalls, walking down the streets of the Callejon, through busy airports, riding bikes around a lake, or simply watching TV while being sick. While we have not had the same house or place, we have always had each other. There is no place or space that could ever replace that home. Wherever David is, I am home.
