Feliz Ano Nuevo!

We're back!

WELL....here we are again! The delay in blogging was for a good cause: we surprised our folks by coming home for Christmas! The plans began in October, and then the waiting game began. We were good secret keepers, but for the record, we are NOT doing any more surprise visits again. Too many bloopers along the way! For example, my sweet, wonderful parents-in-law sent us a Christmas package so that we'd have gifts on Christmas...and we just received it last week. Mail in Honduras (even when you pay the big bucks) just doesn't work like it does in the States. And then because we "weren't" coming home, everyone made their travel plans different from the usual Christmas gatherings...so we were re-planning and scheduling and scheming to try to keep it a secret, but also to make sure we saw our immediate family (we missed seeing many of our friends, but we'll try to see you all in the summer!).

But anyhoo, no hay problema. We were able to spend some wonderful time with friends. Steve and Colin did a book signing at Border's the day after we arrived.  Natalie came to visit me in "Honduras" (her buddy accidentally slipped up around Colin's sister, but we covered it all with a bunch of lies....we got a little too good at the lying thing).

Get your copy today! :) readaroad.com

My best friend, Natalie--she came all the way to Honduras, I mean...Tennessee to visit! And she's the hot book model--we sold 35 books that day (no joke!).

And then we lavished ourselves with family time--we drove up to Cleveland, OH and surprised Colin's sisters--Jenna-Clare screamed a happy scream for about 30 straight seconds, while Abbie began welling up with tears, and Karen's mouth hung slack for a few minutes. Then hugs enveloped both of us, and the Christmas celebration began! (I have it all on video, but I have to figure out how to upload it on the Apple in order for you to see...next post I'll try.)

This is little Wilbo (Colin's sister's baby). He's so wonderful--we couldn't get enough of him. In fact, we might just need a little buster of our own sometime soon. Our baby fixes aren't lasting long enough.

Some Christmas modeling--have you seen us in the ads? What about the added retro features? Tight rolls...big feet wearing Chuck Taylor's...

Of course, we need the traditional "I love my favorite brother" picture.

And  the "I love my favorite sister-in-law" picture...:)

Colin's little namesake.

We surprised Danny (Colin's dad) a little later--he was stuck in the Dallas airport for two whole days because of winter storms. He finally got in to Cleveland on Christmas night! He did a double-take when he saw us.

The fam on "Christmas" morning

Ok..Ok...I know there might be too many family pictures here and not enough story, but this was our last night before we had to head back to Maryville.

First meeting between Uncle Colin and my brother's (JT) baby, Noah David.

So, we met David's fiancee' (Scottie)--she's a keeper, alright. And she graded all my grammar tests. That's a sure way to win my heart over, but she'd already passed the "sister" test.

JT and Megs--man, it was so delightful to be with them!

I was enjoying the black and white mode of the camera--can you tell? This is when Mom was opening her favorite gift--the book of Noah David's first few months of life.

Mom reading to Jordan (who was not so fond of my photographing the moment, mind you) before bedtime. This picture takes me back to the nights she did the same for me. I particularly remember when we cried over reading Number the Stars. Because of you, Mom, I love reading aloud to my students!

So, the rest of the story of our break is that I came home to Honduras without Colin. He had to stay back to see a dear doctor friend of ours, Dr. David Haase. Colin's now on a new regimen to try to become well again. These past few months, he's felt pretty miserable. The school was so kind in allowing him to stay in the states long enough to take care of the medical needs. I did not return home alone, however. My mom returned with me! And boy, did we make a week of it! I loved sharing my world here with her. She came to my Spanish tutoring; she went tromping around the city with two of my Honduran friends; she came to school one day and my students were delighted to meet her (and of course, get their pictures taken); we went to visit Micah's Project together (check out my Facebook pics if you want to see more...); we shopped in the nearby tourist town of Valle de Angeles; and finally topped the week off by visiting a nearby missionary ranch where they grow coffee and blackberries (which will be coming into season next month!).

Colin returned Sunday just as my mom flew back home. It's been wonderful to have him home...absence does make the heart grow fonder, even if it was just a week. We've missed our new home. And I think being absent from it over Christmas gave us the opportunity to miss it enough to want to come back and enjoy ourselves again. Let the new year begin! Feliz ano nuevo!