I'll Be Home For Christmas....

So leaving Germany was...difficult- to say the least. I absolutely loved it there. I made some incredible friends (who are pretty much family now) and learned to love and appreciate another culture. When Bengt dropped me off at the airport all I wanted to do was cry. Part of that may have been drama with checked luggage and having no Euro, but I was also pretty choked up about leaving.

Three flights later, two extremely long layovers and one awful head cold later I landed safely in SLC. I was so excited to see my family. I called to let my dad know that I landed and of course he told me that he would not be there for another 15-20 minutes, needless to say I was bugged. I went down the hallway past security and hopped on the escalator.Who starts yelling and screaming? Oh yeah, the fam. BUT the best surprise of the night was that secretly my parents got in touch with Mark and he surprised me...oh life was complete! :)

Over the last two weeks there has only been one day that I have not seen him, and life is incredible. He makes being away from Germany not just bearable but enjoyable. For Christmas Eve Day we had breakfast together, and then watched multiple episodes of Community, and then I convinced him to watch Sound of Music.

Once we were completely sick of tv, we went home and changed and went to his parent's house. I love his family. We had dinner, played with his dogs, and just chatted with the whole family (except for the lucky Laos goers). Once we had spent some fun time there we came up to my house.

My family is crazy. I love them, but they are crazy. But, Mark somehow deals with them and has come to love them too! We got to spend Christmas Eve opening Christmas PJ's and watching ELF. What more could you ask for? Pearl earrings and a bracelet? Oh...well I didnt have to ask- he just got them for me.

Is life good? Yes, yes it is! :)

ian :)

oh this little guy...he never misses a chance to make me, or any one else, laugh. like his dad, he is naturally funny and is always saying THE funniest things...exhibit a....

Today I ask him if he wants to have a party with me before I leave. He instantly jumps off the couch and yells, "YES!" He then comes running into the kitchen and says that he wants to but that we have to have rules. What are his rules you might ask?

1. No hitting

2. No guns

3. No smoking (this one came as an after-thought because Bengt and I told him that he needed to stop pretending to smoke)

Yes, after telling us the rules of this LDS Young Single Adults Party he then decided to draw posters to hang up to make sure that everyone knows the rules. Funny kid? Yeah, I think so!