Abundant...

...is the word I would use to describe the past two weeks. Our time was incredibly full. We even managed to squeeze in some games and relaxation by the fireplace...but lets start from the top. The jet lag took a couple days to get over and we had to have Christmas one day late since we arrived with only a few hours of Christmas Day remaining. Naturally, there was some apple crisp waiting for us when we walked in the door (along with lots of other treats).

Morning walk around the house.

 Exchanging presents was a lot of fun. We brought plenty of fragile items and they all made it through perfectly (the same held true for our return journey). After enjoying the gifts and settling into the comforts of home, we picked my car up from storage and I got to drive for the first time since August! We even managed to do some doughnuts in a parking lot full of fresh snow. It was wonderful. The next day started out with a beautiful walk, and before the sun went down I got a chance to take on some Buckthorn Lord of the Rings style (cutting it up with a sword-like machete) with Kalia. 

My finished bookshelves!

Before we knew it, we were on our way down to my cousin Chloe's wedding. It was a nice wedding but we found it quite odd (especially from the European perspective) that the bride was not old enough to drink alcohol on her wedding day. Strange. We even managed to see my friend Thane and get all of our shopping taken care of - certain things are so much cheaper in the States! Seeing the family was fun, and on the way home we got to stop at Sara and Pat's to see much of my mom's side. Naomi had quite a few introductions. 

Chloe's wedding.

We needed some time to rest after that whirlwind, so we took care of quite a few odds and ends in Escanaba. Thursday we headed up to Marquette Mountain for a little snowboarding. It was a perfect, sunny day just below freezing. We pretty much had the hill to ourselves as everyone else had to work. Naomi put on my old gear and made a lot of progress and in spite of getting her leg crunched under the chairlift ended on a positive note. When we got home we had a delicious Mexican dinner at Ferdinand's. It was Kalia's last night in town. Now she is studying for her boards in Duluth and looking for a job.

Marquette Mountain.

After packing up on Friday, we had to get up early for our flight yesterday. Checking in and going through security at Escanaba's airport is so nice. Both our checked bags were 51 pounds, but they didn't hassle us about it. We had an 8 hour layover in Detroit, so Claire was nice enough to pick us up and bring us to Ann Arbor where we all spent some time with a few good friends. We had a delicious lunch at Panchero's and then went to the museum of archeology - my favorite museum in Ann Arbor. I really miss that city. And those friends.

The trip to Ann Arbor.

All went well with the overnight flight back to Amsterdam. Our bags made it in one piece and we spent the day (after a 4 hour nap) unpacking, getting groceries (now our store is open Sundays!) and preparing for school in the morning. I really need another week off. I am not at all ready to go back to being a teacher. Two weeks was not long enough!