safe and sound and home again...

Some highlights from this year's visit to the US (in no particular order):

--New Friends: I love it when good people make more people,they turn out so well. Checkout these new people...


Asha, 9 years new


Tehmi, 6 years new

Maya, 3 years new



Evelyn, a year and a half new




















-- and old ones:

Carleton* pals (and parents of Asha, Tehmi, and Maya), Jay and Roxie. Jay was the first friend I met at college, Rox was the last. Jay helped me survive college, Rox helped me graduate. Cool thing is, they got hitched.


That's Betty (Evelyn's mom). She's also a Carleton pal. We fell in love one night playing chandeliers**. Despite the fact that she tried to get me drunk that first night, we are still in love.




That's Milly (on the right) - she's been my pal for as long as I can remember.











--bowling: much like the Dairy Queen, bowling alleys are not places that I frequented all that much when I lived in the US but is must do when I now am in the States. Dudes, I broke 100 (in one game)






(Jake, honey, I won't mention here how I TOTALLY kicked your ass. It's enough that we both know.)

















--family time. There's nothing more to say than that I have an awesome family...period. They are why I need to go back as often as possible and why it's so great every time (them, the Dairy Queen and bowling).



--more family time













-- and more family time





















--3 inch thick pork chops, what more can I add?














--452 ways to drink a coffee. On this visit I focused on the versions that involved mostly ice cream and chocolate with just a dash of coffee. God bless America.

--corn on the cob, which I vowed to eat every day I was home and just about succeeded.


(I have no idea why this photo is sideways, I've flipped it 100 million times and re-posted it...in case you can't tell by turning your head 90 degrees to the right, that's my sister buying some sweet corn)







--prairie sunsets, which are almost as beautiful as mountain sunsets.
















* For the uninformed, Carleton is a small liberal arts college in Minnesota.

** Chandeliers is a drinking game...which is not worth explaining if you don't already know how to play.