Christmas 2008

For all of those readers who are mainly interested in my posts about China, you are going to have to endure one more family oriented post as I wrap up my time spent at home over Christmas. My time back in the US was spent doing two main things: spending time with my family and eating as much food as possible. Since all my family and extended family lives in Utah, I was pretty much able to see everyone while I was home. I even found out that my technology savvy grandma reads my blog. I was pretty happy to hear that, so I have to give a quick shout out: "Hi Grandma, hope you're doing well". One of my favorite parts of going home is being able to spend time with my brother Kyle and his family. He and his wife Amy have two sons, so that makes three nephews total for me. I don't need to say too much about them, besides the fact that they're awesome kids and are a lot of fun to hang out with. Unfortunately, I didn't take too many picture of their family, but I have a few.

Parker Enjoying a Bagel

Parker and Kyle

Gage and Parker with the Remote Control Car

As I mentioned, I also ate a lot of food while I was in Utah. With all the family parties and eating out, I must have gained back at least some of the weight I've lost being in China. It was great to eat some American food that I can't get in China. My lust for delicious burritos was sated by making a trip to Chipotle, satisfying my addiction for the time being. I even made some vintage Wes-Allred-style bean dip.

Bean Dip a la Wes

While I was in Utah it snowed and snowed. We definitely had a white Christmas and I enjoyed seeing that much snow. The great thing about Utah is that when it snows, everything becomes more beautiful and the mountains look even better. When I was living in Chicago, snow meant a double drive time commute, salt stains on the bottoms of my slacks, and a general level of filth with the black slushy snow that would eventually materialize on all public sidewalks.

Snowy Mountains

My House

Snowy Mountains

My Dog

Those are the basics of my time home for Christmas 2008. It was great to be home for a couple weeks and to see all my family there. In closing, here a few pics from the plane ride back to China when we were flying over Alaska and meeting the ocean. Unfortunately, the pictures don't do justice to how beautiful it was in real life.

Alaskan Mountain Range See Anything Interesting (See Close-up Below)? This Looks like a Face's Profile, Right? Where the Ocean Meets the Land

Clouds and Frozen Ocean