a christmas in pictures

well here's my christmas recap...finally. since it's been so long, i decided to post in pictures. i don't have them all on this computer, so i didn't post some of the ones i wanted to, but here are the highlights:

the traditional advent was read and the candles were lit.
cousins and their kids. that's a whole lotta boys! little maggie's out numbered.
creyton wants to be like uncle justin.
aaron and jessie got engaged on christmas eve!!
family fun time
we got stuck!! luckily a nice man drove by and pulled us out.
noah's buried!

Hawaii!!

Well we had an awesome time in Hawaii. We had quite a few travel woes on the way out there and on the way back, but that's a whole other post. Let's just say we got to spend an unexpected night in San Fransisco that turned out wonderful thanks to the flexibility of our friends. Justin got home from Africa on December 15th at 5:30 pm and we headed out for HI at 8:30 am on the 16th. Poor guy! At our stop in SF we got to hang out with Kevin and Nikki and Jill and meet Preston.
We had a great time of catching up. I forgot how deep and thought provoking Nikki's questions can be. :)

We finally arrived in Honolulu on Thursday at 2:00 and hit the beach. We had a great view from our hotel balcony. You sort of had to lean over to see, but it was still great. It was a very relaxing trip with not much planned which was great!! Thursday night we went to the best sushi place ever! You basically let the chef bring you whatever he decides to make. We ended up eating a 13 course meal! It was amazing. best. sushi. ever.

Friday we got up early and went on a 5 mile hike on the north shore. It was so cool and very pretty. Whitney, Bob (WB radio rep), George (WB radio rep), Laura (George's fiancee), Justin and I all made it the whole 5 miles. It was Bob's first hike and we were proud of him. The path was pretty steep at times, but worth it for the view at the end. That night, Justin played an acoustic set with Whitney for about 30 minutes. Not a bad trade off for a free vacation, I'd say! We also went to Benihanna, one of those Japanese steak houses where they make the food in front of you. Justin had never been to a place like that, so that was fun. We both had pretty much the best steaks of our lives. So yummy!

Of course, I can't go anywhere without getting hurt. Before our hike we stopped at a grocery store to get some supplies. Across the street from the store was the beach and a small tide pool with a bunch of big rocks. Justin, Whitney and I decided to go climbing out on the rocks. I was jumping out to where Justin was standing and slipped on a wet rock and went down HARD! My left hand/arm was all bloody and my leg and lower back had some pretty huge bruises. I was soaked too. Luckily between me Justin and Laura, I was able to change clothes and make the hike anyway, but still it was pretty rough. (This picture is from the end of the day when I took the bandaids off. Most of the blood had dried by then.)

Saturday we just lazed around and hung out on the beach. The fruity drinks and fresh pineapple sure did spoil us! Justin and I walked around the beach in the morning and did a little shopping. The Hilton was crazy, you pretty much would never have to leave if you didn't want to. So many shops and stores. That afternoon Justin and Whitney rented kayaks and I took a spin in Whit's. I couldn't do too much though, because my hands were still messed up and the salt water stung!

Sunday was supposed to be our last day (thanks to United, we stayed an extra night) so we just lounged around on the beach. Justin got a snorkeling mask and some flippers and said he saw some pretty cool fish. I snorkeled for a bit, but again, couldn't stay in the water long because of my hands. We got all packed up that night and headed to the airport. En route, we found out one of our flights had been canceled so the shuttle driver brought us back to the hotel. (After picking up a few more passengers and going all the way out to the airport.)

We made the most of Monday and took the public bus out to Pearl Harbor. We spent most of the morning out there touring the USS Bowfin (a submarine) and the USS Arizona memorial. The USS Missouri was dry docked for repairs for the first time since the memorial opened so it was closed. (Just our luck!) It was pretty amazing and quite sobering to tour everything and remember what happened and all the lives lost. That afternoon we headed out to the beach for our last few hours. We walked out on the rock pier to watch the last sunset and it was beautiful!!

world traveler

I thought I'd give you all a taste of Justin's travels. Here are a few excerpts from some of his emails and a few pictures I stole off facebook. Enjoy!

This is next to the hotel they actually stayed in. The English Channel is just to the left.

that town (amsterdam) is awesome. i heard so many european languages there. there is an ugly side to it--the red light district. our hotel shuttle driver was telling us that it is basically behind this big church. he thought that was really funny. i told him i thought that was a really great location for a church building, actually. he didn't get it. i wish we could have seen that city in the daylight--the buildings were so awesome. so much history here!

Amsterdam Central Station

there were no arrival cards to fill out at the airport (in south africa), and the customs didn't even stop us to rifle through our bags. the airport was really nice and modern and clean. a major change for the better from the lagos (nigeria) airport.

we got in around 6:30am, and were taken to the house we are staying in...it's called the travel lodge in auckland park, which is a suburb of jo'burg. the house is AMAZING. it has 12 bedrooms or so, most of which have two twin beds (not pushed together, thankfully). the neighborhood resembles newport beach or even maui with the style of the homes and the vegetation. it's a bit confusing hearing everyone speak the queen's english here. and it doesn't feel like africa at all. my room is on the bottom floor next to the driveway, and i can look out of my window and see the old-fashioned tennis court in the front yard. further up the hill on the side of the house, there is a small pool and a neatly manicured yard enclosed in a brick walkway. the whole place is a blend of england and the tropics. the city is very modern as well. it'll be nice to be here for a few days before going to ghana.

we are at the studio in jo'burg waiting to get everything set up and plugged in. this really nice older gentleman named kevin brought in a bunch of guitar gear--some old fender amps, a marshall cab, and a few guitars--a mexican tele (pretty cool), a les paul anniversary edition (meh), and a REAL 1961 STRAT (UNBELIEVABLE)!!!! it sounds so good, plays great. worth about $30k...

the studio that we are tracking in here in jo'burg is in the national tv/radio broadcasting studios. it's a huge complex, and i guess it's the only place that broadcasts south african tv. during apartheid, it was where the oppressive white regime would spread their propaganda.

on that note, there is a bit of darkness about this place that comes from its crazy history. there are still townships, which are basically huge fenced-in slums where blacks were forced to live and given little to no rights. the crazy part is that apartheid didn't really end until 1994. can you believe that? most of the country is still not very safe for whites. you need to be aware at all times even in the major cities (which are the safest areas for sure).

all in the family

i'm famous

and a little silly... check it out staring at the 3:25 mark. :)

pumpkin carving etc

Justin had a busy week this week/end. He left Wednesday morning and hit Phoenix, San Jose, Orange County, and Phoenix again before getting home Sunday night. Lucky for him, he got to catch up with some great old friends. Sadly, he leaves again tomorrow morning. I'm ready for all this traveling to be over.

I started my weekend off by dropping my phone in the toilet. Fabulous! (And to all you sickos wondering, there was nothing in the toilet when I dropped it.) Luckily after towel drying and blow drying it seems to be working fine. Ask me again in a couple weeks. Saturday I went to the farmer's market and got my pumpkins and also the flea market with Alison and Susie Beth. So much fun! I found almost everything I wanted! Woohoo!

coffee table: $15
old lantern: $15
2 picture frames: $5

Last night we had our pumpkin carving party. Sadly, Justin was only there for the last half. We had a great time and I'm always amazed at the designs people come up with. Check us out!

the rest of the story

well you've already seen pictures of the beautiful maggie pauline. but now for the rest of the story...

we had one of the most whirlwind trips to kansas i think we've ever had. we touched down in KC around 6:30, rented a car and drove into wichita. we were hoping to see maggie that night, but 10:45 was a little late for her and adam and abbe. we got up the next day and got to play with dakota and creyton for a while. those boys are hilarious. here's creyton and me having a little too much fun with balloons! :)


we headed to the hospital in the morning with nana, gigi and grandpa. we got to stay and snuggle with maggie and catch up with adam and abbe for quite a while. the evening we all trooped over to their house for dinner after everyone was released from the hospital.

sunday we made our way to manhattan to see terri, jesse and josh and to meet the precious tucker duell. josh had to work, so we ate at chili's to experience his world famous service. the service was great, the food? not so much. (more on that later.) we got to see ben and kristin for a while and catch up with them. tucker looks just like big sis!we headed on to KC that evening to stay the night with kirk and marisa before catching an early flight monday morning. unfortunately on the way there we have to stop a few times for me to use the bathroom. i spent the whole night in kirk and marisa's bathroom. not fun. let's just say i hope to never experience liquid coming out both ends of my body at the same time ever again. yuck! when we finally got home monday, i called in sick and justin took good care of me while i bummed on the couch. it was a great trip, even if it didn't end as planned.

sweet maggie

we just can't get enough of this girl!

i can't wait

justin and i are going home together this weekend. it's the first time since moving to nashville that we'll be in kansas at the same time and it's not christmas! (well, there were a couple other times, but he was working so it doesn't count.) we are going home because my niece will be born today!! as of right now (8:54 am) abbe has had her epidural and we'll get to meet little doll baby soon! this calls for lots of exclamation points!!!!!

also, we will get to meet little tucker duell and miles thiessen. babies everywhere! stay tuned for more pictures and info...

there's no place like home

I went home a couple weekends ago courtesy of my lovely mom. Justin was 10,000 miles away and Abbe was having a baby shower, so I decided to surprise her and make the trip. Fun times were had by all. But first....

Note to self: always check to be sure your flight is on time. My flight out of nashville was delayed 4 HOURS!! UGH. Plus, since I had a friend drop me off, I didn't have a ride back home. So instead of chillin with Riley for a few extra hours I tried to make myself comfortable in the freezing airport. We finally landed in KC at 12:25...AM! My poor parents had driven up to get me so we started the trek home. I think we pulled into the driveway at 3:45 am. Not so much fun.

Saturday morning, I surprised Abbe and took her to get pedicures for her birthday, which was also that week. It was fabulous!! Massaging chair, ice water and a small Asian woman massaging your feet and legs. Doesn't get much better. After our pedis we went and grabbed lunch and stopped off at Hobby Lobby. Fun afternoon. I was pretty much pooped after that. I headed back to Mom and Dad's to hang out with Aaron and Jessie. That evening we had a big ol family dinner and just hung out and talked. The little boys are so much fun and we had a blast.

Sunday we went to church and then Mom, Dad, Aaron and Jessie and I went to Picadilly for lunch. So yummy!! Abbe's baby shower was that afternoon and the girls all went to that. Best baby shower ever. No dumb games, just yummy treats, cute gifts and a prayer time. Abbe's so excited for a girl and I think the boys might be a little overwhelmed by all the pink. :) Sunday night, Mom and Dad drove me back up to KC. I stayed the night with Kirk and Marisa in their awesome new house and Marisa took me to the airport first thing Monday morning. I was super tired at work Monday and came home and crashed. Poor Riley, I wasn't much fun. Anyway, fabulous trip home!