December 25, 2012
“Christmas is a big deal here. Families seem especially close. One of the hardest things about travel is being away from family. We are too far away and it is too expensive to make the trip home.”
Baby Payton before we left
No tree with packages under it. No snow. It did not seem like Christmas. The celebrations going on around town were fun, but it felt weird. So, here is my chance to show off my wonderful family!
This was Payton our first time home.
Payton age 2
________________________________________________________
Next time home was February 2014. Kayla is pregnant with our second granddaughter.
Nate, Kayla, & Payton and Spencer & Kristen met us in the Florida Keys.
Nate, Kayla, and Payton (age 3)
Kayla with a water bug
Like father like daughter
Spencer and Kristen
Kenzie could not join us so we visited her in Augusta.
Kenzie and the infamous Diezel
______________________________________________________
Our last visit home was in March 2015.
Dinner at Nate and Kayla’s
We met our newest granddaughter, Brylee
Isn’t she a cutie!
Payton is getting so grown up!
Stayed part of our time home with Chris’ family.
Uncle Brad and Aunt Carol took us in for a while too.
If it were not so expensive, we would love to travel home more. Unfortunately, airline tickets to South America are rather pricey; you can fly to Europe for much less.
We also needed to make arrangements for the dogs each time we returned to the US. We had to find a place where they would be treated like family for a month…that is a long time. Amazing how much guilt two dogs can make you feel. We often joke how much easier it would be traveling without them. But they are our “kids.”
Overall, the dogs were happy in two out of the three of long-term places we chose. Some places we used for only a short time like Nuestras Huellitas in Peru. They were terrific for a couple weeks when we went to Machu Picchu…we would have used them for longer, but we were never back in that area.. When we went to Galapagos, we left the dogs with the owner of our lodging. The dogs liked it so well that we left them there our last time home. Overall, we have found some great places. We can make recommendations if anyone is interested.
Pulling these pictures together is making me homesick. We look forward to our next time home!