Peru!!!

I should probably warn you that in seeing these pictures, you might fall in love with Peru. Might. Or maybe,...will. That being said, a few of you have asked me what I loved most. I loved my family. Being with family makes me the happiest girl in the whole world, and it wouldn't matter where I was--I would still come away that happy. Still, here's a few other things that made my heart happy:

1. Christmas Eve. Singing in the town square. (Peruvians don't carol, so they weren't sure what to make of us.) My mother playing her violin as children placed their hands on hers so they could "play." The glow rings children played with and spun in the air and came down with the bubbles someone else was blowing. Christmas comes in summer there, and it's fantastic to wake up at midnight to fireworks. Watching them go off made me feel a little like a kid again.

My cute as ever parents. Love love love them!

2. Christmas morning was a treat. David and Abby arrived, and we returned home to "open" presents. Too bad most of them weren't wrapped. It made Christmas all the better. We all just had to close our eyes as someone placed something in our laps, or return to our seats as the gift giver to find something someone else snuck onto our seats. We all came away with Peruvian hats. Mine, of course, was decidedly pink.

3. What felt like a million types of landscape. In a three hour driving distance. Who knew Peru was so diverse? (Oh--and sorry about the pictures. Many of these were taken from a moving car.)

4. Time with family. Checking out ancient ... ummm..... stuff. Gold stuff. Bone stuff. Cool stuff. Old stuff.

5. New Years. On New Years Eve, the people in Peru (illegally) burn effigies with the name of a person (politician, Michael Jackson in one case) or event (e.g. Math 101) that they don't like. Before enjoying a little bit of that, though, we climbed to the roof of the mission home and watched the fireworks going off around us. And, we ran through the streets with a suitcase enjoying another Peruvian tradition. I'm sure doing so ensured I traveled safely!

6. And the rest. Insert: A flight down to Peru with Jonathan. A surprise flight with David and Abby on the return flight home (how did we miss that we were on the same flight until day of?). Watching missionaries leave the mission...and the new ones arrive 15 minutes later. Wii competitions... a lot of them. Discovering our wii ages (I was 72...but I got my age down to 42. awesome.). AND... lots of yummy food.

Peru,....you were wonderful.

For more on this grand adventure, check out my sis-in-laws blog. You'll get a few more pictures, and some great video.