East Coast Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We've been traveling around the East Coast these past few weeks and the internet coverage has been spotty at best... sorry for the delay in updates! We arrived in Florida about 2 weeks ago and headed north to Orlando to spend some time with Jess' parents, who flew out for the week. Our time with them was truly precious- and made us both wish we could have more time with our families...Probably the one thing we truly struggle with when overseas.

Afterward, we reunited with our host family, some supproter friends (the Carvalho family) and headed up to Washington DC by train... We spent a couple days there, freezing, walking the Mall, touring the sites and museums, then headed south to Virginia. We stopped there for a couple days to take in Historic Williamsburg and Jamestown- quite educational and entertaining (how did those pioneers do it? Strong people). And now, here we are, in a quaint little cabin in North Carolina, finally stopping for a week to truly rest. We have been so grateful to the Carvalho's for inviting us into their family vacation- a cheaper option than flying to Brazil or Hawaii.

We'll be heading back down to Florida after the beginning of the year... with one week left before heading back to the Land of Sand. There's a lot of preparing, packing and errands to get done before we leave... Doctors appointments, eye exams, taxes... But this time here in the states has been SO refreshing and renewing. While we aren't necessarily eager to run back to life in Africa, we are, in a sense, ready to get back to "work". Much love to all our family and friends, who we miss terribly and wish we could be with... Blessings and joy to you in the new year!

Photos: (Pictures of time with Jess' parents are in the other computer, to be uploaded later) Us in Washington DC, Union Station (I called myself "Babushka"... it was ridiculously cold)... Walking the Mall with the Carvalho's... Historic Williamsburg, Virginia... The Smoky Mountains, North Carolina/Tennessee...