God bless America!

So Jane and I had an AWESOME Christmas in the States - 3 weeks of football, snow, great food, and even better people.  We had debated on whether to return to the US for Christmas or to take a trip somewhere else in the world, and I think going home turned out to be the right decision.  It was such a blessing to have time with both of our families, and I returned to Kenya feeling loved, encouraged, and recharged for the next four months. 

One of the hardest things for me to wrap my mind around now is the fact that I have less than four months left here in Kenya!  That feels like such a finite amount of time after the last year and a half, and right now it seems like there are so many things that need to happen in that time frame.  Between CARE for AIDS projects and African adventures, I know the time is going to fly by and May 4, our return date to America, will be here in a flash.  Before I spend too much time looking forward, though, here are a few highlights from the past month:

1.  Pictured below is the limo that 20 other people and I took for my GRANDMA's 80th birthday - insane!  We went out to the Speedway Club for dinner, and while Jane and I were fighting off some serious jetlag, it was a really cool night.

2.  After hearing for years about Jane's family's Christmas traditions (every family does things in their own unique way I guess), I got to experience them firsthand during Christmas in Ohio.  I was introduced to things like traditional Swedish smorgasbords, gingerbread house building parties, matching family pajamas, and Mediterranean Christmas Eve dinner at the church!  We also went ice skating and snow tubing at the Cleveland Indians ballpark one day - it was sweet, as you can tell from some of the Slattons' faces...

3.  SKIING!  Jane and I got to join my family in Colorado for a week, and I was so happy I didn't have to break my 20-year streak of skiing every winter.  Despite some extra-cold days (20 below...yikes), we had a blast and Jane absolutely ROCKED the slopes!  We also got to eat some really cool meals, including one on top of the mountain after a gondola and snow-cat ride.  It seems like food is a trend here, hmm...

These are just a few of the many things that made for a wonderful holiday.  Thank you so much for all of your prayers, and Happy New Year!