Back Home!

I returned safe and sound from my exhausting but fun vacation yesterday afternoon. I have some pictures, but I couldn't post them last night because the phone and DSL are out at my house. Maybe I'll put pictures up tomorrow. Maybe I'll do a few each day. Maybe it'll be a mini-series!

In addition to the lack of phone service, I also came home to two roaches in the kitchen, 95-degree weather, a bunch of little dead bugs on an endtable, no food in the house, and no hot water because I couldn't get the water heater relit. Nevertheless, I'm glad to be home and it was nice to get to fly back early and have the afternoon to unpack and rest before the rest of the family gets home this evening.

As I think about the trip there are a few things I'm thankful for:

• I got to visit with cousins I haven't seen in years.
• I saw lots of beautiful scenery.
• I got to spend some time in cool weather.
• I was able to get the pine tree sap off my khaki capris. (Secret weapon: alcohol. Lesson: don't wear khaki capris on a camping trip.)
• We found a campground in a nearby town when we were run out of Arches National Park by a sandstorm.
• We got to see some fantastic arches in spite of the sandstorm.
• I didn't get sick on the five 10-foot ladders at Mesa Verde. (I hate ladders.)
• Becca only stuck one foot in the ice-cold creek and didn't fall all the way in.
• It didn't rain on our open-car narrow-gauge train ride.
• The twig that smacked me in the face when I leaned out of the train car didn't draw blood.
• Seth didn't find the abandoned bicycle horn until the second-to-the-last day of the trip.
• The chicken grease I splattered on my pants while serving food at my cousin's rehearsal dinner came out completely. (I kept having laundry problems this trip!)
• The sunscreen-induced rash on my face that caused my skin to bubble, turn red, then start flaking off got quite a bit better before my cousin's wedding.
• The wedding was a beautiful outdoor ceremony that went very well in spite of the pint-sized ringbearer throwing a fit and the mother of the bride standing up at the wrong time and the grandparents doing musical chairs at the front trying to get seated!
• When a Bible for the Scripture reading at the ceremony couldn't be found, John came through with his nice, black-leather, gold-edged Bible that he had in the van. Yay!
• The two alarm clocks I'd set for getting up for my flight ended up being unnecessary because I just woke up. (Maybe I was still wired from the night before.)
• My uncle took me to the airport, along with my cousin and her new husband who were departing for their honeymoon. I was afraid it would be awkward and I'd just be in the way, but it ended up being a great chance to visit, even though I think they were more exhausted than they'd ever been in their whole lives!
• Last but not least, most of the 500 emails I found when I got to work this morning turned out to be junk that was quickly deleted.

Hooray! I've had a vacation and lived to tell about it!!