5. Supporting the Home Team

And lastly my family has thoroughly enjoyed keeping up on how the Dodgers are doing this season. We definitely do not have any baseball in Indonesia. Most of my students have never seen a game and have no idea how to play. My sister and I had the privilege to go see the Dodgers play this past week. We enjoyed cheering for the home team. We also went with the goal of getting on the big screen. We thought being decked out in blue and white might help. We waved at the camera guy and eventually he came over right near us and we got on! We were pretty stoked. :)

Me and my sister in Dodger colors

The big screen right after we got on

Great sunset

Love it!

Perfect ending... to a great summer :)

4. Relaxing on the beach

Our family tradition is that we go camping at the beach every summer in Carpenteria. This is one of the weeks I so look forward to during the year (especially when things get crazy and school gets busy). My dad went camping here when he was growing up and we started going when I was really young. We spent the week relaxing and resting. We swam in the ocean and lay in the sand. We sat around and read. My dad fished and caught a couple of small perch. We strolled through the small town and weekly farmer's market. We roasted marshmallows around the campfire. And we walked along the beach in the evenings and watched some beautiful sunsets. Bliss.

My dad- the fisherman

Like the sign?

Sitting around, lots of time and nowhere to go

Reading, reading, and more reading

Large campfires to keep warm

And lots and lots of sunsets:

3. Meeting a new addition

I miss a lot while I am gone in Indonesia. Mostly I miss people... family and friends. Occasionally I miss a favorite food or two. But I also miss significant events in the lives of those I love. This past year I missed the birth of my cousin's first baby. He and his wife had a baby boy. This summer I got to meet Micah for the first time.

2. Making new friends

I spent two weeks this summer in Southaven, Mississippi (just over the border from Memphis, TN). While there I helped with NICS's Pre-Field Orientation. This is a training session for all the new staff at all the NICS's schools around the world. Although I had already been through the training two summers ago before I left, I enjoyed being reminded of a lot of the important things that are shared about working with TCKs and living life overseas. While there I got to meet all our new staff coming to Bandung. I also met lots of new friends who work and teach at various schools all over the world.

A visit into Memphis leads us to enjoy the sunset over the Mississippi River. Just across the river is Arkansas.

The kids perform a song for us at the annual talent show... so cute!

Yes, I even did a little acting. The women staff advisers put together a skit for the talent show at the end of PFO.

Me and a new friend. Indonesia meets Japan. :) At the closing banquet we all wore international dress.

The Bandung, Indonesia crew (we totaled over 25)

My small group girls... spreading all over the world- Argentina, Brazil, Afghanistan, Ghana, and Bolivia.

1. Spending time as a family

I have loved spending time with family this summer. We have had many family dinners, eating yummy food and discussing life. We have laughed hard. We have spent time sitting around at night catching up on the breaking news with Michael Jackson. My family also introduced me to the Duggars, whom we enjoyed staying up on. I tried making Indonesian food and my family graciously ate it. Oh ya, and we tried all the new frozen yogurt places in town that have opened since I was last home. One of my favorite times was a family outing to the Hollywood Bowl.

My parents

Me and my younger sister

Top 5

Summer Highlights

The bags are being packed and the shopping is done. I am still unsure of how it is all going to fit.

I cannot believe summer is coming to an end. It has gone by so fast! I am reflecting back and realizing the summer has been full. I have really enjoyed my time in the States. Time with family. Time with friends. Time of relaxing. I feel refreshed and ready to head back to Indonesia for year #3.

Thought I would share my Top 5 summer highlights with you all as I say goodbye to America and goodbye to summer.

Here they are:

Grandmas are the Best

I love my grandma more than words could express.

Here are the girls. My grandma. Me. My mom. My younger sister and my older sister.

We decided to line up in height order from shortest to tallest. Now I know where I get my height from. :-)

My grandma and her sister at the farmer's market.

Last week I got to spend some time with my grandma and her sister. They are two of the cutest women I know. Doralyn and Betsy.

They are like two peas in a pod. At one point we played the game scattegories where you have to think of things in different categories that begin with a certain letter. They kept thinking of the same exact answers!

If me and my sisters are half that close when we grow up :) then I will consider myself thoroughly blessed.

Home Sweet Home

(The house where I grew up and where my parents still live.)

I am home for the summer. Enjoying time back with my family in Pasadena. Resting. Relaxing. Seeing old friends. Spending time with family. Eating lots and lots of food. Taking an online class. Catching up on all the things I wish I had time for during the year. Loving it.

One last trip... for this year

As a final hurrah a group of us took a beach trip to see some endangered sea turtles. A few of us did the trip by motor bike and then our PE teacher and his family drove their car. It was fun to have kids come on the trip, some of the cutest kids I have ever met. We saw really cool sites along the way, with the highlight of course being the sea turtles. I especially enjoyed the baby sea turtles! If only they were not endangered I might have stuck one in my pocket and taken it home. :) We were taken by a guide out to the beach where nightly the turtles come up onto the sand, dig a large whole, lay their eggs, and then bury them. It was pretty much like National Geographic close up. Here's a collage of pictures from the trip. There are many, many more but thought I would just give you a taste of all that we experienced.