Summer in the States

Immediately after school let out, I hopped on a plane to Los Angeles for my cousin Louis’ graduation from High School party. My sister, mom and niece met me there and we spent a nice weekend visiting with family and sweating in the unusually hot and humid temps of Orange County, California.

We flew to Minnesota on Monday and my dad picked us up at the airport. I spent the week relaxing and catching up with friends.

On Saturday, all of my aunts threw me a beautiful shower at my aunt Cindy’s house. It was fun to see everybody, eat delicious food and open cute gifts for Sienna. It’s a good thing I brought an empty suitcase to fill up!

On Sunday, my parents had a backyard picnic for friends and family. It was a beautiful day and the neighbors let us use one of those huge, inflated jumpers that they rented for a previous party, but it hadn’t been picked up yet. It was perfect as lots of people brought their kids and it kept them busy for hours.

Melanie and Rachel, friends that I worked with in Thailand, made it out to visit from Minneapolis. Mel brought her husband, Fabio, and their son, Luca. She was pregnant when I left Thailand, so it was fun seeing her little boy after two years.

I flew back to Los Angeles on Monday and my uncle Steve and cousin Kailee picked me up. We headed to Kailee’s soccer practice and then home to see my aunt Chris in Irvine. The temperature was back to normal in Southern CA and before I knew it it was the 4th of July! I didn’t feel like staying out late, so when my aunt, uncle and Kailee went to a friend’s house for dinner, drink and fireworks, I relaxed at home. I’m rarely home for the 4th of July, so the holiday really isn’t that big of a deal for me.

On Saturday, Chris, Kailee, one of Kailee’s friends and I drove to Temecula to visit my grandma, aunt Julie and my two cousins, JD and Cole. We went to the pool for an hour or two and spent the night.

I headed back to Irvine on Sunday and packed up my things. My junior high/high school friend Mindy sent a HUGE box of new and used clothing that her two year old has since grown out of, as well as a baby sling and a still-in-the-box monitor to my aunt’s house. Chris gave me one of those vacuum pack bags that worked perfectly. I was able to shrink everything down into a reasonable sized bag and fit it into my suitcase, which didn’t go over the weight limit at the airport.

My plane left around 11:30 pm that evening and I was happy to be in Business Class, although I still didn’t seem to have enough room. It felt like Sienna was jammed into my diaphram. After five hours of twisting and turning, I thankfully landed in Guatemala City at 5:30 am and my friend Michelle was there to pick me up and bring me home.