I flew back to the USA on Friday December 13th. Aside from being held up at Heathrow for a few hours, I made it without anything freaky happening. The air in California was so warm and welcoming--yes, it even smells good for those who have not experienced the sweet fragrance of freedom. I mean the Bay Area. I stayed the first few days with my lovely friend Christi and saw lots of friends at parties and church and more parties.
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| Christi, Jefferson, myself, and Graham posing at the ugly sweater Christmas party. |
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| Like my sweater? Found it at a random store in Bath. This is our group mug shot. |
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| Old friends still reuniting before parting ways again. Rachel is headed to Australia for Westin's internship, Kristine is newly moved to the Bay Area with Hunter, and Maren is in med school in Philadelphia with Sam in his PhD program. |
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| Baby G had directed her ward choir Christmas program this Sunday, and afterwards we went to Sunset beach. |
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| Milo the cat appraising Dad's gifts from Bath Christmas market; garlic horseradish sauce and Turkish delights. |
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| My darling friend Monica married! I got to witness her sealing in the Draper temple and then attend her reception at the Startup building in Provo. |
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| A special pre-Christmas family dinner with the Dreyfous family. I loved cooking for hours with Lizzy to prepare this delicious meal. |
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| A highlight of my time in Salt Lake was this sisters cross-country skiing outing up the canyon. I'm a pretty sloppy skier but who doesn't love a good thigh-burning workout. |
Christmas in Salt Lake was Norwegian style and I loved learning about the traditions Philip and Linda have. A highlight was the brunch Lizzy and Philip hosted two days after Christmas. It's basically an open-house with tons of food so people can stop by all day.
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| This Norwegian prince can make the most delicious eggs. Ever. |
After a week of fun and partying, we all piled into the Passat to drive the 12 hours across Nevada and the parts of California no one cares about to reach Palo Alto. What a glorious week of New Year's weather awaited us. We took trips to Carmel and San Francisco and threw yet another open house party on New Year's eve. It literally just doesn't stop with the Gilmans.
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| Turtle Hill as its known to the locals (Emma) and its view of the city. |
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| These mosaic steps in the Sunset district start with the ocean, the earth, the stars, the sun, and the moon. |
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| At Land's End, following Baby G into the labyrinth. |
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| I didn't cheat to get to the middle. |
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