R & R 2014--Part 2

Hi!

Man, time is flying by for us!  What about you?
Are you finding it as hard to believe as I am that January is over???
How can that be?! 

We trust that you are enjoying 2015!
At this rate, for me at least, before I know it, 2016 will be here!

Well, here and there the holiday spirit is still evident here in Nepal!

New Year's Day was not a holiday here and it was just business as usual!

New Year's Day here is in April.  If you missed my first post about our first new year in Nepal
(in 2011),
you can read it here:  http://himalayanhappenings.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html

Since the holiday season just ended not too long ago, we are missing our family and friends--

and remembering the lovely vacation we had just a few months ago!

Two posts ago (if you missed it, click here),

I posted about the first part of our vacation which was in Paraguay.

This post will be about the second part of our vacation, which was in the States.

We arrived on my mom's birthday and took her out to eat with my sister
and family and Mom's sister.

How fun it was to just "fall in" to family life after a year's absence!

Of course, since we now have Skype, we can "pop in" for a visit
whenever we have time. which is SUCH A BLESSING!!!,

Back in the '80s, when my folks lived in Swaziland, Africa,
we never even imagined that such a thing would be possible!
One day I'll post about those "olden" days!

Halloween was coming up, so Ramon was able to make a new friend!

This also meant the leaves were changing...

and it was nice to see my flag by this beautiful tree.

This was right across the street from my mom's library in Williamsport, Maryland.
You know how all along many roads in America you see historical signs
and you never stop to read them!
Well, I got to read this one, as it's right where you park you car to go to the library!

If I learned the information on it waaaay back in History class, I certainly had forgotten it!
One day we'll set out to read all the signs we see! It's interesting!

Naturally, eating out was a fun part of  our vacation!
(Especially eating salad!)

We went with my uncle,

aunts and mom to a favorite Mexican restaurant (El Rancho--if you're
ever in Hagerstown, MD, and get a hankering for Mexican, we recommend it)
on the day that a Mariachi band was playing!

My aunts had to shout to hear each other!

It was a lot of fun!  They took two of Ramon's requests!
Some of the songs were familiar to me (like La Cucaracha!),
but Ramon knew all of them!

Have you heard of Waterford, Virginia?
It's a town that's a National Historic Landmark!
Every October they host the Waterford Homes Tour and Crafts Exhibit
and we got to attend this year!  Yeah!
If you know me, you'll know I love these kinds of things!
To read more about the town, visit their website:
]http://www.waterfordvillage.org/

Even though it rained off and on (yes, we had brought our umbrellas),
we enjoyed walking around the town.

 Yes, we often looked at the map like these folks are doing!

Look...

and listen!  Street musicians!

Here are some of the homes we got to go inside of!
Yes, we had to wait in line, but it was worth it.
You know when you always say, "Boy, I wonder what that house looks like inside?"
Well, if you come to Waterford in October, you can find out--
sorry, no photos allowed inside!

Did we stop here?  You bet!  Yum!

Here are the craft exhibits--always fun to see!

Nah, this time we didn't buy anything...had to think about suitcase weight!

However, we DID go shopping (as often as possible!!!) and we DID find one or two things to buy!

I super enjoyed seeing mall playgrounds--I dreamed of bringing one back
for the little ones here!

Look at this:

After one year's absence from the U.S., I discovered that you can't just
buy a box of Wheat Thins or Triscuits anymore!  It's a big decision now!
I had no idea!  I experienced system overload and just got the original flavor!

The very best part of our vacation, of course, is when we visit our family and friends!

My cousin's granddaughter is now running and it was hard to get a picture of her
that wasn't blurred!  It was sure fun playing with her though!

All too soon we had to say goodbye and before we knew it we were back in Nepal,

among the now familiar scenes.

You can only imagine how happy I was to see my little sweeties as they ran to greet me!
(Sorry it's blurry, but don't you love the looks on their faces as they look at me?!)

Here's the whole school with a Thank You sign I made for some of our donors.

Ramon's been very busy, but he wouldn't have it any other way!
Here he is at a goodbye dinner for the visiting volunteer ENT Team from
Hong Kong Adventist Hospital.

The visiting volunteer medical teams relieve a lot of suffering
and we are very thankful that they are able to come.

If you missed the previous post about the other teams that came recently,
click here:  http://himalayanhappenings.blogspot.com/2014/12/happenings-at-hospital.html

Well, please enjoy a wonderful February, take care, and God bless!
Until next time!