flooded

This visit has brought with it quite the range of emotions….  Maybe I’ll just focus on the positives for now.  Here I am with my new nephew, Torrence:

He's so precious. When I hold him, he makes me happy. I wish you could see his dark gray eyes.

I love this photo because of how small Torrence is in his grandpop’s arms:

They're comparing hands.

Can you believe this kid is five days old? Five days old! (In this picture.) He must be mature for his age.

We celebrated Christmas on the morning of Christmas Eve, since we had church that night and again the following morning. I got Dad a hand-carved wooden chess set from a market in Zambia. The pieces are all African animals. David is pretending to be bored/asleep.

Mom got me a book called /The Artist's Way/. It provides lots of fun exercises for enhancing your creativity, especially through writing. After flipping through it, I decided it was my favorite present -- I can't wait to start a creativity journal to use with it.

New dad Jon has been so fun to watch and talk to. He invented a "hiking technique" for getting Torrence to stop crying. Torrence and Jon bounce up and down on a rigorous imaginary hike. It works! I got him to stop crying by holding him while climbing up and down the stairs, up and down the stairs. Plus it was good exercise for me.

About that range of emotions….  Let me just say, it was definitely wise to spend the first two weeks of in-country life in Alaska, which is not quite America when you get right down to it.  Ohio has gotten very fast and built-up, and the drivers scare me…so it takes some more adjusting just to be here.  When does life ever stop being in transit mode?