Oh. My. Heavens.  After sifting through 1750 pictures from our summer vacation, I was able to narrow it down to these, and after two weeks of work, here it is.  I'll let the pics do most of the talking seeing as how I'm overcoming jetlag, trying to organize the house, get on top of the kids schoolwork, and have a "vacation from the vacation."  :)

The 75 or so day countdown to go "home" was over, school was over, and we were on our way home! We were lucky enough to be on the same plane with another embassy family (Reese, Riley, and Rowan) and one of Savvy's friend's from school, Molly.  Our flight didn't leave until 10:00pm, and we had to arrive at 7pm, so we had some time to kill.  The kids kept each other entertained during the 3 hours we had to wait before our flight took off, and I had some adult conversation in English.  A little technology helped too.  :)

 Saying goodbye to Luanda...for a few months anyway.

 Entertaining themselves off the plane in Frankfurt, Germany:  During the flight, it's hard for the kids to want to do anything but watch movies and play games on the screen that stares them in the face on the back of the seat in front of them.  So while we have our long layovers, they can stretch out a little and get more creative.

 During all the flights and layovers, the kids only slept for maybe an hour and a half!  Too much excitement and adrenaline running through them I guess.  So this is what happened after we were picked up by Grandma Marlene in Los Angeles:  We started out in a borrowed car from Uncle Scott (so we could fit all of our luggage) where the kids first fell asleep, and then after having our first meal at McDonald's (of course), we moved to Grandma's car where they fell asleep again.  

And the next day after church, on our way to get family pics with all of my siblings and their families, the girls fell asleep again in the same way they did the day before.  There was A LOT of sleep to catch up on!  :)

 Taking pictures feeling jetlagged is not the funnest thing to do, but it was necessary because my niece Peyton was going back up to BYU-I the next day. So after we landed in LA, I made sure to get my hair cut because I haven't found a place in Angola that knows how to cut my hair. :)  It was a beautiful venue for the picture taking, and it was great to be with my mom, siblings, and nieces and nephews!  Hard to believe it had been over a year since we had seen each other!  Mindy and Scott recently had their new baby Isla and all of the other kids have been growing like weeds!

 We found a lot of fun things to do in California--most of it outdoors because that is what we've been craving.  I found these wonderful trails for walking, biking, etc. in my mom's neighborhood where I went jogging in the mornings.  I would run back to the house and get the kids so they could ride their ripsticks that we brought with us.  I loved the scenery!

Naturally, going home to California, meant time at amusement parks and the beach.  We decided to go to Knott's Berry Farm, Legoland, and Universal Studios, a first for the kids.  They had so much fun going on rides with their cousins!  And I was especially grateful for my brothers and sister that could stomach the dizzying rides so my kids could ride them!

 My mom was a trooper walking around the amusement parks with us and caring for the little ones and Kennedy while the rest of us went on rides!  Katy and Mindy were right along side her helping with their children when the kids didn't reach the height requirement.  :(

 I had to get a picture of this!  Ryder is on Scott's shoulders because Scott put him there.  :)  At the very end of our day at Legoland as we were walking to the exit gates, we couldn't find Ryder.  We thought he was in the bathroom with the other kids, but when we called his name, he didn't answer.  We all broke up and went searching...probably for 20 minutes.  The park security was involved, getting pictures of him so they knew what he looked like, etc.  Then finally, someone went back into the bathroom and called his name again, and this time he answered.  He was still in there doing his business.  :)  So for a few minutes, we were all relieved and made sure everyone else was still accounted for, and we turn around and Ryder was gone again!  We called and called for him, for at least another few minutes.  He reappeared from wherever he was, and that's when Scott threw him up on his shoulders so that we would be able to walk out of the park knowing where he was.  He gave us all heart attacks.  :) Glad he was safe!

Since we were down in San Diego already, we decided to stay overnight in a hotel and go to the Mormon Battalion site.  The site tells the history of some of the early members of the LDS church that were heading west for religious freedom, and were asked to volunteer in the U.S. army during the Mexican-American war of 1846-1848.  They ended up marching almost 2,000 miles from Iowa to San Diego, what has become known as one of the longest infantry marches in U.S. history.

The museum was amazing in that it recreated what life was like back in the 1800's--panning for "gold," making bricks, using a well, using a washboard for washing clothes, etc.  The kids felt all too comfortable there for almost an hour "playing" with all of these things.  I think we've watched a few too many episodes of "Little House on the Prairie."  :)

Our last amusement park was Universal Studios with all of my siblings and their families.  We were very grateful for the time they took off from work and their day to day lives to spend with us at all of these parks!  Fun times!

And of course the drive home from the fun always ended up looking like this:

ISLA'S BABY BLESSING AND FATHER'S DAY

Beautiful little baby Isla was blessed on Father's Day.  It was a nice way to get together with everyone and celebrate Isla as well as wish my dad, brothers, and brother-in-law a happy father's day.  We missed Bri of course, so we talked to him for a while on the phone so he would know we had not forgotten him and that we love and appreciate him.  :)  Mindy put this adorable little outfit on Isla after the blessing and she has this cute chair in her room, so I had to get a pic.  :)

The day of my dad's 65th birthday, the kids and I ventured out to a duck and turtle pond.  My dad joined us, bringing bread to feed the ducks and showed us how to grab the turtles so we could hold them.  This of course was all against the "rules" of the park.  :) 

 The kids had been dying to go to one of their favorite restaurants in California, "The Whole Enchilada."  So we slipped on over after the park and took my dad out to lunch to celebrate his birthday.

While we were waiting for Grandpa's birthday party to start, Uncle Scott and Thomas built a computer!  I asked Scott before we came to the states if he could teach Thomas more about the inside of a computer by maybe taking an old one apart or building one.  Thomas has been taking computers and other electronics apart for years now, so being in Angola without these things at his fingertips, has been killing him.  With Scott's profession and experience, he was the perfect person to teach him.  Amazingly, they built the computer in less than an hour.  Maybe 40 minutes or so.  And the fun thing to see, what that even though Thomas didn't know what everything did, he knew where most of the parts were supposed to go, simply from his experience of taking computers apart.  Thomas and I were both grateful for Scott and his willingness to give him this opportunity!

The last part of our time in California was spent at my mom's beach house in Newport.  We had fun hanging out at the beach and house together, eating, and letting the kids play.

At the beach, Rhea spent most of her time singing and playing in the water by herself, catching crabs every now and then, while Thomas and Savannah dug in the sand and braved the boogie boards with cousins.

Savannah turned 9 while we were there!  Grandma made it nice and got a cake for her and she got to open presents from everyone.  She loved the jewelry making set and all of the clothes she was given!

 Along with relaxing, we women of course had to do a "Pinterest craft."  Actually, I was feeling very patriotic (missing the U.S.) before arriving and saw that a craft similar to this was being taught in Utah at Thanksgiving Point during the time I was in California.  So my mom got all of the supplies for us and figured out the how's of making it work (bless her).  I thought they turned out cute and now mine is hanging up in our apartment here in Angola on the inside of our front door.  It was great to see my family in California, have fun, relax, and catch up with them.  We appreciate my mom putting up with us in her house for so long and helping to coordinate the schedules of so many families to make the most of our time there!  We will always remember our time there this summer! 

Packed in like sardines on the drive to Utah!  :)

 We had to put Savannah in the front so everyone had more room to stretch out.  The airbag stayed on so I felt better about her being up front with me.  It was either that, or listening to complaining and fighting in tight quarters the whole 10 hours!

The first four days or so in Utah, we got to spend with Aunt Misty's family again along with my dad and Becky.  We did some hiking and all of the fun 4th of July activities that Utah county provides--the hot air balloon launch, the Freedom Festival parade in Provo, and the Stadium of fire (which I hadn't been to since I was a kid!

It was wonderful to be in the beautiful mountains again.  We have missed them!

Before hitting Stadium of Fire, we ate dinner at Cafe Rio.  We've missed a lot of our favorite restaurants, and that is one of them.  Here my sister and I had to do the patriotic sister pic.  :)
Amazingly in the 35 years they've been doing the Stadium of fire, not much has changed from when I last saw it as a kid.  Still a great show with kids dancing, jets flying overhead, parachuters, singers, and amazing fireworks.  This year the featured music band was Journey, a band I grew up listening to, so the stadium rang out with everyone in the audience singing along to every word.  It was an enjoyable night for me.

 The show went from 8-11pm, so the kids were exhausted and didn't fully appreciate the music as I did.  Rhea even fell asleep during the fireworks!   

Around this same time, we got to meet up with my wonderful friend Melissa and her kids that we met back in Virginia.  They are posted in Africa as well, Mauritania.  She helped me a ton in Virginia to prepare for our first post, and now she continues to be a support miles away.  We visited literally ALL day, and could have probably kept visiting! Nice to share our Africa experiences and laugh over our 3rd world country challenges. It's nice to know neither of us is alone.  :)

We thoroughly enjoyed seeing many of our friends (some are not pictured :( ) during our time in Utah.  Byron, Rachelle, and family fed us wonderful pasta (and zucchini for me!) and homemade pizza that was to die for!  These meals were real treats for our deprived taste buds and it was so great to catch up with them!

A few months before we left for the states, the kids gave me a list of all the things they wanted to do while we were “home” in Utah.  The first thing was to go to our house.  The kids wanted to go in the house and walk around before the new set of renters moved in, but we got there a day too late.  It was hard for them not to be able to go in the house, but they did enjoy the outside, playing on their old swingset playground and romping around the neighborhood and the city park like old times.  We ended up having to do some landscape work in the front yard, so the kids had hours to run around the neighborhood and play with friends.  And the landscape work made us feel right at home again!

While in Alpine, we took advantage of the opportunity to take lessons.  Thomas has continued improving on the piano, almost independently this last year in Angola, and is loving it.  So he was very interested in and motivated to take weekly lessons with Rachel, his teacher he had before we left.  Savannah was also very interested in taking horse back riding lessons, so we worked that into the schedule too.  She of course wanted to wear her new shirt from Aunt Mindy and Uncle Scott for the occasion.

 Her teacher Vicky, was WONDERFUL!  Savannah loved her.  Unbelievable and amazingly, she's 71 years old!  She was so patient with Savannah and was as much a talker as Savvy, so they had some great rides in the mountains chatting away.  Savvy rode her horse Pepper like she had been doing it for years.  She's a natural and really has a love of horses (and all animals really). We had to drag her away after her lessons because she wanted to continue brushing their hair, cleaning their hooves, etc.  :)

 Together the girls did a Scera art/music/drama camp along with some gymnastics lessons at the American Fork rec center with our friend Janna and her kids.  She was sweet enough to invite us to participate in their private lessons they had a few times a week.  It was awesome!  The girls have always wanted to take a gymnastics class so they got a taste of that and got some energy out at the same time.  We always cooled off after the lessons with swimming outside at the rec center pool.  I appreciated the time I had with Janna and her sweet kids again!

 Thomas also did a few camps at Thanksgiving Point.  One was an “Electronics Unplugged” class that he took with Michael, his best friend from Alpine, and the other was a Lego Robotics camp that he took with Sean, Michael’s brother.  These boys were dying to play together so we got them together for a handful of play dates too.  It was wonderful to see Louise and Mike too!

  Thomas also wanted to spend some time with his best friends from Waldorf last year, Bryant and Orson.  So they all signed up for a week-long biking, hiking, and climbing camp up at Snowbird.  Amanda let Thomas sleep over all week with their family which took care of the daily drop-off and pick up as well and saved me a lot of driving.  They were wonderful to Thomas and he loved his week with them!  Thomas was lucky in that he got a new mountain bike too (buying one was smarter than paying the cost to rent one), which we sadly had to leave behind when returning to Angola.

And of course, a few things on our list of desired places to visit, was Thanksgiving Point and Nickle City.  We appreciated the beauty of the Thanksgiving Point gardens when we lived in Utah, but we especially do now, along with the ability to stroll around in safety while appreciating the beauty.  And Nickle City of course was cheap to us when we lived in Utah, but is unbelievably cheap to us now--$0.05-.20 to play a game?!

Since Briant wasn't here at the beginning our trip to enjoy walking in the mountains, we decided to take him up to Sundance and ride the tram and hike around a little.  We enjoyed listening to Grandpa's continuing story of "Harry Bear" on the tram as we enjoyed the breathtaking scenery.  It's hard to get tired of those mountains!

One thing that I love about Utah are all of the theaters.  So we went to two of our favorite, the Hale Center Theater and the Sundance Outdoor Theater.  Before we left Utah last summer, we saw Peter Pan at the Hale and absolutely loved it.  So we saw the delightful musical "Into the Woods" this time.  Entertaining for the whole family.

At Sundance, we saw "The Wizard of Oz."  That was going to be a really late performance though, so we opted not to have the kids go.  It ended up being a good decision because the weather didn't cooperate and we had a lot of rain during the performance.  Bri and I went with Becky, Auntie, and Emily who was in town to take her sons to EFY.  My dad wasn't able to go because he had to fly out unexpectedly the day before to visit Uncle Ray who was struggling with some serious health issues.

A summer packed with fun and more fun.  Next came the family reunion for Briant's family, graciously hosted by Lisa and Rich in their bright and beautiful home.  They were very patient with all of the chaos and messes we made there!  We relaxed in the pool, played games, ate great food, and got caught up on life.  We missed Amelia and Jack and a very pregnant Katrina and her kids!

Here the fun was sponsored by Dave and Shauna at a park across from their house.  They entertained everyone with an impressively long homemade "slip and slide" for the kids...and dads.  :)  They had a blast!  I couldn't believe how many times they slid down the hill only to run right back up for more.

My dad joined us a few times during the reunion while Becky was out of town, getting a chance to see his best friend Gene and family.

While at Shauna's, we had a visit from Elder Cook and his family!  He was a missionary in Angola that had just gotten home a week before.  We got to know him while he served in our Angolan branch for 4 months.  He was there when we got to Angola--his friendly smile was a welcome sight every week along with his English that we could understand!  Besides being a wonderful missionary in his humble way, he helped the kids so much with translating for them in Primary and filling in when their English speaking primary teacher wasn't there.  He also translated for us in Sacrament.  He was a heaven sent blessing in our early days here in Angola--we will NEVER forget him!  We may have sent this pic to my niece Madison.  It would be nice to keep him in the family.  :)

A Saturday morning trip to Bridal Veil Falls.  Getting some energy out before the little hike to the falls.

The little kids had fun playing in the water and climbing around the rocks at the base of Bridal Veil.  Shauna, nearing the end of her pregnancy, was a trooper!

A group of us hiked up closer to the top of the falls.  We enjoyed being closer to the splash and sounds of the waterfall.  It's amazing how big the waterfall is close up!

On the last day of the reunion, I celebrated my birthday, the big 4-0!  The last few reunions we've had have overlapped with my birthday, so my in-laws have been so sweet and generous to help me celebrate.  Shauna even made a yummy gluten free cake with sugar free chocolates on top, the 2nd reunion she has done this for me!  :)

The reunion was a wonderful way to see our adorable nieces and nephews and their growing bodies and personalities.  They are such good kids and it's gratifying to see the "teens" doing so well in their academic and spiritual pursuits, as well as their parents.  :)  I count myself lucky to have such fabulous inlaws!

The day after the reunion "ended," our family enjoyed another hike, an early morning hike, to the Timpanogos Caves with Uncle Rich and his kids, Uncle Dave and his boys, and my dad and Becky and Emily's family (I thought I took pics but I can't find them!).  It was a beautiful hike.  The weather didn't totally cooperate so we hiked in some light drizzle, but fortunately it didn't get really bad until we were leaving!

I will always remember Brenna and Emily singing us some girl camp songs to help get our minds off the "pain" of the hike.  And I will never forget how I got to witness Brenna take a bite of a small snail or slug.  I couldn't believe that she actually did it.  I think I underestimated Brenna before then, and her dad owes her $5.  :)

 That night, my dad and Becky hosted a birthday party for me at a park and invited family to join: Uncle Doyle and Aunt Soni and their grandson Mike, along with my stepsisters Natalie and Emily and their families, and sweet Auntie; my inlaws even came and helped me celebrate again, along with Shauna and her family, generously bringing pizzas and other food for the party.  We even got to see Aunt Delores who was in town visiting grandchildren!

 And then a few days later, my sweet friends Susie and Stevie hosted a birthday party for me, inviting some of my closest friends from Alpine.  I of course missed those that were out of town and couldn't come!  We had so much fun!  Their beautiful smiles in this pic remind me of all the laughing we did that night.  Seriously I can't remember the last time that I laughed that hard!  Even trying to get this picture with them they had me laughing!  Susie and Stevie made an incredible meal of carne asada tacos with fresh salsa and guacamole, along with fruits and a yummy lemon dessert.  I have missed them and their sweet and generous spirits this last year, along with all that I learn from them.  They have each truly inspired me and touched my life in so many ways.  There's nothing like fabulous girlfriends!

We spent our last few days in Utah shopping for new shoes & clothes, suitcases, and liquids that we wanted to bring back with us (sauces like barbeque sauce, salad dressings, etc.).  We have missed American stores and shopping, especially Walmart and Costco!  We had an interesting time trying to make everything fit in the car.  That's usually what happens when you shop at Costco!  :)

 And of course we had to fit in a few more fun outdoor activities of river rafting and ziplining!  We missed my dad as he was with Uncle Ray at the end of our time there.  We understood though and glad he could be there with him and his siblings.

And ziplining in the mountains!  This was the first time for the kids on a zipline longer than 40-50 feet.  It was literally hundreds of feet long, full speed, through a forest, and very high off the ground.  I was shocked at how brave they were!  They didn't show any fear at all!  They even did it twice!

We appreciated the generosity of my dad and Becky dealing with us in their home for so long and for the use of their car that gave us the freedom to run around and do all of these fun things!  We made some fabulous memories.  Sadly, our time in the west was over and we had to move on.  Our last stop before returning to Angola:  Florida to do Disneyworld.  We LOVED seeing all of our wonderful family and friends and will always cherish the memories we made together and look forward to more!

We maxed out our luggage allowance of two bags each, almost 50 lbs. each, with 2 carry-ons. :)

We were welcomed to Florida with this beautiful sky.  We could definitely tell we had left the desert--we were back in the heat and humidity, similar to that of Angola.  Our skin fully appreciated the moisture and the dry scaly skin we had in Utah was gone!

We loved our "hotel."  It was the Sheraton Vistana, which I guess is a very large timeshare property.  We don't have a timeshare there, but rented it through Costco travel.  It ended up being cheaper than Disney hotels there that were much smaller and only provided beds.  I'm going to call it an apartment because it had a full kitchen, 2 bedrooms with full bathrooms and a large tub in the master, a large dining room and family room complete with a washer/dryer.

We caught a free shuttle bus every day from our apartment to Epcot where we were dropped off to catch another bus or monorail to get to the exact park we wanted.

Our first morning:  The Magic Kingdom.   

 Right as you walk in, as with Disneyland, you start to feel the excitement of being there--the characters, rides, people, etc.  It's a unique place!

 Briant does a perfect impression of Gaston, the character from Beauty and the Beast.  He has done this impression for years; so naturally I had to get his picture with the statue of him.  Unfortunately the line was too long to get a picture with the "real" Gaston.  :)

 Driving the Disneyland cars are always a highlight for the kids.  They of course all insisted on driving, and wanted to "go again!"

 Eating lunch at Pinocchio's place.  Also, rides with the 3D glasses are the big thing now.  We experienced that at Universal Studios too.  You sit in a theater room and they blow air on you, squirt water, move your seat, etc. to make you feel like you're right there in the story that is unfolding on the large screen.

 Glad we got to see the famous Disney parade.  Here's Rhea waving to Elsa and Anna.  :)

Another highly requested ride--Big Thunder Mountain.  Classic that I still love!

And of course Space Mountain.  A favorite for everyone.  Splash Mountain and the Haunted Mansion were also on our list, although Rhea and I sat out of the Haunted Mansion because it was a little too scary for her.  

 Day two:  Disney's Animal Kingdom, also Rhea's birthday

They had a lot of exotic birds and animals from all over the world.  It was funny to us that we went to Florida to see a few types of animals from Angola!

Of course at Animal Kingdom, we had all of the animal characters from the Disney movies!

While waiting to get pictures taken with these characters, there was a park employee making up improv songs for the kids.  It was perfect because it was Rhea's birthday that day, so he worked that into the song.

 At the Animal Kingdom park, they had books of badges you could earn by going on an educational scavenger hunt.  The kids were totally into it--they talked to people at different stations that taught them or there were areas of independent searching and learning.  It gave them a fun purpose to learn as we explored the park.  We actually saw a turtle in surgery with the vet team they have at the park.  It was a turtle that had a cracked shell from getting hit by a car.  They had a petting area as well where you could brush the goats.

 They split the park into different countries, so of course we walked through Africa, Asia, etc.  They had only a few rides at the park and one of them was a new one called "Everest."  Very fun and totally unpredictable.  Lots of turns and driving backward.  I thought I handled it pretty well until we stopped and then I realized how sick I was.  Briant and the kids loved it so much that they got in line again, which surprisingly was only about 20 minutes long.  That was a highlight.  Along with seeing the gorillas come out for their lunch!

 The other ride we went on and loved, was the rapids.  Hard to tell in this pic, but we are all totally drenched---especially me!  Luckily this was our last ride.  As we made our way uncomfortably toward the exit of the park, the humid skies unleashed all of its water and we had to find shelter for a while.  We entertained ourselves in the gift shop of the Rain Forest restaurant, thinking that it was going to ease up.  Well it never did before we had to leave and catch our shuttle.  So we walked to the pick up zone in the POURING rain and stood out in the POURING rain, waiting for our shuttle come.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of us and the rain, but there was so much rain, that to protect our camera and other electronics, we had to put them in plastic bags underneath everything we were carrying in our backpack.  We didn't feel half as bad about getting soaked on the Rapids ride after that!

3rd day:  Disney's Hollywood Studios

The Toy Story ride was great--it kept breaking down though, so it was rough until we finally got on the ride.

 The kids love the show "Phineas and Ferb" so it was fun to see these characters.

 Honestly besides the Tower of Terror for Thomas, Savvy, and I, the highlight of this park was probably the two shows we saw:  The Frozen sing along and the Indiana Jones stunt show.  For days after, the kids tried to be like the actors in the stunt show, "hitting" and "punching" each other with sound effects.  When the show first started, they thought the actors were really hitting each other. :)

4th day:  Epcot

 I came to Epcot when I was younger, but I don't remember much except that there were a bunch of "countries" to visit.  I think it's still the same with a few additional little rides.  We were expecting it to be more educational as you visited the countries, but there wasn't a lot of learning about the country as much as the commercialism they offered.  You could buy dragons from China, pearls from Japan, sombreros from Mexico, etc.  A disappointment for sure.  Disney could do so much more with it for the learning of kids I believe.

 Visiting Canada was fun because they had a show--they had a contest of teams that threw axes at target boards, chopped trees, and balanced on moving tree logs in water.  Very entertaining and gave us a little taste of the outdoorsy ways of lumberjacks in Canada.

Hats in the gift shop of Norway.

Dad, entertaining the kids after we ate lunch.  Note the wet, sweat on their heads and the shiny faces.  :)

There were a few rides at Epcot, and one of them was "Test Track."  The kids loved it.  You got to design your car before you "took it out on the track" to test it, to see how it performed.  Our car's audio system didn't work--it was the system that would have explained everything like the purpose of the ride.  We ended up figuring it out on our own, but it was confusing at first.  So when we pulled up to exit the ride, we were asked if it worked.  We said that it didn't.  I then quickly went on to tell the conductor with a smile on my face, that I didn't think we were able to fully appreciate the ride as we should have because the system was down, and that we should probably ride again.  With a smile on his face, he said, "Of course you have to ride again!"  We went right back on!  I think I got high fives from all the kids.  :)

Again, as our day was winding down, we were forced to find shelter in the park.  Everyone had the same idea:  Inside the gift shops.  Finally as it died down to a drizzle, we exited the park.  Shoes and clothes dripping.

Our last day in Orlando was spent relaxing at the pool and packing up to get ready to leave the next day.

And our last moments in our apartment the morning of our check out, were spent finishing off all of our milk, cheese and other dairy products so they didn't go to waste.  Oh, and the rootbeer.  We also made sure that we froze some bacon and sausage to pack in our luggage to Angola.  We wanted to make a stop at Costco and stock up on cheese, meats, etc., but the full week at the Disney parks wore us down and we were feeling tired.  Besides, I don't think we could have fit another thing into our luggage.  :)

The trip home is one that I hope we can laugh at some day.  It was uneventful and going well until the 1.5 hr delay in Chicago got us in later than we should have to Brussels to get our connector flight to Angola.  It wasn't late, it was just later than the airline wanted, so they gave our seats away even though we still had 20 minutes before it was supposed to take off.  We talked with a United representative and asked her to call the Brussels Air gate and tell them we were coming, but she said that they had already closed the gate.  We could do nothing.  We would have been home 8.5 hrs after that.  Instead we sat for 6 hrs. in the airport just so we could catch a 40 minute flight from Brussels to Frankfurt, just so we could sit for another 6 hrs. to catch our last 8.5 hr. flight into Angola.  

In Frankfurt, we made ourselves at home in McDonalds, watching the airplanes take-off and land.  A lot of airplanes.  Thomas even started drawing the planes. :)

We all tried to catch some zzzzz's in the different airports.  And luckily the kids slept almost 2 hours on the plane on the way home (not nearly enough, but it's better than 30 mins like our first trip to Angola!).  Traveling just messes with your sleep and that's all there is to it.  The kids missed their first day of school to sleep in and rest.  Amazingly they bounced back pretty quickly from the jetlag and went on to enjoy their first week of school!

 That summarizes our 2 month journey to the U.S. this summer!  It was a wonderful summer full of living and learning.  It was nice to have that living and learning be on American soil with those we love and with the daily conveniences and freedoms that we enjoy there.  We really do appreciate our generous families that sacrificed to have us visit and for all of the time they spent with us while there!  Surprisingly, there are aspects of our lives here in Angola we have missed over the summer and it's good to be back.  Even more surprising, was the comment Savannah made as we were showing our passports to a lady at the customs window here in Luanda.  She whispered, "I've actually missed hearing Portuguese."  We're doing well adjusting back to life here in Angola...

After two months of being away from the computer, I'm playing catch up on our lives.  As the school year ended, we prepared for our trip back to the states, so things were a little crazy.  Here are the kids getting ready for one of their last days of school, and doing the daily ride down the elevator to catch the embassy "bus" (van).

Sadly, we've had to say good-bye to a lot of friends.  Friends from the embassy that are moving on to other posts, and friends from school returning to their native country.  Thomas' best friend Mudanch is one of them, returning to India.  We're missing Kalen and Kera as they move to Lesotho, a small country that lies within South Africa.  Our friends Becca and Jesse are moving to Liberia, Patricia or Poopee as she is nicknamed is moving to Kenya, Briggs is moving to Mozambique, and Rora and Mia are returning to D.C. for an assignment after being out of the country for several years.  The long, daily commute of these kids every day to school in this van has been a challenge in many ways.  But I believe that this ride with friends (who are more like siblings, fighting and all), has provided my kids with a support group they could count on. 

 Savannah had a grade-level play that she was singing in, so I took the day off to go to it.  I got a ride on an embassy van that leaves to go out to the school at 12:30pm to make sure it's there by 3pm.  Traffic is unpredictable, so better safe than sorry.  We got there a little early, so I bounced around the school to see my kids and get pics. Thomas was in his classroom playing games that they had to create on their own.

 Savannah's Portuguese class, watching a movie in Portuguese.

 Rhea with some of her friends and her teacher, Ms. Karisse whom we absolutely loved!

 After school, we all loaded up in the embassy van and got dropped off at "Poopee's" house.  Her mom works for the U.S. government, but she was in Angola on assignment for the Angolan government, so they lived right by the school.  The only embassy family that had a literally 4 minute commute!  And they lived in a house in a gated community with lawns, streets to ride bikes, etc.  A few of these communities exist, along with the kids' school, because they've been built mostly by the oil companies that are established there.  This was the first time in a YEAR that my kids had been on a bike and a neighborhood (with grass!) for that matter.  They were extremely happy to say the least, as was I walking around freely in this quiet neighborhood with noone around and listening to my kids let loose in their outdoor freedom.  And it was so clean.  :)

Savannah and Poopee were in this school play about penguins traveling around the world and learning about better ways we could take care of our environment and the world.  Savannah did a great job learning the words to all of these cute songs.  They take months to prepare in music class, and I can see why!  After the play we got to see her teacher Ms. Ruth and other embassy kids that performed or attended the play. 

It has been a good year for these kids!  The school has played a crucial role in their adjustment to Angola, so we can thank their three wonderful teachers that have taught them so much and that the kids looked forward to seeing every day!

It has been no surprise to Briant and I, that our very verbal daughter Rhea, is now expressing herself verbally in Portuguese.  Or should I say, her version of Portuguese. :)  She's got a great accent though as she uses her made up words, mingled with real words that she has heard.

Here are two videos of her singing and reading in "Portuguese."  The songs she has learned from Portuguese class at school, and the reading is her own translation of a book in English called "Over the Meadow."  She has been picking up books and reading them to the wall or her dolls as she's played teacher for years, so it is no surprise that she does it in Portuguese now.  On this particular day, she offered to read to me in Portuguese, an offer which I took her up on, and in the middle of it, decided I had better capture some of this memory on video.

And for fun, because I'm feeling like walking down memory lane a little, here are two videos of Rhea singing a song she made up and another of her reading a library book back in August of last year after we moved to Virginia.  These help to illustrate this ongoing desire she has to talk, teach, read, and sing.  She of course is making up the words in both videos.  I love these because they show her newly turned six year old brain trying to combine vocabulary she had heard from books read to her and words from church and even some family conversations.  During the year of homeschooling that had just ended when I took these videos, I always tried to get her to read the real words to a book, but gave up when she kept saying, "I don't want to read your way.  I want to read my way," and she would go on to surprise me with the stories she made up based off of the pictures in the book.  I realized that I would rather have her using her creativity to express herself through her own storymaking and telling, than learning how to read and robotically read the words already written for her (which is obviously the easier of the two choices and I knew would come eventually.  Which it has).  Nothing has changed with Rhea since this video 9 months ago.  Whenever we can't find her, we stop and listen, and sure enough we can hear her in her room or another corner of the house singing a song or reading a book outloud to the dustmites or whoever wants to listen.  We love this girl, even when we have to tell her to stop talking.  ;)

The locals at the embassy hosted an “Africa Day” celebration for the national holiday.  Unfortunately, it was after the half-day work day, so the kids missed out on it because they were still at school.  There was wonderful singing and dancing, with music provided by some of the embassy local staff, as well as a local Luanda band.  They also provided a wonderful meal with a plethora of desserts to choose from.  

 The ambassador expressed her appreciation to the locals for putting the event on, as well as for all of the work that they do for us at the embassy.

 They presented Heather, our Deputy Chief of Mission, with a nice gift and kind words for her as she is getting ready to leave Angola after three years of service here.  It will be sad to see her and her family go!

Claudia, on the left, sings with Gabis on the right, accompanied by the guitar and drum.  I love Claudia--she is a sweetheart that goes the extra mile in her job.  She has helped me a lot in my job as the English teacher with contacting students, scheduling rooms, etc.  She has a lovely voice!  Here they are singing a song in Kikongo, one of the tribal languages spoken in the provinces.

A local band that was invited to participate.  

A couple with the band demonstrating a dance.  They would emphasize feet stomping every 4-8 beats or so and people would hoot and holler as they stomped.

 The local embassy employees joined in the dance.

 It was so fun to see some of my English students there.  Here is Santos in the front, then Miguel and Demario.

 The beautiful display of desserts.

 The kitchen staff.

We’re not totally converted to the local food yet, especially cassava (looks like mashed potatoes but is really the starchy root of tropical trees mashed up--The first time Briant ate it he asked for a big spoonful on his plate and dug into it expecting it to be similar to mashed potatoes.  He was totally disappointed!).  None of the Americans are keen on cassava.  As another embassy employee put it, “Cassava and I have reached an understanding.”  Basically if you mix it with other things, you have a slight chance of enjoying it more.  I dug around with a spoon in this pan of chicken, trying to find something I recognized.  I found two chicken feet and other parts that I had never seen before. :)

Claudia with a couple of sweet custodial ladies that work at the embassy.  Briant nominated the one left of me with the pink shirt for local employee of the month a few months ago, which she got.  He described her to me and I knew exactly who he was talking about.  She is the happiest lady (normally always smiling) as she cleans the embassy day after day.  She always greets me with, "Bom dia Dona" in her sweet way.  We call her "Tia Domingas."

This was our first Africa Day celebration and we enjoyed seeing a side of Angola we don't usually see during our commute and busy day in a dense city of 7 million.  It was fun to slow down and appreciate "the fun side of Angola," as the Ambassador described it, and the heart and soul of the local staff with whom we serve at the embassy.  

This past month, our family has really been excited to return home for vacation.  We have felt our taste buds craving the flavors of home, our eyes craving the beauty of the west, our ears wanting the quiet sounds of suburban life and nature, and our hearts wanting to see our loved ones again.  After my bout with bad grapes a few weeks ago, I have felt even more physically and emotionally exhausted than I had before.  My friend living in Mauritania (northwest Africa) with her family, is back in the states now for vacation.  She describes her time in the U.S. as being a renewal of her energy that she has lost from always having to have her "guard up."  I realized that she verbalized exactly what I have been feeling--an exhaustion that has come from having my guard up and dealing with the unknowns or unexpected on a day to day basis.  I feel it mostly on my walk to and from work.  The streets are full of men with looks in their eyes that scare me, not knowing what intentions they have, along with beggars, drunks, etc. that aren't totally "with it."  Just a few days ago, I rounded a corner on my walk home and was spotted very quickly by a lady that had rounded the corner coming from the other direction.  She saw me and immediately started yelling at me at the top of her lungs, like you would have thought I had killed her family member or something, and she blocked the path so I couldn't get by on the narrow sidewalk.  Before she got too close to me, I cut through the concrete barrier that lined the sidewalk, and walked in the street with the crazy cars passing by.  She kept yelling until she couldn't see me anymore.  It shook me up a bit.  I walked home and actually broke down a little telling my housecleaner Zita about it.  She reassured me that it's not because I'm American or white, as I suspected.  She said, "No, we're family.  Skin color doesn't matter."  I'm not quite sure everyone feels this way with the hundreds of years of slavery we put them through.  :( Anyway, my gaurd is up...literally, you never know how people will surprise you here!

I went to church on Sunday and was greeted by working air conditioners for a few minutes before we lost it for the remainder of church--again.  A few weeks ago on Mother's Day, it was the same.  It has been three weeks now since we've had air.  I was really fighting the feeling to just go home and curl up in a ball and suck on my thumb, with air conditioning. :)  Bri looked at me with understanding eyes but said nothing when I said, "I can't do this again today."  There I was, sweating after I had arrived at church early to give a little lesson on how to conduct music to a girl in the young women's program, and I was already feeling irritable.  It was only 9am.  I knew that worse heat and discomfort were still to come and I wasn't going to understand half of what was being taught in the classes, except in Sacrament, if the headphones were working. And I needed to use the bathroom.  But who wants to use toilets that smell and don't flush, that are surrounded by little critters, and might not have toilet paper?   :)

So the pity party began.  Actually I think it began even before the generator died, probably during the meetings of the last Sunday where I was sweating like a pig and dealing with kids that were also uncomfortably sweating like pigs.  So the pity party continued.  But almost as soon as I told Briant that "I can't do this again today," my heart softened.  The pity party ended as I surveyed the chapel and saw all of the faithful members of the church that are there every Sunday, with smiles on their faces, attending church without expectations regarding their circumstances.  The spirit touched me and reminded me that these members have had to "endure" these circumstances and will continue to "endure" them long after I leave Angola.

The next morning on my walk to work, the every day things that I've seen for months, seemed even more noticeable to me.  The man without the leg, the woman grilling plantains on a piece of metal over some coals while her baby sleeps under an umbrella on a thin blanket on the concrete sidewalk (she would be there on my walk home from work 6 hours later), the drunk or "crazy" man talking to himself as he walked by with just a shirt on, 9-10 year old boys asleep on the rough sidewalk instead of being in school, and the brave man crossing a very busy street without legs--just on two stumps.  No wheelchair.  Again, like the day before, I was reminded of how good my life is and all that I have to be grateful for.  This is life for these people.  As Bri and I say, "This is as good as it gets" for them.  During this walk, I had an epiphany.  The majority of these people don't want you to feel pity for them because they're doing the best they can and that is enough for them.  So it's not so much a shame that people live this way, but that I don't live this way and yet I let feelings of ingratitude creep into my heart.

I was humbled again today as I heard a heartbreaking story from one of my students.  I hadn't seen him at English class for over a week, so I asked him if he went on vacation or if he had been sick (many of my students have gotten malaria and have been absent for 2 weeks).  He explained that two of his brothers had died and their funerals were last week.  I asked him how they died.  He explained that one of his brothers had bent down on a street next to his car to look at something, and got hit by another car.  He died instantly.  When another one of Joao's brothers was called with the devistating news, he had a heart attack and died.  So he lost two of his brothers overnight.  This is one of the many tragic stories I have heard since I started teaching.  Others include a sister dying during childbirth along with the baby (probably from something that could have been prevented with better medical care--she left a husband and three kids behind), a brother-in-law dying because he was poisoned by someone that was afraid of him getting the job promotion he wanted (the students in my class explained that poisoning someone is actually quite common here so they never leave food or drink unattended for fear of it happening to them).  It seems like I'm constantly hearing of siblings dying and have heard that many of their parents have already died, young, compared to the life span of Americans.

Despite my recent ingratitude and whining, Heavenly Father blessed me with some tender mercies.  In the last few weeks of feeling tired and discouraged with life here, I was able to be reminded, and needed to be reminded, that what I do and how I live my life here, matters.  After missing work for two days from being sick, my students were very concerned for me and my health.  With the number of deaths that occur because of health issues, the locals take illness very seriously, so they were genuinely happy to see me back at work.  They told me how they had missed me and they missed learning English for those two days.  Then randomly, a whole class of my intermediate students, suggested that they write a "speech" to the ambassador in English to show her how much they've learned from me (I expressed appreciation for the idea but said that it would not be necessary :) ).  A few days later, I was working one on one with a man that is trying to apply for a job that would be a huge promotion for him in the embassy.  He has to take a test to show his English proficiency to apply for the job.  He expressed his gratitude over and over for my help and for all that he has learned over the past 5 months from me, and then said, "I can imagine that when you leave Angola, we will all be happy for you but we will also be very sad.  We will be very emotional saying goodbye.  I can imagine it now."  I sooooo appreciated these tender mercies given to me at a time that I really needed them.  I know that I am here fulfilling a purpose, the largest one being my own personal growth and learning.  And my purpose from year to year, country to country, stage to stage, will ever be evolving.  What I think I knew before, but realize even more so now, is that my daily purpose should never be driven by an ungrateful or selfish heart.  It should never be driven by the world's sense of what purpose is either, found in the size or decor of my home or other material possessions, physical appearance, prestige or fame.  Because true fulfillment and purpose never come from them.  I believe they come in the every day things like morning greetings to a stranger, extending a listening ear, in giving a simple hug to a sorrowing soul, or in simply learning someone's name.  Ironically, I read out of "Stand A Little Taller," a book of quotes by President Hinckley, the very morning that I received the expressions of gratitude from my students.  I opened it to August 2nd, which is my birthday, to see what it had to say. "Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work.  And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.  Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days.  (Doctrine and Covenants 64:33-34).  This was followed by the inspiring words of President Gordon B. Hinckley, "The major work of the world is not done by geniuses.  It is done by ordinary people who have learned to work in an extraordinary manner."