We had a wonderful trip home to Boise for Andy’s grandma’s funeral.  Even though most people think of funerals as a sad time, this was actually a nice time to remember Marian’s life.  She lived a good life with no regrets and was ready to go, so in reality it was better to celebrate her.  Because of this the memorial service was a actually quite enjoyable as Ray and Lewis and others told stories of Marian and her children and grandchildren.  It was amazing to learn of all of the people she helped throughout her life as well as her ability to live by her mantra to not judge people regardless of how different they are from you.  She was a special lady and she will be missed dearly by so many people, but you can’t help but think that she must be in a better place now.

The house that Carl built

The trip home was a really nice time to catch up with family and a few close friends.  It was very exciting getting to see my pregnant friends as their bellies grow and other friends as they make career and life changes.  I went looking at homes in north Boise with my friend Lindsay who is a new realtor, mostly just to try our her lock box access.  It was fun to be able to spend some time with her and other friends, and of course family.  It was especially nice to be able to be with Andy’s family during a difficult time as well as meet some of his (very cool) relatives who I had never met.

The highlight of the trip for me was getting to spend some time with my grandpa who is recovering with his recent bout of unhealthiness.  It is always so great to be able to talk with him and hear his stories and experiences from over the years.  He is a wealth of knowledge and experience.  The hardest part is that he cannot hear well at all and so it makes communication very difficult.  Even with a special hearing device that he has on top of his hearing aides, communication was still very difficult.  I have made it a personal mission to come up with a better way to communicate with him before I come home in June.  Even if it is just cranking the font on my laptop up and typing, it would be better, I think.  So hang in there Grandpa, there are still so many things I want to talk with you about.

While it was nice to be back in Boise for a bit, it was also nice to head back to China as this really is our home for now.  We arrived late on Wednesday night and then went to our friends Patrick and Claudia’s for dinner.  It was very sweet of them to have dinner for us upon our return! Thursday, Claudia and I went to the Yoyo Yoga studio and I enjoyed my second class there as much as the first even though it was with a Chinese teacher.  I just feel so good after yoga, so I decided to get a year membership to the place. 

Friday afternoon, we head to Macau to celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary.  It is hard to believe it has been SIX years!  Time flies when you are having fun and on many adventures together.