obviously, i'm back stateside. (they don't have snow like this in China) it's been 2 whole months since landing in SLC on the PM of jan 3rd. 2 days later i was teaching Chinese back at the BYU and skiing at Deer Valley. beside jet lag and altitude adjustment there was a bit of a jolt to the psyche.

most of january was figuring out what America meant, and Feb has been spent doing --- life things. moving my bed into my room and finding my church shoes (some of which are still missing).

i managed to get in a trip to the yurt with some of my friends and ski a lot! i suppose i'm finally back in the swing of things. it's great to be back in the land of big glasses of cold milk, central heating, carpet and my own car.

sami was beside herself when i first picked her up. she wiggled and wiggled and whined and sniffed, then went to find a ball for me to throw. i was worried that she would have some kind of adjustment period to being back with me, but instead we picked up where we left off and she's been great. again, it's nice to be home. although, i have to say i miss the low prices of China. America is expensive!

life isn't as interesting as it was in China - which means that i don't have a lot to share in terms of funny stories about a maid (dang! i miss having someone clean my house everyday) or face offs with crazy taxi drivers, etc. but, i'm quite enjoying the 'boring' life.

the best part about being home is connecting again with family and friends. i stayed connected via email and skype while in China, but there is nothing like hugging the kids in my family and being in the midst all of those i love.

this past weekend i was in Victor, ID in the shadow the Grand Tetons visiting my sister Holly, her husband Andrew and of course the baby - Summer. what fun! it's truly winter there. -11 on Sat. morning. wow! we didn't leave the house until 10:30, and only then because it was warmer in the sun. the day before holly and i skied at Grand Targhee. i've never skied this resort before. typically, it is quite foggy up top, but we had clear skies and 8" of powder. holly was willing to take some professional action shots of my fine skiing - you can see her work here - and i took some of her. my favorite is her hitting a tree. my siblings are my favorite ski partners, we had a wonderful day.

Summer is as cute as ever. she says enough words to communicate that she wants to wear her ski goggles and go to her friend's house to play. i haven't seen her since august so we had some good aunt/niece reconnection time. for the most part we just played and laughed, but about 20 minutes before i was to leave there was some drama when she head dived out of her play pen. that was the end of nap time.

it's wonderful to be home.