Entering customs at Newark airport

As I write this, it’s Sunday September 9th, 2012. Tanner and I are settled down into the home of Cari’s parents for an unknown period of time, and all the girls are back in St. Martin.  Andi has begun 8th grade at Learning Unlimited, a private k-12 island school, and Tanner is enrolled at Highview Junior High in New Brighton, MN.

Nine weeks ago, Andi, Tanner and I left Saint Martin and flew back to Minneapolis.  Four weeks ago we were joined by Piper and Michelle, and two weeks ago Cari escaped finals and made it back here in time to squeeze in a short visit as well. One week ago, Carina, Andi, Piper and Michelle left to go back to the island, and Tanner and I stayed here.

It has been a crazy, intense nine weeks, full of the entire spectrum of emotions plus lots of catching up with friends and family.  We shuttled back and forth between St. Cloud and the Twin Cities, and managed to squeeze in a trip to Utah to see my family as well.

I’ll let the photos do most of the talking. My good camera was broken the entire extent of this trip, so this post is heavily indebted to the photography of others, and to the very few pics taken with my poor little ancient iPhone camera.

Welcome Back Party The Anderson family lives just around the corner from our house in St. Cloud. Lilly is the same age as Andi, and Will is the same age as Tanner. The day after we arrived in town they hosted a Welcome Back part and invited friends from both school and church. I think this pic was taken in the Anderson’s sauna… which is always a fun place to hang out during a party (photo by Andi)   Win Anderson (in the pink shirt) plus mom and girls from the Beard family setting up dinner on the deck(photo by Andi)

Some of Andi’s crazy friends at a Welcome-Back party hosted by the Anderson’s (photo by Andi) That’s Lilly in the foreground, and I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to see that this pic made it onto our blog. Sorry Lilly!! (photo by Andi)

Anderson’s Cabin

Andi and Tanner both spent some time up at Lake of the Woods on the Canadian border at a cabin owned by the Anderson’s

Three happy boyz: Joe in the back, Tanner, and Will. (photo by Win Anderson) No, this is not the ocean. This is Tanner and Will playing in Lake of the Woods, the 7th largest lake in the 48 states after the 5 Great Lakes and The Great Salt Lake. (photo by Win Anderson)

Andi and Lilly at the Anderson’s cabin on Lake of the Woods (photo by Win Anderson) Used to the Caribbean heat, Andi is bundled up next to the fire in the middle of July (photo by Win Anderson)

Girl’s Camp

One of the reasons we came back  to the States so early was so that Andi could join her church friends at the annual Mormon’s girl’s summer retreat.  Normally, Girl’s camp is actually just that… a camping trip.  But this year they spent the week on the campus of University of Minnesota, Duluth, staying in the dorms and taking classes on campus.

Literally thousands of girls from all over the Upper Midwest descended on the campus. I drove some of them up from St. Cloud, and the sight of all these girls plus adult leaders was inspiring. The reports from Andi afterwards were positive all around, and I’m glad we came home early enough for her to be included.

Meeting at church before Girl’s Camp: Andi, Suzie (who I often refer to as my own daughter because she spent so much time at our house) and Mackenzie

Drop off at camp… just a few of the St. Cloud girls

TJ, Lindsay, Kylie, Katelyn and Landon

TJ is Cari’s sibling the closest in age to her.  Before Cari made it back from the island, TJ’s family came and spent a week at Grandma and Grandpa Holm’s house.  And then on the way out to Utah, we spent a day  with them in Denver, and then we pit stopped there on the way home as well.  We had not seen them in years and it was fun to let the cousins catch up and become re-acquainted.

Trip to the Mall of America. Cari’s brother TJ is right next to Andi	Lego Land at the Mall of America is always a favorite stop. That giant robot is made entirely of Lego’s
Piper and Katelyn eating breakfast together. Piper LOVED the attention showered on her by her cousins	Andi playing dolls with Kylie and Katelyn

Utah Visit with My Family

I’m literally kicking myself for not having taken a single photograph of my parents with my kids.  What was I thinking?  I’ll have to blame it on my camera being broken, I guess.  My parents are now in Morocco, where they will be for the next year while my dad is on a sabbatical leave from Brigham Young University.

The highlights of the trip were spending time at the Park City ski resort (which in the summer is transformed into a mountainside of alpine slides, roller coasters, a zip lines) and an inner-tube trip down the Provo River with my sisters Rebecca and Sadie, and some of Cari’s family who were in town to celebrate the arrival of a new Holm grandson.

(In case the video above doesn’t load in your browser, here’s a link to it on Youtube.)

Tanner making his way out of the turbulent river, being helped by an unknown stranger	left to right: My youngest sister Sadie, my oldest sister Rebecca, and Rebecca’s Russian adopted daughter Naomi
After the river trip	While Andi, Tanner and I were tubing, Cari, Piper, and Cari’s mom did a little shopping. This is Piper and JoAnn (Cari’s mom) playing in a fountain.

Some Miscellaneous Photos

front to back: Mckayla Beard, Suzie Beard (Andi’s almost adopted sister), and Andi	Carina and Andi on a swing in the yard of Cari’s grandmother
The zip line in Park City. Tommy and Dillon (two of Cari’s brothers) and Tanner and I all zipped down it	Piper checking out a statue in the sculpture garden on the campus of Brigham Young University. Grandpa Crookston took us all to the campus bookstore and treated each of three kids to a a new book of their choice.
Cari’s brother Dillon showing of his first son, Vince	Carina and I at Park City, Utah

Piper sporting her new cap

Dinner on the Anderson’s back yard deck

Tanner outside Grandma Holm’s house on his first day of Junior High… with SHORT HAIR!! 🙂

Final Thoughts:

The time we spent visiting friends and family over the summer was priceless.  We owe many people a huge “Thank You!” for hosting us and taking us in, some for a couple of meals, some for a night, and others for many nights.  You know who you are, and to each of you I offer my sincere and humble appreciation.

Thanks to the miracle of VOIP, Carina and I talk almost every day.  This afternoon when we spoke, we both agreed: We miss each other, I miss Andi and Piper, and she misses Tanner.  Yet at the same time, we also feel peace about this temporary separation.  We are all making the best of it that we can, and we know it won’t last long.

I don’t think Tanner and I have seen the last of St. Martin, and I look forward with faith to a full reunion of our family.  In the mean time, we are all happy and doing well.