up with people (www.upwithpeople.org) came to minneapolis two weeks ago. my mom and dad traveled with the organization back in the '70's and my mom now works for them. i traveled three years ago, my brother traveled two years ago and is traveling again this semester. so they came into town two mondays ago and we had kyle, plus two other girls from the cast staying with us. it proved for a fun week filled with interesting dinner conversations, an exciting time watching the show with L and a great host-family day, in which we took our "host kids" all over minneapolis to show them around! L did great at the show - she loved the lights, singing, bright colors and dancing. on host family day, we went to the llama farm to meet buddy the llama (it was L's first visit out there!!! see picture below!), took them to the stone arch bridge and around minneapolis (they really wanted to see the skyway system...) and to the mall of america. it was a good day! it was L's first time to meet buddy, her first trip to the MOA and her first time to an up with people show, all in one weekend. she was a tired girl the following monday! the up with people cast headed out for their next city.

my mom, dad, L and i kind of became groupies and ended up following the cast to chicago. partly because my mom had work to do and partly to see kyle one more time and partly to see some family. it was a great weekend. L was a stellar traveler, once again, proving to be a fabulous road-tripper. it was fun to spend time with family, to see another up with people show and to see kyle one more time before he headed off on the remainder of his uwp journey! the cast is now headed to the philippines, which is awesome and i can't wait to hear stories. we just got back this evening and it is good to be home. my goal this week is to continue researching and applying for a part-time job, so we'll see how that goes! i have a bunch of photos from the weekend and i'll get those up soon!

i haven't heard from maxwell in a few weeks. i am sure they are super busy and i don't know if they have any internet to utilize at this point. i have a fabulous website that his unit keeps updated, so if anybody wants specific information on his unit and what they are doing, shoot me a message and i'll get you the link! i miss my husband a lot! but woo-hoo - one month down! i know that doesn't seem like a lot when you look at the fact that he'll be gone for a year, but still! one month down! it's the little things that count!