I am back in Ecuador now, but had a great visit to the US in May! I got home on a Tuesday in time to surprise all my friends at CC for their champagne celebration after the last class of their CC career, which was amazing. While it was hard to keep the visit a secret from them, it was well worth it when I saw the looks on their faces that day on the quad! It was so wonderful to see all them and be there during their important graduation while they have been there for me so much during the past year.

After hanging out with them all of Wednesday, I went up to Denver on Thursday to see Liam, Jamie and the pets! It was so wonderful to have some time just hanging out with them because I haven’t seen them in a year either. I spent the night in Denver with them, then my parents came up to Denver on Friday evening where we went to the Rockies game with the family and good friends Colleen and Brad. It was beautiful, WARM weather, and it felt so at home to be at a Rockies game on a summer night with such important people in my life.

I spent most of Saturday with my parents and doing some of the shopping I needed to do on the visit. Saturday night was the big senior dance at the Antlers, so I went with all the CC girls and their families, which was a lot of fun. We danced the night away and just enjoyed being with each other. I spent most of my time with all my best friends, but there were so many people to see that it was fun to just bounce around and say hi to everyone, catching up with as many people as possible in a short amount of time!

On Sunday we had a BBQ at the house with the extended family. It was the first time I got to see my grandparents, and the only visit I had with my uncle and his family, so it was really nice to see them. I still could not get over how wonderful the weather is in CO and we were able to sit outside in the sunlight until after 6 at night! It was nice to catch up with everyone and hear everything they’ve been doing. It was a crazy time for everyone with all the graduations, birthdays, etc, so I’m just glad we were able to find a time to see all of the family!

Monday was the big graduation at CC, so I went and watched all my friends actually walk. It was great to see them all afterwards and I said goodbye to all of their families who were there. On Monday it sank in that I didn’t really have that much more time in CO, so I went and ran a bunch more errands before Mary came over for a wonderful visit. I caught up with her for a (not long enough) bit and then went for a walk with my mom to visit with Bev. It was such a whirlwind trip, but I happily got to see as many people as I could.

I spent Tuesday in Boulder shopping and hanging out with my mom and Jamie, then Wednesday shopping with my mom all day. I had lunch with my grandparents on Wednesday, which was nice to spend some time just with them. We were at Whole Foods when the Thunderbird show was happening for USAFA graduation, so we got a pretty good view of that too! On Wednesday night I went to dinner with all the girls to say goodbye to them, which was the most fun I had with them, but also bittersweet. I am not very good with goodbyes, but luckily I know that I will continue to talk to them all the time.

After a crazy 9 days in CO, I went to Boston with the family for the NCAA Lax Championships and to see all of the extended family from the East coast. It was a blast hanging out with all of the family, and I got to meet/see some little cousins who aren’t so little anymore! The time passed way too quickly, but it was a great mix of lacrosse, family, friends, warm weather, and the big city of Boston. We spent 5 days in the Boston area before I headed back to Ecuador.

The visit was way too short, but wonderful none the less. Being back in Ecuador now, it is strange to see how different my two lives are, yet how easily I can fall back into either. It made the goodbyes less difficult than they could have been knowing that I was coming “home” to Ecuador and a wonderful family and community who welcomes me and loves me like one of their own. The happy and excited look on my host mom’s face when I walked in the door after my trip said it all for me, and I am inexplicably lucky to have homes in CO and Ecuador, two of the more beautiful places in the world!

Un Abrazo,

Kerry