The holiday season was practically over before it started considering it went by so quickly. I've included some photos taken by both myself and Gran Burnett. Her camera is so much nicer than mine. Callum did very well on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in terms of both behavior and presents. Other than trying to claw my eyes out at Aunt Karen's house when I tried to put him down for a nap three hours later than usual, he was an angel. I do think his favorite gift was his toy sweeper since the child would rather clean that anything else. But he did receive some wonderful new toys that will keep him busy for months to come. A big thanks to everyone for those! After Christmas, the five Burnetts made an overnight trip to Lancaster to visit Dutch Wonderland, a children's amusement park, that runs a Winter Wonderland during the holiday season. We rode rides, ate junk food and enjoyed the lights. Callum loved the train and braved his first overnight stay in a hotel. Shortly after this adventure ended, Gran and Grandad departed for a long (let me stress long) trip home. Unfortunately it was as difficult going out as it was coming in! But they made it back to Scotland eventually. We then continued the holidays into New Year's by spending time with the Sloan brood. At Pappy and Grandma's house, we ate (and ate and ate), played games, opened presents and relaxed. The visit ended early for us as we had to return because of Iain's work, but it was another enjoyable family visit. The holidays ended with some wonderful memories and me a weight gain of 5.6 lbs! I told you we ate and ate! Anyway, my pants still fit but I'm back on my Weight Watchers plan so hopefully I'll make my goal weight, or close to it, by my 30th birthday.
The second big thing that has occurred since I last posted was a trip I took with two faculty members and eleven students from Ship. We traveled to the Dominican Republic this past week to participate in a service project assisting Child Development Centers which are run by Nazarene Missionaries. Yes, we were abroad during the earthquake in Haiti. Very thankfully, we were not affected at all. Until I returned from the trip on Wednesday, I actually had no idea just how bad things were. I also know that Haiti is a much poorer country than the Dominican Republic and the poverty I saw in the D.R. was pretty heartbreaking. The one thing I can attest to, without trying to be preachy, is when an agency like World Vision solicits donors to sponsor children, the donations truly make an impact in the lives of the children who are sponsored. We met children who, because of sponsors, were able to not only stay at the Child Development Center for the educational portion of the day, but were also able to eat dinner because of their sponsor. For several of them, it was the only meal they would have all day. I also witnessed tables of 10-15 children sit together and gratefully eat a relatively plain meal of rice and beans without leaving a bite left behind or any complaint (something I definitely cannot say about my own son). It really makes you think. I am honored for the opportunity to have met each person I met in the D.R. and hope that I can assist others in this country in some way. If you want more information about the Ship students' project, check out: http://sureachout.blogspot.com/
