Hey Andi, remember this? - A fun blast from the past!

We don't often get to "go" on vacation while we are in Niger. Instead, we practice "staycations..."

I think that's the current "buzz" word.

Travel from the backside of the Sahara to anywhere else is just too expensive and exhausting or potentially dangerous. And, if we leave, who stays around to keep an eyes on things? Therefore, instead of going, we just stay put.

And really, we're OK with that. It has been our life for several years, our kids have gotten quite creative in their methods of self-entertainment, we don't have to find someone to care for our menagerie, we've learned to mostly treasure our time together... and we've eaten a lot of french fries and drank many cokes and ice teas from the buvette by the pool (maybe some day we'll decide that wasn't such a great thing, but it sure was yummy at the time).

Christmas 2007 - 2008, however, generous dear ones gifted us with the funds to fly the family home for Christmas. With the exception of Richelle's parents, the rest of the family had never even met our 15 month old Elsie Mae at that time.

This blog post was written right after that vacation, after we'd landed back in Niger... and it recently popped up on the "You might like" related archived blogs that are linked to at the end of every post.

It made me smile... and so I've decided to include a teaser photo... 

and then link back to the original post.

I'm also stalling... until we get my photo editing software re-installed on my computer (It crashed. Is that what you call it when the virus protection software you are trying to install instead wipes out almost all of your program files?) and most of my installed programs were completely wiped out earlier this month.

And Andi? Just sayin'... M&M still looks for you in your room sometimes, and asks when you'll be back.