International Christmas: Atlanta, Grand Rapids, Chicago...China and Iraq

Jen and I had the privilege of visiting our families in Atlanta and Grand Rapids for the holidays this year, culminating in a beautiful white Christmas in frigid Michigan. While traveling around the states, we we honored to host our friends, Cher and Inas. Cher is a Chemistry graduate student at Tulane from China, and Inas, an Iraqi physician, is a Fullbright Scholar in Tulane's School of Public Health.

While in Atlanta, we visited some fun sites, including the CNN Center, Centennial Olympic Park, World of Coca-Cola, and the Georgia Aquarium. Cher and I played with the Coca-Cola Polar Bear at the World of Coke, while Jen and Inas joined Jen's family at the Aquarium.





Of course, one of the other highlights of the stay in Atlanta was Sarah's (Jen's sister) baby girl, Savannah who will be two this month. She's a doll.







Though, Savannah's not the only cutey in the families these days. Matt's sister, Farrah has a little treasure of her own, 5 month old Micah. Here we are on Christmas Eve.





While visiting my family, in Michigan, we took a day trip to the Windy City with my cousins Gabriel and Courtney. Gabe took this picture of of us at Shedd's Aquarium after a thrilling dolphin show.

It was a whirlwind trip, but lots of fun. It's always a blessing to see family, and it was even more so, as we were able to share the hospitality of our loving families, as well as the wonder of Christmas with our friends from around the globe.

Happy New Year!