A long time coming...

So yes. It has been ages since I posted to my blog, and so I thought I would share a little bit.
Georgia is creeping into spring at the moment. I can see the buds in the trees struggling to sprout And share their beauty. The other day, it was around the first day of spring, it was 28 degrees overnight. Now for my family back home in Utah that may not seem all that cold, nut remember I get humidity too.
So, it was super cold, the roommate was out of town and unbeknownst to me, he had turned the heat way down when he left. Why he likes to do that when I am still here is another mystery to be solved at a later date. Anyway, I was so cold that night, my down comforter wasn't even giving me the warmth I needed. So what did I do since I didn't have an extra blanket? I grabbed my fresh clothing out of the dryer and layered them over my comforter like they were extra blankets. I'm ashamed to say they've been there ever since, don't judge.
One of those nights I was having a hard time getting to sleep and so I laid on my back and stretched my arms and legs out as far as I could trying to get cozy. I woke myself up snoring two minutes later.. WOKE MYSELF UP! That's just scary. It reminds me of Cecelia saying she didn't want to sleep with Nanna because the snoring scared her.. I scared myself.
These are my awesome experiences he in GA. Jealous? I thought so.

I'm on a plane headed to see the Greens in NYC. I should try to catch a few winks as I was up at 430.

Love ya

NYE camping day 1 (Dec 29th)

Holy crap it's cold up here!
Back that up...
So I'm camping up at a place called "Rivers Edge Campground." I'm here with my friend Neil from Greenville. The camp site is about 120 miles north of where I live in Newnan. So it takes me about 3 hours or so to drive up here. It's a fun little (big) campground where a lot of people come with their campers and spend a long weekend.
I first came up here for Halloween with another friend of mine, Michael, and stayed in his tiny (seriously tiny) camper. I met some very nice people including my friend Neil that I am staying with this time. (His camper is a pop up so its a wee bit bigger)
I must have gotten he just after Neil because he was just popping up his little tote. We got things situated and have prepped some stew for the pot luck at the club house. They have free wifi up there so I'm hoping to get this post in before I head up there and transmit.
Back to the fact that it is freezing up here.. Seriously! Tonight is supposed to get to 27 degrees! Yes.. Cold! Like Holy Hannah cold! I am still outside while Neil is setting up the camper and my digits are fuh-reezing!
Came inside! Much warmer with the little heaters going.. Don't worry I'm not about to freeze..
Anywho I've take some pictures during the day and have them ready to attach..
Much love to you all..
Mike

Amsterdam

Hey there my family and friends! I leave for home in a few hours but its late and I have to be up early.. I haven't decided if I am going to go to sleep or just hope I am tired enough to sleep the 12 hour flight home.
It has been a great work trip and the people here are extremely helpful.
Love you all

Troll face

Do you ever just get troll face?

My Disney Adventures

Who knew that going into 2012 I would visit both Disneyland and Disney World before the year was half over? Not even me!

My first Disney visit just happened to coincide with the Flegalheimers family adventure. I was scheduled to go to work in LA and voila, they just happened to be going to Disneyland while I was out there. So of course I had to spend the day with them!

I was a cool misty day but that didn't stop us from riding Grizzly Rapids twice in a row.

Who is wet? We all are!

Eliza thought it was the MOST fun and didn't mind being wet. I didn't mind either, until a lovely little cold came by to visit. Nothing like being in wet jeans in 60 degree weather.. but we had a blast!

It was so much fun to see their faces as they plummeted in Tower of Terror. I looked over at Eliza as we dropped and her hair seemed to float in space.

My second trip was with a bunch of friends from Atlanta and Orlando.

Frank, Brian, Kevin, Mike, Brian
And no we didn't plan the symmetry 

Thankfully this time it was HOT HOT HOT. So hot we had to keep escaping the scorching sunshine into anywhere that had air conditioning.

Hello Mickey!

I have to say the most memorable ride for me was Splash Mountain. As you go along you keep seeing signs for briar rabbits laughing place. I was reminded of Grandma Helen and her laughing place. Sure it was no Kauai, but it was the memory of her, and the story of briar rabbit, the song of the south and all that. Its nice that there are things in life that remind us of those that are gone.

That tan came on during the day

I had such a great time that day with friends. Who knows.. maybe ill get there again before the year is through...

Boys on a boat!

and oh, by the way...

The fireworks show was AMAZING!!!

Loved the show!

Knock Knock Knock... Is this thing on?..... Hello?.....

Ah, there you are.. Hello family! Sorry I've been a little bit absent on my postings. You could say that I've been just a wee bit busy.

OK.. Its been CRAZY busy... but... Summer is here, which for me, means that things slow down a bit. I can't do all the travels that I have been doing and meetings so its time to re-center myself.
I hope that you have all had a great, WOAH.. six months! Dang, I really am late in my postings.
Im sure I can find pictures of myself in different places but why dwell too much in the past?
Memorial weekend just passed and I hope that you all had an amazing relaxing weekend like I did.
Here are some photos from my trip to Lake Mitchell in Alabama. My friend has a lake house that his grandmother left to him. Just a cute little two bedroom home but totally perfect for the weekend get way.

So.. let the slide show begin..

Mr Stanley driving us to the lake

The bridge to the south

The dam to the north

My pigs to the east!

sunset

If you look closely, you can see the mud on my suit. I jumped off the dock to do a cannon ball and the water was a wee bit shallower than I thought.. woopsie.

Yes.. I am totally relaxed

I almost fell off.. but pulled a barefoot maneuver

He fell off.. I WIN!

Leaving Tanzania 10/18/2011 Journal entry edited

As I jet to Nairobi, I can share my day yesterday.

Mangos in the trees

We wanted to go Zanzibar but the logistics were too difficult. We would have had to wake up at the crack of dawn, drive down to take the boat and then its a 2 hour ride to the island. Due to the schedule, we would have had limited time on the island. That plus the fact that it was more money than we wanted to spend for just a quick trip. So.... we decided to go to Bagamoyo.

just a view out the car

ladies carrying water

some cute boys we kept passing

Agnes found us a pineapple

Bagamoyo is where, during the slave trade, Africans were taken, locked up, before they were shipped to Zanzabar to be sold and put on ships to Asia and the Middle East.

The drive to Bagamoyo was about 40 kilometers, but being as traffic is a bit tricky, it did take us awhile to get there. The drive was really cool however. We went through a lot of small towns and we saw little markets set up on the side of the road. Agnes, a local who joined us on our trip, was able to tell us all about the towns, the produce we saw and give us a little history.

I got the following from the internet, it explains more about Bagamoyo than I recalled:

Slaves were kept here

this cross is dedicated to Dr Livingston

Bagamoyo was the major slave trading post in East Africa. Bagamoyo, which means ‘lay down your heart’ in Swahili, was probably given this name because Bagamoyo was the last place the slaves would stay in Tanzania before being shipped off to foreign lands. Although the slave trade officially ended in 1873, slaves continued to be sold and traded in Bagamoyo through the end of the nineteenth century.

During the slave trade, it was not uncommon to see hundreds of slaves walking through the streets of Bagamoyo chained together by the neck. Slaves were collected from the interior by capture, purchase or trade and then shipped to Zanzibar or Arab countries. 

Once we got there, we went to look for this museum. It is next to the first Catholic church in Africa. It was in this church, that THE Dr Livingston's body was kept over night, after a 1500 mile journey from where he died, before being shipped back to England where he is buried in Westminster Abby.

Agnes, Pam and Bruce

a super old baobab tree

There was a very interesting museum and school there next to the 'new' church, new, because it was built in the very early 1900's. The museum had some very interesting artifacts and photos. We saw the actual chains that were used to chain the slaves. Photos of the slave trade era. It was actually quite heartbreaking to read the articles and see the photos. But as we know, it is best to learn what we can from our history so that we are not doomed to repeat it.

the old priest quarters

the view from the restaurant

We left the museum and went to find some lunch. As luck would have it, just at the end of the road from the church and museum, on the beach, was a restaurant. We got to eat overlooking the Indian Ocean. SO COOL! My king fish steak was outstanding!

Bagamoyo has a LOT of mango trees. In each tree you could see hundreds of mangos growing. It is one of the main exports out of that area. That along with cashews. We didnt see any cashew nut trees that had them growing but did learn that the cashew is the stamen of the flower out of which grows a fruit. they make juice from the fruits and then sell the cashews.

Pam and Bruce with a baby

the 56 year old Croc

Me with a baby croc

We stopped at a crocodile farm where we got to touch and pet a 2yo baby. They had tiny babies and then even the Patriarch of the place, a 56 year old crocodile! He was HUGE...
Agnes was totally terrified, so of course I had to scare her as she was peering into the pits where the crocs were. I grabbed her arm and she totally jumped and screamed. It was worth her chewing me out.

We drove back to Dar and had just dropped off Agnes when we received a call from the Mission President that he was taking the senior missionaries to dinner. We weren't dressed for a nice dinner but apparently in Dar, that doesnt matter. We went and had a fabulous dinner on a cliff over the ocean. It was nice to have good food and conversation. Their zone conference was the next day and was also when I was due to fly to Nairobi.

Just a cool tree near Bagamoyo

This morning, Pam had to have something fixed at the house so we just hung out at the house and I was able to get packed and ready to go to Nairobi. We went and picked up Bruce at conference and they took me to the airport. As they dropped me off, they were so sweet, I felt like I was their's and they were saying goodbye. Pam even ran after me and gave me some money to buy a snack in the airport. I must say they are the best people to know! Thanks Brother and Sister Worthen for the amazing visit. I will work on getting Mom and Dad over there to visit!

Flying out of Dar es Salaam

Well I'm landing in Nairobi.. time to put my books away and find the apartment.