The Taj Ma-freaking-hal!

It's worth it. All the hype? Totally worth it

(Notice Dani's hair still pink from Holi!)

Charity did a cartwheel,

Dani held it her hands,

And Sara showed off her mad ballet skills. (I know- we didn't know I had it in me right?)

We all agreed it was one of the most magnificent sites we've ever seen. Definitely on the "Highly recommended" list, but be prepared to pay 750 rupies (as opposed to the Indians who get in for 20) if you're a tourist. But again, totally worth it.

HOLI!!!

After a heartbreaking goodbye to Rising Star, we headed up to Delhi for a 10 day backpacking trip across northern India. Dehli had everything...even cows (I know...strange!)

We enjoyed an incredible district conference with touching testimonies from recent Hindu converts who bore powerful witness to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. There is something so invigorating about witnessing the church function in other parts of the world. It's not easy to be a member in a third world Hindu country, but the faith of these members inspired us to be better, and more readily acknowledge our gratitude for the gospel.

The following day we celebrated HOLI, and HOLY COW (pun intended) it was crazy! Holi is a huge festival where Indians throw vibrant colored water and chalk to celebrate the beginning of Spring. The Delhi mission and young single adults invited us to their celebration, which included 7 huge trucks that we piled inside of to throw water and chalk as we rode through the streets. We'll let the following pictures tell the story...

We stayed with a gracious and heaven sent family, the Taylors, who we met a church. Meeting and interacting with their family was a highlight of the trip...in addition to the American mash potatoes, rotisserie chicken and comfortable beds they provided :)

last days at rising star

we are now home in our little house in provo. it is really weird. so much has happened for us in the last seven weeks - it just feels eerie to be back, but wonderful in so many ways. we were literally dancing for joy in the los angeles airport, so grateful to be back on american soil. we traveled for 64 hours. yes, 64. anyway, now that we are back we wanted to post some photos. here are a bunch from our last days at rising star, and later we will put some up of our travels in the north. we had so many adventures!

i am too lazy right now to organize these photos, they are in really random order, but you get the picture (excuse the pun). we LOVED our time at rising star and our lives were forever changed by these beautiful children.

a picture is worth a thousand words, so we'll let the photos tell the story.

some of the boys in second standard working on a book project we gave them.

at dinner with some of the boys. the ones below me are some of the super bright students i got to tutor.

this is what we ate for lunch basically every day. (and breakfast, and dinner)

see? breakfast.

the students at morning assembly.

our last dinner on the roof with the other volunteers. we loved watching the sunset up there.

the housemothers checked our heads for lice.

best friends.

so we planned and threw a big carnival for all the kids. one of the ten stations was a photo booth. we created this big scene where the kids could stick their heads through and become a tiger, monkey or butterfly for their photo. dani was the expert artist. sara and i filled in some of the paint. the children loved it!

dani's signature ukulele song was a hit with the kids. everywhere we went they would ask, "mango song, aunties!"

just having a dance party.

walking to school.

this is kristin. she is the sponsorship director and she is soooo great. we helped her help the kids write letters to their sponsors. we love kristin and we put this picture in because she got cut out of the group photo you'll see below. that's what happens when you give a 12 year old indian kid your camera.

dani blowing bubbles with her class after reading a book about bubbles.

there's the group shot. we love these people!

christraj and peter at the carnival.

the races station at the carnival.

we decided we needed a picture of us in the photo scene too.

dani manned the face painting station.

nighttime storytelling with the girls.

us and the principle, radhika, who became our dear friend. those clothes cause an optical illusion. i am not really that huge.

teaching second standard. again, not that big. and also, i know i look like a circus clown. there were just so many options in the closet and it was fun to mix it up and look ridiculous and not care.

funny how the optical illusion thing doesn't apply for sara! here she is teaching, what a beauty.

i got to read individually with most of the kids in second standard. the one-on-one tutoring was really helpful. but i am so sick of this dr. suess book.

activities with the kindergartners.

two of the girls i tutored.

sara got to teach piano lessons to the older boys and she did such an awesome job!

there you go - more pictures to come from our travels!