a bangalore staycation, of sorts

j and i had big plans to celebrate christmas in andhra pradesh, with some dear friends of ours whom we haven't seen since 2009. our airline got us to bangalore, cancelled our outgoing flight twice (on two separate dates) and then, without much warning, gave us half of our money back with a, 'regret any inconvenience caused.'

we're glad we were in bangalore when the airline gave up on us. see, there's a dear, dear family who lives in bangalore. theirs is the only address in this entire country i have fully committed to memory. it's a home away from home of sorts, though i've never actually lived at that memorized address. it's a place where everyone is welcome, where there's always enough chappati to go around, and where love, joy and hospitality are in abundance.

sundararajan family, you are a treasure. i'm thankful for each and every one of you. you really and truly are family to me!

this is miss leila. it takes a while for her to warm up, but playing ball with her usually quickens that process. what you can't see in this photo is the laughing, squealing and jumping behind that grin.

isn't she beautiful? also, it's nice to spend a little time with her in person, instead of just being the 'sugar auntie' who sends her pretty things in the mail.

leila loves flying through the air almost as much as she loves playing ball. {dad makes a good airplane!}

this handsome little guy is reuben. we got to meet this little man when he was only 4 days old. he made an adorable baby blob, but he's a chill, happy little dude now with a sweet personality!

almost too much handsome for one photograph. j did a fairly good job at sharing the baby, which was a much welcome improvement from the 5 days last christmas it took me to spend a minute or two with our sweet niece. :) (mostly kidding, hubs. thanks for this adventure, though it didn't turn out as planned.)

instead of the shouts and laughter of 150 dear little ones, we shared some time with two who we don't get to see very often, with their parents and grandparents (and even a great grandparent!). in a lot of ways, i'm thankful for our cancelled flights. we may not have traveled to andhra, but we still had an adventure full of beauty and love, and for that, i'm very, very thankful.