The best Christmas present ever: my brother, the itinerant wanderer returns.

As I walked into my parents' house on Christmas Eve, there was a special Christmas surprise hiding behind the front door: my brother. This was supposed to be my first Christmas ever without him (except for those early ones before he was born). He was off on a European holiday adventure, and was maybe going to be home in February or April. 

Then, on December 21, he decided to come home for Christmas. He bought a last minute plane ticket out of Spain, arranged an airport shuttle to my parents' house, and showed up at their front door at 9:15 pm on December 23, surprising them and subsequently surprising us all.

Travis on Christmas Eve.

My brother is a wanderer. We never really know when we are going to see him next. He is the kind of boy that doesn't really make plans ahead of time. Even though he is sometimes noncommittal, he is my best friend, one of my favorite people in the world, and an inspiration to me. As his older sister, I like to think I taught him everything he knows, although I know how far from the truth that really is.

(The last two pictures are from my birthday weekend back in October.)