4th of July

We were thrilled to be in Annapolis for the Fourth of July.  I love going down to the Naval Academy grounds and watching the fireworks and I was excited for the boys to see it - especially since it's Christian's first Independence Day on American soil.  The evening did not disappoint!  

We were joined by our friend Miriam and we got down there a little early to avoid parking chaos. It was a perfect summer evening.  For a couple hours while we waited the boys ran around on the pristine grass - barefoot, joined in on pick-up soccer games, rough-housed and snacked.  

barefoot on the 4th

Rough-housing on the perfect grass

forgive the blur - Christian playing around with Miriam

When the fireworks began, we had great cuddles and everyone was awed.  

The next morning Christian said "Fireworks. Awesome".

a VAN-tastic Story

I really enjoy a good story.  I don't write or imagine good ones, but I love to listen to them.  Well this is one of those stories and I will try to do it justice.  The last 6 months we had been borrowing 2 cars while we transitioned back to living in the States.  Dan's parents graciously let us use their Ford Explorer which could accommodate our family of six and another dear church member let us use their car as well.  It was such a blessing to have two cars at our disposal.  As our time in Florida was winding up and we knew the next vocational step, we knew it was time to buy a mini van for our family and return the cars.  The big problem was we had no idea where to find one that was in good shape for a decent buy, etc.

Enter Facebook.

A friend of ours from Akron that now lives in Gainsville (about 1 hour from us) posted that a friend of theirs was selling a van because they were moving back home to Germany.  The price was really low. The post attracted quite a number of hits.  Dan decided to contact the sellers and he wrote to them in German.  Bingo. They began a great correspondence.  (Later on we found out he had about 30 people interested, but the German inquiry pushed us into the forefront.) After driving up, inspecting it, etc... we had a deal.  We also really hit it off - connecting over the expat experience and World Cup mania. It was such an unexpected blessing. 

Here's our new van.

German flag included. 

Good thing Germany was our secondary favorite to win it.