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The first half of the month of June found us packing up our home in Albania to prepare for a visit to the USA. On June 15 we boarded a plane for a very long day of travel, chasing the sun to North America.
All of these photos loaded in opposite order. Because Cydil has much more to do on her list than what can be accomplished, she made an executive decision to "walk backwards" through this account of the month of June. :-)
Staying at the farm house, we have access to a firepit where it's quite easy to make s'mores. Needless to say, we keep a supply of ingredients on the ready!
Word of warning: the mega-sized marshmallows are QUITE messy!
My aunt and uncle celebrated their 50th anniversary and we enjoyed an evening celebration as well as a long breakfast the next day with those of us who traveled from out of town!
The highlight of the party was a special hymn-sing led by some uber-talented musicians, including one of the co-writers of The Chosen, Tyler Thompson (left) on the banjo!
Driving to the party we had to pass through a toll-plaza which one of my children thought was a border crossing, LOL.
Our first full week in the USA found Nathan facilitating an international conference for our agency online. It included speaking sessions, break-out rooms, and other gatherings in three languages! The technology was pretty seamless, but it meant that Nathan was pretty chained to the computer for the sessions that started early in the morning and went throughout the day to accommodate participants located all around the world!
We were able to get away for supper one night with these friends from Asbury days.
Reni also had his first Shriners appointment. Because of COVID restrictions, Ellie and I waited in the snack area in our masks. She was a trooper, passing the time with an audio book.
We were also pleased to see these two special friends, Charisse and John. We all met in Albania in 2018!
Reni enjoys his first Ale8, a ginger-ale drink you can only find in Kentucky. Here he is enjoying the pool at the home of dear friends.
My mom has been lovingly restoring her childhood home and it serves as our base while we are in America. I can't tell you how therapeutic it is to retreat here in the quiet countryside. And when we want to see people, we have lots of room to host!
Of course, one of the best things about coming to America in the summer is ALL THE SWEETCORN.
Practicalities of our time in the USA includes matters like renewing drivers' licenses (below).
The first couple of days in the USA were wonderfully quiet, which included playing some board games with Gigi.
That moment you learn that while you were in transit to the USA your country adopted a new federal holiday. That was sort of a surreal experience -- when was the last time we adopted a new federal holiday?
When you haven't had Dr. Pepper in 18 months and the waitress overhears. Yay for #FreeRefills!
A LOOOONG journey to America this time (23 hours). The sunsetting as we approach our landing in Peoria.
This girl has been by international travel buddy for so long (because her brother feels the boys should stick together).
Sunny skies during our layover in Vienna.
The sun rising on our flight out of Albania to Vienna...
Because of his age and rules in Albania, Reni has largely been exempt from wearing facemasks ... until this trip.
The day before we returned to the USA, we celebrated Ellie's 16th birthday. Our friends were SO sweet and she was treated with a special cake after exercise class -- which we enjoyed with all of our fellow exercise class mates!
Because we were staying in the guesthouse, we didn't have access to all of our cake decorating tools, so we cheated and Ellie enjoyed a birthday 'donut!'
Ellie was thrilled to get to celebrate her birthday with lunch out with dear friends!
Ellie posing with one of her gifts...
Her last night as a 15 year old!
We were honored to celebrate the birthday of a dear friend on Sunday evening (June 13). The restaurant had this antique truck on the premises which Ellie enjoyed posing in.
On our way to the party we stopped for Covid tests, a requirement for flying 48 hours later.
Some last-minute duties before leaving for 3.5 months included shopping for finishes in the new center... like wastebasket and sinks for the locker rooms!
We were disappointed we didn't get to see the kalceto complete before we left, but these posts were installed just before we left.
What a shock to find sweetcorn at the international supermarket! But no, I did not buy any. Especially since there was no price listed!
Our super-generous neighbors gifted us with a whole CHICKEN! Yes!
Anyone ever tried AlbCola? Me neither...
So I have changed the order of the following photos. We had a broken toilet seat. This is always a stressor for us because there are SOOOO many toilet seat shapes and sizes. I can't event begin to describe the options -- but not so many replacement seats.
I took the photo below and sent the measurements to Nathan while he was shopping. Keep scrolling to see what he found...
Nope, that is not installed upside down. That is the way the hinges were attached to the seat. It appears that the seat was assembled incorrectly in the factory? Someone had one job... We had to remove the hinges and drill new holes in the seat. Yeah, it's not pretty, but it works.
And maybe that's a good note on which to end. For now. :-)
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