U. S. Fun!

Our Trip to the U.S.

Hello family and friends! As we are nearing our one year anniversary in India on October 1st, our Visas recently needed renewing. We left for the U.S. on August 13th and arrived in Chicago on Thursday the 14th, exhausted but excited. From there we drove to Moline where we met up with Grammy and Gramps. Aunt Pat and Uncle Tom joined us for the weekend and we celebrated Aunt Pat’s birthday with pizza and cake at our hotel. Our stay in Moline lasted almost two weeks and was filled with playing, shopping, swimming, visiting friends, and letting Grammy and Gramps soak up as much of the kids as possible. We especially had fun going to a carnival, the park, the zoo and the Painted Penguin. Shortly before returning to India, Chris was able to drive to Nebraska with his friend Rob via borrowed motorcycle (Thanks Pastor Jerry!) to see the farm we purchased back in January. It was killing him that he hadn’t been able to see it in person. As a bonus, Chris’s brother Spencer met him in Omaha. He had the time of his life on the twelve hour ride and his overwhelming desire to see our farm was satisfied, for the time being. Our stay in the Quad Cities was completely relaxing until Grammy and Gramps left for Arizona and Chris left for India. At that point, the kids and I descended on our friends, the Longs, for another few days. Anna and Max had a blast catching up with Payton, Sheridan, and the rest of the Winding Creek gang. On Friday the 29th we headed to Michigan to visit my family. The next week and a half was spent visiting family and friends we haven’t seen in a while. During the days we played with Grandma Sally and the triplets she watches. A boat ride, swimming, and a trip to Chuck E. Cheese’s were among the highlights. Most evenings were spent visiting at my Dad’s. Anna and Max couldn’t get enough of Grandpa Richard and Grandma Joni’s hot tub, trampoline, and tree house. Other things we enjoyed in Michigan were Mema and Papa’s tractor show, a football game at my high school alma mater, Max’s first hair cut, and dinner with Aunt Angela and Emma. Mom drove us to the airport on Wednesday the 10th and we arrived in Mumbai at midnight on the 12th. The kids and I spent the night in Mumbai before heading to Pune the next morning. We arrived late in the afternoon and soaked up some much needed time with Daddy. After being back for a week, the kids are finally back to normal sleep schedules, thank goodness! We are now looking forward to our Halloween party, Thanksgiving, then Christmas when we will head back to the U.S. We hope you are all well and look forward to hearing from you. Take care!

Delhi and Agra

Grandma Sally's Visit

I will start with an apology for taking so long between updates. Since we’ve been in the U.S. for almost three weeks, it’s about time I wrote about Grandma Sally’s visit to India. As I said in my last update, she and Chris met up in Frankfurt and travelled together to Mumbai. They arrived in Pune on July 28th and the fun began. While Anna was at school and Max was upstairs playing with Kai, Mom and I spent our days doing a lot of local shopping. We bought groceries at Dorabjee’s and at Shivaji market, souvenirs at Clover Center, and clothes on Laxmi Road. By the time it was time to pick up Anna each day, we were beat! Evenings were spent at home playing with the kids. Mom and I left the kids with Chris on Friday, August 1st and headed to Delhi. We arrived late afternoon and took a nice sight-seeing trip with a very helpful driver. Among our favorite stops were the parliament buildings, the president’s home, the India Gate, Humayun’s and Isa Khan’s Tomb, and the Lotus Temple. After an obligatory stop at a handicraft store, we had a quiet dinner at our hotel and left early Saturday morning for Agra. I can only describe the four hour drive as a white knuckle experience. The starting and stopping, the quick lane changes, and the wait at the border were almost too much. By the time we arrived at our hotel, we were glad that there were only two stops on the day’s agenda. We set out with a tour guide for the Taj Mahal. Words cannot describe the overwhelming beauty of this structure. Built by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his late wife, the Taj Mahal took 20,000 workers seventeen years to complete at an estimated cost of one million dollars. Although this might not sound like much, remember it was built in the 1600s. Our next stop was at the Agra Fort which operates mainly as a military institution. The twenty-five percent that is open to tourists consists of the historic home of the Taj Mahal creator and several generations of his family. Surrounded by a moat to keep attackers at bay, the fort offers a stunning view of the Taj Mahal and the surrounding area. Our final stops of the day consisted of souvenir shopping and a quiet dinner at our hotel. The return trip to Delhi the next day was even more nerve racking than the previous day, cutting an hour off the total drive time. We arrived back in Pune late Sunday afternoon and visited with Chris and the kids. Monday was spent touring Sangam, one of the four world centers for the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. This was lots of fun as my family has always been active in scouting. Tuesday was spent running around getting things ready for Mom’s trip home. She and I left Tuesday afternoon and spent the night in Mumbai before she left around 10:00am on Wednesday. Overall, she had a great time. She was amazed by the traffic, which she adequately described as four lanes of traffic heading down a two lane road. She also really enjoyed seeing how Indian people live and work. We were sad to see her go, but we were grateful for the opportunity to share this chapter of our lives. We hope that my Mom’s visit will encourage you to come for a visit if the opportunity presents itself. We have plenty of room and our doors are always open. Until next time, take care!