June & July

Monsoon Season

Since we are just a few days from leaving for the U.S. to renew our Visas, I thought I’d better let you know what we’ve been up to for the last month. On Father’s Day we visited the future site of the “Davison House of Prayer” that our friends at Servant’s Heart International are building. We blessed the land, performed a ground-breaking ceremony, and celebrated our good friend Suresh’s birthday with a picnic lunch. It was a fantastic day full of hope and promise. We are continuously amazed with Preety and Suresh’s commitment to the kids in the Ram Tekadi area of Pune. The following Monday, Anna took Chris to her school for a special celebration. They ate snacks, made crafts, and sang songs. Afterwards, they enjoyed lunch together at McDonalds. On July 3rd, I went to Anna’s school to talk about our Independence Day traditions. The kids had a great time coloring fireworks pictures and singing patriotic songs. We celebrated the Fourth of July with a party at our friends Jason and Loveena’s house. It was almost like being home, except there were elephant rides and a tattoo artist for the kids. We also roasted marshmallows and made s’mores and watched fireworks. Last Saturday we went to lunch at one of Chris’s manager’s houses. Vidyadar’s family owns a printing press, so naturally Chris was enthralled. We had a fantastic lunch of butter chicken, chapatti, dal and rice. Anna got stung by two wasps about five minutes apart. She cried a bit, but made it through the rest of the day just fine. Chris was given a traditional Maharastrian hat and I was given a sari. After our visit, we stopped by our driver Kiran’s new flat. It is bright, cheery and spacious and he and his family are thrilled. Chris’s boss Tom was here last week, which is always busy. The monsoon has started in earnest and it has been dreary and soggy for quite some time. Now we are headed home again. While we are not looking forward to the long flights, we can’t wait to see everyone once we arrive. If we miss you this time, please know that you are in our thoughts. We hope this update finds you all well and enjoying the rest of the summer. Until next time, take care!