It's been some months now since we returned from Burundi. Since our return we've been able to spend time both with our family in the Netherlands and our family in the States.
Our time “home” is valuable to us, even though it is often short with most of our time spent recuperating and preparing, and we don't always accomplish everything we want and see everyone we hope to see.
While in the Netherlands we had the blessing of reconnecting with friends from our time in Amsterdam, making new friends at church, welcoming friends from overseas, and even had the privilege of playing tour guide and hosting a few travelers. We even got to be present for some special events like Mattanja's book presentation, a friend's birthday, our church's retreat, and we got to meet the baby of some close friends! We also made a trip to see Ryan and Franzi in Germany just a few weeks before they became Mr. & Mrs. Shuflin.
Allie headed back to the States a few days before Henk to help her mom with the final move out of their family home of more than 20 years. Henk came quickly after as soon as he finished preparations at school for his next research.
While back in the states we stayed with a family from our church who graciously hosted our family during this time of transition.
We've had a wonderful time here with some friends at some summer night cookouts, music nights, and fireworks. We sent Kyle off on his trip to China, and welcomed back Marc, Amy, and Eli from Venezuela. And of course we had a blast being Aunt and Uncle to Eli! We also celebrated our 1 year anniversary with a trip to Chicago and later went on a 3 day canoe trip in Wisconsin.
