To get home we flew to Zurich and had to spend in the night in a hotel near the airport. The flight home was long, but not near as bad as everyone was expecting until we got to Chicago. There was a huge rain storm in Chicago that kept us there for 4 hours. We did eventually get home late at 3:00 am very tired, but super glad to be home for a few weeks.
During the three weeks at home I woke up at 5:00 am each day to overlap 4-5 hours a day with the guys in Luxembourg. That will be my schedule when we come home in December so I gave it a try. It ended up working out pretty well, except that we always ended up staying up late talking to friends and family.
Our favorite thing about visiting home was catching up with friends and family. We had lots of dinners, ice cream parties, lunch with friends, etc. We sure appreciate everyone taking time out of their busy schedules to spend time with us.
We also spent a lot of time on this trip back home taking care of medical things that are difficult in Luxembourg. Jake got his braces tightened, Emilee and I went to the dentist, I had a heart scan looking for calcium and Kim went to many doctors to try and figure out the itching problem.
The big news for the twins was practicing and taking their driving exam to get their driver's licenses. They practiced parallel parking and parking on a hill for several days before acing their tests. Both of them succeeded and got their licenses. They were both very relieved and excited!
We didn't see a lot of the kids because they were all off playing and hanging out with their friends. Multiple parties, lunches, video games, movies, boating, etc. They really do have such a good, core set of friends in Highland. We knew it was going to be difficult heading back, but didn't realize how difficult it ended up being! One of the favorite things the kids would do is greet their friends with a French, kissy, kissy on the cheeks. The best were Spencer's friends that couldn't figure out what the heck was going on!
A couple of the highlights of the trip were the cousin's camp at the Saunders and heading up to Bob Macfarlane's cabin at big mountain. Spencer thought he'd died and gone to heaven when Bob said we could ride his motorcycles. We also got in a good mountain bike ride down the pioneer trail. Cousin's camp included stand up paddles boards, obstacle courses and the late night sleep over!
Grandma and Grandpa took super good care of the house and yard while we've been gone. They've fixed so many things like the fridge, lights, detailed the ovens, etc. The house was super clean until we destroyed it the first 10 minutes.
We all enjoyed the simple pleasures of life like ice water, air conditioning, screens on the windows and the best of all, the garbage disposal.
Aunt Emilie brought over pizza and we had multiple nights where we ate mexican food!
The Rippy's had a new game that we loved call, Kan Jam. We highly recommend it!
The last few days of the vacation I took 3 days off and headed to the Gorge with Dana. We timed it just right as it was windy for 3 days straight. It amazed us how windsurfing is a dying sport. I was literally the youngest guy we saw for 3 days of windsurfing. Everyone, especially the younger guys, is doing kite surfing now. I must admit it looks really, really fun and a lot less work than windsurfing.
There was a professional photographer floating down the river, so I decided to show off a little bit!
Spencer, before we left got a "euro" haircut! He loves it and was excited to show everyone he'd gone euro!
The flight here was a long one as I've lost all of my status as a frequent flier. We were jammed in the back, in middle seats with no leg room. The plane had a leak that kept us on the plane for an extra 2 hours, so we were ready to get off that thing when we landed in London. Because it was so late, we didn't end up having a layover in London. We basically ran to the flight to Luxembourg.
The Gilstraps were super nice to pick us up and drop us off. They even made a dinner for us.
We all suffered from jet lag this week as we got back to work and back to school. With 3.5 months left in the adventure, we're all feeling like it is doable and are excited to make the most of the remaining time here. We're looking forward to more visits from family and friends that will make the time go even faster.
Kim's parents drove down from Frankfurt on Friday night to spend the weekend with us. It was super fun to see them and show them Luxembourg. We visited 3 castles and the Family of Man exhibit in Clervaux. It was super impressive! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family_of_Man
They came to church today and we just got back from taking them over to see Trier. We actually totally lucked out in Trier. We got to see two things that we've never seen. First we got to see the relics in the main Trier cathedral. It was the first time it had been open. Lots of bones in a little golden house. Pretty dang cool!
Second, we got to see the inside of Constantine's Basilica. This building was around in 300 when Constantine was the emperor of Rome. Supposedly this is the actual place where he had his light vision to convert to Christianity. This is a super important building and we finally got to see the inside of it. Very impressive to be standing in a building that was built that long ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aula_Palatina
The weather this week has been nice and cool and a little rainy. We'll take that over the heat any day of the week!!!! The leaves are actually starting to change a little bit so Fall is on its way!
I noticed that BYU won, which was great because I didn't have to invest 4 hours into seeing if they won or lost! ;) I've promised myself that I won't get my hopes up this year. We'll see how that goes...
Pictures from week 36
Pictures from week 33-35
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