Well, it is good to be able to post on this end of things having had survived our packout. It took weeks of prep with our things being divided between storage, DC short term (our things for the next 8 months), DC long term storage, Bern and giveaway! I threatened after this packout that next packout I might take Jackson and Owen away and let Seth do it! Jackson was more than enthusiastic and helpful which made things interesting. The movers were in our home for 3 full days, not because we had that much stuff but because in true Colombian style our packers were late, didn’t show up and worked like snails! We were so relieved to see the trucks drive away.

Here are a few pictures!

Jackson on his last day at school. He carried in bouquets of flowers for his teachers

saying good bye to Sonia and Santiago

saying good bye to our guards and getting the chance to hold the walkie talkie and wear the official hat

helping with the luggage.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5JJKZ4XfA0]

his backpack was so heavy he fell over carrying it!

Our traveling family. USA here we come!

We are down to the final countdown! Sometimes it feels like our move is coming quickly and sometimes it feels like it is taking forever!We have someone coming on Monday to do a “packout assessment”- basically they determine how much stuff we have, how many boxes they need and how many days it will take. It is so nice having someone pack but truly we end up doing so much of it before they arrive because everything has to be in categories of a small air shipment to DC temp housing, Bern and storage.  When we finish the Foreign Service it will be fun to say “take it all to our home!”

Sept 1-3 we will have our pack out! Once the pack out is over we will have about a week in our apt with our suitcases of clothes and the embassy couch, beds, etc. It will be pretty empty!!!

5 weeks from yesterday (Sept 11th)  we fly to Houston, followed by Oregon, Ft Worth and then on to our cross country road trip to DC with a stop to visit our dear friends in Louisville!

On the 15th of Oct Seth will take the plunge into learning German! And we will be living close to family and friends! We will have about 10 weeks to get ready for our second little guy to arrive!

In the meantime, I have been working on big sorting projects to prevent us from making a move with so many things we don’t need. Unfortunately, I think I am using my nesting energy on this end of things. I hope I have some energy left to prepare for the baby when we arrive in DC!

You can continue to pray for the quick sale of our car. As well as health and energy as we wrap up our final weeks here. We are so anxious to be with family and friends for a time of being rejuvinated before starting yet another adventure.  Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!!

Our first move…Dallas to DC. Pregnant with Jackson. We have added Jackson and soon another. Moved from DC to Bogota, soon Bogota to DC, then DC to Bern. All in 4 yrs!

Kristen’s already posted on the 4th of July and what a fun time we had.  But I’ll post a bit more.

Back in November 2008, my boss asked me if wanted to volunteer to head up 4th of July 2009.  He said they were looking for someone who would eventually end up in the management section (which I’ll do at some point).  I said yes, knowing that it would be a long-term project, which is what I really enjoy.  But I know I didn’t understand just how much work would go into it.

We started meeting in November, but really didn’t do anything substantial until February or so.   I knew last year’s event was huge and that they wanted it to be bigger this year, so I quickly found other volunteers to help out.  I think by the end we had about 18 subcommittees working on everything from decorations to raffles to parking.  In June, I moved over to the management section, which handles a lot of the logistics and support for the Embassy.  And the 4th of July is mostly about logistics.  It’s hard to believe, but I was working full-time on the 4th beginning on June 1, and probably abuot 50-75% during the month of May.

By the end, I was glad it was over.  There were so many details and issues that popped up that it was becoming awfully stressful.  But fun nonetheless.  I’ve been asked if I would do it again, and I certainly would…just not next year.  Thankfully, Bern will be much smaller.  Probably a backyard BBQ kind of party.  So even if they ask me to run that one, at least I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.

One of the highlights was getting to select and arrange the music for the fireworks.  Last year, the fireworks were timed to Disney music (what that means, I don’t know).  But this year I wanted it to be patriotic.  So I selected 7 songs for a 13 minute show.  Everything from “You’re a Grand Old Flag” to “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”  From the feedback we received, the fireworks were definitely the biggest hit.  And I know of 3 people who shed tears during the show.  I think Indepedence Day is such a big deal for Americans, that it’s hard to be overseas and away from family and traditions that the fireworks were probably the only thing that was traditionally American.

The other highlight was getting to work on a plaque for the 3 American hostages that were released last year, along with 1 American who died when their plane crashed.  (If you want to read their autobiography, I highly recommend _Out of Captivity_.)  Previously, the Embassy had a permanent memorial to the hostages right inside the lobby throughout the 1,967 days of captivity.  And the plaque will go where the memorial previously was.  The Ambassador unveiled the plaque on July 4.  And one of the fun things was that I was the one who wrote text for the plaque.  Of course, the day before they were going to inscribe the text on the plaque, I was reading over the text one more time and found that one person’s name was misspelled.  Thankfully we caught it in time!!

Until we leave in September, they are letting me stay in the management section.  In the mornings, I’ll be doing a couple hours of visas, but otherwise I’ll be doing small management projects.  I’m really thankful they’re giving me some experience in what I’ll eventually end up doing.  Bern will be two more years of consular, so I’m also thankful I’m getting a break from consular.

Now that the 4th is over, we’re starting to wrap things up in Colombia.  We’ve made our list of things we want to do before we leave.  Kristen’s been sorting our house so we don’t bring along all the stuff we never use.  We’ve started the check-out list and even have our pack-out scheduled.  We’re less than 2 months out, which is hard to believe.  I think we’re both ready for a change and ready to get back to the USA.  Distance makes the heart grow fonder.  We’re looking forward to the food and family and familiarity.  I’m especially looking forward to Whataburger.  And since they don’t have it in DC, I’m going to have to get my fill while in Texas.

For some reason our Embassy celebrated the 4th on the 3rd. So, we celebrated last night and then Seth went again today for a flag raising ceremony and the revealing of a plaque to honor our 3 hostages that were rescued last year just before the 4th of July.  Seth will have lots more to write but I will post pictures now and let him write when he has time to catch his breath.

I have to start by bragging on Seth which he won’t like but I think it’s important. The event had 5500 people. Seth coordinated it all! He had 17 committees to cover all of the different aspects of the event. Earlier in the week that there was not going to be enough food and beer but as the night went on everyone seemed to have what they needed and beer didn’t run out until late in the evening which in this community is the sign of a well prepared event! Seth got lots of compliments on his great work including people last night saying things like ” whoever did the arrangement of music for the fireworks did an excellent job!”  It was very moving to hear our patriotic songs. It makes me all that more eager to get home to the US!

Jackson was exhausted but took it all in and enjoyed himself! It was a drizzly night and it always feels weird to have to wear jackets on the 4th but overall the rain held back and we stayed dry!I didn’t get many good pictures but here are a few anyways….

Both looking a little like they want out!

Fanny Lu…Colombian rock star. Jackson was a VIP so he got to go behind the scenes and meet her! He was too tired to be impressed!

This picture is in honor of our friends the Maney’s! When the girl scouts came around selling these  I was like “who needs one of those glo sticks?” Then I had a vision of Sarah and Paul walking through the fair trying to sell them so I whipped out the cash!

the stage area, pre-5500 people

Our friend Nicholas, wishing he was an American

watching the kids show!

Happy 4th Everyone! Eat some hot dogs and hamburgers for us today!! We are missing home!