So it turns out that when everyone in the US found out we were coming back they decorated with American flags, shot off fireworks and fired up the grills for good old American hamburgers….not really, it was actually the 4th of July, but it may as well have been for us because it was so fun to come back just before the 4th and soak in lots of patriotic love!

We stayed for our first few days stateside with my brother and his family. My sister-in-law and brother kindly braved a day with our boys so that we could spend a day finalizing our kitchen remodel and picking paint and appliances for the house. (I don’t recommend doing this with jetlag but it’s just how it worked out)  The next day was the 4th and we spent the day playing with the kids, going to a 4th of July parade that my niece Ruthie was marching in, grilling and going to the pool. At the end of the night we let the kids try some sparklers. Stephanie did a great job of decorating the table and adding little festive touches!

The boys did well with jetlag all in all. We wrapped up a few more house details and flew out Thursday morning for Texas.

As you can see I am backtracking big time but we would miss so many special memories if I just jump in now! So enjoy…or bear with me, whatever the case may be

The Friday before we left Bern Seth’s coworkers hosted a farewell party for him. I didn’t get many pictures as I was chasing boys on the lawn of the Embassy but it was a neat time to see Seth’s coworkers appreciate him and thank him for his work. This was his first position managing local staff and it was neat to see him grow in his managerial skills. It was evident at his farewell that he was well respected and will be missed.

The Saturday before we left Bern our friends threw us a wonderful farewell party along the river. Our friend Daniela booked a place with a big outdoor grill, playground, awnings for shade and of course the  river! It was beautiful and so many special friends came to wish us well. We felt so so blessed and overwhelmed once again to see how God provided friends for us in yet another home.  We have so many wonderful memories, pictures and extra pounds (for me) that we will cherish forever…well not the extra pounds, those will be gone soon but the memories of Switzerland will be cherished. Just like anywhere we have lived there were good days and bad, things we loved and things we never quite got used to. I could go way deeper into all of this but I am so crunched on time so without further ado here are some pictures!

Bitter sweet for sure!! As we left Bern we were so anxious to be back stateside but so sad to say farewell. I am sure we will be processing all of the farewells for months to come!

Two days after our farewell we loaded up and flew back to Washington, DC….

Hi folks, we are alive, we are well, we are settling in….and we are still without internet. I haven’t forgotten about all of you and I have 2 months of photos and life to share with you. But internet doesn’t come for a week so I will sneak to Starbucks around the corner when I can but it will likely be a few weeks of catchup! In the meantime….we are loving our new home, our boys are peacefully settling in and SLEEPing again, we miss our dear friends in Switzerland, we are enjoying reuniting with dear friends here in NoVa, we made lots of happy memories (with minimal heat stroke) in Texas and our hands are covered with paint from the endless house projects!! Life is busy and good! More to come! Thanks for bearing with me!

You can find me blogging on World Moms Blog this week….www.worldmomsblog.com. They have a new fancy schmancy website so hop on over if you have time!