We are here!

Greetings,

We arrived safely in Boston, found our rental car, and, miraculously, our hotel in Boston, and after a quick bowl of New England clam chowder headed directly to bed. In the morning, we walked around Beacon Hill, ate a nice breakfast, admired the runners in the Boston Commons, took the subway to walk around Harvard, and packed up to drive to Thetford, Vermont, where we stayed with good friends from our Seattle days. Not only do these friends live in Vermont, but other mutual friends have also moved to nearby Norwich as well. Then, much to my surprise, I ran into a good friend from grad school days in Eugene, Oregon, who also lives in Thetford. It was a veritable Northwest reunion of sorts.

The second day in the US, Logan fell off a rope swing and broke his arm, but he was quickly put on the path to healing by efficient doctors and nurses at the Dartmouth Medical Center. I think they were pleased to work on an otherwise healthy and cheerful young boy and did everything they could to keep him happy. He is recovering well!

We all participated, with our friends, in the Thetford Run for History 5K. Though David ran the fastest time, he did not win because he was unable to answer a single question about Thetford's history - even though there were 50 signs with clues and information posted on the course. I guess being the fastest does not always make someone the winner! Logan, despite his cast, walked the entire course with me, and Hayden ran the course, answered some interview questions, and got his picture in the paper the next day: Hayden Evans from Saudi Arabia. Though no Evans won the race, we did win a huge box of organic tomatoes because we traveled the furthest to participate in this historical race!

We have been eating delicious local produce, lots of pork, and picking our own strawberries. In Thetford we went to the local Strawberry Festival at an organic farm and had amazing strawberries on our cereal the next day. It's so nice to connect

with friends and family after two years. It sometimes feels as if we have not been gone that long. Our overseas life feels far away and long ago for now... We are amazed at how green and lush everything is. Logan keeps saying, "America is so green!"

We are now in West Chester, Pennsylvania, visiting family and driving lawn mowing tractors. Tomorrow we head to Michigan!

Thanks for reading, Jennifer