Home again

Saturday, September 3 - Saturday, September 17 2011

One of the tricky parts about moving to Switzerland was that we knew some of our friends and family would likely be getting married while we were living overseas.  What, they can’t wait for us to get back?? ;)  As much as we would love to, unfortunately we can’t make every wedding.  However, September presented a well-timed opportunity to come home to Washington and attend at least a couple of them. 

We flew out of Geneva on Saturday morning, September 3 and made it to Bellevue with enough time to spare before our friends Ethan and Tracy’s wedding that evening.  Although jet-lagged, it was a fun time to see a lot of our friends at one event (especially nice when time is short and we want to see as many friends as we can). 

We enjoyed some much appreciated home time with both of our families.  Dave’s cousin Luke is the latest honorary member of the Visser household as he’s taken over Dave’s old bedroom at Roger and Linda’s house (he just started a new job in Bellevue).  It was so much fun spending time with Dave’s family (Luke included) as we mixed in some game nights, dinners, and even spent the evening of Labor Day out on the boat on Lake Washington & Lake Union.  Additionally we got to see a few of our extended relatives, including Grandpa Albert.  

Gas Works Park on Lake Union

Of course we made it over to Connell for some Johnson family and friend time, too.  Our niece, Kamryn, is now one-and-a-half-years-old and has changed so much since we last saw her in April!  She is starting to say words, knows her sign language well, and is running at (at least) a two-year-old level. :)  It brings us so much joy to see her growing into a small person, especially because she has so many hilarious mannerisms.  Here she is with mom and dad, all decked out in Cougar gear for the Connell Days parade.  Also, Dave had some fun watching her climb around David’s Bridal during our Auntie-and-Uncle-day in the Tri-Cities (video below).

 
We also had the opportunity to see baby Xaiver again, who we met for the first time back in April, right after he was born.  He’s changed a lot (of course) and is spreading all sorts of joy to his parents, Kristin and JP (our cousins on Ang’s side). 

 

Our last night in Bellevue was spent hanging out with much of the same crew as our first night – this time it was our friends’ Lee and Jenn’s wedding.  Of course the last night goodbyes are always a little hard but as usual it was a perfect trip coming home to see friends and family.  Our battery is now recharged for another 9 months over seas… we’ll be back before we know it! :)