The Reconciliation of All Things

Doesn't he look like he's up to no good? He's a smart little guy...believe me, he knows what he's doing with that little smirk of his... ;-)

We also made a quick visit to Uncle Josh & Stephanie down in Maryland where they work as Physical Therapists--great burgers at Red Robin!

This was a massive tree in the arboretum--isn't it beautiful? This was a creation by an artist from out in California...all made out of branches of trees. Here are some flowers and roses in the Rose Garden. Of course, my bride and I. And here's our family! Thanks Grammy White for taking this picture for us!

After July 4th in Boston, we headed down to Lansdale, PA, to see some college friends, and then to Philly to see Becky's grandmother. Caleb enjoyed playing with Connor in the sand--there was some pretty gritty hair that night that had to be washed read good! In Philly, we went to the pool with Great Grammy White, as well as to the University of Pennsylvania's state arboretum--the trees and flowers were beautiful! During this trip we've been amazed at how well Caleb has done in adjusting to the traveling and all the many people we meet up with. One of the pictures above shows Caleb playing with two girls he met at dinner one evening! No, we didn't even know them! They were playing on the grass tennis courts in front of the restaurant.

After our time in Avon, CT, we drove to Boston (really, Cambridge) where more college friends of ours live and work. We watched the fireworks to the Boston Pops playing music on a rooftop deck--it was wonderful! We spent a couple of nights with them and their daughter (Bella)--Caleb had a wonderful time too! On Sunday, we went to church with them at Park Street Church (on the Boston Commons) and walked around for a bit afterwards.

These were the fireworks we watched in Boston on July 4th night from Karen & Brian Winey's rooftop deck! Beautiful!

So, we figured it was about time to put up some pictures of our trip so far. Here's the first leg--we stopped by Ephrata, PA for a quick night's rest with good friends Drew & Jessica Broucek, and the next morning made our way up to Avon, CT, where some college friends got hitched! Cheryl (went to Houghton College with Becky and I) got married to Joel Vaughn. It was a wonderful wedding, and a great time to reconnect with many friends from college days. We went out to have the best pizza we've ever had, and Caleb enjoyed eating a lemon!

These are pictures of two of the four Brazilian missionary candidates that graduated in late June, and their graduation ceremony. Ben was able to teach a couple of classes to them and have times of interaction. It was such a blessing--the two he's standing with are preparing to go to Mozambique in the Fall of this year.

In this picture, I'm standing next to Pastor Irací, who was a friend of mine when a kid, but also my dad's student in seminary in the early '90's (oh, he was also a great soccer player). Now he's a pastor in a nearby city where we will be located once we return to Brazil. I had not seen him since the '90's when I left Brazil to return to the States for college. We reconnected quickly, and enjoyed talking about the needs and challenges in the local Brazilian Church, but also the strengths of the Church. He's also invited us to come speak at his church when we return to Brazil, which, for me, would be a privilege.

The last day we were in Brazil Caleb got to hang out with his friend, Josué, and Ben with his friend, Heber. We already miss our friends dearly, and can't wait to go back!