Back in the USA and more to come

We have made it safely back to our families, despite the best (worst?) efforts of Spirit Airlines (we arrived a day and a half late). It was a hectic last couple of weeks in Panama, and has been pretty busy here as well. Plus Blogger didn't publish some posts we'd scheduled (who knows why), so it has been a bit slow here lately. Sorry for that. We promise to make up for it soon.

Over 4th of July weekend, we were at my folks house in Lexington, VA, along with my grandma, my sister and her husband and the nephew we'd never met, my cousin and his wife and their daughter we'd never met, and April's parents. It was a busy time, but extremely fun, with lots of food, laughter, and talking. We didn't even view any of our photos.

So far, cultural adjustment hasn't been too hard. We have stayed in the house mostly, with just one quick run to Kroger's and to Wal-Mart. (We were subjected to the Michael Jackson memorial "news" on TV, which was definately a cultural event.) We are catching up on some sleep and shopping for a laptop and a cell phone, two of the main steps to plugging back in. We have our veggie car back (thanks to April's folks for taking care of it), and April proved today that she hasn't forgotten how to drive, so we have some independance as well. Next week, we'll visit April's grandma in North Carolina, and figure out where we are visiting next (Cincy and the Baltimore area are our top candidates right now).

But more importantly, watch here for some more recaps of events during our time in Panama (April will do pictures and summary of the course and time she spent in Isla Coiba), as we reflect on our final weeks and the full two years, realize differences we hadn't noticed while we were down there, and look through our pictures and find other stories we wanted to tell. Thank you for watching over these past years, and we hope to see many of you soon.