Before I tell you anything about our trip...

I want to shout out to these incredibly kind and generous people. We can't thank you enough for the awesome time we spent with you. Only in Jehovah's organization would you find people willing to open their homes and hearts to complete strangers and that is exactly what Scott and Annette Ripley did. As soon as we walked out of the arrivals lounge at JFK and met them, we knew we were in for a good time.

What a couple of troopers - walked all through Central Park and back to
Times Square with us without complaining and they also got up at 3am to watch our
daughters wedding with us (that's friendship)

Then we went to Pennsylvania  and finally met Michele's Dad. What a lovely guy - a very hard working elder, so we didn't get to spend too much time with him but what time we had chatting with him was just like being with a very old friend.

Alan and Mark- buddies from the start

Beverly, Michele's Mum (or should I say Mom) is so hospitable - she drove 3 hours to pick us up at Walkill then drove us all the way back to her place. The breakfasts she got up early to cook too were amazing and now Mark is looking at me to do the same (fat chance, I couldn't compete with her standards). Her and her friend drove us all around Amish country and we had the funnest time with them.

You can tell by the cheeky grin of these two they are trouble

And last but not least - Jeremy, Chelsea and Zak (Michele's brother, sister-in-law and nephew). Not only did they shout us a huge pile of shrimp (Mark still reminisces) but they also drove us all the way back to NY to catch our flight to Houston. No mean feat! Zak is hard to beat at Sequence but a cool little dude. Looking forward to spending time with these guys when they move to Ecuador next year.

 So just gotta say to you all....

THANK YOU, GRACIAS, XIE XIE NI  (only know thank you in 3 languages)  Love you all lots!