Home for the Summer!

We were lucky enough to spend a full month in the States this summer visiting friends & family in Kansas & Illinois. We are so grateful to everyone who made time to see us, some of them driving many hours to do so! There are not enough words to say how wonderful this past month was, so this blog will be mostly pictures (and it will be a LOT of pictures, so prepare yourselves).

We now give you, Our Summer Home:

We were welcomed at O'Hare by SO MANY American flags. It was 4th of July weekend, but we were on flag overdose right from the get go.

Our first stop was Olathe, Kansas where we stayed with Jadon's parents and got to see his brother, Jonathan, and his family.

Three members & the leader of Jadon's Accountability Group from high school youth group.

At the Kansas City Zoo! Jadon's parents with our niece & nephew, and then all the "kids."

Josiah really loved the map at the zoo, so he was our official guide.

Out for a girl's day getting our nails done & then some Starbucks & cake pops!

Funny picture & then a group shot with the family all together.

Then we traveled for a 2-day mini-vacation in Galena, Illinois. It was very small town America, and a great place to relax and sight see for a couple days.

Beautiful Illinois landscapes on the way to Galena

The largest wooden nickel! 

The home of President Ulysses S. Grant

Inside Grant's home - the two vases on the fireplace are Bohemian glass made in the Czech Republic!

When people ask me (Brittany) what kind of food I miss from America, this is my answer. Biscuits and gravy! Yum! The best cafe in Galena - Otto's Place. We went twice for breakfast & highly recommend it!

After Galena, we traveled to Manteno, Illinois to stay with my family for a couple weeks. There we got to see a lot of friends (not all who we have pictures with) and family.

First, we went to the wedding of one of my previous students, Dani (Martin) Wildermuth. It was so exciting to be there for her & Austin and celebrate with them. It was a very beautiful wedding.

My friend Kristi is getting married in TWO days!! And I was lucky enough to be there to celebrate her bachelorette party with her. So many congratulations to her & Bill!

Also at the bachelorette celebration, my friends Brandon & Katie.

Jadon & I got to see one of our favorite bands Rend Collective! It was a great night of worship & fun & jumping up and down.

Brandon & Greg hosted a Friends Birthday Party for us to celebrate all of the birthdays we've missed this year!

It was such a nice night being all together & the first time we got to meet Diana's son Dylan!

At the Cubs game at Wrigley Field!

Brandon had a role in a local production of CATS, and we were SO glad we could see him perform! It was a fantastic show!!

Out to lunch one last time as a big group - so glad we got to see so many people who we love so much!

My friend Katie & I got to see Kelly Clarkson & Pentatonix, and it was, obviously, amazing.

Group shot of my family on our last day before we headed back to Prague.

We had such an amazing month home, these pictures and my words hardly do it justice. We are so blessed by so many friends & family members, and your love will carry us far into this year!