Sweet Summer.

I can hardly believe that summer has already come and gone. It's good to be back in Blauen and settling in with my girls but I wanted to take a minute to look back on this summer. Here are a few of the highlights.

I was able to see all of my immediate and extended family this summer. This was such a blessing to me. It was refreshing and a great time to reconnect and enjoy each other. When I first arrived in the States I went straight to Door County, Wisconsin for a Crowley family reunion and later traveled to Texas to see the Thompson side.

The hardest part of being over here in Germany is being away from my family. I am thankful that my immediate family was able to be all together but it only lasted about 12 hours. 8 of those I spent sleeping because I was still fighting jet lag. Still we savor our time together and hope for more time soon.

Thankfully, I was able to spend some time in Michigan with Amanda, Emily and Caitlin at camp. One morning I went to breakfast with Em and Cait at the Chuckwagon. They have donuts as big as your head so obviously, we needed to check this out. This is me with the apple fritter we shared. We couldn't even eat half of it.

And here are the Thompson sisters minus Jean.

On the way to Texas my parents and I stopped in Cincinnati to see Tim and Jean. We went to a Reds game and had a great time. The night was perfect for a baseball game, and I'm not even a big baseball fan. The Reds didn't win but we still had fun.

Jean and I had a great time talking, admiring the accent of the woman behind us, and picking out what Reds logo we would want on a piece of paraphernalia during the game.

And Mom, Dad, and Tim. Tim and Dad were a bit more into the game.

I was also in a wedding this summer. My dear friend Erin got married and I got to be a part of the celebration. Erin and I have been friends since we were 2 and we have dreamed of our weddings for about as many years as we have been friends. It was a joy to help with last minute preparations and then be a part of the actual wedding. The wedding went smoothly and I know that God has brought Erin and Tyler together so it really was a blessing to me to see them married. This is Erin right before she walked down the aisle, she was absolutely breathtaking.

I also got to see two of my best friends from college this summer. Brittany traveled with me and my parents to Texas for a week. We enjoyed eating good Texas cooking, swimming, Sonic, and watching fireworks. It was a great time to catch up on life and enjoy just being together. When I got back from Texas, Val came to visit for a weekend. We went to Bluffton's farmer's market, went star gazing, listened to lots of country music and talked late into the night. These times with friends were so meaningful to me. To reconnect and see how God is working in their lives is such an encouragement to me. God has blessed me with some wonderful friends who are able to speak truth into my life.

Finally, I spent time at home reconnecting with some of my supporters. I shared at St. John's one Sunday morning. I love sharing about my dorm and the work that I get to do. I keep saying how blessed I felt throughout this summer and catching up with my church/supporting community was no different. I am continually amazed at how God provides and how much you all are willing to give toward what I do here and what I need. One of my biggest needs this summer was a new computer and right now I am typing on a wonderfully fast, new computer provided by people who are passionate about what God is doing here. I find myself continually thankful to all of you. Your friendship and giving is such an encouragement when things get tough here. I know that I have a community behind me and that gives me strength.

All in all, it was a wonderful summer. It flew by and I definitely didn't see everyone that I wanted to but I am still learning how to plan these times that I have back in the States. Keep an eye out for another blog post soon on how the year has started!

Here is a final picture from the summer. I throughly enjoyed Ohio sunsets while I was home. Germany is beautiful but I don't see sunsets that compare to those spent on the front porch at home.