An unexpected night in Chicago

Well, we thought that we should take a picture of a plane taking off because it definitely wasn't happening for us. United provided us with a hotel to sleep and we had a great time talking to the many different people on our flight; it almost felt like a family unit as we all tried to figure out what was happening and when we would finally be on our way to Brasil!

Karen had fun entertaining children of the many single mothers going to Brasil for summer visits with family while Brian was attempting to advocate for the many people stuck in the airport without much understanding of the language or the happenings.

We had plenty of time to take pictures of the airport.

The children were funny and it was neat to meet Ben's brother traveling to visit with his wife and two other missionary families.


One of the worst things about the whole delay was that it wasn't actually our plane that was broken and the cause of the delay. Our plane was actually just fine and was plane-knapped by a French group traveling to Paris and they left us with their broken plane. So, first France boots Brasil from the World Cup and then they steal our plane... Such was the joke in our group of travellers. 

Off to Brasil

So, after a great celebration of July Fourth, we flew to Chicago to begin our trip to Brasil. We were so excited!!



It was our first time approaching Chicago with clear skies during daylight, allowing for great views of downtown.

And, one of the largest and busiest airports in the world. Can you spot your favorite terminal??
 

Celebrating the Fourth of July

We celebrated the Fourth of July with a traditional cookout and fresh corn on the cob. We invited some friends from our college days and reminisced over fresh black grapes and Spanish cheese we discovered at Wegmans. We had a blast telling stories and looking at pictures from recent adventures and weddings of friends.

During the cookout, we accidently annoyed our new neighbor who, it turns out, is a vegan with very sensitive nostrils and doesn't appreciate the delicious smell of grilling hamburgers wafting with the the summer breezes in through his open windows. Next time, we'll just grill lamb. : )


Alas, we won't have too many meetings like this in the near future as Lori and Samantha head to the midwest for different graduate schools. We'll miss you and we love you. 

Strawberry Picking

A couple entries to update people regarding our time before our trip to Brasil (pictures forthcoming!!):


Strawberry picking in Western New York, in June!!
MMMMMMMM..........


Lots and lots of strawberries for ice cream, shortcake, pies ...

The strawberry picking was fun, but the eating was more fun and delicious. We also had fun playing with Maya and watching the Brasil World Cup game. We left the party quite sad, however, seeing that Roberto Carlos fixed his socks while Henry scored the only goal in the game... sadly Brasil was booted from the World Cup but they weren't playing the best footie anyways... not quite the Joga Bonita they are capable of playing.