I've been a little bit overwhelmed with all the blog updating I have yet to do. I think I'll mix past with current and maybe someday I'll be all caught up! Can you believe it's already September? I can't. I'm going on 7 months here in Raleigh. Soon it will be fall again! I had my first pumpkin spice latte of the season this afternoon (iced because it's still hot outside...fingers crossed for cooler weather). I remember craving them in Germany and there was no pumpkin to be found. My sweet mama mailed me cans of pumpkin and all the fixins to make my own pumpkin syrup.

I wanted to say just a few more things about our family vacation to Sapphire Valley. It was the highlight of my July. It was so wonderful to see and hug them. L never fails to make me laugh so hard I cry. Among other things we explored some small towns, visited lots of antique stores, went tubing down the river, ate some of mama's homemade food (mac&cheese!), and played mini golf in the pouring rain. Probably my favorite part, though, was renting a pontoon boat and spending the day on Lake Jocassee. Apart from the crazy storm around lunch time, it was a gorgeous day and we had a fantastic time!

As I mentioned, I took two trips to Florida last month. The first was to visit Jonesy in Pensacola. He was the perfect host and had an incredible weekend planned out. To name a few...We went on a private ghost tour of a haunted lighthouse, out to fancy dinners, to the beach, and out on his boat. He even surprised me with zip lining. Here are some of those pictures...

The following weekend I went to Naples to visit the Kruegers. I cannot believe how grown up the girls are! We spent lots of our time at the beach and the pool and I got all the updates about life in Neckarbischofsheim.

So there's another little glimpse of what's been going on lately. Life is good!