USA!

Apologies to our numerous readers (hee-hee!) for the long interval between updates. We've been busy. After 9 months in Germany we took a much anticipated trip to North America. We'll update you on our trip and then we hope to retroactively update you on what went on with us in May and June.

We flew to Minneapolis June 22 and I (Betsy) got to attend my future sister-in-law's bridal shower before heading up to Montreal a day later. I rejoined my colleagues from Tuebingen and beyond for a week-long Geochemistry conference. It was a great meeting and I made a lot of great connections with people in my field and presented my newer work. I did not see much of Montreal, but I did get a chance to visit my good friend Liz from Mount Holyoke, her boyfriend Pete, and her parents near Burlington, VT after the conference. I have many good memories of them all from college days.

German colleagues in Montreal

Beer, with HOPS!! in VT

Joe meanwhile flew out to Colorado to reconnect with folks from the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) where he is still employed. He also caught up with a lot of colleagues we knew socially, as well as friends from salsa dancing and the Unitarian Universalist group we were a part of. Joe and I both took every opportunity to drink microbrewed ales, especially those loaded with hops. German beer is awfully light on hops for our taste.

Fire retardant in Boulder.

Paul & Katherine +1 at SoSun.

We convened back in Minnesota before heading down to Iowa in the middle of a heat wave. We stopped in the quaint town of Lanesboro, MN to celebrate our 1st anniversary by renting a tandem bike. I am a bit surprised we made it to year 2 after taking out such a contraption in that heat! We spent the rest of the week with Joe's 96-year-old grandma in Manning, IA. We played a lot of "Rummy Cube" and Joe flew the Red Baron Triplane kite he acquired in Boulder. That guy just loves wind!

The Germans are coming!

We returned to Minnesota in time for a reunion barbecue with my 3 good friends from high school. Laura and Sam got married in May, and Julie and Dave introduced little Dave to the world last December, so our group is now 12 with Mitch and Michelle's 3 kids Isaiah, Ethan and Elisa. Joe had a blast jumping on the trampoline with the boys.

Joe and the boys.

Wedded Bliss!

In addition to dealing with silly stuff like updating our bank accounts, we helped my dad build a fence at his vineyard. Sadly, I am now covered in poison ivy. The highlight of our trip was my brother Andy's wedding to his soulmate Amanda.

Our new fence.