Run! Run! Run!

This past week we were in Germany for Emigrate, a conference for our first-termers. I was successful at finding Sour Sticks (Brause Stachen), the candy I used to eat when I lived in Germany in middle school! Yea!

For the security of our personnel who live in closed countries, I can't show you any pictures of the meeting or the people who attended, but Asya allowed me to post her picture! She is Bulgarian and came to provide childcare while parents were in meetings, but in her real life she is in school to become a massage therapist. Do you believe I asked her to "practice" on me? You betcha! And I found out she used to live in Marietta, Georgia for two years!!

On another note ... when we arrived at the conference in Rehe, Germany, Glenn realized he'd left his beige windbreaker somewhere in the Frankfurt airport. At the end of Day 1 of the conference, Glenn couldn't find his fleece jacket that he'd left somewhere in the hotel. Two lost jackets in two days. Good thing the weather was nice!

Well, the day before we left Germany, after a dozen people asked him if he'd checked for his fleece jacket at the front desk of the hotel, he found his way down there, not really expecting to find it there. It had been turned in! Yea!

And then when we were about to fly back to Budapest, Glenn decided, on a whim and a wild shot, to check the lost and found at the airport. He found his jacket! Boy, was he happy! Can you imagine how much fun I would have had teasing him about losing everything!?!

The day after we returned from Germany, we were expecting Debbie and David to arrive to stay with us for 10 days while they re-apply for another visa for their country, so ... Glenn and I had a ton of things to do on Friday before they arrived on Saturday at 5 pm. We ran to the grocery store to stock up on fresh fruit, veggies and dairy products, and then for the rest of the day we made a huge pot of applesauce for freezing (apples were less than 25 cents per pound!!!!), baked an apple cake and a batch of brownies, made hummus, brewed a gallon of sweet ice tea, made from scratch 2 pounds of sausage patties and cooked them up, mixed up a double batch of biscuits, cooked and deboned chicken, and using the crock pot, made some southern pulled pork barbecue. By time I crawled into bed at midnight, I was exhausted and my feet were screaming, "Get off of me!"

I had to get all this stuff done on Friday because on Saturday morning and afternoon, we were helping the our friends, the Pollards, move from our neighborhood out to a house closer to the Christian school where their kids attend.

I spent the morning and afternoon sweeping spider webs from the ceilings, dusting the baseboards, window sills and closets, cleaning and sanitizing bathrooms, and mopping floors. I had such a good day!

David and Debbie arrived on time, and I was home in time, showered, and in the kitchen preparing dinner when they got to our house. :-)

.

David had registered for the Budapest Marathon (42.2 kilometers) that was on Sunday morning, beginning at 11 am so we all went into town to cheer him on.

There were different kinds of "runs", such as the full marathon, a half-marathon, Family Fun Run, Team relays, and a Kids Run and a race for those who are handicapped. In the FULL marathon that David ran, there were 3,000 runners!!! Can you imagine how many people were participating in all? Downtown Budapest was packed!

This is David's "heat" as he approached the starting line.

We were able to see David at 3 different points along the race and at the finish line as he crossed it! (David is in the third green shirt, on the center line.) He made it in 4 hours and 45 minutes! We are so proud of him, and we had a blast! Walking around in the hot sun, cheering joggers on for almost 5 hours would not have been much fun except that we knew someone, and that made all the difference. It was really a fun afternoon!!

Tomorrow, we are going to a thermal spa for David!