Max and Jane with the wonderful apartment dog Lyka
Verano
Summer

It’s summer and we have been thinking about the change of seasons back home. In Ecuador you can change seasons by driving a couple of hours. We just left the town of Baños which is in winter and so it rains a good part of every day and is surprisingly chilly. It takes 2-3 days for clothes to air dry. (there are very few washing machines in Baños and even fewer dryers). Back in the Sierra (mountains) of Quito it is summer and there is very little rain, but cloudy days with intense spurts of high altitude sun. In a country the size of the state of Colorado the changes from the coast to the sierra to the jungle with the cloud forest in between are many with different temperatures and weather in each location.

In Spanish class our teacher asked what we do at home in the summer which got me to thinking the days are longer, the weather warmer and SCHOOL IS FINALLY OUT. The students in Quito go until the beginning of July. I just want to congratulate all the teachers and students for completing another school year. Especially Jamie who finished her first year of teaching and Athena and Jude who finished their first years of school. Thomas graduated from high school and is going to college at University of Dubuque.
Happy birthday to: Paul, Bridget, Ellie and John.
Happy summer camps and camping and going to cabins and summer homes. Happy vacationing.
Happy Summer Solstice (Larry and Linnea we missed having a cartwheel contest with you on the beach.
Happy Father’s day to all the papas
Happy baseball viewing outside (especially to the Minnesotans)
Congratulations to Sarah K for getting her reading license and a new job at Central H.S.
I know I forgot other important events please feel free to add any other congratulations/celebrations.

Viva el mundial (world cup soccer). We have a couple of brackets going with our new favorite teams including our favorite equipo del corazon (team of the heart) U.S.
We look forward to reuniting with the country of our heart in 3 short weeks!
chao