Laurin, Sven, Yannick and their Chevy Cruze

Extended cousin Laurin and buddies, Sven and Yannick, are traveling the US during their gap year from school in Germany. After exploring the west coast, including a visit with the Qs in Menlo Park ...

they arrived in Topeka after a long (49-hour) and adventurous bus ride (mechanical breakdowns and fellow passenger arrested) from Los Angeles.

After a nice visit, they were ready to explore the eastern half of the US. No longer interested in riding the bus, we helped them buy a car. They decided on a nice 2012 Chevy Cruze Eco 6-speed manual.

Next stop, Chicago. Then off to Toledo/Erie, Niagara Falls, Albany/Kingston, Boston, New York, Washington DC, Myrtle Beach, Jacksonville, Miami, Key West, Orlando, Atlanta, Memphis and then back to Topeka to sell the car. Then home to Germany.

Stay tuned for more.

Philipp and Nica get married

In 2005, we hosted a dazzling young German exchange student named Philipp Beiter. He was in his final semester at Topeka High School. It was the start of a lifetime connection.

Although he returned to Germany for his University studies, he came to visit in the summer of 2007...

and in the summer of 2008 ...

when his parents and brother joined us as well.

It was about this time that we proclaimed ourselves to be Philipp's American parents. His parents graciously acquiesced.

Of course, he was at Samantha's and Jake's wedding in the summer of 2010

where he served as Helen's escort into the ceremony. 

With Jonas and Samantha, we visited him in Paris in 2012 

where he was doing his internship at the OECD. 

Philipp visited us in 2013 when Ryan was living with us.

After he finished graduate school at the London School of Economics and Columbia University in 2014, he moved to Boulder. Then, in late 2014, he brought Nica for a visit. We could tell from the sparkle in his eye that Nica was special. From that point forward, it was no longer just Philipp, it was now Philipp AND Nica.

They came back for Halloween Weekend in 2015.

In 2016, along with Samantha and family, we met up with Philipp in Denver ...

and got to visit Philipp and Nica in Boulder - although I failed to get a picture. Suffice it to say that we were taking our "American Parent" role very seriously.

It was no surprise when Philipp and Nica decided to get married.

So, a couple of weeks ago, we traveled to Colorado to witness, and to be a part of, Phillip's marriage to Nica in the mountains and rustic settings of Pine, Colorado.

 I was honored when Philipp asked me to be a Groomsman. 

I was equally honored when he asked me to offer an after-dinner toast.

A giant Thank You to Phillip and Nica for allowing us to be a part of this special day.

An extra Thank You to Nica's wonderful family who was as gracious as Philipp's when we announced that we are a part of the Family Package.

 Oh yes ... Philipp and Nica are moving to Rome for a year. The adventure continues.

Auf Wiedersehen to Jonas

After being with us since mid-September, Jonas left last week for greater adventures elsewhere. An experienced world-traveler, Jonas brings sunshine, enthusiasm and joy to wherever he goes. In the 4 months he was here, Jonas made dozens of friends and shared his creativity with dozens more. A tangible example of Jonas' creativity is his campfire lamp. Inspired by experiencing Samantha's and Jake's storytelling paper campfire in Menlo Park ...

 Jonas designed and created his own.

Badgered by Helen for years for not acknowledging her email to him, he built her a beautiful wooden box that softly and quietly pulses a gentle golden light whenever he receives an email ... no matter where he is in the world. I call it the Pulse Notifier.

Mega thanks to 712 Innovations (the maker space in downtown Topeka) for empowering Jonas' creativity. An even bigger thanks to Jonas for sharing his zest for life with us. 

We don't say "goodbye" to Jonas. We say "see you later." He was with us in 2010-2011 as he attended his senior year at Topeka High School. We joined him in 2012 as we traveled Germany and France together. He returned to Topeka in 2014 and again now. In between, he finished his industrial engineering degree and traveled to 40 countries on 3 continents. We can't wait to see what happens next.
See you later, Jonas.

AFS International Desserts - 2017

This year marks the 20th year that we've hosted the AFS International Desserts Holiday Party. This year we had students, and desserts, from Germany, India, Portugal, Japan, Switzerland, Belgium, China, Spain and Italy.

They told us of a Holiday celebrated in their homeland ...

and brought a traditional dessert enjoyed by their family.

Until next year, let the world continue to shrink.

Jonas and Theresa

Jonas is back. This time he brought Theresa. 

Our history with Helen's cousin Jonas goes back to August 2010 when he came from Hamburg to attend Topeka High School as an exchange student. We next saw him in Germany and France in 2012. After adventures in southeast Asia, Jonas returned to Topeka in the summer of 2014. Now he is back again. This time he brought Theresa ... his fun, beautiful and super-sweet girlfriend. Both are graduates with industrial engineering degrees. Congratulations to them both.

We took them out for margaritas

and banana splits.

Helen taught Theresa the fine art of a PBJ on Wonder Bread. She was not impressed. 

After a short visit, Theresa returned to Germany to start her job as an industrial engineer in Hamburg. She is doing really exciting stuff with wind energy in the Baltic Sea. Jonas will stay for a while. I am certain that he will do really exciting stuff as well.

Mark and Jonas and Theresa

Mark came to town to hug his mother

 and to hang out with us ... and Jonas and Theresa, of course. They arrived from Germany on Tuesday.

It was fun to see Mark. Stay tuned for more about Jonas and Theresa.

International Desserts 2016

Earlier this month, we hosted the annual AFS International Desserts party. Having hosted this party since 1998, we have been able to meet hundreds of smart, ambitious and adventurous high school students from all over the world. As in the past, the students bring a treat that is commonly enjoyed in their country ....

and talk about one of their Holiday traditions.

These kids are great.

France, Ghana, Finland, Germany, Japan, Italy and China were represented. We like to think it helps bring the world closer together.

Mother's Day - Jonas visit

Last Sunday was Mother's Day. We gathered up a rowdy mob of mothers and hugged them.

It was the 63rd Mother's Day for my dear mother.

It was the 62nd Mother's Day for the sweet Oma. 

It was the very 1st Mother's Day for the cute and adorable Samantha.

Samantha is such a great mother. Happy 1st Mother's Day to her.

As you might have noticed, Jonas is with us again.

He is visiting after a 5 month adventure throughout Southeast Asia. Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia - but not necessarily in that order. His stories are captivating. His photos are compelling. 

(Malaysia - No clean drinking water but ample wi-fi and fancy satellite dish.)

Jonas was last here in the summer of 2011. While we got to see him in Germany and France during the summer of 2012, it is fun to have him with us again. I'm thinking that Jonas might enjoy the peaceful spirit - and clean drinking water - of good old Topeka, Kansas ... his home away from home.

Anniversary trip to see George + Goodbye Kina

No Florida. 

No Bahamas.

No Costa Rica. 

For the last several years, Helen and I have celebrated our wedding anniversaries by traveling south, lounging around on sandy beaches and watching the sun set. This year, we celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary by traveling west, lounging around in a comfy cottage and watching George dance.


Thanks to the generosity of the Holmes family, we were treated to the perfect cottage hideaway in Hillsborough.

While there, we followed George and his parents on a hike through the redwoods

and witnessed a nice sunset at Half Moon Bay.

But mostly, we just hung out and played with George.

No doubt, it was an Anniversary trip fit for Grandparents.

Happy Anniversary, Helen.

When we returned home, we had the sad task of taking Katharina to the airport for her return trip to Germany.

Thank you, Kina for visiting. We miss you already.