Yes, we’re still catching up on all our travels in the States! After leaving Keswick, we went to Piscataway, NJ – the town of my birth, home a a supporting church, and home to my Grandma Sutter and some of my aunts and uncles. Our first stop was to have Saturday lunch (July 13th) with Mr. and Mrs. Puccio. Mrs. Puccio was my 3rd and 4th grade Sunday school teacher and good friend. She was the one who mentored me as I started teaching the 3rd and 4th grade Sunday class at the age of 12. We had a great time of fellowship at their house. The kids enjoyed swimming. I’m pretty sure the Puccios haven’t aged a bit since I was in the 3rd grade!

Saturday evening we went to my grandma’s house to celebrate my Uncle John’s 50th birthday. Uncle John is a very special uncle – loved by all – especially his nieces and nephews. Our kids love him. It was special to see him give our kids swing rides on the very swing my grandfather and uncle gave me swing rides on.

We enjoyed our visit with our church in NJ. This is the church I grew up in 15 years. Sunday evening we went to my Aunt’s house and went swimming. We made it back to Piscataway one more time the night before we flew back to Cambodia. We spent the night there, so we would be closer to the airport. It was good to see Grandma and Uncle John one last time before leaving the country. Even Uncle Joey (my youngest brother) stopped in to say goodbye.

A few weeks ago, I got an educational email about International Talk Like a Pirate Day….so I decided to take a fun day celebrating pirates. I felt like the kids deserved a break after 2.5 weeks in school. We dressed like pirates – some kids had hooks or patches, some just had tattoos.

We started the day reading pirate books and each pirate made their own flag. While eating lunch another pirate, Short Beard be his name, boarded our ship. As soon as he closed the hatch, we all attacked him (though Pirate Clara secretly tried to save him). I, Captain Pickles, was not interested in anyone taking over me ship. We captured him, but let him eat our vittles. At lunch we filled our mugs with grog (limeade mixed with soda water) and sang a song about the wonderful Captain Pickles. – errrr me.

In the afternoon, Pirate Clara and I made chocolate cake. Then Ansy, Pimbles, and Captain Hook along with Pirate Clara all buried silver coins outside and made maps for the rest of us to find them.

After our pirate supper we played pirates and then fired off some cannon balls (balloon games) and ended with the new Captian Short Beard telling a pirate story. Truth is, I turned me ship over to Captain Short Beard when he won me over with his good looks and wild kissing.

A very fine day indeed…Arrrrrrrr! Hoorah!

I found a few more pictures from our time at Canaan Land. The week also included some van trouble and some fun rides on Canaan Land’s vehicles.

Saturday, July 6th, we left Canaan Land and started our two-day trip to America’s Keswick in NJ. We made a quick stop to visit with the Overstreets. We even got to cross paths with the Crowleys there.

Sunday we arrived at Keswick. My older brother, Sam, was one of the week’s speakers, so we got to enjoy hearing him preach and got extra cousin time. It was a great week of meals, messages, family, and lots of swimming. We spent every afternoon in the pool and/or lake. One afternoon there was a giant slippy-slide that all the kids and I enjoyed.

During the week, we weeded a flower bed with the little girls and earn milkshakes for us all!

The kids all dressed up for Wacky Wednesday and Becca won the prize for being the wackiest looking girl! Isaiah won a car-racing contest run by Capitan Keswick.

My grandma came one morning to hear Sam preach. We enjoyed our week and the kids had a blast!

The first week of July all my siblings and spouses (minus Daniel, Emily’s husband, who had to be in PA school) got together with my parents in North Carolina. We spent the week at Canaan Land doing lots of hiking and eating. We had four cabins, so there was lots of space for everyone and time for kids to wind down in the evening.

There were 15 Sutter cousins, ages 9 and down. Lots of kids. My mom spent weeks planning the Sutter Reunion Olympics and had all sorts of activities planned for every occasion – rain or shine.

It was fun to spend time together and see my brothers parent their kids. It was also great getting to know our nieces and nephews. Nice for our kids to get to know their aunts and uncles and get lots of cousin playing time.