Home in 2 Days

Dear Layla and Josh,

What a summer it has been!  Dad and I are so immensely proud of the way you two adapted to all of the changes and excitement that this summer in Basel had in store for us.  Deciding to come here for 8 weeks wasn't something that Dad and I did without a lot of thought.  We knew that it wouldn't be easy; in fact, we knew that certain things would be really difficult.  But your dad and I have both always wanted to visit a foreign country for an extended period of time.  Neither one of us studied abroad in college and then we got to a point in our lives where it seemed very unlikely that such a move would happen.  So when this opportunity with Novartis presented itself, we were excited and scared, but mostly excited!  A big part of our decision was knowing that (despite the inevitable challenges) the two of you would be exposed to more in 8 weeks than many people experience in their whole lives.  There is just nothing like traveling and experiencing other people and their customs to make you feel like a world citizen.  We live in a great country.  But there are so many interesting, inspiring, and amazing people and places all over the world.  I believe that the two of you know that now.

I worked hard to document all of our adventures so that you would hopefully remember pieces of this trip.  Layla, I have no doubt that with your amazing memory, you will be able to recall details about our adventure for years to come.  Joshua, I hope that this blog book helps to trigger the memories of the fantastic time that we've had.

There are so many moments, both big and small, that I hope you never forget.

• the snowy mountains
• castles and dragons
• funny faces in the elevator
• fights over elevator button-pressing
• balance bikes in the apartment
• Lego creations with paper faces
• My Little Pony drawings
• running through the rain
• boat rides and "water elevators"
• crossing the "famous river" on the tram
• saying hello to dad each time we passed the Novartis Campus
• blue cereal bars
• pigeon hunting
• lunch picnics at Schuetzenmattpark
• cuddles on the couch
• tram rides
• saying "Danke schoen"
• hiking with cows
• the Baby Jake dance
• the zip line
• up and down trains
• friends from around the world

We will never forget the enthusiasm with which you both put on your backpacks every time we went on an adventure, even when you (and sometimes we) didn't know exactly what the day had in store for us.  Please keep adventuring; there's a great big world waiting for you!

Love you both to pieces!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy