Hey!

Here's a little bit of info about what we've been up to and how we spent our 4th of July.

The past few days have been pretty relaxed. A few tasks here and there - moving some petroleum, cleaning, fixing a few motors, etc. Luckily, it has been a little cooler here for the past few days. As I sit here on Sunday morning, it is only 73 degrees, so that has been a relief.

Yesterday was the 4th of July. We sat around and read for a while, then hung out around the house in the afternoon. At 4:00, Jesse was having his first practice with his soccer guys and they wanted to have some races on the airstrip. He took out the 50m measuring tape and roped out 100m and 200m distances. After jogging a mile, we lined up at the 100m start. Unfortunately, it had dumped rain about an hour before - several inches in less than 90 minutes - so the grass was extremely slick. This was a definite advantage to the village guys - all of whom were 18-25 and had been running in bare feet for their entire lives. My first 10 meters were terrible, almost the whole soccer team was out in front of me, but then I started passing people until it was just me and a guy about 5 meters in front of me. I gained quickly and steadily on him and by the time we crossed the finish line I was right on him. He probably eeked me out by a foot or so, but I think I earned some respect. They told Jesse that "He's pretty fast for a white man." I took that as a compliment haha. We got some pictures and video too.

Lea and I both wore our red, white, and blue for the holiday. My outfit was topped off by a blue bandana and a white and red "Vote for Pedro" hat. I looked somewhat ridiculous.

Hope all is well, we are off to our last church service soon.

Love you all and see you in less than 3 weeks!!!

-C.R.