Christmas card from the Forster s:

Hello blog readers!

It's been a while since I have checked in so I thought I might kill two birds with one stone.  You will notice that the much anticipated annual Forster Christmas card has been absent in your mail box this year, and for good reason.  Have you seen what it costs to ship things internationally (many of you reading this have, and we thank you for the little reminders of America that we get in the mail box from time to time).  Please consider this blog and the associated pictures as our 2013 Christmas card.

I started writing this blog in my mind back in November as we prepared to give thanks, but the words never found their way to the paper, so I put it off.  Now hours before we hop a flight back to the states I have a moment to do a little reflection, emphasis on little.

Looking back at these pictures (73 in total) I am reminded, like I am on most days, just how fortunate we are to have this life and the people that fill our world.  Erin and I look at our kids daily and think how are we this lucky?  Sure moving abroad with two kids under two, setting up a life, jobs, friends, operating in a world where you don't understand what people are saying to you, and managing things back home  is no walk in the park, but we constantly appreciate the struggle of it all.  We feel fortunate to have had this experience together and while the vacations are nice and more frequent then they are in the states, it's the chance we have had to have many quiet nights at home, weeks of grey weather and rain, that force us to just enjoy each other.  I think I will be forever grateful for the experience and lessons learned from this last year.

For those who have chosen to join us for a little bit on our European adventure, I sincerely thank you for spending the time and money to hang out with  us and I hope that the memories made are as valuable to you as they are to me.

For those of you whom we have not seen in 18+ months we are looking forward to returning home (Most likely at 6:35 pm on July 3rd).  We are excited to reconnect with family and friends in a few short months!

Please enjoy some of the pictures as I think they capture the events of the last year better then a few strokes on a keyboard.

I hope you all have a fabulous holiday season!

Patrick