It has been a very busy two months, which is why the blog posts have been scarce. I attended two conferences back to back, actually a pre-conference and a conference, both on music education philosophy. During the conference, Guillermo from Costa Rica stayed with us, and it was really good to have him with us, even though we were both immersed in the conference and so we had little time for discussion. Directly after the conference Tracy and I helped to lead a confirmation camp for 6 days. It was quite intensive, with four adults leading and 2 teenagers who were being confirmed. I reckon they had the hardest time, since we had to take breaks to look after Annabel and cook. The camp took place at our pastor's summer cottage, on a lake in central Finland. The mosquitos were incredible, creating black swarms whenever we ventured too close to the edge of the lake. We rowed and sailed on the lake, which was blissfully mosquito free.We then had a week to recover and then took part in the annual midsummer retreat hosted by our church. I presented two workshops on singing and worship, and played all the music, so was very busy. Tracy was forced to look after Annabel single-handedly for most of the weekend. The program was really packed full, and I was finished by the end of it. Tracy really enjoyed it. Maybe we should swop duties next time.

A couple of days later we departed to Washington, D.C. to visit my parents. Both flights were relatively easy for Annabel, she was still small enough (just) to fit into the bassinet, and managed to sleep a lot of the time. It was a really fantastic visit, and after a couple of days, Annabel really enjoyed her grootouers. She even let us disappear a couple of times, once to have a salsa dancing lesson, which we truly enjoyed. We signed up for a group lesson, but were the only people there, so got an extended private lesson instead. We have been practicing a little in our lounge since then, and are continuing our lessons by watching YouTube videos. We spent a lot of time walking in museums, since it was exceptionally hot, and museums have aircon. We were there over the Independence Day celebrations, and got to watch the broadcast from the mall on TV and then saw the fireworks from our apartment roof. The fireworks were truly spectacular. The best part was seeing our parents, and allowing Annabel to spend time with them. She now recognises them on Skype when they call, and has long conversations with them using language that she hardly ever uses with us. She has also become a complete computer maniac as a result, and can hardly see a computer without wanting to touch it and talk to it. We'll have to find a way of taming that desire before it costs us a computer.

Since arriving back we packed up our house and moved to a new one - all in the space of just over a week. We had applied for a new place in January, and heard just before we left to Washington that there was an apartment available. We quickly went to look at it and had to decide the same day whether to take it and pay the deposit etc. Lots of friends praying helped us in our decision. So far we have been very happy, apart from the (slightly) longer travel times to our usual destinations. The flat has 2 bedrooms, and a larger living area, and also has easy access to a little park in the courtyard where Annabel can play in the sandpit and swing on the swings. A whole lot of friends helped us to move, and it went amazingly quickly, everything was out of the old place and into the new in less than 2 hours. What a blessing!We are still living with boxes everywhere, but have managed to clean the kitchen (it was disgustingly dirty) and have a more organized bedroom as of tonight. There is still a fair bit to be done - the previous tenants were not hot on the cleaning side of things. You can see some pics of the place here.

I am trying to get back to work, and have been cycling the 30 minutes to the office. I will be fit if the good weather continues for a month or two yet. Tracy has been enjoying the larger space, and has been working hard to make it homely. It is taking shape, and I think we can be very happy here. I had an extended discussion in Finnish with one of the little boys who live here while Annabel and I played in the sandpit. I am hoping we can also have those kinds of discussions with their parents at some stage. It would be good to be part of a community here, and it looks like it might be possible.

We have also had some other additions to the family. We are godparents to a friend of ours, Lynn, who was baptised at the midsummer retreat. She is a recent convert to Christianity, and has asked us to help her along in her new-found faith. We also became aunt, uncle and cousin to little Charlie, who was born to Shawn and Mel at the end of July. We are really happy about this, and cannot wait to meet the little guy. Hopefully he and Annabel will be good friends, and manage to spend time together.