Highlights of Our Summer Vacation

    The end of the 2013-2014 school year at GWA finally came and went. From purely a work perspective, it was a different sort of year. The third graders in Nicole's class were among the most challenging students she has ever taught, behaviorally. This made for an emotional, rough, and busy year for her. Dave was promoted to a position in the finance department. He moved offices for the fourth time since arriving in Morocco, and had been very busy trying to keep up with the demands of his new job. With our busy work schedules, don't even ask how we were able to also maintain 4+ hours of intense French lessons each week, alongside after school tutoring and soccer coaching nearly every day (Indeed, this busy schedule was our main excuse for neglecting this blog toward the end of the school year). Needless to say, this past summer was a much needed, and very appreciated, break from our "home" in Morocco.
     We generally don't feel the need to update this blog over the summer, especially when we are home visiting the majority of our blog readers. However, we feel it is appropriate to highlight the big events of our summer before we jump into another year of unpredictable adventures abroad. So here goes...


1.     Our flights home were, overall, pleasantly uneventful. We arrived in Boston excited to greet our family with a big surprise, thanks to Dr. Karaoui's gender confirmation one week before our departure:

"C'est une fille"

     That's right....After becoming debt free in March, we decided we were ready to start a family. Our pregnancy became an exciting reality on March 10! We waited a month before scheming up a creative ways to announce the big news to our family back home:

 * Thank you, Etsy *

2.     Unexpectedly, our family was prepared to greet us with a surprise of their own. Our very first morning back in Maine, we woke up to Christmas lights/decorations, a decorated Christmas tree, and a pile of presents under the tree. Since this was our first time back in the USA in two years, and since we have missed three consecutive years of Christmas with the family (soon to be four), our family decided to initiate a family Christmas in July. It was perfect.

3.     Just one week into our summer vacation, and we were blessed yet again with a baby shower. Over 30 people showed up to shower our daughter with generosity. Thanks to this shower, we were able to fly back to Morocco with a stroller, a car seat, and over 100 more pounds of precious baby supplies in our luggage. We are still so grateful.

4.     Watching the 2014 World Cup games was, naturally, a significant part of our summer. It would be taboo, in Dave's opinion, to talk about the highlights of our summer vacation without also mentioning the highlights of the World Cup:

• Luis Suarez furthered his reputation as a cannibalistic biter
• Tim Howard (USA) set the all time World Cup saves record
• Brazil was humiliated in the semi-finals with a loss to Germany 7-1 (A game that even Nicole will admit was enjoyable to watch)
• Germany won the World Cup for the fourth time

5.     Mid July, we road-tripped to Pennsylvania to visit Nicole's brother & sister-in-law, and to visit our nephew Rowan for the first time. While our visit with them was short, it was a great visit. We toured the Pittsburgh Zoo, went shopping, ate frog legs, and smoked pork in Ricky's homemade smoker (yum!).

6.     Our summer essentially concluded with our trip to Mexico in celebration of three things: Becoming debt free, 5 years of marriage, and our pregnancy. We spent 4 nights at the all inclusive Zoetry Paraiso de la Bonita resort and 5 all-inclusive nights at El Dorado Casitas Royale. This vacation could not have possibly been more relaxing, especially with our private, balcony infinity pool at the second resort. Our favorite memories of the trip include taking a 1/2 day snorkeling/catamaran tour along the Riviera reef, incredible fine dining every day, swimming through the underground river at Xcaret, having professional maternity photographs taken, and shopping in Playa de Carmen.

debt free :)

     The beginning of the 2014-2015 school year at GWA finally came and went. We anticipate that this year will also be a different sort of year....but for different reasons than the last. For starters, our daughter is set to change our world with her debut in mid-November. Nicole will be on maternity leave for several months thereafter, leaving her third graders with a substitute to temporarily take her place. Thankfully, the majority of her third grade class is made up of kids she taught in K5 our first year in Morocco. This means that she already has a strong rapport with many of her students and parents; and the class overall seems to be much more promising than last year, behaviorally. Another big difference in this year is that Dave accepted a new coaching role: high school varsity soccer. The adjustment from middle school to high school is a challenge that he is excited about.
     Undoubtedly, we are likely to neglect this blog every now and then as our schedules fill up...and we apologize in advance if that happens. But know this: we are so blessed. Thank you for thinking of us as we thrive in our "home" here in Morocco, and continue to pray for us and for our daughter. We'll do our best to keep you updated. :)

-Dave & Nicole