Summer of the guitar

The long awaited boxes arrived for Justin. Guitar components. The dream come true. It was now time to figure out how to assemble the beast. In my opinion it required a healthy dose of confidence and courage for a 13 year-old to build his own electric guitar. The process was complicated by the fact that none of us knew anyone who had ever attempted the task before.

The process was interesting, at times comical and ultimately satisfying. If there were classic mistakes that a novice could make, we made them. Thus, we learned not only how to solder, but also how to un-solder our errors. In the end a sweet stratocaster was created that is Justin's greatest joy. It was one part of the summer that we will not forget.

And then came the puppy

It all happened so fast. While in Odessa, in the middle of a wonderful conference, Shari got an email from the breeder. The message informed Shari that on Sunday (the day after our return to Budapest) the pups would be 8 weeks old...old enough to find new homes. So after church we drove out to a place that breeds labs (mostly for seeing eye dog training). There Cristy had the pick of seven darling dogs. This little one caught her attention and within 30 minutes we had Maia. (Cristy named her)
The transition to being puppy owners has gone VERY WELL. Maia sleeps with our other lab -- Sierra. They have become fast friends. Lots of smiles at the Ginn's house.