Last weekend was the annual Middle School Musical at ICSB.  This is Kendall’s favorite event of the year as it gives her the chance to do something she loves so much.  This year’s play was Roger’s & Hammerstein’s rendition of Cinderella.  Kendall was one of Cinderella’s Step Sisters and she did an incredible job.  It is fun to see your children doing something that they were uniquely created to do and this is it for Kendall.  She thrives on the stage and has a lot of fun doing it.  Valerie also helped out as Drama Coach again this year and she probably enjoys it almost as much as Kendall. 

The picture is Cinderella’s family.  From left to right: Joy (stepsister)-Tarissa, Stepmother-Janie, Portia (stepsister)-Kendall, and Cinderella-Emily.

It was Kendall’s last middle school production, but it was a great one.

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Tonight was the annual Fall Festival at our office here in Budapest!! It looks amazing similar to Halloween, but we stay away from those terms because everyone isn’t okay with celebrating Halloween.  Whatever you call it, everyone had a great time.  There were games galore, including bobbing for apples and pumpkin seed spitting!!!   It was another chance for us to experience a little bit of America here in Budapest.  There were probably a little over 100 people in attendance and we had a great time.

 As you can see, everyone had fun dressing up, too.

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Yesterday was Reed’s 10th Birthday and we had a great celebration. First, we went swimming at a new SportsCenter in town. It has only been open a few weeks and it was beautiful. We had the whole pool to ourselves and it has a slide and a lazy river. The kids had a blast! I even got a workout in since the lap pool was right next to the fun pool. This place is amazing with squash, workout rooms, tennis courts, soccer fields, and tons more. It is pretty expensive, but once they realize that no one will pay those prices, I think it will come down. We’ll see.

Then, we came home and had “Make Your Own Pizza.” The boys loved it and the pizza was great.
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The evening ended with a camp out in the backyard. The boys and I watched a movie in the tent and then spent the night out there. I woke up every 30 minutes, but I slept better than I expected.

(More Pictures if you click on one of the pictures above).

All in all, it was a great party. Happy Birthday Reed.

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Yesterday was Valerie’s birthday and we had a great night celebrating in downtown Budapest. We started off at a cafe overlooking the Danube. The views were beautiful and the people watching was top notch. With tourist season in full swing, our favorite activity was trying to identify the language that different people were speaking.

Then, as we walked to the restaurant, we stopped in Vörösmarty Square and watched the end of the Germany-Sweeden world cup match on a big screen with hundreds of fans. It was fun to hear the German fans celebrate their victory waving flags and singing victory songs.

We ate at the Ocean Bar & Grill where we enjoyed a wonderful meal where we shared some wonderful shrimp and sea bass. It was a meal worthy of this celebration.

Then, we went to the Chain Bridge (shown in this picture) which was closed for a festival. There was dancing exhibitions on both ends with plenty of shops in the middle. We first watched an incredible performance by a group called Experidance. They were a fun group that took traditional folk dances and modernized them. They had lots of energy and were lots of fun. They played to a packed audience and we loved it.

While we were watching in this huge crowd, our language teacher Zsuzsa came up and tapped us on the shoulder. Amazing that she found us in the huge crowd. She told us that she was going to be dancing on the other side of the bridge. So, after the first performance, we went over and watched her do some traditional Hungarian dances from Transylvania. It was fun to see her outside of lessons and watch her dance which we have heard so much about.

It was a great evening and I’m so thankful for such a wonderful wife and friend to celebrate with. The evening couldn’t have been better.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

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Today at 2:00pm in Budapest, Trent & I walked off the plane to meet the welcome committee of the rest of our family. They had signs and cameras and hugs. Also, Duci came along for the ride. It is so great to be back together after almost 7 weeks apart.

Someone else very important came to Budapest yesterday! George & Laura Bush made a visit. We saw Air Force One and a smaller US plane at the aiport. Then, as we drove home, US Flags lined the streets and bridges along with hundreds of policemen. There were police every 50 feet along the main road from the airport into town. We listened to Bush’s speech on TV. It was given at the citadel with a beautiful view of the city behind him. It isn’t so often that the president comes to town when you live in the US. Overseas, it is a huge deal.

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[image:360:c]It is with great joy that we announce the arrival of our latest…a baby boy…Duci Seely (pronounced Dootsy…this is Hungarian for chubby and lovable). He is 12 weeks old and arrived as a surprise to our children today!
Valerie’s Comments: He is a Bishon Havanese and is sooooo sweet. We needed some happy times at the Seely house after this year, and my energy ball Kirby Ann needs a playmate!! They are all thrilled. Trent was in on the secret and helped me pick him out and helped us name him!

Here’s a picture when Valerie & the kids picked her up from the Hungarian Breeder (in the yellow shirt)
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