July 4th

What do you do on July 4th, when Germany is playing in the World Cup Semi- FINALS? Well, you do what any self-respecting "Fussball" fan in this country would do-- you hang out with a group of friends, watch the game which captures the attention of Europe, (and, i dare say, a large part of the globe!), "boo" for Italy, cheer on Germany, AND wear your 'lucky' Germany fan shirt.
Hmmm. In this case, the outcome of the game was ... well, see the faces of Kristin, Maria, Lydia, and myself above. (3 of us wore our fan shirts in this picture!)

But, thankfully, my friends wanted to make the best of a special day and turned their attention across the Big Pond-- after our clean-up time (our church hosted a big fan night with big screen viewing), they congratulated me with a "Happy 4th of July" ... waved flags for the USA, and even spontaneously hummed the National Anthem (to which I obliged with singing the words!). Wow-- very supportive friends!