I have a little help from my friends

Saturday night, we went to dinner for John's. As customarily happens everywhere you go with John, he was warmly greeted and treated like a special guest. He's the consummate ambassador and it was nice to see how welcomed the owners and waiters made us feel.

Since this was his first birthday we've celebrated together for four years, it was nice to end it with a bang. Prosecco flowed; the food was great; and the company was even better. We are reminded everyday here how important friends are when you live overseas. Friends fill in the gap left by family and make the tough days a little less difficult. I've said it before but we feel really blessed by the friends we've made since we moved here. Birthdays wouldn't be so special if we didn't have them to celebrate with us.

Here's to many more birthdays, many more dinners and many more laughs shared with friends.