Goooooooooooooaaaaaalllll!!!

Hi Patrick,
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Sorry it's been a couple of days since I posted here.  I was having some problems with the website, but I think that is fixed.
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Your mom, and Bobbi and Grandfather told me about your goal at soccer on Sunday.  I am SO VERY PROUD of you.  I know that you like soccer and I also know that you work hard at practicing both with me and when you have practices with your team.
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Good play like your goal happens when you practice hard and when you like what you are doing.  I can't wait to see you so you can show me exactly how you scored.  Maybe you will have scored more goals by then too.  Who knows?
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I do know that if I had been there, I would have sounded like the guy on this soccer broadcast:

Do you think I could yell that long?

Love you louder than the loudest yell,
Dad

You're special, too.

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Hey man,
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There aren't alot of kids like you, because you've lived on TWO continents.  When we lived in Latvia, we lived in Europe.
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When you were born, and now that you live in Mechanicsville, you are in North America.

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Europe is west of Asia and north of Africa.  Latvia is pretty far north in Europe, but Russia is the easternmost country in Europe.
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Russia is a special country, because it is on TWO continents.  Part of Russia is in Europe and part of Russia is in Asia.
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Can you find Latvia on this map?  Can you find Italy?  Some people say it looks like a leg, or a boot.
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Love you like a map of my heart,
Dad

Iraq is in Asia

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Hi Buddy,
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Did you know that now that I live in Iraq, I've lived on three of the seven continents in the world?

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Iraq is in Asia.  Asia is the biggest continent there is!  You can see from the map that Iraq is in the southwest corner of Asia.  It's close to Africa, another big continent.  The southeast corner of Asia has lots of water and islands.

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Iraq is in Asia because it is east of the Ural Mountains.  Europe and Asia are part of the same big land mass and are divided by big mountains called the Urals in Russia.  West of the Urals is Europe and east of the Urals is Asia.

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Here is a map of the Ural Mountains.  They go from north to south, straight up and down this map.

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Love you like the whole world,

Dad

Saw your pictures!

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Hi soccer guy!
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Your mom sent some great pictures of you playing soccer.  I was very proud to see you in that great red uniform!  You looked alot like the big Kickers.
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I hope you had lots of fun playing.  I know I enjoyed hearing about it.
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Be good doing your homework, so that Mom doesn't have to bug you about it.
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Hey, have you ever hugged a slug on a rug?  Have you ever been for a jog in the fog?
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Love seeing you more than I love pictures of you,
Dad

First game of the season

Hi Buddy,
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I was so glad your mom called me last night (even though I was asleep) so that I could talk to you about your game.  I'm glad you were well enough to play.  I'm really glad that you had fun.

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I can't wait to see the pictures that your mom is going to send!

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You have to tell me more about your team soon.  What is the team's name?  What are your colors?  Who are your friends on the team?  Are there boys and girls?

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Oh well, so many questions!  I can't wait to be there for Thanksgiving so that you and I can play soccer on the beach like last year.

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Love you like a beautifully curling free kick,

Dad

One more thing about citizenship

Hey man,
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Citizenship is especially important to me because the Department of State, where I work, is the only place that can tell a person that they are a citizen of the United States.  We make passports for people and passports are the only thing that can really show what citizenship you have.
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Because I work for the Department of State, I've given hundreds and hundreds of people their passports so that they can show anyone in the world that they are Americans.

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When we lived in Latvia, you had a friend named Kristofers Gobins.  I got to tell his parents for the first time that Kristofers was an American citizen and got to give him his first ever U.S. passport.  I love giving babies new passports.  It makes me proud.

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Love you like I love being an American,

Dad

An American Citizen

Hello my good friend,
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Did you know that EVERYONE born in the United States is an American citizen?  That means that all the important rights we have under the laws and Constitution of the United States belong to us.  Those laws give American citizens the most freedom of almost anyone in the whole world.
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Because everyone who is born in the U.S. is a citizen, not everyone thinks about what a great thing it is.  Some people who think about it alot are the people that serve our country, like soldiers and sailors and marines.  Oh and people like me who work for the State Deparment.  Because we live overseas and work with people from other countries who might not have as much freedom, we really love the fact that we are Americans.  Our citizenship is very important to us.

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Love you like freedom,

Dad