Some of our favorite people came to visit us over the Halloween weekend! We just love the Sorensens! Christina and Mike, with their two kids, Ava and Ezra, lived here for about a year while Mike was going to Penn.
We had so much fun and stayed up WAY too late every night. Here's a highlight of what we did:
Friday we went to Pumpkinland at Linvilla Orchard. We enjoyed picking pumpkins and eating Apple Cider donuts! After carving pumpkins and eating a delicious feast (and after we put the kids to bed - they didn't actually fall asleep for a few hours), we ate yummy oatmeal cookies and played an exciting game of Settlers of Catan. Well... to be honest, it wasn't that exciting (it was apparent from the beginning that I was doomed to lose) and the game lasted about an hour longer than it should have. :o)
Saturday we had a girls' morning out breakfast with some awesome gals at a cute cafe in Ardmore. That afternoon we made Chili and went to the Broomall Ward Halloween Party. Isaac was Darth Vadar, Meili was a ladybug, Ava was a fairy, and Ezra was Superman. After eating ten different kinds of chili and going hallway-or-treating (instead of the traditional trunk-or-treat, the rain required the children to stay inside), the guys took the little ones out for some dynamite trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. When we finally got the kids in bed, we celebrated Mike's 30th birthday with some delicious cake (Christina is an amazing chef-ess and made some wonderful things to eat) and again stayed up late chatting.
We had to say goodbye to them on Sunday after church. But we hope to drive up to Boston soon - especially since Christina's going to have a new baby boy soon.
We recently took a trip to Texas to visit family and to also be in the wedding of one of my best friends from high school - Tiana. We were there for about 10 days and had lots of fun visiting old friends and hanging with Grandma Leslie, Uncle Dan, and Grandpa Lynn. We also got to see my grandparents and some aunts and uncles. Daniel earned his Eagle Scout award a couple of years, and we finally held a Court of Honor for him. All in all, we had a great time and can't wait to visit Texas again soon.
Me and the kids with my mom, Charles and Brenda (I love these guys!)
The kids with Brittany and Sandy
Me and the kids with Granddaddy Jim and Grandma Carol
Meili and Uncle Daniel
Sister Elaine Dalton, General President of the Young Women for the Church, lead our Stake Auxiliary Leadership Training in November. Being in the Stake YW's presidency, I had the opportunity to have dinner with her, Brother Dalton, and their daughter-in-law (as well as Sister Cheryl Lant and a member of the General RS Board). After dinner, we had a training for the Stake YW Leaders over six stakes, where she talked to us about being 'in front' (i.e., completing personal progress, having regular scripture study and prayer, etc.), and she challenged us to make a difference in the life of at least one YW (whether in the Church or not) every single day. Then we had a training with the Ward and Stake YW Leaders of the six stakes. It was truly amazing. I was impressed by her humility and sense of service. Her love for us, the YW and the Lord was apparent in everything she said. She talked about being 100% in three things everyday: Pray morning and night; have at least 5 minutes of scripture study; and smile. I also had the chance to chat with her husband, who served his mission in Fort Worth and spent some time in Denton. He and his wife recently visited there for the Denton Jubilee, to celebrate 50 years of the Church being in Denton. It was a wonderful, magical evening!
