Eric and Lisa

It's been a busy one-and-a-half weeks! We've had a wonderful time with many visitors -- but not too many! It all started on Friday, October 1st, when my Uncle Jeff and Aunt Judy stayed at our house the night before an IU football game. Their son, Kyle, is in the IU marching band, and they have season tickets, so we get to see them every couple of weeks during the fall. We really enjoy having them over -- they're great to talk about sports with!
After they left, Eric's parents, Nate and Pam came to visit with their Yorkshire Terrior, Sassi. Nate had continuing education classes here at IU (he's an optometrist), and Pam came to shop and hang out with Ian. She sure did a lot of both! In the evenings, we were able to spend time with Nate and Pam, and just hang out. It was really nice. We're looking forward to coming up their way on the weekend of Bethel's Homecoming and 5K in a couple of weeks.

So they left on Thursday afternoon, and then late Thursday night, our very good friends Jeremy and Andrea came from North Carolina with their lovely Border Collie, Maple. They were all able to stay for four whole days and some of a fifth! We were very excited to see them and spend some quality time with them. They used to live here in Bloomington, but abandoned us for greener pastures in North Carolina! Andrea is pregnant and is half-way through her pregnancy, so it was fun talking about baby stuff with her. The first two days they were here were spent lounging and playing games together. Then on Sunday, they treated us to our first-ever Colts' game in Indianapolis. Eric and I are pretty big Colts fans (I LOVE Peyton Manning!), so that was an exciting thing for us. On Monday, we were able to enjoy the fall weather at a nearby apple orchard, where we had a nice picnic lunch, walked through the animal farm there, and picked out various fall-themed produce. Sadly, on Tuesday, our dear friends had to get in their car and drive the long 9 hours home. We miss them already.

However, on Tuesday night, we had yet another round of visitors! My parents, brother, and grandparents came down to stay the night and have an early Thanksgiving meal on Wednesday. We celebrated the holiday early because my brother is in the Air Force National Guard, and he had received orders that he was to go to New Mexico and work on a base as a security guard there; therefore, he'll miss Thanksgiving with our family for the second year in a row. (Last year, he was stationed on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.) It had been over a month since our family had gotten together, and my parents were especially glad to see Ian and discover how much he had grown since they last saw him. It was a nice, relaxing day, and the Thanksgiving dinner was one of the best that my mom and I had put together.

Now that everyone is gone, our house feels very quiet. It will be good, though, to get back into the swing of a regular schedule. It sure was fun entertaining and hosting guests all that time -- We felt like we were running a bed and breakfast! We love our family and friends, and we're glad that they feel comfortable spending time with us in our home.

--Lisa