Weekend Visit

This past weekend we had some good friends from our old hometown, the Olsens, come and visit. We had talked about getting together for a while, and this ended up being a good weekend for everyone. The kids were so excited, they could hardly wait until Friday afternoon when the Olsens got here. We got to be good friends with Jamie and Aimee while we were in Jeff's rotation, and Jacob and Caleb have always been great friends with Grace. We talked for a while when they first got here, and then went swimming at the pool. We finally had a real nice sunny day and the kids loved it; we ended up being out there for a couple hours. Jeff got home from work just as we finished up and then we had dinner. We put the kids to bed that night, they did surprisingly well for four kids in one little room! We stayed up with Jamie & Aimee and watched a movie together then spent time talking.

Saturday was our big touring day. Jacob and Caleb had soccer in the morning, so I took them to practice while Jeff & Matthew went with the Olsens to do some sight-seeing. The soccer practice went well and both boys had fun. We finished quickly and hurried downtown to meet everyone. Of course, we did have to make a quick stop at home first for a couple reasons. 1- Jeff forgot the diapers & wipes 2- While sitting on the ground watching the boys at soccer practice, I got pooped on by a bird from out of nowhere! Dang bird…I had to go change my shorts.

We did all the basic tours and sites, and had a good time. The kids were pretty good too. Once again, we were glad for a nice sunny day that wasn’t too hot, and now we have more pictures to add to our collection of liberty bell/independence hall tours… I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve been now, but it’s still fun with friends. Of course we had to give them the full Philly experience with cheesesteaks from Pat’s & Geno’s. I think everyone enjoyed them, but I’m pretty sure the price has gone up from last time we were there; they’re $8 bucks a piece now!

We had talked about going out to Valley Forge, but after the long day we opted to go pick up pizzas and water ice and go play at the park instead. It was nice to let the kids run around and get out whatever energy they had left. Jeff and Jamie also made a fun discovery that there were raspberry bushes behind the park. The kids were so excited about it, that they wanted to stay and pick them. Aimee, Matthew and I went home to cook pizzas and finish getting dinner ready, and Jeff, Jamie, Jacob, Caleb, and Grace all stayed for about a half hour longer to stay and pick raspberries. They came home with a pretty good bag of them. They were perfect for the homemade cheesecake that night.

It didn’t take much to get the kids to bed that night, they had been running around and playing hard so they were all pretty tired and went to bed without much trouble. We stayed up talking again, probably later than we should have, but we had a good time and lots of good laughs. It’s great when people come to visit and you can spend time just enjoying the company.

Sunday morning, Jeff was gone early at the hospital, so we got everyone ready and headed to church. The Olsens were pretty intrigued by the whole church setting and experience, they had a good time. They had to take off after sacrament meeting, so we gave hugs and said our goodbyes. It was so fun to have them here this weekend.