Celebration, then sadness.

After our rounds to visit with so many friends and family, we ended up back at mom and dad's for a few more days. As they had not been able to be here for Mark's ordination back in August, mom planned a celebration dinner for the occasion! Dave and Sue and family were able to come, and we all had a great time over the most amazing dinner! A friend of mom's, who attends the church where dad is interim, works at the "premier" steakhouse in town. Mom was just looking for suggestions on where to buy a good cut of meat, and next thing we new, Valerie was buying and preparing the most delicious filet mignon any of us had ever tasted. It was so tender, it cut like butter and melted in our mouths! And of course, Mark's other favorites-crescent rolls, and his new favorite, Crash Hot Potatoes. (Just for the record, I did not take the picture of the food. That was Mark's doing...said he didn't ever want to forget that meal. I just wanted to reassure you that I'm not going completely out of my journalistic style, but that this is, after all, a family's blog, and if he wants pictures of his dinner, I'll post the picture of his dinner). Definitely worth remembering! :)
But, it was kind of bittersweet, knowing we would be leaving the next day, and not knowing when we would all be together again.
















The next afternoon found us maneuvering the Pittsburgh airport once again. The kids did great, even though both Anna and Andrew got sick on the way home. Anna puked all over me once (thankfully I at least had my light jacket in my bag to change into!), and Andrew also got sick...but he made it in the bag. So it was rough, but I think we were all glad to be home in our own beds when we finally rolled in about 14 hrs later. My, what a wonderful trip we've had! We are so blessed by our family and many friends, and are thankful that they haven't forgotten us, and we're full of wishful thinking that everyone would just move up here...