Enjoying Fall!

I am totally loving fall!  There have been some exciting things happening here - including my dear friend Andrea, who is on my staff team, having her twins in late September!  They've been in the NICU and I still have yet to see them in person, but I hope to meet them next week when they come home... Lord willing!  A week before baby boy (SD) and baby girl (EG) came into the world, a group of ladies came together to shower Andrea with lots of gifts, fun, and love. 

I've also been enjoying getting into a "normal" schedule and having time to bond with my roomies and other friends.  Above is my friend Kara who is also my roommate and my trainer.  She gets to spend a lot of time with me, so it's good that we get along.  :)

Our team is small and is really more of a family, so I get the privilege of spending a lot of time with my director's kids.  HB is a little 3.5 year old cutie and has 3 brothers, so she eats up the time that she gets to spend with girl friends.  She likes to tell me, "you're my friend a lot."  Totally adorable!  And of course, her mama is wrapped around her little finger.  Sarah has been such an encouragement to me through the transition to this team and a new season of life.  I'm so blessed to be among such awesome people!

Another fun part of my fall has been spending time with some friends that I originally met in Milwaukee during our summer missions project.  We all moved to Milwaukee this year.  Shira (left in red) and Emily (right in red) are serving with CityYear, a branch of Americorps, to work as tutors and mentors in inner city schools.  Their roommate, Courtney (far left), is student teaching in Milwaukee.  We've been enjoying the fall by cheering on the Packers together and going pumpkin picking.

This past weekend, I went with Kara to her hometown of Montello, where we visited with her parents and I was able to see many friends from Madison who were at a Christian camp there for Cru's fall retreat.  It was such a fun and refreshing weekend - especially seeing all the beautiful fall colors!  ...and of course, the famous Granite Falls in Montello.  :)