Family x 5

What a week! Off to Baraboo Saturday for Lara's baptism and birthday parties for Lara, Jason and Max. Poor Lara...high fever and so lethargic, but she was determined to be baptized, and so she was. It was great...one of the nicest baptisms I've been to. Lara played a duet on her violin with someone from church (Reva), while Greta accompanied them on the piano. Lots of tears were shed as it was so well done and so moving! And, the whole family was there, including Eric's parents.

After a reception at the church the party moved to the Justus house. Presents, pass the parcel, food, more food, wonderful food, and many pounds later, we all had a really nice time. Roger and I left in a hurry Sunday morning after Heidi announced that now Jason was sick. Swine flu here we come! So, Roger and I were out the door running...never stopping until we arrived at Chrissy and Jeff's home 3 hours later in Rochester, MN. Whew! That was a workout.

It was a whirlwind tour of Rochester, walking around Silver Lake, checking out Jeff's lab at the Mayo clinic (and seeing him in his white lab coat...that was really neat), touring the underground system of corridors and passageways connecting Mayo to the rest of the world, browsing several stores in this subway system, eating Gelato and getting hooked on it, going to a very nice mall with Chrissy, wolfing down a great dinner at the Olive Garden, and breathing just fine despite the presence of Willy the entire time. What a great couple of days, and even though the weather was snowy (in October!) and cold, our spirits were up and we enjoyed ourselves completely. Chrissy is a great cook, homemaker, hostess, as well as artist...we checked out a gallery in Rochester and her work is far better. I know I may be a bit biased, but Roger isn't and he agrees with me. So there.

We arrived home Wednesday afternoon tired, but very grateful for amazing children and their families, as well as for all their many talents and abilities. You guys are great and we're crazy for each one of you!