Ames and Jer...and Ryan and Caleb and Mia!

A few weekends ago, we had the privilege of a visit from one of my college roommates and her family. We are used to saying "Ames and Jer are visiting!" (Amy and Jeremy), but now their family includes Ryan, little Caleb, and Mia (the dog). We were happy that we got to be with the whole gang this time.

Thanks for taking so many great pictures Ames! 

Corrie loved Mia so much. I can't wait to see her with a dog of her own one day. (Which will be at age 18).

Amy brought a travel playpen for Caleb, which I called "the octogon" when I first saw it. I did not know that Caleb would actually treat it as an ultimate fighting ring when Davey got in there with him, and it's safe to say that Davey finally met his match. I can see him pleading with his eyes for me to rescue him in one of the pictures. 

Then I went downstairs and saw all three big kids playing in the little pack n' play!

We read Winnie the Pooh together before bed. The kids were so funny!

On Saturday we went for a hike on the Skyline Drive. We had all been looking forward to it so much, and we had to drive a good 20 minutes to get there. 

When we got there, the park was unexpectedly closed, and it was freezing, and we realized we had forgotten Mac and Davey's jackets! 

Neither Ames nor I were surprised: just another typical adventure for us. Poor Ellis and Jeremy were not surprised or daunted either...I guess living with me and Ames for all of these years has gotten them used to it. 

We did manage to find a pink sweatshirt for Davey and one of Ellis' Jackets for Mac. We thought we were just going to have to hike on the very cold, very windy road since we weren't able to drive our cars up to the park entrance where the hiking trails were. Bummer!

But then, just a few minutes into our depressing trek, we spotted a secret trail heading into the woods on our right! I silently thanked the Lord very emphatically in my head, and I think I may have even cheered out loud.

We were all anxious to get out of the freezing wind, and Mac and Ryan were happy to lead the way! Corrie was so happy that we got to hike "in the forest." Me too, Corrie :)

What a nice surprise that hike ended up being! My heart was so full of thankfulness to the Lord the whole time. I kept thinking how it went so much better than our original plans would have been!

I have been meaning to get this post together ever since I got all of the pictures from Ames a few weeks ago. Today I took a stroll down memory lane and looked at some pictures of our time during the "Haven" days (Lock Haven University). 

The Lord gave us a great gift of friendship during those days...to keep pointing each other toward Him and have a lot crazy laughs in the process.

It was always an adventure then, and it still is now!