Last weekend, we had the privilege of having Steve and Carol (Mike's parents) come to visit! They recently returned home from serving a mission in Germany, and we are so happy to have them back. It was so good to see them and spend time with them. Unfortunately I only took 6 pictures the entire time they were here, I'm just not good about taking pictures. We had a wonderful time with them, even though I didn't capture it on film!We took Steve and Carol to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. It's this cute, little quaint town on this gorgeous lake. The leaves were changing colors, the sun was shining and the air was crisp, we couldn't have had a better weather weekend for them to visit!
The colors of fall weren't as brilliant as I hoped they would be, but we'll take what we can get.
I'm so lucky to have such generous, thoughtful in laws! Carol and I had a great time walking around the little shops and talking. She's the best.
We thought it would be fun to for Steve and Carol to experience Apple Picking. We drove to this Apple Orchard not far from Lake Geneva (different from the orchard Mike and I went too a couple of weeks ago) and was GREATLY disappointed! First, of all everything was over the top commercialized. Second, the idea was to pick apples from trees. Well the trees in the orchard didn't have any apples left on the trees so you were supposed to choose apples from big barrels. We thought we could just pick a few apples out of the barrels, but we were once again disappointed when they told us we had to pick 12 pounds worth of apples if we wanted to buy anything. Rip off. So we bought apple butter instead. The picture above is an example of the closest we got to actually picking apples off trees.Even though the Apple Picking did not work out we still had a blast with Steve and Carol the rest of their trip. Thanks for coming to visit us, we love you and miss you both already!Mike and I could possibly have only 8 months left in the Windy City, depending on where he gets his residency. I think all of you reading this need to plan a trip to come see us soon, the opportunity will be gone before you know it!
L: Lovable, loves to laugh, loyal 
A: Awesome, admirable, always there 
C: Considerate, cool, caring, charitable 
E: Exciting, excellent to be around, easy going 
Y: You're always true to who you are and what you believe! 
We thought it would be fun to for Steve and Carol to experience Apple Picking. We drove to this Apple Orchard not far from Lake Geneva (different from the orchard Mike and I went too a couple of weeks ago) and was GREATLY disappointed! First, of all everything was over the top commercialized. Second, the idea was to pick apples from trees. Well the trees in the orchard didn't have any apples left on the trees so you were supposed to choose apples from big barrels. We thought we could just pick a few apples out of the barrels, but we were once again disappointed when they told us we had to pick 12 pounds worth of apples if we wanted to buy anything. Rip off. So we bought apple butter instead. The picture above is an example of the closest we got to actually picking apples off trees.Even though the Apple Picking did not work out we still had a blast with Steve and Carol the rest of their trip. Thanks for coming to visit us, we love you and miss you both already!Mike and I could possibly have only 8 months left in the Windy City, depending on where he gets his residency. I think all of you reading this need to plan a trip to come see us soon, the opportunity will be gone before you know it!
The adventure began with an authentic hayride to the apple orchard.
Each person was given a bag that would hold a peck of apples.
The apple picking began. Did you know you aren't supposed to pull down to get the apple off the tree? There is a method to this apple picking: LIFT AND TWIST! 
Once of the best parts of the day was the fact that you could eat as many apples as you wanted as long as you were in the orchard. Mike thoroughly enjoyed this aspect of the apple picking.
With all the apples we picked, we made Apple Crisp. It may not look appetizing, but it sure tasted delicious! Don't worry Mike and I finished off the pan in two days. 
FUNNY 1: I frequently run past this church and they always have the best "slogans". I thought this was a good one! Remember: The Ten Commandments were originally written on large stone TABLETS!
My good friend Lauren and I teach at the same school and have become running buddies! Lauren has been a great friend and has helped me stay motivated with my running. We've gotten a little bored with our running, so we decided to sign up for a race and work on some speed. We ran a 10k together last Saturday and had a blast! It was so nice not to have the pressure of a long race and to just enjoy running. Thanks to Lauren, who pushed me along the entire way, we both got our personal best times in a 10k race! All the hard work paid off. To celebrate I bought a nice big hamburger and pounded it within 2 minutes. Love it.
