Visitors!

David and I have been in Philly for 8 months now!  We have been very lucky to have 3 sets of visitors over the past few months.  Krista, Bart, Whitney, and Mackay came to visit us in early September.  I was on an emotional roller coaster with my Charter School job, but was so happy to have my sister come to visit.  One of the things I loved about Krista visiting was her positive attitude.  She complimented my blue bathroom, told me she liked my apartment, and said my house reminded her of my grandma Honey's old home.  I had been having a difficult time adjusting to the "rustic" feel of my new home (there is literally rust in certain areas), and Krista helped me feel better about my living conditions.  I now like our little Philly apartment!

Thank you Krista for coming to visit!  Thank you for being so flexible when they needed to repaint our spare bedroom ceiling, when you had to kill the red spider in our doorway, and when you helped me decide to call the gas department at 10:00 pm. Thank you for giving us food, making dinner for us, and making me laugh during the turmoil with my job.  Come again soon!!

Bubba and Whitney eating yogurt.

Don't worry... I ended this job a week after I started. It was a horrible situation, and I am glad to be out of that Charter School.

David and Whitney making chocolate chip cookies!

In November we had our 2nd visitor!  Brett came to visit us for Thanksgiving.  We were so happy to have him come!  We made some final touches on our apartment in preparation for his arrival.  We finally organized the spare bedroom, found a free bookshelf from craigslist (which David, his Dad and brother sawed in half one night... making it two smaller bookshelves), shampooed the carpets (which didn't get done before we moved in... sorry it wasn't done for you Krista), washed/ironed/hemmed the window curtains, and received a twin bed from David's parents. 

David cleaning our carpets.  Don't be fooled... I helped with the shampooing too.

I am terrified of mold.  Since we live in a humid city, I decided to open the windows to help our wet carpets dry a bit faster, thus preventing any mold growth.  With the portable fans blowing, all windows open, and our thermostat turned down, we were able to dry our carpets in no time!!  However, doing this in mid-November was not a great idea.  After humoring me for a few hours, David begged me to be shut the windows and turn up the heat.  I finally gave in once I looked at the thermostat and noticed that it was 55 degrees in our house.  It reminded me of being home in Seattle :)

One week before Brett arrived, I started my new job as an assistant librarian (I checked the books in and out of the library) at a local PUBLIC elementary school.  So Brett had to brave the Philly transit system and explore Philadelphia on his own during the day.  He visited a lot of historical sites in Philly- some I still haven't seen!  He also ran across the Ben Franklin bridge into New Jersey.  That is one way to avoid paying the $5.00 toll!

While Brett was here we visited Valley Forge and went to New York City!  It was the first time that Brett and I had been to NYC.

Brett in Valley Forge

The New York City Temple

Times Square

Brett on the Subway

Thanks for coming to visit Brett!!  We were so sad to see you leave!  You made us laugh, made our house smell like lentil soup, and taught us a little bit about the Philly history.  Come again soon!!

Our 3rd group of visitors came in March.  Annette and three of her kids, Andrea, Ryan, and Emily, came to visit the city of brotherly love!  After spending a full day in the airport, Annette and her kids arrived at 11:30pm in Philadelphia.  The kids spent each morning watching movies, staring at the Philadelphian's from our second story window, and yelling "Hello" to the people waiting at the bus stop by our house.  Annette enjoyed making her smoothies (which I never had a chance to taste), and surfed the web (making sure she could make it home to Arizona)... she loved our high speed internet :)  Annette did grocery shopping and prepared dinner each day while she was here.  It was so nice to be able to come home and have dinner ready!  During their visit, I decided to take the Muir family on a tour of the local Philly neighborhoods.  During the tour, Annette compared Philadelphia to the Dominican Republic... a 3rd world country... not sure if that was a good thing.

We also spent majority of the trip visiting farm animals.  One night we went to 4H to see sheep, baby lambs, and chickens.  Annette and the kids were able to hold baby chicks and help with the sheep chores.  The following night we went to David's parent's home in Kennett Square (about 1 hour away).  Annette and her family were able to help feed the sheep, hold baby lambs, collect eggs from the chicken coop, explore the rock quarry, visit a cow farm, and make butter.  Annette felt like Laura Ingalls Wilder from Little House on the Prairie.

(These pictures are from our new camera... can you tell any difference?)

We loved having you come!  Come again soon to shear the sheep!  (By the way... this agricultural experience is not typical when visiting Philadelphia... but I know Andrea, Ryan, and Emily loved it!)

We can't wait to have each of you come and visit!