Fall in New England

I am completely amazed by the beautiful colors of the leaves in our area. Daniel and I agree that the leaves appear much brighter here than in Minnesota. We've never seen such brilliant reds and oranges before! I want to share some pictures that I've taken over the past couple of weeks. I have to say that photos don't do justice to the incredible views we've seen. We're now past peak and many of the trees have lost their leaves.

Orlando

Last week Daniel attended a conference in Orlando. I was able to travel with him and enjoy a few days of vacation in the sun! We stayed at a very nice resort, with two swimming pools, a lazy river and walking paths along the 9 hole golf course. I thought I'd share a few photos from the week.

Family Time

Daniel and I soaked up the opportunities to spend time with family over the course of our trip to Minneapolis. We watched the Twins and Vikings games together and celebrated birthdays and Canadian Thanksgiving (in honor of Ryan, who is Canadian). I also really enjoyed hanging out with both Daniel's family and my family. It was great having everyone all together again. It's really wonderful that everyone gets along so well. I know that's not always the case and I feel really blessed.

Miriam

While we were home, Daniel and I had a wonderful time hanging out with our 14 month old niece, Miriam. I thought I'd share a few snapshots of our time together.

Flying with Family

Daniel's brother, Jonathan and brother-in-law, Ryan are both pilots. Jonathan is a flight instructor and is preparing to be a pilot with Africa Inland Mission in Kenya. Ryan is a pilot with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Sudan. On Friday they took Daniel and me on a short flight to look at the fall colors. It had been a couple of years since Daniel and I had gone flying with Jonathan. It was a lot of fun and the colors were beautiful!

Our Trip to Minneapolis

Daniel and I made a trip home to Minneapolis last week. We knew that we wouldn't be able to go home for the holidays since Daniel is the new guy at work and can't get much time off. We decided to make a trip in October so we could see all of his family before they head overseas again. His mom and dad are leaving for Sudan at the end of the month and his sister, Kristen and her husband, Ryan are home from Sudan for a short time as well. This trip was the last time that we'd all be together for several years. It was great to spend some quality time with them. We also got to see my family. My parents and sister, Tara drove down to the Cities for the weekend and we were able to spend time with them and some extended family as well.

We went for dinner at Daniel's favorite Ethiopian restaurant, Fasika

We had lunch at Perkins with my family. We don't have any Perkins restaurants in our area.

Everyone gathered at Grandma's for dinner on Saturday

My Birthday

I hit the BIG 3-0! It's crazy to think that I am 30 years old now. Where does the time go? Daniel and I celebrated my birthday on Sunday. He made breakfast for me and after church we went on a drive to Marblehead with our friends, Jesse and Kelly. They showed us a great spot by the ocean on Marblehead Neck, an island off Marblehead. We didn't stay at the water's edge for long since it was cold and rainy, but the drive was very enjoyable. Daniel also took me out for dinner at Not Your Average Joe's. Of course, The Amazing Race began Sunday night so we made sure we were home to watch when it came on. During the show, Daniel gave me a foot massage! I wasn't thrilled to be turning 30, but it turned out to be a very nice day. And the celebration will continue in a week and a half when we travel to Minneapolis to see family.