Time with friends and the fam

It's been a busy but outstanding last couple weeks...sorry for the lack of updates. We got to see a ton of old friends during that time.

First, Pete came down from Michigan to visit us. It was quite a privilege that he drove down here to see us and we had a great time hanging out. We visited a number of places around Columbia...many of which I have never been to before. We found some great places to eat...I just took Allison back to Hudson's BBQ b/c it was so good. Sorry, Pete...my choice for sides was still french fries and mash potatoes w/ gravy (so good).

Last weekend found us on a quick trip up to Michigan to hang out with family and a few others. It was great to be able to hang out with a friends and be able to hear about what is going on up in Michigan and to encourage one in particular who was going through a tough time. I also got to hang out with many of Allison's and my family. We stayed with her parents, who also invited my down to stay for the weekend. Allison's brother pointed out that this gave a 2:1 grandparent to grandchild ratio...so much spoiling was done :) Saturday we made it up to East Lansing for the sad football game...but the good side was that I saw my little bro and sis for their birthdays that were coming up. We went out w/ my parents for Sushi and then hung out that evening at Bernie's house...thanks to her for putting us up so that we could see some more friends at church the next morning. It was fun talking to them and catching up. I also heard that my brother has been going to a few things and confusing people as he looks like me...although they all agree that they were slightly confused b/c he looks younger and ripped (I'd like to say more ripped...but...yeah).

All in all, it was a great trip, we'd love to have seen more people, but it was a short and focused trip. I also got to listen to some great messages by Ravi Zacharias on the driver up and down. I recommend them to anybody on a long road trip.

The one hard part was that several friends are going through some really tough problems with loved ones lately; deaths, illnesses, etc. Many of them are quite personal, so I don't want to share here...but if you get a moment, please lift them up in prayer.