Houseguests

One of my favorite things is having houseguests. The memory of this sight still makes me smile. Before we left Virginia, we were very blessed to have several houseguests. I don't know if it's just the extra energy, but I love having people come stay for a night or few. This summer, in addition to Ross, our houseguest for the summer, we had quite the plethora of patrons of our bed and breakfast. And, I thrived on it.

And, on to a recap of our spring/summer 2008 houeguests. The first weekend in April, my family came to stay. My mom, dad, sister Megan, a friend of hers, brother Ross, sister Becca and nephew Sambino all stayed for a long weekend. We had a fabulous time and did our electric air pump in. I blew the twin air matress up with my very strong lungs. Those marching band days continue to serve me well. They also came at peak cherry blossom time. That's another reason I like having visitors, they get me out and about seeing things that I like to see.

Will's parents also visited a few times and stayed with us this past year including during the cherry blossoms. They were actually our first houseguests, but left the love nest to the newlyweds that time. When they decided we were safe to bunk with, we let them enjoy our romantic bedroom, candles and all.

The picture above represents the biggest houseguest group we housed at our Kalmia Lee Court condo. Most of you probably know that while we didn't serve at the same time, Will and I both served missions in Moscow, Russia. We both were very blessed to serve with the Kelly family (our mission president). Well, three years ago, the Kellys came to visit DC (President and Sister Kelly actually met in DC, cool, huh?) and stayed with me and my roommates. That was an adventure and we lived in a huge house with a little more spare room. In June, their fifth child, Alison, participated in the National History Fair (meaning she won the Utah History Fair). So, they decided to try out the new guest quarters. Eight Kellys, two Doutres and one Ross Menlove made eleven, yes eleven, of us for six days and five nights. And, I must say that a wonderful time was had by all. The picture above shows the seven non-marrieds sleeping in our family room and dining room. Highlights of the trip have to include me hauling five kids to the metro in my car and hauling them home soaking wet because they got caught in a downpour, watching President and Sister Kelly play tennis on the Wii, and entertaining ourselves while waiting in a long line by overwhelming President Kelly with text messages. Good times.

Our guestbook is being filled with great memories of friends and families coming to spend a little time getting to know our world. We've already had several visitors to Rhode Island as well and look forward to many more. Seriously, have you always wanted to go to RI (um, we've got almost 400 miles of coastline)? Come, visit. Call us soon to discuss schedules because I'm traveling a bit this fall and winter for work, but we would love to see you. Next on the list - Aunt Gloria, Cousin Mandy and Cousin Meisha. I can hardly wait!