Family time is fun time

Last Friday I headed up north to South Bend, IN to visit with my cousin Abby, my cousin-in-law John, and their adoreable daughter, Nora. It turned out that it was family weekend! Every year my Aunt Barbara and Uncle John come out to visit the family in November. Turns out - that was this weekend! They came in Thursday, and left Sunday - meaning we had a super family filled weekend.

On Saturday afternoon Aunt Jean, my Grandpa's cousin, and her daughter Aunt Ann came over to visit. I hadn't seen Aunt Jean since Grandpa's wedding in 1989, and I had never actually met Aunt Ann. It was really good to get to see/meet them. They are just as sweet and fun as I could imagine anyone in my family being. Plus, my parents came over for the afternoon. Their arriva was a little late - they forgot about the time change going from IL to IN again :-) However, we did get some time in as a total family. We realized we had 4 generations of Shoeflin women in one room - so we took a picture on this momentous occaision.

I have to add in a food note at this point. We had soup and bread for lunch Saturday. Abby made two absolutely delcious soups that I've always wanted to make - Butternut Squash Soup and Sausage Lentil Soup out of the Barefoot in Paris cookbook. It was fabulous. I'll definitely be making them in the future - although the sausage lentil soup could feed an army!

The rest of the weekend was great. We didn't do anything specific, but focused on enjoying our time together as it is always limited. On Monday I went to campus with Abby. She taught and went to class while I did some work in her office. More importantly I played on campus. I did a short walk around campus and took in some of the sites. It was a little cold, so I didn't go out on a walk around the lake or do too much exploring. This was my fourth trip to South Bend, however I had never actually made it into the Basillica, so I finally got that checked off my list. It was nice to go in there, sit with my thoughts while someone practiced on the organ. It really is a gorgeous campus! Here are some pictures from campus.

On Tuesday I stayed at home with Nora for a couple of hours while Abby and John were both at work. We had lots of fun playing with nesting dolls and reading. Plus, she went down for her nap very easily! We headed over to the Mishewaka brewing company to grab a late lunch after Abby got done with her seminar. I had to bring my southern charm into play, so we brought a baby.. into a bar.Mmmmm. Fried Pickles - how can you go wrong?!?!

Unfortunately, the fun had to end, as I headed home on Tuesday night :-( Family - I miss you already.