Sarah Moran, one of the Moran family with whom we stayed in Germany, posted this on her blog. She is an outstanding writer, and I liked her summary of our visit, so I copied it and pasted it here:
Our friends the Kennedy's came to visit for the two weeks leading up to Christmas and they were the best guests. To be honest, I was a little nervous about the whole thing before they got here. I love John and Larisa and their family, but two weeks is a long time with six extra people in our house. Have you ever had the experience of going to visit family or friends for a while and being ready to just go home about half way through? I have and I was concerned that either us or the Kennedy's would be feeling that after six or seven days! In the end it turned out to be a great visit. The kids all got along; our little ones especially loved the Kennedy kids. I think this was the first visit with them where even our littlest kids were able to connect with and really start to love the Kennedy's the way the rest of us do.
Besides having a wonderful time together I wanted to share a little of what made them such great guests.
1. They love to play games as much as, actually more, than we do. Finally someone to play games with!
2. When I mentioned wanted to go caroling for FHE, everyone was enthusiastic. We did go caroling together and because of our amazingly talented friends it sounded awesome!
3. They were incredibly helpful. Ethan vacuumed out our van, John mopped the floors, Johannah and Glo kept our girls happy, Mark always seemed to be asking "Sister Moran, can I do anything to help?", and Larisa talked with the kids like none of our other friends do, as if she really cared about them and what they had to say.
4. Despite the crowded living quarters they didn't complain. This is the biggest house we've ever lived in, but it isn't that big! So, thanks for being cheerful about living in the tiny upstairs of the Moran home.
5. While they were here our house was infested with Nazi zombies and we couldn't have gotten rid of them without John, Ethan, and Mark. Thanks guys!
I want to share a little of what made the Morans such great hosts:
ReplyDelete1. They love to play games with us, game-playing addicts. Sarah NEVER complains about playing even though she NEVER wins. Jared pushes all the right buttons to make me mad that I'm losing which makes me even more upset. This time, though, I think I got him back, at least once :-)
2. The Morans gave us a rare opportunity this year for service. Being on a trip, we were pretty much just thinking about ourselves. Going caroling reminded all of us what Christmas is really about, especially when we visited the hospital.
3. The Morans gave anything and everything to us. Seriously, I don't know how Sarah stayed sane, not having her van, and how many times did Jared have to fill it up with gas? Too, the Morans are the closest thing to parents to our kids besides us. Jared was always making sure that the boys are staying on track and doing what's right. Oh, and have I mentioned dinner for 13? For over a week? So glad we could take Sarah to the food court on our last night to say "thanks" :-)
4. Despite the crowded living quarters, the Morans didn't complain. We basically took over their entire top floor, and it was touching to hear them all "shhh-ing" each other in the morning to keep from waking us up.
5. Jared was the best friend to John that he has always been, willing to play video games until all hours. We now own the game :-)
Thanks Morans! We love you dearly!
HAHA!!!!!! Yeah sorry about those Nazi Zombies(:(: We got most of them, but there may still be some left(: I guess we'll just have to come visit again(:(: No, jk, but really Morans, thanks so much for being willing to take us in(:
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