A Day in Rochester Hills, Michigan

After having breakfast at the hotel we were on the road around 9:20 am so we could get to Jackson, Michigan for the 10:30 am mass at St. John the Evangelist church.  It was a nice, older church and the music was incredible.  They had a flutist play with the organist and a large choir that sounded just beautiful.  I'm not sure if it was the acoustics of the church or if everyone was singing but the voices just seemed to echo in the church.  It was very nice.

Tanya and Karen

After church we had about another 90 minutes to get to Karen and George's house.  Karen is Tanya's good friend from University and though they only see each other once or twice a year at most they also start up where they left off.  Karen and George have a one year old named Georgie who the kids enjoyed taking turns playing with him.

Playing Ball with George

It was another really hot day so we spent the afternoon in the backyard playing games.  We played some softball, basketball and football and had a great time.  We needed to take a lot of breaks because the heat was so thick.  The kids really enjoyed trying to impress George with their different abilities.

Georgie and Andrea cool off in the pool

The kids love spending time with George

Karen prepared us all a lovely supper and then after things were cleaned up she and Tanya took Georgie for a walk around the neighbourhood while the rest of us played horse at the basketball hoop.  After we got all the kids to bed we had a chance to talk to them about our trip and they filled us in on what has been going on in their lives.  This is some of the greatest things about this trip, getting to spend time with great people and great friends.

Andrea, George, Natalie and David

Another neat thing that happened this evening was that I had gone out on the back deck to make a few phone calls and I heard a rustling in the bushes next to me.  I turned around to see this deer eating the leaves on the trees.  It couldn't have been more than 15 feet away from me.  It stuck around for the 20 minutes or so that I was out there.

George and Francois

Tomorrow will be a shopping day as we head to Frankenmuth to the largest Christmas store and a bunch of factory outlets.  We will probably make our way back into Canada tomorrow with some plans to visit Niagara Falls and then to visit my brother Michel and his family.  Good night.


Francois