Did you say ketchup?

So it's time to play catch-up:

The French Connection: When I was fourteen or so my family hosted Ludovic D'Anchald, a foreign exchange student from France, for the summer. Later, my parents visited his parents' home in Lille, then my husband and I visited Ludo and his wife, Brigitte in Lyon (back when they had only one baby.) Still later, my parents visited Ludo and Brigitte who then had four children. And finally, Ludo's parents and cousin (with her husband) came to visit us in Utah. They were sorry to miss my parents who are on a mission in Mexico. And it's just a shame that my sister Kate and her husband Caleb (who speaks French from his mission to Montreal) were gone that week to look for a house in Pittsburgh.
So it was basically up to me to host them and I was nervous because I never was fluent in French and it had been years since I used it at all. So I invited over Casey's sister Jenny. She lived in the French house at BYU for a year and is much less self-conscious about speaking in a foreign language. They hit it off great and I basically turned them over to her as a tour guide for a day in Salt Lake City. She loved it--she got to show them all the Mormon history sites like Temple Square, the Beehive house, and the Great Salt Lake. And I stayed behind to take Lissa to the doctor with a broken arm. I was relieved that Jenny was willing to help me out this way. Not that I wouldn't have loved to go along, it's just tricky when you have a baby to drag along.
The only down side of their visit was that we promised to show them buffalo (technically bison) and then couldn't find the herd that is usually pastured half a mile from here. When next I see them, I'll have to get a picture and send it along.