A week of brownies

This week I've made four batches of brownies for various events.  Thank you, Tarja Aalto, for the recipe.  YUM!!  Here I was making brownies with Katie, Jyri and Kai.  Katie invited me over to join her family for dinner after church today.  I LOVE Katie and her little family!!  Jyri (Katie's husband) reminds me so much of Matthew (my brother).  And their son Kai is such a doll!  He helped mix the brownies.  And he sat in my lap for nearly all of sacrament meeting today.  He is such a cutie pie and is such a gregarious baby!!

The young women had their annual Young Women in Excellence night on Friday.  They sang "Walk Tall You're a Daughter of God" and sang it so beautifully.  Their parents came and shared a few thoughts about their daughters--about each young woman's special talents and divine attributes.  It was an evening I will long remember.  I absolutely love these young women and draw great strength from their goodness and kindness.  The adult leaders are equally inspiring, and I feel so fortunate to work alongside them!!

The 50s Diner in Tampere that I blogged about last week!  I was in Tampere on Saturday for an LDS Singles Conference.  I was a bit hesitant to go given that it was to be my first singles conference now that I'm 31.  But, it was such a great conference!  We learned to Fox Trot (and there were REALLY great dancers I got to dance with) during one of the classes.  A few of us (Kenneth Lampinen, Kyösti Rehunen) went to dinner and it was so great to eat real American food. 

Any guess as to what time this picture was taken?  Yep.  8:00am.  The dark days arrived this week.  It's really something to experience.  No amount of hearing about what it’s like prepares you for the abrupt switch from a normal "sun schedule" to the sudden onset of the dark days.  It's really quite strange.

I took this picture at 5:15pm tonight.  Crazy.

Tampere.  This week it also seems like the leaves have almost nearly disappeared. These trees still have some leaves hanging on for dear life.  But, for the most part, the trees are now barren.

And, Sis. Christofferson.  Sister missionaries were recently assigned to Jyväskylä, along with the elders.  I feel like the sisters just barely arrived.  But they've been here six weeks now and Sis. Christofferson is getting transferred.  Sad!  We will miss her beaming smile.