Summer's end and Shopping

We had such nice weather while Tim and Alora and Thomas and Heidi were visiting.
We had an extension of summer. I think that we have to admit that summer is actually over.
This past week the lows have begun to dip into the 40s,
but this morning when we woke up the temperature was only 37 degrees!

On Monday morning, we noticed that they have changed the decor in the lobby to the fall colors.

 In the mornings when we walk, we often see snails on the path next to the field.
One morning, I saw a bright yellow snail. I have never seen one like this, they are usually brown.
I am including a picture of the usual snail and the bright yellow snail.

On Tuesday, Steve snapped this picture of me working with Sister Anttila. She is so sweet and kind.
We are so grateful to have her working with us in the mission office!

That evening, we drove Sister Levitt to IKEA. We had to get some sheets for some missionaries,
and she had several things that she had been wanting to purchase.
When we were driving back home, we saw this gorgeous sunset!

On Wednesday morning there was an interesting fog in the field area.
We are trying to soak in every second of the beautiful Finnish nature while the sun is still shining.

On Thursday, we left from the mission office a little bit early
and went downtown to an international market that was taking place at senate square.

The cathedral is still under renovation. It is interesting to see that the top part is wrapped so that the scaffolding is covered, but the wrap looks like the top of the building so it isn't quite so noticeable.

We are really enjoying having Sister Leavitt here and being able to do things with her.

By Friday morning, we noticed that the ferns are completely brown and are starting to dry up. 
It made for a pretty picture though!

For the last couple of weeks, we have noticed the geese flying.
This is another sure sign that summer has ended. I understand that they have been taking some extra time to leave with the additional warm weather that we have had.

On Saturday, we (and Sister Leavitt) went out to do some shopping.
We starting out by stopping by the Marjaniemi Elders apartment to pick up a disc with some medical records that needs to be sent back to the US to his family. 

We also went to the big Marimekko outlet (which is very near the Elder's apartment),
Lanko Mailmaa (Yarn World) and the secondhand store. I had been feeling a bit sad that I didn't actually buy the dress that I had tried on last week with Sister Leavitt.
I ended up buying two dresses and she bought three.

It was so nice to have something new to wear to church today!
I have grown rather tired of the clothes that I brought with me to Finland.

Today in our Sacrament meeting, a young man spoke before leaving on his mission to the SLC West mission. This afternoon, we enjoyed listening to McKay speak before leaving
on his mission to the Alpine German Speaking mission. We still find it hard to believe that we have grandchildren who are now young adults. We are a bit sad though as we realize that we will not see McKay for well over 3 years since he leaves for his mission before we return home. We are so grateful for technology so we can see him and we were able to talk to him by phone this past week.

Sunrise/sunset time for Sunday 22 September 2024

Espoo, Finland 7:06am to 7:20pm for 12 hrs 14 min of daylight.

Provo, Utah 7:14am to 7:22pm for 12 hours 8 min of daylight.

In 2 days we will have the same hours of daylight here in Finland as in Provo.

I guess that means that summer has indeed ended here.