foreign president

Richard and I were excited yesterday to enjoy a 3 hour whirlwind visit from Mike Sullivan, president of Catholics United for the Faith. I worked at CUF very briefly during our newlywed days, before we moved out of Steubenville. At the time, Mike was the editor of Lay Witness, the magazine published by CUF, but has since become the president of Catholics United for the Faith. He and his father, Bill Sullivan, are currently in New Zealand for a CUF NZ conference. Last night they were able to pop in for dinner, a tour of our church, a conversation with Fr. Michael, a glimpse at our Lighthouse youth group in action and a sunset visit to "The Mount" - a very hectic and enjoyable three hours! Mike is the father of 9 children and Mr. Sullivan is the grandfather of FORTY-FIVE grandchildren, so it was no surprise that Maria and Bernadette absolutely loved this visit. There are probably few people who have as much practice being around small children! Although we have met other Americans here in NZ, Mike's face was the first American face I have seen in 9 months who I already knew - other than Fr. Michael, he is the only person we have seen in as much time who was already known to us before we came here. So it was quite a treat to spend a little time together and laugh about our attempts to drive on the correct side of the road.
Also, you may notice that Richard has done what is impossible for me - he has added a "multi-media" element to our blog. In the upper right hand, he posted videos. The skit that he and Glen performed last week can be viewed. I think he also posted the (somewhat) cheesy video Fr. Michael asked us to make to introduce us to the parish before we arrived. Ok, it's very cheesy. I have no idea if there are other videos up besides those two, but if so, hopefully they are not quite as embarrassing!