However, I am happy to say that our weekends have been completely booked since mid-June--the week days are pretty much the same though-- and I haven't had a chance to tell you all know about it. So...
June 19-21: Mount Vernon, MO
We got off early and went to Mount Vernon, MO where the Hillbilly Boogie was taking place. For those of you who don't know what a boogie is--it's a big skydiving event where people come from all over to have fun, see old friends, and jump out of a cool airplane they don't usually get to. We carpooled with a couple of guys--Jason and Ian--and all shared in the price of gas, which was nice. I convinced Shaun to get a cheap hotel for the nights, and I'm glad I did. It was so HOT and HUMID at night especially, so Ian ended up chipping in and staying in his sleeping bag on the floor of the hotel room where it was nice and air conditioned.
Anyway, it was a really fun weekend! Shaun made 9 jumps, which was perfect for him because that was his goal, and I hung around meeting people and taking pictures. (See slide show below). The "big deal" this year was a King Air (plane) owned by Mike Mullins. Mike has souped up his plane to make it have about a 7 minute turn around. He was going so fast that he beat the jumpers to the ground!!! It was nuts! There was also a hot air balloon that came in Saturday night and did a couple of loads--one Saturday and one Sunday. They may have done more, but we left Sunday morning, so I don't know. We made it back just in time for church, and we were tired and sunburned!
June 25: Country Stampede
We got some free VIP tickets to Country Stampede for Thursday, which was the first day of the big event. We went and saw some people sing we have never heard of, but it was fun. We walked around to the different tents that were set up, and watched some of the performers. We saw Low Cash Cowboys, Julianne Hough, Luke Bryan, and left before Creedence Clearwater Revisited went on stage because it was so late. We had a good time though.
June 26-28: Omaha, NE
We decided to go visit Whitnee and Derrick in Omaha for a weekend. We figured they wouldn't be there too much longer, and I wanted to see them. So, we took off Friday night after work, and came home Sunday evening after church and a bbq at the park with some of their neighbors.
Whitnee, Shaun, and I were going to go to the temple on Saturday late afternoon (6ish), but Shaun forgot his recommend, so Whitnee and I went. It was really neat to do a session with just Whitnee and I becuase we received our endowment together, and it meant a lot to get to spend some one-on-one time with my big sis that I don't see very often.
I think it was Friday night that we waited for Derrick to get off work, then we we to the bridge (view slideshow below) that divides Nebraska from Ohio. We were standing in 2 places at once! :) Saturday-before the temple- Whitnee had to work for a few hours, but then we went and walked around downtown Omaha. There was some kind of craft carnival going on, and roads were closed. Vendor's lined the streets with their projects. We walked around a bit, then went to these big slides they randomly have in the area we were near. We also went to Greek Islands restaurant for lunch where Shaun and I had our Wedding dinner. We have decided to make it a tradition to go to Greek Islands every time we go to Omaha.
Sunday we went to church, then had a bbq at the park with some friends, and had to leave. :( We had a blast and didn't want to leave.
July 3-4: Independence Day
The 4th of July was pretty fun! My mom and dad came into town on Friday (3rd) to visit us, and we had a Korean BBQ for dinner. The next day we were all kinda lazy and slept in (except Shaun because he had to go out to the DZ to jump and get ready for a demo he was participating in). Mom and I got up a little earlier and went to the Farmer's Market not too far away, then came home and made pancakes and we all took another nap after breakfast. When we finally got up, we went to Wamego where there was a parade--mostly tractors, cars, and random people we didn't know. We went and picked Shaun up at the DZ, and went to the carnival to ride a few rides. Wamego is supposed to have the best firework display in the Midwest, and it was really good. It was about 25 minutes of continuous fireworks--said to cost about $45,000. We didn't have a very good spot, but we were being rained on by the ashes, and it was fun.
Mom, Dad, and Dustee had to leave early Sunday morning to get back to church on time. I was sad to see them go, but was greatful they were able to come visit.
The Smith Family Reunion took place for Grandpa Smith's 85th birthday, and we weren't about to miss it. Shaun hadn't been to a reunion since before his mission, and really wanted go, and I wanted to meet all of the family too.
We drove out-- just the two of us-- Wednesday night at 11:30pm, drove straight (switching off driving, of course), and made it to Mona, UT by 2:00pm Thursday afternonon. It was nice to be able to see my grandparents for a little bit since we were going to miss my mom's side family reunion the following weekend.
We spent the night there, and had to leave Friday afternoon to get to Ogden for the Smith reunion. We had a lot of fun seeing everyone, and I wasn't the only one who didn't know everyone! We stayed at the Hampton's house (Joan's brother), and met all of them too, so I got to meet all of both sides in one day... except 2 cousins who couldn't make it. I think I can still name them all. :)
Saturday morning we hiked up to this somewhat hidden waterfall at almost the top of a mountain nearby. It was absolutely gorgeous! I was thinking it would be some dinky little trickle, but it was enormous, and so pretty! We went with a couple of Shaun's cousins--Ann, Alice, and Alice's boyfriend (now husband, I believe) Stonewall Thomas. (see slide show)
We drove back with Heather and Joan Sunday and Monday while Robert kept our car out in Utah for a few days. We didn't want to leave Utah so soon, and definitely didn't want to go back to work the following Tuesday, but had to...such is life. :s
July 17-25: House-sitting
For the past week and a half or so, we house sat for some people I work with. They went to Canada, so we stayed at their house and looked after their 2 dogs, 3 cats, and 20 chickens. We also looked after their garden that was overridden with weeds. We got to eat anything we picked though, so it wasn't all bad. We tried to help weed, but hardly made a dent after a couple of hours.
We began Friday night, the 17th, and finished this past Saturday, the 25th. It was fun, and we miss all of the animals, but I was glad to be at my own place once again. Not because of the apartment itself--which we are not too fond of--but because it's home. I missed the feeling of my home after so much traveling, and I was ready to come back.
August 4-10: Island Park, Pocatello, and Grace, Idaho
We are getting ready to go to the Millward Family Reunion next week, and I'll be sure to get pictures. We fly out Tuesday, the 4th, and drive back with TJ and Hailee (?) on Sunday/Monday. I'm excited to introduce Shaun to all of my family, and I think he's pretty excited too. He really wants to go fly fishing, so I know he'll fit in great! :)
