Memorial Weekend

Three day weekend are just the best right? I know, I know, it's more than just a three day weekend! It's in Memoriam of the soldiers that have fought to give us our rights. And trust me, with all the soldiers I know I'm VERY grateful for them. I know it isn't easy going to training, being apart from your family, relying on only letters to get you through everything. Thanks to all of them for what they do!

Now onto the fun parts of the weekend.

Saturday Larry and I took a road trip up to Idaho (yes again) to visit with the Wilson/Quist/Neil families. Ariel was having her baby blessing so everyone came out and Tracy wanted to do family pictures while we were all in one place (let me say this has been years in the making. We've had plans to do these for forever, but something always came up preventing all of us being together). We left early and was there by lunch time. We got to visit for a while, Larry and I played Ping Pong for a little while, we ate, we did pictures, we had a lot of fun. Unfortunately by the time pictures were done Larry and I had to head back home. It was probably one of the shortest visits, but I still love getting together with that side of the family. It was nice to see the baby, hear about schools, jobs, vacations, etc. It's never easy to say goodbye.

Whole clan

 

Look how adorable we are!

 Sunday Larry and I decided to hit up Lagoon. We went last year, but it was right after going to Six Flags so I was pretty disappointed and didn't ride too many of the rides. This time I decided I was going to ride all that I could. We got there as early as we could (it was the first weekend Sundays were open late, but I wanted to be back by our weekly Skype call with mom if possible). Unfortunately, I found out I can no longer do the small rides. I thought I could handle them, but I got so sick on one that I had to sit out for a bit. Luckily the second I rode another big one I felt much better. The only (big) ones we missed were the Air Race one (it was closed) and Samurai (my stomach was still a little uneasy and I wasn't sure the spinning would be good for me). Maybe we'll be able to go again, but it's hard when it's so far and costs so much...especially now that I know I really can only do the big ones and they don't have a ton of those). I will say planning it so we did the wet rides (Rattlesnake Rapids & Cliffhanger) in the afternoon when we felt like we were dying was the best ever! We got put with another family on RR and they were scared of the waterfall so Larry and I ended up getting most of that on us...it was the best ever! Here's to hoping we can squeeze one more time in before the end of the summer.

This was RIGHT before I got sick

Monday I got to hang out with Stace (while, I'm sure, Larry enjoyed a day to play video games). She'll be leaving for Texas soon so we only have a limited amount of time we can actually get together. This was the first time I got to see her since she had her baby so it was really nice visiting with her. We went to eat at Macaroni Grill and then walked some shops around that area. We hardly have any pics together so I told her we definitely needed to get one that time. Her baby was so calm and chill...he's such a sweetheart (I swear he was awake most of the time, but not when I finally had a chance to snap a picture)! It'll be sad to see her go...but maybe it gives me an excuse to go visit Texas? Haha

Anyways, that was my three day weekend, with the soldiers in mind, obviously ;)

Birthday Celebrations (and a house update)

So I have to say I think Larry and I knocked it out of the park this year for Andy's Birthday. We normally let him pick what he wants to do, but this year he said he didn't care. We took him to Boondocks a couple years back so we figured we'd do that again. But then after talking about it we decided to do something new and make it a surprise...I knew hoped he'd LOVE going to one of those escape the room things they have now.

The whole group

We chose to do the Nuclear Reactor room this time around. We were in the room with about 4 other people we didn't know (so 7 of us total), but it definitely wasn't cramped. We ended up getting out with 5 1/2 minutes to spare. A new record for us since the last time we went to one we only had like 30 seconds left. Afterwards we went to Leatherby's for some food and ice cream (because you can't have a birthday without ice cream). And then we walked him through the house. The house has been framed since Larry's graduation so he got to really see what it would look like. I love showing it off so far and can't wait to see what it'll look like once it's done!

It had more than this, but I forgot to take a picture

By the end of the day Andy was saying how much he loved how we spent the day and couldn't wait to take his girlfriend there to do it again. It's so fun introducing people to those, if you've never been I recommend trying it. They are a fun challenge.

That Time Larry Graduated

That's right, Larry officially has his Bachelor's degree! He finished his classes back at the end of February, but they only have one month for graduations so we had to wait until now to actually celebrate.

In the car about to go graduate!

Larry's name in the program!!

I'm so beyond proud of him, I definitely teared up a bit when he went up to get his diploma. Especially having my brother, my grandma, his mom, Jim, and his grandma there I just felt great knowing he had this support system. In fact when we finally met back up with him he had put one of his sash things on me and I kind of laughed thinking he just wanted to take everything off and be in his normal clothes, but then he told everyone that they have a tradition at the University of Phoenix that the graduate should give his sash to the person who helped him the most through his schooling and so he gave it to me. I swear I didn't cry...on the outside :)

 

 

After the ceremony we went over to The Cracker Barrel for lunch, his choice since it was his day. I had never been there before; It was really yummy and we all had a good time visiting while we were there.



We also ran into Becky and part of her family while we were there. She had a good friend who was graduating so we had to get our picture together (because what?!).

It's funny because if you asked him a few months before he finished if he'd go back to get his Masters his reaction was a big nope. But now that he's been out for a bit and he's done he talks about wanting to...maybe. Right now he plans on working towards some certifications he's been wanting to help his career, so that's the end of schooling in this house while he works towards those.

Happy Graduation Day babe! I'm so proud of you, you worked your tail off to get where you're at and I couldn't be happier to have been by your side.