Trip #3 ... Iowa

Well, it has been a really long time, once again.  So let me try to catch up a bit.  Jonathan and I took our little PT Cruiser and traveled once again.  This time to Iowa!  We figured that we spent over 100 hours in that little car by the end of this trip alone.  That is only counting commutes that are longer than one hour as well.  That's the sign of a wonderful summer together!  We really have grown close to each other as we spent those 100 hours talking or listening to books on tape.  This trip to Iowa was a great way to wrap up our list of vacations.

Jonny and I were able to spend two weeks in Iowa.  Even though we were able to stay so long it was still really hard to leave.  The first week we got to travel to temples with my family and enjoy being at home.  The second week, my whole family came to Iowa to go to a cabin.  Oh! We had so much fun.  It was great to see my whole family.  Then to wrap up the week, Krista got her mission call!!  It was fun to have most of the family there to witness that.  Couldn't be happier for her.

Alright, well, I am a sucker for pictures.  So, let my pictures explain the vacation.

Of course we had to make a trip out to High Trussle Bridge.  That is always fun for my family.  We tend to make it a competition and carry a bag full of rocks to the center of the bridge to throw off the side.

I took Jonny to the Omaha Zoo.  That is always a favorite of mine.  We sure had a blast together and spent about 6 hours there.

We loved feeding the birds there.  We were about to buy the sticks with seeds on it when I decided it wasn't worth the money.  I am really glad about that because we found about 10 sticks inside anyways!

We also took a trip down to Kansas City to visit the temple and mall. 

We made it to the cabin!  I also went on a whim and died my hair.  That was a lot of fun and thanks to Kim it actually turned out alright.  I have actually really enjoyed the new color.

 My nephew Braydon was an absolute joy!  Love his smile.

Grandpa getting some love from his grandchildren.

Another favorite pastime while we were there was badminton.  Do I know the rules of the game? Clearly no.  But man we had so much fun cheating and slamming that little birdie.  We laughed so much because of that game.

One day we went to a fish hatchery so that the girls could go fishing.  Jonny had fun catching fish with his hands and actually managed to get one.

Sunday walk with the family.  We were sad that Aaron had to leave but we were glad that we had most of the family there for most of the trip.

Abby discovered that she loved throwing rocks into the pond.  I think she only hit Scott once or twice ... It was a blast to watch her.

On one of the last days at the cabin we traveled down to the field of dreams to play some baseball.  That was a blast.  Baseball is actually one of my favorite pastimes and we had fun chasing the ball.

Molly was such a good sister and cousin.  She was always helping out.

Krista trying out her arm at the shooting range.  This is always fun for my family as well.

A classic midwest rainstorm.  Man I really miss those.  You know, the kind where you get drenched in less than a minute.  We ha fun sliding down the hill next to our cabin on garbage bags.

Overall, it was a wonderful vacation.  Nobody got hurt and everything really seemed to go smoothly.  I really love my family and anytime that we get to spend together is treasured.

Oh! and Krista opened her mission call on the last day.  She is going to Santiago, Chile!  My family is so excited.  Jonny went to a different part of Santiago on his misison and my mom also went to Chile.  We couldn't be happier for her.