A FaNtAsTiC SURPISE!!!

Last weekend I had a very nice surprise.  My Mom and Dad and Sister, Heather surprised me by coming to Kansas for the weekend.  Although things didn't go exactly as planned...Matthew and Ken had H1N1 and Matthew had pneumonia on top of that...we were still able to do some fun things.

The pictures below are on top of the Rock Monument in Pawnee Rock.  From the top of this Momument, you can see MANY of the surrounding towns.  The weather that weekend was pretty crumby, but it was still fun to go up there with Heather.  My Mom and Dad stayed in the car--they were FREEZING and had been up there before.

While they were here, we drove them around Great Bend and Larend so they could see where we used to live and where we go to school and work now, as well as just to show them where we call home now.

They were impressed with the fast pace life Kansans lead...20 minutes at Wendy's to get 3 frosty's and a milkshake. 

My favorite part of the visit was when we were just hanging out at their hotel and visiting while my Dad and I did a jigsaw puzzle together.  He mostly rearranged the pieces while I put it together, but we were a good team. 

They were able to go to church with us on Sunday and then Monday before they left, we went to Hoisington and ate lunch at a mennonite restaurant.  It was a fun weekend and I cried when they had to go back home.  Hopefull next time they come, we'll all be in better health and can spend more time together.

Thanks for coming you guys!  I LOVE YOU!

A Super Fun Day!

Yesterday I was able to spend the WHOLE DAY with my Sister, Wendi and her famdango. They have been on vacation in Missouri/Illinois/Iowa/etc for the last week and when they got to Kansas City for a couple of nights we went over to see them. The kids and I picked Ken up from Emporia on Monday and then drove over to KCK to spend the night and then the day with them.

The night we got there we went swimming and ordered pizza.

The next morning we went to Leavenworth, KS. We saw the Federal Penn and were able to get on base. Larry (My Brother in Law) said it was the easiest base he's ever gotten on. He works on a Military Base in Washington.

While we were on the base we were able to go to the Ft. Leavenworth Museum, see the National Cemetary, we got a tour of a base housing neighborhood(Courtesy of Ken's shortcut LOL!), and while en route, Wendi got to take a photo of the Base Fire Station.

Next we went to St. Joseph, MO and toured the Patee Museum. It was AWESOME! The picture of our famdango at the top of the blog right now was taken in that museum in front of an old horse pulled hearse. It was awesome. A little morbid side note...there was a toe pincher casket in that hearse that was child sized and they had a doll in it that you could see. Weird!

We were able to visit the Fire Museum in St. Jo as well. I enjoy seeing Fire Trucks. I like lights and sirens as much as the next person. I'm not going to lie...I'm a gawker when it comes to accidents on the road and I've followed a truck before. My BIL Larry is a Fireman. So was his Dad, so was his Grandpa. Larry LOVES seeing Fire Trucks. HoWeVeR, It was difficult to enjoy the tour guide who was79 (he told us),retired from a Fire Station, seriously quizzing Larry down about procedure and the names/job of each member of the crew. It was funny, he couldn't keep Wendi and I straight (Because we look so much a like! HA HA) and he didn't like Ken's profession (A Mortician)so he didn't talk to him much. That could be because when Tommy asked Ken if he was a Fireman too, he replie, "No, I'm a mortician. I step in when you're done.) Our 45 minutes tour could have lasted 3 minutes. When it was over, Larry went back with our guide, Tommy, and bought a shirt. The guide was persistant that I help Larry find the shirt that he wants and I told him he could get it himself. I reminded him I wasn't his wife...he never really figured it out. We all ended up leaving Larry there and we got the kids loaded back into our cars and then Ken said someone should probably rescue Larry, but no one was willing to go in! He came about 5 minutes later. It added some spice to our day.

The highlight of the day for me was when we went to Liberty Jail. It was my 2nd visit and I already can't wait to go back.

We got back to the hotel around 6 I think. We all went swimming again, then Ken and I left for home around 8-8:15. We got home at 1 O'clock this morning. It was a super fun day.

Windmill Farms

When we were on our trip to Kansas City, we passed what a windmill farm. I don't know if that is what they are really called, but that is what Nicole and Matthew call them, and it has stuck.

Anyway, along I-70 in Kansas, as well as in other areas around the United States, there are places that are filled with these windmills.  You can tell they are huge driving by, but I never realized how huge they were.  I was on my dad's work website, looking at the pictures and I came across this one.  That little black spot to the right is a person hanging off the top of the windmill. In the background, you can see more of them that look much smaller.

If I came across this picture a year and a half ago, I would have thought it was cool, and moved on, but now these windmills are in our back yard, so I thought I'd share.

If you are searching the web, go to http://www.gravitec.com/. There are some neat pictures there. They aren't in a photo album, you just have to look around the site to see them.