Sioux Falls Trip with the Sieve's

The end of September we took our annual trip with the Sieve side. Last year we ventured up to the cities and went to MOA and a Twin's game. This year we decided to stay a little closer to home...Sioux Falls. Jason's mom and dad invited us to stay in a hotel with them, his brother Justin, Justin's fiance Holli, and their daughter, MacKenzie! It ended up being a fun weekend.

We got to Sioux Falls on Sat. at 11:30. First stop, the mall! We shopped, had lunch, shopped a little more, and then all met up at the hotel around 4 p.m. Time to hit the pool! The kids couldn't wait any longer! We swam for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. We stayed at a great place that was very kid friendly. Here are some pictures of us swimming...

Presley ended up going on the water slide at least 50 times! She loved it. Once Madison started going down it with us, she didn't want to stop either.

After swimming, we cleaned up and headed out for supper. The hotel had a "limo like" suburban that we all rode in. It was fun! We got back to the hotel around 10 p.m. Our girls were shot. Madison had fallen asleep at the restaurant and went right back to sleep at the hotel. Presley wasn't far behind her. MacKenzie was getting a second wind so she stayed up a little longer. Mary had agreed to watch the girls in our room so that Justin, Holli, Jason, and I could go out for a couple drinks! Buck's...here we come! We had a great time visiting and drinking! We stayed out a little longer then planned but had a good time!

Sunday we got up, ate breakfast, ran a couple more places and headed to the zoo! We spent 3 hours there. It was a beautiful day to walk through the zoo. Here are some great pictures of us enjoying the day...

Gotta love the monkeys!

Madison is our little monkey!

And the hippo! That was Madison's favorite animal that day!

Grandpa, Grandma and the grandkids!

Kenzie enjoyed riding in our stroller more then her own that day!

Presley trying to stand like a flamingo!

I love this family picture!

Aw!

Kenzie, Justin, and Holli

There was even a fake cow that you could really milk!

Ok, so it squirted out water, but you get the drift!

Thanks to Mary and Darwin for treating us to a fun weekend! Can't wait to do it again next summer!

King Turkey Day!

This is another event we wouldn't miss for the world! King Turkey Day! We set aside 3 days every year to enjoy the festivities!

Thursday night was the mixer at Pioneer Village! What a fun time! We started at a party at Hagen Distributing and then headed to the mixer. We didn't stay out too late that night.

Friday night was supper at the taco stand... ...and the cathlon. 3-4 years now the hospital has had a team. It's a lot of fun! 10 of us from Sanford and 9 other teams compete at turkey bowling, turkey toss, egg baseball, egg on the spoon races, and egg toss. Although our team has yet to come in as the top 3, we still have a good time competing. Grandpa Darwin and Grandma Mary watched the girls. They met us at the cathlon so the girls could stay and watch. They really enjoy it. After the cathlon this year, they did a ping pong ball drop. They dropped 1,000 balls from a roof and all were numbered with a prize assigned to them. The girls managed to each get 2 balls. After that, the girls go to the Sieve's so we can work in the beer garden for a few hours. It was probably our 3rd or 4th year doing that. Serving drinks and visiting with friends...what's not to love!

Saturday we woke up early to participate in the 5K Fun Walk. It ended up being cold and rainy. Being the die hards that we are, we still trucked out. The rain stopped for about 30 min. of the walk. It rained off and on until noonish. We stayed up town to watch the runners take off for the 10K and come back in. We went to my mom's to change clothes for the parade after that. We got back up to town to watch the turkey race and walk in the parade. The sun had come out and it turned out to be a decent afternoon. After the parade, we ate supper and the girls went on a few rides.

We headed back to my mom's where my mom met us about an hour later to watch the girls for the evening so we could go back downtown to the beer garden. We had a blast! There was so many people out! Good, good times! I will leave it at that!

Our Farewell to 2 VIP's!

Well, this was the 2 days I had been dreading since the night Amber called to tell me she got the graduate preaching fellowship. Packing and getting ready to leave us for 12 weeks! I tried my hardest to convince them to stay...but for some odd reason, they thought this was a chance of a lifetime. Hmmm...I don't think so (ok, maybe I do...but I will never tell them that!)

Before they started to fill them, they wanted to see if their 2 most important packages would fit. If Auntie and Kevin would have let them, they may have went along! Lol!

Bags are loaded and ready for the car!
Time to take a few shots before they left...

Lots of tears were shed that night! Although I knew the 12 weeks would fly by...the thought of us not seeing them really sucked!

Presley and Madison headed to bed (Jason took 2 hours off the next a.m. to bring them to daycare) and Auntie, Kevin, and I loaded up in their car and headed to the cities. My mom was working in Eagen that week and had a hotel room 15 min. from the airport. I convinced them to go up that night as I didn't want to get up at 3 a.m. to bring them to the airport from our house. We got to the cities at 12:30 a.m. We told stories and laughed the entire way up! My mom and I were sleeping within 30 min. We were all up by 6:30 a.m., eating a quick breakfast at 7:30 and had them to the airport by 8 to fly out at 10. More tears shed in the airport.

Luckily for me, my mom had rode up with her boss and was done at noon that day so she could ride home with me. I dropped her off at work at 8 and had 4 hours to burn...in the cities! My dream come true! Kohl's, Target, and the Burnsville Mall got hit hard by me that day...I needed something to sooth my pain! We made it home by 4 that day.

Amber texted me when they got to Chicago for their lay over. It was a bumpy ride. Then, she texted me when they boarded the plane for Hong Kong...16 hours. I wouldn't talk to her for at least 2 days. Then it was time to figure out the time change and try and get our Skype up and running. 12 weeks and couting...

We love you guys so much! We hope you have an amazing trip! Come home soon!!!

Great day at the Clay Cty Fair!

Another event we wouldn't miss...the Clay Cty Fair! We have been going at least 10 years now...if not more! We tried something a little different though this year...and went on the first day it opened! We usually go on a week night...get off a little early and try and get down there around 4 or 5. After last year, we decided that just wasn't enough time. Amber and Kevin were going to just be getting home on Sat. too, so they decided to join us! It was very, very busy!

They had this great kids petting barn where we saw the smallest pigs ever.

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but they were actually kind-of cute!

Ride em' cowgirls!!!

Both guys were considering buying trench coats!!! LOL! Just kidding!

Stylin! I'm not sure if they were trying to figure out if there was

enough room to sell stuff out of them or what!

I was excited to ride the gondala rides this year! Since Amber and Kevin were with, they agreed to stay on land with the girls so we could ride. Jason was a tad bit nervous...he told me to keep still more then once on our 10 minute ride! I thought it was romantic!

Then the real fun began...rides!!! This year was the first year for the huge slide they built as a permanent fixture at the fair. It was $5 each to ride and well worth it. It was the biggest, fastest slide I've ever riden!

Jason, Madison, and Kevin went first.

As you can see from her face, she LOVED it!

Then it was Auntie, Presley, and my turn! When we got to the top, Presley decided she should ride with me versus going alone.

Presley didn't love it quite as much as Madison. She said she didn't want to

go on it again this year.

All the single ladies, all the single ladies, all the single ladies, all the single ladies...put your hands up! Everytime I see this picture I think of that song...it's one of their favorites!

Two thumbs up...they were excited!

Yippee!

We couldn't leave without Jason playing his favorite carnie game. He was so close 2 times to shooting out the star and winning a prize. Maybe next year honey!

It was a fun 6 hours! Can't wait to go again next year!