A Wonderful Weekend with Friends!

After a failed attempt this past November (due to a snow storm that dumped almost 3 feet of snow on us and closed I-90), my friend Kim (Jon & Hope too) FINALLY made it out for a much needed weekend together. They got to town early Friday evening and spent the ENTIRE weekend with us, (sadly) leaving early Monday morning! I promised Kim that we would have a quiet weekend of talking, lounging and drinking lots of coffee in our pj's and I wouldn't let Mr. Fun (aka Josh) having us running all over the Black Hills (there is a story behind this the last time she came out to visit :). Mission was gracefully accomplished! Josh did pout a little on Saturday afternoon and couldn't understand how we could spend an entire day in the house - thankfully Jon was a good sport and went for a drive with him to get out of the house.


Cayel got Hope talked into giving him LOTS of "horsie rides"



Saturday evening we got a babysitter for Cayel and Hope and us 4 adults went to the Buffalo Jump for a Valentine's Dinner. The meal was AMAZING and we had a great time visiting and enjoying the company of each other. After dinner we went back to our place and spent the next few hours playing games - I was amazed at how much alike Kim and Josh are with playing games - competitive!



Sunday morning we went to church. Hope was excited to experience Promise Land (our church's version of Sunday School) and besides eating Indian food (they had an "Explore India" day), which she thought was "YUCKY, she really enjoyed it. Promise Land is quite the production! They have their own Youth Pastor, their own worship room where they sing and praise God and then they retreat to their individual rooms where they learn and experience more than I EVER thought possible for such young kids. It's amazing! Cayel gets to "graduate" from the tots room on his 3rd birthday (March 22nd) and move upstairs to Promise Land. It makes my heart smile to see how excited he is! There isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't remind us that he gets to go "upstairs" on his birthday. I pray that his enthusiasm for the Lord continues through his life!

Sunday afternoon Kim got treated to a massage while the kids (that includes the guys) napped. Once everyone woke up, we took them to the Fish Hatchery to feed the fish and Cayel's favorite duckies and then ended the afternoon with bowling. That night after the kids were in bed, Josh got everyone talked into a game of Monopoly . . . I'm happy to say that I WON!!





Josh giving a thumbs up after his first (and only) STRIKE of the game!

Cayel cheering after his very first STRIKE!

Hope just before one of her many STRIKES!

Monday morning Kim tagged along to my boot camp class (which I have been faithfully attending for 7 weeks now. It is from 5:30-6:30 a.m. Monday-Friday - I LOVE it!) and then it was off to work for the Horak's and on the road for the Minnesotan's. As always, hard to say good-bye . . .