Rapid City!!

Drew and I had a really fun trip back home to Rapid last week/weekend.  We ended up not being able to leave until Wednesday because my parents’ house still didn’t have electricity or water from the prior weekend’s terrible snow storm.  It was lucky that they were out of town for the weekend because their house didn’t have electricity or water from Friday afternoon to the following Tuesday afternoon.  What a crazy storm!  I’m just glad it didn’t prevent Drew and I from making the trip home. 

Wednesday morning, Drew and I woke up early and hit the road.  I was a little anxious about traveling by myself with Drew.  He is a really good traveler, but we’ve always had both of us there, so if he started to get fussy, one of us could crawl in the back and comfort him.  I decided leaving early was my best bet because I thought Drew might sleep a good majority of the morning (he’s kind of a sleepy baby!).  Anyway, he did great!  We stopped in Sheridan to get him some food and fill up the tank.  We had to make a quick stop in Beulah, WY because he was starting to cry a little, but I needed to use the restroom too, so it all worked out.  We made it to Rapid City by 2:30, which was way better than I expected.

We had a great week.  It seems like the last few times we’ve gone home it’s been for some sort of event or activity, and we have had an agenda for the entire weekend.  This time, we didn’t have anything planned, which was nice.  Sometimes it’s nice to just relax and not have an agenda.  Here’s a list of highlights from the week/weekend:

1.    Wednesday when my dad got home from work, he had a little present for Drew.  It was an FPD (Forest Products Distributors – his company) football.  It was really cute, and Drew just loved sucking on it!  Go figure!

 

 

2.    Drew and I got to do some major shopping with my mom.  It was fun to go to some of the stores that Bozeman doesn’t have.  We found some clothes for both me and Drew.  It was a success!

3.    Friday night, my sister Bri and her husband Erick had us over for dinner.  Erick made a killer beer cheese soup, and we cheered on the Cats volleyball team.  Erick’s sister is the one who plays on the team, so it was fun to watch with him!

 

 

4.    Saturday night, my sister Jenna and her husband Konstantin had us over for dinner.  Konstantin’s family was in town too.  They are Russian, so Jenna and Kon had a Russian/American meal for us.  It was fun to get to spend some time with Konstantin’s family. Meal time is very important in their Russian culture, so it was fun to see what a typical Russian dinner is like.  They had fun stories of when the kids were little and all of the interesting traditions/superstitions that they have.  It’s definitely a different culture, and it was fun learning more about all of them.  It was the first time I got to spend any significant time with Konstantin’s family, and it was a lot of fun!!

5.    Grandma bought the coolest jumper around for Drew to play in!  We have a jumper at home, but it’s not nearly as bouncy as the one my mom bought this weekend, and Drew loved it!  He went crazy in that thing!  It was so funny to watch, and his huge smile just made my day!

 

 

6.    The town of Rapid is a mess.  The storm that they had really caused some devastation.  My parents and sisters had warned me about the fallen trees, but it was so much worse than I imagined.  There were trees down everywhere and the roads were full of trucks hauling loads of branches away.  My dad spent a good deal of time while we were home cleaning up the debris at his office, his house, and his parents’ house.  I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and I think the whole area is going to be spending months to come trying to get things back to normal.

7.    Doug called me one morning while I was holding Drew.  I put the phone up to Drew’s ear so Doug could talk to him.  As soon as Drew heard Doug’s voice, he got a HUGE smile on his face.  It melted my heart.  Doug was worried that Drew would forget him in the time we were gone, but I think it’s safe to say, Drew knows who his daddy is and missed him too!  It was pretty darn cute!

 

 

8.    On Saturday, Drew got to visit his great grandma and grandpa.  It’s pretty amazing that he has three great grandparents.  And he’s actually got to see all of them quite a bit in the five short months of his life so far.  I’m grateful that he has them and gets to spend time with them.  I hope that he can continue to visit his great grandparents for years and years to come!

Overall, we had a great trip back to Rapid.  It was fun getting to spend time with my family, and I miss them already.  I can’t wait for the next trip home!