In June, some of my (Rebecca's) family took a trip to Michigan. The main thing we were going to see was Mackinaw Island, along with the other sights of the area. My parents rented a camper for the week that we could drive/sleep in at night. So anyways....here is the trip summed up in a few pictures, briefly telling what we did each day...
Thursday afternoon: The crew: my mom, me, Kayla, Marty, Ethan and my dad.
Not pictured: Andrew (taking the picture)
We stayed at Andrew's sisters' house--Hannah the first night in Chippewa Falls.
Friday: We went and saw a light house on the way to the island. I think this was right after we went over the big bridge. It was a little hike out there to get to the light house, but a pretty view.
Andrew and I
That night we stayed at a campground. It was a fancy campground with a little store, arcade room, nice showers, pool, etc. Some of us played mini-golf.
We went to Mackinaw Island on Saturday. The training ship that Andrew learned on in college happened to be in dock there, so we stopped and toured that a little bit more. On Monday we saw it at the college and got to tour it some more. We also got to look at his college back in Traverse City on Monday.
Andrew and I on the ship that he learned on.
Mackinaw Island...and interesting place as everything is done with horses. People can rent bikes to ride around the island (an 8 mile trek) or take carriage rides.
They have about 500 horses on the island that they use during the summer months. Here is one of the barns where they house them.
We rented a two-seater bike and rode around the island. It's good exercise and loads of fun to do with your best friend!
On Sunday we went to a park and did some activies. One of them was going on a zip-line across some water. Here we are with our harness on ready to go!
Monday was spent looking around Traverse City, the town that Andrew went to school at. We did a little shopping and then stayed with his friend Dan Monday and Tuesday night. On Tuesday we went to the sand dunes and did some hiking...boy was it a hike!
The crew---taken at the end of our hike, before we turned around and went back...Ethan stayed at the bottom to dig sand castles.
Wednesday: We decided rather than driving the five hours around, we would put the camper on the ferry and take that across. The ferry ride lasted about 3 hours.
The ferry was called the SS Badger. Lots of things to do on it while we were traveling-- movies, eating, a store, or just watching the ferry go from the deck.
Wednesday afternoon: We went and toured the Packers football stadium in Green Bay, WI. Andrew and I aren't really sports fans, but thought it be interesting to see....
And the last activity on Thursday was going tubing near Minneapolis. It was a nice warm day to lay on the tube and float down the river. After tubing we continued down the road and pulled into the farm late that night. It was a good trip for all of us.
My niece, Kayla has been helping me make a sample book. She's been working hard on it the last couple of weekends. We are almost half ways done!
I saw my other niece Larissa this last weekend down in Sioux Falls. She is 7 months old.
Eating out with my sister Stephanie, Larissa (in the car seat) and my mom.
I opened up the fridge and found one note--- right on the Mt. Dew cans.
Then it was time to make supper, so I opened the silverware drawer and found another one. So, now I have the four notes in our bedroom so I can look at them multiple times throughout the day....God gave me a good gift when He brought my best friend (Andrew) into my life.
Well I am back on the ship and will be leaving dock tomorrow and it is very sad. But I am very happy that Rebecca and I love eachother so much and with our trust in God, we can get through anything. I am keeping my eye on the day that I fly into Fargo and Rebecca is waiting at the gate with arms wide open.
I never thought life could be so great being married to Rebecca and doing everything with her. And I never thought it could be so hard to leave her for a ship job. I sure don't think it would work to leave like this again. Rebecca and I have grown unimaniganibaly close and even I have learned how better to communicate. Today I embark on a new journey, but can't wait until it is over and I am back in Rebeccas arms, I am thankful that I will be able to talk on the phone a lot more and email much to communicate more effective.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And lean not on your own understanding.---Proverbs 2:14
At the airport before leaving Fargo
We went to the Cotton Bowl that night to watch the fireworks. There were 50,000 people there...a bigger event than what we are used to back in South Dakota!
We went to the Stockyards and saw the Cowboy Hall of Fame as well as another museum.
At the stockyards....we also got in on a cattle drive where they brought the Texas Longhorns down main street.
We went to Billy Bob's which is walking distance from the Stockyards. It's a big country music place where they have lots of concerts. We ate at the restaurant that was there.
Friday night found us at the rodeo at the Stockyards. 
While coming back from the rodeo, we pulled up to the hotel to find a horse and carriage waiting outside the hotel. We decided to take a carriage ride and had a 30 minute ride around Fort Worth in it. A peaceful end to the evening at 11 pm.
While there, we went to the Stuttering Convention Thursday- Saturday. They had a banquet to end the convention. Here we are dressed up at our table.
The speaker was David Seidel, writer of the movie "The Kings Speech." We met him and got our movie signed.
Sunday found us at the zoo in Forth Worth.
And, the following day we boarded the airplane for home. The week was fun and went really fast!
Thursday afternoon: The crew: my mom, me, Kayla, Marty, Ethan and my dad. 
We stayed at Andrew's sisters' house--Hannah the first night in Chippewa Falls.
Friday: We went and saw a light house on the way to the island. I think this was right after we went over the big bridge. It was a little hike out there to get to the light house, but a pretty view.
Andrew and I
That night we stayed at a campground. It was a fancy campground with a little store, arcade room, nice showers, pool, etc. Some of us played mini-golf.
We went to Mackinaw Island on Saturday. The training ship that Andrew learned on in college happened to be in dock there, so we stopped and toured that a little bit more. On Monday we saw it at the college and got to tour it some more. We also got to look at his college back in Traverse City on Monday.
Andrew and I on the ship that he learned on.
Mackinaw Island...and interesting place as everything is done with horses. People can rent bikes to ride around the island (an 8 mile trek) or take carriage rides.
They have about 500 horses on the island that they use during the summer months. Here is one of the barns where they house them.
We rented a two-seater bike and rode around the island. It's good exercise and loads of fun to do with your best friend!
On Sunday we went to a park and did some activies. One of them was going on a zip-line across some water. Here we are with our harness on ready to go!
Monday was spent looking around Traverse City, the town that Andrew went to school at. We did a little shopping and then stayed with his friend Dan Monday and Tuesday night. On Tuesday we went to the sand dunes and did some hiking...boy was it a hike!
The crew---taken at the end of our hike, before we turned around and went back...Ethan stayed at the bottom to dig sand castles.
Wednesday: We decided rather than driving the five hours around, we would put the camper on the ferry and take that across. The ferry ride lasted about 3 hours.
The ferry was called the SS Badger. Lots of things to do on it while we were traveling-- movies, eating, a store, or just watching the ferry go from the deck.
Wednesday afternoon: We went and toured the Packers football stadium in Green Bay, WI. Andrew and I aren't really sports fans, but thought it be interesting to see....
And the last activity on Thursday was going tubing near Minneapolis. It was a nice warm day to lay on the tube and float down the river. After tubing we continued down the road and pulled into the farm late that night. It was a good trip for all of us.