And we got to see two rainbows. I think its really neat that we saw the rainbows on the 25th because that was the day Ryan proposed to me (3 years ago at Garden of the Gods) and we saw two rainbows. That must be a good sign.

Day 1 we traveled about 836 miles from Colorado Springs, Colorado to Elko, Nevada.

Day three we had fish and chips for lunch at Ye Old English Fish and Chips.

For dinner, we went to Coachmen’s Restaurant.

Before we left the house, we took a few pictures out in the beautiful backyard. I used their outdoor shower while I was there. I have never used one before; it was pretty refreshing in the morning time. Sorry, no pictures.

Here is a picture of Ryan and Cheeks.

Kara, Leah, Rob, & Jillian.

The family was so kind to throw a little birthday celebration.

And Michele also gave the girls some back to school gifts.

Day 4. We ate a little breakfast and Grammy gave us an awesome picture of an eagle in front of the flag. Then Rob took us to grab some chinese food and then to the airport.

Overall, the trip was very fun and relaxing. It was nice to finally meet that part of my family.

After Louisiana, we flew into Boston, Massachusetts. We stayed at Ryan’s Grammy & Grampy’s house. My Mother-In-Law, Michele, came up from Georgia at the same time we were visiting. Here is how our trip went.

Day 1: Fly into Boston. Meet Michele in the airport. Grammy & Grampy pick us up and drive them to their house in Bellingham, Massachusetts after we grab a bite for lunch. Lobster dinner with Grammy, Grampy, Michele, Rob (Ryan’s uncle), Kara (Rob’s wife), and their children, Leah & Jillian.Grampy got 15 1 1/2 lobsters for dinner; they were really good.

Rob, Ryan, & Grampy hanging out.

Ryan, myself, & Michele.

Myself, Jillian, & Ryan putting lobsters in the pot. This was not my idea. I was definitely forced to pick up the lobster. I am wearing Jillian’s hat; she doesn’t always wear a bicycle helmet. She was riding her bike before the picture.

Ryan & Rob waiting for the lobster to cook.

Grammy, Ryan, me, Rob, & Grampy getting our lobster for dinner. Ummm, lobster!

Day 2: We got a tour of Grampy’s business, Boston Piezo-Optics Inc (BPO).

Rob, me, Ryan, and Grampy inside BPO.

Rob, Ryan, and myself went to Rhode Island to get wieners. We then went up to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) to waste a little time. Quite a few generous men bought us drinks and we were there a bit longer than we expected. Afterwards, we just hung out until dinner.

For dinner we all went to Vercellis Resturant. The food was awesome, but even better than that was the company.

Leah and Grammy at dinner.

Rob, Michele, Kara, Ryan, and me.

Grampy toasting.

Leah and Kara.

Rob and Jillian.

After dinner, they brought out a “Hawaiian Wedding Cake” for our three year anniversary. The cake was made by Grammy and Michele. It was very delicious. I have the recipe and will have to make is some day. The family gave us a few lovely pictures to hang on our walls, along with our wedding announcement and pictures framed. They were all very charming.

Here is a picture of everyone at dinner. This trip was the first time I met everyone with an exception of Michele.

Top: Rob, Kara, Leah, Michele, Grammy, Grampy. Bottom: Jillian, me, Ryan.

Before bedtime Grammy shared her charm bracelet with me…

While the guys enjoyed their Manhattans.

See the next post for days 3 & 4!

Here is the recipe I used (from eat me, delicious)…

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Adapted from Tyler Florence (from Bon Appetit Dec 2006)

3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract**
1 1/2 cups white chocolate, chopped (about 8 1/2 ounces)
1 cup coarsely chopped roasted macadamia nuts (about 4 1/2 ounces)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift first 3 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add both sugars and beat until blended. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. Add dry ingredients and beat just until blended. Using spatula, stir in white chocolate chips, and nuts.

For large cookies, drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, spacing 21/2 inches apart. For small cookies, drop dough by level tablespoonfuls onto sheets, spacing 11/2 inches apart.

Bake cookies until just golden, about 18 minutes for large cookies and about 15 minutes for small cookies***. Cool on sheets.

ENJOY!!

We went to see the Mississippi River while I was there. Here’s a couple pictures of Ryan and I by the river.

And Ryan and Scott.

And Scott and Nanci.

And then a couple of just the Mississippi River. The river has gambling boats because although gambling is illegal in Louisiana, it is not illegal on the river.

Nanci made us ribs one night. They were awesome. Below are a few pictures of everyone hanging out in Scott and Nanci’s backyard.

Scott and Nanci’s backyard is beautiful. Below are also pictures of pieces that Scott made.

One day we went to Gus and Elaine’s house. Gus is my Mother-in-Law’s uncle. Most her family lives in Massachusetts, but Gus and Elaine live in Louisiana. Below is a picture of us four, as well as a picture of this beautiful handmade quilt they gave us.

On 21 July, Ryan and I flew from Louisiana to Massachusetts to meet his Grammy and Grampy. They live in Bellingham, Mass. I have also never been to Massachusetts before this trip. I do not have any digital pictures of this part of the trip, but I will certainly share them once I do.

Then today. O.M.G. What a day. I got off work at 2100 (9 PM) on a Friday. My poor boys got no exercise except Milo who is waiting for me to throw this toy. (One throw later…OK, two… and of course I got it stuck behind the door… Oh thank goodness, Milo got it down himself. LOL. )  Thank goodness I’m a good multi-tasker: eating, drinking, fetch, thinking, and bloggind. Now, seriously. Today was ridiculous. I can’t remember if I’ve metioned this before or not, but I have a trouble Soldier. Well, he was punished, but is now not my responsibility (sort of.) He belongs to this guy I work with. So I am still responsible for making sure he is not a jerk, but not responsible for miro-managing him. Today his boss had duty, which is why I stayed so late, but I don’t mind if the hubby isn’t home. It could be worse; I could have 24 hour duty (or no job at all). (I like to remember how worse it could be, but I’m off topic again.) So after work, I went over for a while to talk to his boss. Well I was previously told he can’t work with females. Of course I think this is silly because he didn’t have an issue when he first got to the unit. Well we got to talking and I found out the reason he feels he can’t work with females. He thinks females should be making food and babies.

Now I have heard of people that feel this way, but don’t EVER recall meeting one. Apparently its because I stick to what I say and I don’t mess around with stuff is messed up. If your doing something wrong, I’m going to tell you. I used to be nice about it, but that is obviously not going to work if it doesn’t work after 6 months. My dogs learned more in 6 months. I just can’t believe someone can work in the army without being able to work with females. Seriously? Its not like he is in the infantry. He is in a job that is 80% female!

So I FINALLY get home around 2100 and I am looking on the internet new (because we don’t have tv) and I see the article on this woman: “Blogger Admits Story of Terminally Ill Baby Is a Lie“. Seriously. How do you even start a blog like that anyway. I mean I sort of understand if it started as stretching the truth, but a complete lie. What is wrong with people these days. Sure, I like attention: I want my business, my military career, and my marriage to be successful; I want to get decent hits on my blog; I want my boys to be happy, but a complete lie just so I can get attention. Thats not me. That is some character getting the attention.

So, I guess the past few days have made me mad and then happy with myself. Funny how that works out; I went from hating having morals to, well, being happy with them. Thats all I have for the night. Although I want to add that I am extremely happy the second half of my shop will be back Sunday morning and my hubby will be back on Sunday evening.

I’d also like everyone to give a minute for the Soldiers serving for our country. I know some Soldiers that were recently in a serious incident and am very thankful they are all okay. I don’t think a minute is too much to ask for.

Good night.