We went to Yellowstone and did stuff ...

This year marked the beginning of a new tradition ... It was the first Pea Reunion.  All the living things in the following photograph are Pea's (I say "things" because I'm including the dog).  For the first reunion, held in early June, we went to Yellowstone - the cabin in which we stayed is not in Yellowstone - it's in Island Park ... So here we are in Island Park:

At Yellowstone, we saw all the usual sights and took all the usual pictures.  I have pictures of the sights, but for this post, I'll focus on people ... If you look closely at the reflection in my shades, you can see the bit of earth that is Old Faithful.  Old Faithful is just as faithful - I have photographic evidence!

Little Miss and I were excited to see it erupt, can't you tell?

Mr. Pea wasn't there.  Every morning, before proceeding with our hiking and sight seeing, we dropped him off by a body of water and he did what he loves best, after me, baseball and track and field, of course.  He went fly fishing.  After four years of enduring a trout fishing drought, it was time he replenish his store ... I don't think he's seen any part of Yellowstone other than the rivers ... 

As per tradition, we took a face shot. We were in a rush, so we didn't do as well as usual.  We were excited!  He was excited to meet some fish and I was excited to meet some vistas.  Ha!

The kids were eager to spend several days with their cousins and Grandma.  I love this picture because of the background; the rest of our family is walking behind the skipping group ...

If you're wondering what I did most of the time, here is the answer:  I took pictures.  I'd forgotten how breathtakingly beautiful and majestic Yellowstone is.  Here I am at Mammoth Hot Springs with my face behind the lens - practicing one of my loves, after Mr. Pea, my children, fresh fruit and rock climbing, of course ...

I learned a lot over those four days.  I learned about nature.  I learned what to do if I saw an American Bison or Elk.  I was reminded how beautiful Heavenly Father's creations are.  I remembered how graceful a sport fly fishing is ...

Most memorable of all was what I learned about the other three Mrs. Pea's: I learned that I am SO excited to spend eternity getting to know them because our differences add such spice and fun to my life.  We married into a great family, didn't we, girls?

So here's to Yellowstone and other stuff!  The "stuff" is what makes my life so great!  

I'm sure Old Faithful can rise for that!  ;)

Scrabble, Bloggie and Bingos

What does one call an individual with an addiction to the game Scrabble??  I'd say Scrabbaholic (preceding word = not in the Official Scrabble dictionary).

I love to play Scrabble.  Love, love, LOVE it!  I am fortunate to be surrounded by other Scrabble lovers (er, likers?).  While the Mister's parents were visiting, we played every night.  The Mister's father and I have a friendly rivalry.  He wins some (a lot) and I win some (more than a lot).  Ha!  See what I mean??  It's friendly ... 

One of the nights we played, I recorded this with my Bloggie (a Bloggie is as amazing as it seems on the link).  Ahh, the memories!!  Ha, ha, ha!!

If you watched the video, you might notice the missing score sheet ... Here it is:

I beat Papa this weekend, but he still holds the record for the best Scrabble bingo. (Did you know the term for  using all the tiles in one turn is "Bingo"?  Now you do.)  A jalousie is a type of window.  The word was the last to be played in the game.  (Trust me, that's exciting.)  That play occurred nearly two years ago and I'm still impressed. 

I consider myself very fortunate.  I love and LIKE my in-laws.  I am as grateful for my Mister's parents as I am for my own.  Papa and I may banter and rival each other in games, but in the end ... we usually end up looking like this:

(Your son made me do it!!!)

Departure

This morning, the Mr. went to work while the rest of us stayed home to play games and hang out.  

Later, we piled into our van and went for a drive ...

Upon reaching our destination, we walked around, sat for a few pictures and reveled in the moment ...

A little while later, we said our goodbyes.  I even captured an image of my Mr.'s wonderful mother expressing her love to him ...

We are so grateful for parents who are willing to sacrifice time and money to spend time with us.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for raising a wonderful son (he really is amazing) and for making time to spend with our children.  The Mr. and I are excited we can follow the examples of our parents because all four of them have taught us how to serve and love our family.

Another amazing day

Our last full day in the presence of Grandma started with cheers because ...

... We went to a toy store in Bonner Springs.  At the Moon Marble Company, we played with old school toys, watched a demonstration on marble making and left with a few new toys to call our own.  Before we knew it, two hours had passed ... We'll definitely be returning ... We enjoy returning to our favorite places ... 

One of our favorite places is Science City.  Today, the Mr. and I spent some alone time with Little Miss ...

B commandeered most of his Grandma's time.  We ran into them for a few minutes; just long enough to witness them play checkers ...

We headed home via Cabela's and after the kids went to bed, we talked for awhile and enjoyed a cool bottle of root beer ...

Life will probably return to normal after Friday, so we're glad we had another amazing, carefree day.

Bucks, Ribs and Crazy Cars

Today was HOT.  So we spent most of our time indoors.  We started by getting better acquainted with Harry S. Truman.  He's the guy in the middle.  Maybe you've heard of him ...

We had the opportunity to visit his Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, MO.  I've mentioned bucket lists in previous posts ... Here's another plug:  If you ever have the opportunity to visit a Presidential Library/Museum, DO IT.  Harry S. Truman was a remarkable man.  To learn more about him, his life and values is time well spent.  

Have you heard the phrase:  If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen?  Harry said it.  He also said this:

In the museum were a few murals, videos, an eternal flame, puzzles and games for the kids and a paperweight with a famous saying ... something about bucks.  Maybe you've heard it:

I didn't take photographs of everything because there was so much.  

I wish I had a copy of this poster; I'd hang it in my kitchen:

After visiting the museum, we got hungry.  So we asked a few people how to get to a certain gas station that serves delicious ribs.  It took a few tries, but we eventually found a local Kansas Citian who could show us the way.  This method, with it's potential of chaos, is fun and adventurous, albeit, unrecommended: 

On the way home, we hit some traffic.  Being the sensible humans we are (sensible is relative, but just go with me on this one ...) ... Being the sensible humans we are, we decided to wait out the traffic.  But not these guys ... See the cars on the ON RAMP?  Let me say it again, the subject of this image in an ON RAMP.  The cars on the ON RAMP were going in reverse.  That's right, these smart drivers decided to pull up to the ON RAMP, shift to reverse and exit the freeway:

Today we learned about bucks, ate some ribs and saw crazy cars (er, drivers).  Tomorrow will bring even more adventures and we can't wait!!

FHE Baby!

The following is what we did on Monday night.  Let me just say, I love the new look of our dining set!

Thanks Grandma!

Before and after:

On Being a Spy

My favorite images, especially of my children, aren't posed.  They're taken on a whim, because I walked past a bedroom and spied a moment I want to remember.  Like two children, sitting in a rocking chair, looking at the same book.  It's magic, look for yourself:

Or seeing both kids play TOGETHER with characters from the same endearing movie:

Sometimes, they catch on and are ready to pose.  Then I wait, so I can capture an image of a little girl saying:  WOO-dy.

One of my favorite images is with grandparents, lolo's and lola's ... Like this image I captured this afternoon as Little Miss read her favorite book with our new beloved visitor ... Grandma!