Minnesota Vacation

We recently took a trip to Minnesota. We were able to squeeze in visiting with a lot of friends and family along with a business trip. Every June there is a convention for our Church Synod in Mankato, MN. So, we have an excuse to go to MN every year!

We drove out there again this year (4,205 miles round trip!!). It seemed like it was going to be a VERY long trip when 20 minutes into our drive Abel announced he had to go potty....and here I was concerned about how Elisha would do on the trip! I shouldn't have spent so much time worrying though. Both of the boys were fantastic! We basically stopped to eat and use the bathroom and then it was right back in the car. Elisha slept almost the whole time and Abel had a DVD player, books, and a couple toys to occupy himself with. We read a whole chapter book on the way out to MN and he loved it!
 
Our first stop in our trip was Salt Lake City, UT. We stayed with Pastor Aaron Hamilton, his wife Heather, and their lovely family (thanks again!!). They have 2 boys that were just the right age to play with Abel. He loved it. They like to dress up as super hero's and Abel really likes Spiderman right now. It was a match made in...well I won't say Heaven because they had their moments, but it was quite a match.:)

We left the Hamilton's on Monday morning and made our way to Missouri. Samuel has a classmate that is now Pastor in Jefferson City. There oldest son, Judah, is our godchild, so we took the opportunity to go stay with them for a couple days. We (meaning Samuel) drove through the night and made it to their house by 10:00 am on Tuesday. If you give Samuel a Mt. Dew he can drive for hours!

Picnic at the nature center

At the Merseth house we were given the tour of their farm and promptly took naps. :) After we were rested up a bit though we had fun. The boys played together quite a bit. Jeff took them all on a 6 wheeler ride and then they went swimming in a pond. We had some great cooking (thanks Megan!) and enjoyed being able to get to know Judah a bit more. We also went on a tour of a nature center and had a fun hike and picnic.

6 wheeler ride!

Enoch and Elisha

Judah, Andrew, and Abel

Abel took this picture:)

With our Godson Judah (and everyone else:)

Nick and Kelly with the boys

 After the Merseth's we drove up to MN to see the Bloedel's. Nick and Kelly Jo are Abel, Simeon, and Elisha's godparents. We are also their son, Charlie's, godparents. We had two fun days with them as well. There was a wonderful thunderstorm on the first day we were there. It made us feel like we were certainly back in MN!

Abel, Elisha, Annie and Charlie

At the Bloedel's house there was a mini basketball tournament, boccie ball, and fun on a slip n' slide. The kids didn't really get how to run and slide so they laid on it and Uncle Nick pushed them down it (they got some good speed!).

A little cold from playing in the slip n'slide

Isn't he cute?? :)

Great action shot of the slip n' slide!

We roasted marsh mellows on our last night

After the Bloedel's we went to Mankato for the Synod Convention. On Sunday we were blessed to witness the affirmation of Baptism for our good friends newest son. We then went to 3 picnics! A brunch after church, a Gullixson family picnic, and then the Synod Sunday picnic. What a day!

I would like to think he just doesn't want us to leave, but....

During the Convention we stayed with the MacPherson family. Marie is a classmate of mine from college and they have graciously hosted us for the past 3 years. It is a fun place to be because I get to hang out with Marie all day, Abel has friends to play with all day, and when Samuel gets back he gets to talk with Ryan....it couldn't work out nicer for us (and I think they enjoy it too, we already have "reserved" our space for next year:).

The kids playing with playdough!

At the end of the week we also got to see another classmate Jessica and her family. She just had a baby as well. We got a picture with all the kids present. It seems to grow every year (thanks be to God!).






During this week we also got to spend some time with Samuel's Grandma. She had us over for dinner on Monday and then we were able to see her 2 more times before we left for home. It is always fun to see Grandma. She told us some fun stories from when her family went to convention.

We then went to Samuel's parents house for the remainder of our vacation time. Samuel's sister Beth was able to come from Michigan with her little girl, so we were able to see all of Samuel's siblings.
We spent one day at the Como Zoo in Minneapolis. Abel had a good time and so did his cousins.

Happy Boy!

On Saturday Samuel's brother Andrew and family came to visit again. The kids played really well together and Grandma was kept pretty busy running after them! We had a traditional Gullixson biscuits and gravy and even made homemade ice cream (well, Samuel made it and we all enjoyed it:). We did some raspberry picking and Samuel made a horse for the kids to ride on. It was a fun day. Grandma had a friend come over to take some family pictures of us all. They turned out really well. (I will put those up at a later date)

The next day Samuel's godparents came to visit for a little while. It was fun to see them again (and they brought wonderful desserts!). After their visit Abel and Lillian played in the pool together.

We had a fire and made smores with Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandpa took the kids out to play on the tractor

I love how Elisha's shirt says BIG :)

We left on Monday afternoon. We took a brief detour to Mankato to see Grandma again and we also got to see Ruth, Paul, and John. It was fun to visit with them even though it was brief. Elisha and John were due a week apart. However, John is now 4 months and Elisha is 2! They are however roughly the same size (although Elisha seems to have a couple more rolls on him...). It was fun to see them together!

Ruth with Elisha and Abel

Great Grandma with her two newest great-grandsons!

We then took off and drove through the night to Salt Lake City again. We got there in the afternoon and relaxed. The Hamiltons graciously hosted us again and said we can now consider them friends:) (which we do!!).


And to top off our vacation, 20 minutes from town Abel again announced he had to go potty....:)

We made it home on Wed. at 5:00. It was a long trip, we had fun, but we are thankful to be home again. Thank you to everyone who hosted us! And thanks be to God that He kept us safe throughout our trip!

I have to say, this is the best picture of the whole trip. Two quite, sleeping boys! :)