Finally Back

Well we finally made it back to the island! My previous blog was mostly a lie. I was trying to surprise my parents for Christmas so I told them we had to fly out on Christmas. It didn't work. Like Travis warned me, my sisters and I have too big of mouths to have kept it a secret. We had a blast anyway. I flew to Denver on the 18th of December and spent my birthday in downtown Denver with my sisters, my cousin Lacey, and some of their friends. It was such a blast. I haven't had a girls night out in a long time, neither had most of them. We had dinner at a very good Mexican restaurant and then went bar hopping. It was a late and very fun night. I'll leave it at that.

I drove with Sarah, Katie, and the nephews to Rapid City on the 22nd to see our parents. Travis, Trent, and Bradley then drove out on Sunday night through a terrible snow storm to meet us. I hadn't seen Travis in 28 days, so my family didn't get much time with him. I pretty much hogged his attention the entire time we were there. Sorry fam! Trent came to my parents house dressed as an elf and didn't take the elf outfit off for a couple days. He was really in the spirit this year. I will post a photo as soon as I get my camera cord in the mail (I left it in Denver).

On the 25th we all went to the lodge in Ft. Pierre. That actually was a surprise for most of them. It was so great to see my Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc... And I do mean etc...!!! I don't know how many kids were running around but the Stoeser clan sure seems to be multiplying!

On the 26th, Travis, Trent, Bradley and I all drove to Albert Lee to drop Bradley off at his car. We decided to stay overnight at a hotel and have a little family night. It was pretty tame, but we had a good time swimming and relaxing. We finally made it back to Janesville on the 27th. We relaxed the next couple of days with Travis's family. When I say relaxed, I mean it. We made meals at home and watched TV. It was really nice after all the traveling we had just done.

We went to the Green Bay Packers game on Sunday the 30th with Travis's sister Kristin and her boyfriend David. It was cold, but fun. Too cold for doing high kicks in snow pants on a ramp, Dave! I have some great photos to post from that day as well.

We flew out on New Years morning at 6am. I was the genius who booked those tickets. What a great deal, they were half price. Well, that was for a reason. No buses run at that time of night and we didn't get a lot of volunteers to drive us at 2am on New Years morning, so we rented a car and drove ourselves. We had to drop the car off at a hotel near O'Hare (this is where everything started going downhill fast). Someone had pulled the fire alarm at the hotel. So the parking lot was packed with police and firemen. Therefore the shuttle couldn't get to us. We waited for about 45 minutes instead of 5. We got to O'Hare and actually got on the plane on time. But then we sat there for an hour and a half before it took off. They said they had to de-ice, but we sat by a window and didn't see a thing. We landed in Atlanta so late that we had to run from Terminal A to Terminal E in about 9 minutes. We made the flight, but our luggage did not. Did I mention that the keys to our place were in the suitcase?

But we made it and our luggage eventually did too. We won't be booking cheap flights at strange hours of the night anymore.

We are going to watch the packers at a new tiki bar on Saturday after Travis gets off work. Then hopefully go snorkeling on Sunday if the weather permits. We went out a little last weekend, but not much because Travis worked Sat and Sun.

We are also trying to find a new apartment but aren't having a lot of luck. We want a place that has a pool for Trent and our other visitors, but hey are very pricey. We will probably just stay put until we can find something we like that is affordable.

I will post more often after I get my camera cord back and get settled in with my job. Hopefully I will start on Monday. Take care!

Thanks again to Kristin, David, and Emma for loaning me your spare bedroom for most of December. I really appreciated having a comfortable place to stay.

Also, Sarah's fiance's (Sam) Dad passed away last week. My thoughts are with you Sam.