We made it back safely from the States. After all of the traveling Travis and I were exhausted! We have finally caught up on our sleep after a week!
We got to
Janesville at 1am on Sunday, June 29
th. We went golfing with Jean and Jerry in the afternoon, but only golfed 9 holes because the weather wasn't the greatest. They took us for a drive around town to see all of the flood damage. It's not as bad at Cedar Rapids, but it sure is a mess. We couldn't get our favorite lunch (chicken) at the Anchor Inn because it's completely underwater. They aren't allowing any boats on the lake that we always go boating on because the water is too high, and it is filled with backed up sewage from the two towns north of
Janesville. SICK! The Rock River that has flooded part of downtown
Janesville is also filled with the sewage. It will take a long time to get that cleaned up. It's pretty sad.
Sunday night we met my friend from Germany (Britta) out to play some darts. Her and her sister (Sonia) were at the end of a three week vacation around the States. It was so good to see her and meet her sister. We had such a fun night. When Travis and I go to
Switzerland in November, we are going to try to take a few days to drive to her town (5 hours away) and visit. We can't wait to see her again!
Monday we did a little shopping with Jean, Kristin, and Emma. Emma got her ears pierced! She was a little nervous, but she didn't even flinch when they did it. She looks so much older now! :) That night Travis went to meet up with some friends at the VFW Blues Jam, then he met a couple of our friends and myself out at our local hangout, Weirdo's. It was good to see everyone and relax a little. We spent most of the night trying to convince our friends to get passports and come visit (Ice!!!).
Tuesday we drove to Milwaukee so I could have a consultation for
Lasik eye surgery. It went very well and I am going to have it done this fall. I can't wait!!! It will be so strange to wake up and be able to see. I have talked with a few people who have had it done and they say it will change my life. :) Trent says I will look like, "Aunt Sarah" without my glasses. Travis also isn't excited that I won't have glasses anymore. He says he likes my glasses but he will just have to get used to it. Tuesday night we had steaks at Jean & Jerry's. Kristin, David, and Emma joined us. It was a nice relaxing dinner.
Wednesday morning we got up and drove to South Dakota. It took us all day because we took our time. It was a nice drive because we weren't rushing. Thursday we hung out at the lodge and then played our annual July 3rd golf tournament. I got placed on Grandpa Bernie's team so guess what? I Won!! For those of you who don't know, Grandpa Bernie's team always wins. It was a lot of fun. It was really good to see all of my cousins and all of their kids. I swear they are running a breeding factory. I think I know all of their names after spending a few days with them, but next year I am sure the crop will have doubled again and I will be lost. They sure are a good looking bunch. Must be the
Stoeser blood..... :)
We spent the 4
th at Aunt Lori's house. Uncle Steve took us out on the Missouri River to watch the fireworks. It was gorgeous! Usually the boats are full, so I just watch them from land. But this year, Travis and I got on early. Both Pierre and Ft. Pierre have displays but so do all of teh families that live on the river. So when you are on the boat, they are going off all around you. It was really neat.
Saturday we got up and had a fabulous breakfast with the
Armstong's. Adam is going to school this fall in Wyoming for nine months, then to Sacramento for nine months. He is going to learn about building Hot Rods. What a great experience. Sarah and I are so excited for him. Bailey gets her driver's permit this summer too. I can't believe she will be driving. We didn't get to see Hope and Harrison because they were in Iowa visiting her parents. But they are doing well. We also got to tour the new Ag Agency. It's a beautiful building. We could tell how much work they put into it. I think Adam enjoyed showing us his cars in the shop. I want to steal the
Galaxie!
Later that afternoon we made it to the
Stoeser Family reunion. It was a blast! We saw so many relatives we haven't seen in decades! We chatted and danced until 2am! My grandpa has 4 brothers (I think), so each brother's family dressed in a different theme shirt. Bernie's
Camo Bunch outlasted all of the other families. Yellow tie dyes were a close second, but in the end the whole place was left with
camos! Maybe next time tie dyes!
We headed back to Wisconsin Sunday morning. We hit horrible traffic in Northern Wisconsin so it took an extra 2.5 hours to get home!!
AHHH! We got back around 8 or 9pm and had to get up at 3:30am to catch the 4:30am bus to
O'Hare. We got to Grand Cayman around 1:30, but our luggage did not. What's new? This is the 3rd time they have lost it.
Fortunately it arrived later that night, so Trent and I picked it up in the morning.
The rest of the week we just caught up on sleep. We did make it to volunteer at the Humane Society on Wednesday. But because of the heat, we decided to play with the cats instead of walk dogs. We were there for 2 hours. They were all so nice. We tried to take "Mouse" home with us, but we aren't allowed to have animals at our apartment. So Trent says we need to move. Our lease is up here in October so we'll see. We like it here but it's the first time in my life I haven't had a kitty and I really miss that. Unless we can find a place on the sea, that takes pets, for the same price, we won't be moving. I'll just have to wait to get a new cat when we move home.
I hope you enjoy the photos, I will be adding more as my family sends me them. I didn't take very many so I am relying on them. My New Year's resolution will be to remember to use my camera. Last year it was to remember to bring my camera and now I am great at that, I just have to remember to get it out of my purse and use it!!
