Our trip away...

On October 23rd-26th Nils and I went on a trip out to Branson, MO. Nils had a Reinke convention for his work (the company they do pivots with) and when he had told Bart him and Brandon were getting things ready to go Bart told him to take me and make a little vacation out of it the best we could. So, Nils decided to take me along. It was all new territory to us and we figured it'd be some good time away. We went with Brandon and his girlfriend Hidee.
This was my first flying experience since about 12 years ago when I flew with the school to Mexico! I was way beyond nervous, but at the same time excited.
I went through the excitment of being away and having time alone and then it was mixed with me freaking out and not wanting to leave the kids! I have actually never left my kids for more then two nights....we usually go stay somewhere for two nights on our anniversary & that's the only times we've left the kiddos. They were going to be staying with my mom. She'd was bringing them to our place to sleep at night then to her place during the day.
We had to leave that Sunday morning about 5AM. I am not a morning person, so this was hard! I REALLY wanted to kiss the kids bye again but knew if I went into their rooms they'd be awake and it'd be hard for them and they wouldn't go back to sleep. So off we went. As I pulled out of the driveway that morning I felt so many emotions. I knew they'd be fine, but every worry possible started in my head. :)
We finally made it to the SLC airport. I got the random search in security and didn't really dig that. Man, it seems you have to get naked just to get through security! LOL Finally we were off and flew into Denver. We had about a 15 min wait there then we boarded up again and flew off to Branson.
When we landed in Branson, MO. I looked out and wondered "Where the heck are we!" It was a little airport and did not look or feel like an airport at all. They had us get off the plane and walk down an outside little tarp covered area and into the building. It was strange but neat to experience!
While in Branson the boys did their meetings during the day so Hidee and I went and drove into Branson and found some shops to hit and things to check out. It was a neat town. Not big like I imagined, but by all means not little. My favorite was driving down the town at night time seeing all the lights and things. There was one night after we all ate dinner together that Brandon & Hidee went off to do their own things so Nils and I decided to hop in the rental car and drive and look. It was SO fun. Just to look at all the lights, new sights, and talk without screaming kids and not being in a rush to get anywhere!
The hotel that we stayed at where the convention all was held was so nice! It was situated on a lake front. You had the lake view out the right side (some rooms that is all they had) then off to the left were the mountain view/hill. We were lucky enough to be in some of the rooms that had the middle of both views! It was gorgeous! We had a balcony and I enjoyed the weather out sitting there in the quiet! The weather was great, in the 70's, and it made sitting out there wonderful.
Wednesday we had to head home. We got to the Branson airport and ended up having to wait a couple hours. The weather in Denver was yucky and there was ice so all flights in and out of there were delayed. Sitting in that little airport was indeed boring, but as others told me; 'welcome to the world of flying' :) We finally got to Denver in enough time to run to the next gate, grab a quick sandwich and board the plane. We got into SLC and both said to each other we wanted to go back to Branson cuz we were freezing.
We didn't home to out place until a little after midnight so I decided not to wake the kids cuz Ryder had school the next day. When I got him up the next morning though he was excited to see me. He then went right in to his dad and gave him loves. It was great to be home!!
I had a really fun time! I enjoyed seeing new sights and having a break from the kids. At the same time, I missed the kids and was very grateful when I got to come home to them! I even found I then had more patience with them and realized just how much those stinkers pull at my heart strings. :)
I am grateful for the safety we had on our trip and for the opportunity we had to go. I am already hoping we can have a convention next year and go together!
Here are pics I got while on the trip. Enjoy Branson like we did!

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