Empty words or fulfilled promises?

A long promised update...

Let's road-trip!
Dad's ready...
Mom's all set...
The trailer's behind us (MUCH better than in front)...
and the dogs...oh the lovely little rodents...they're ready too.
First stop: Amarillo for the night. (WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND GOES TO AMARILLO?!)
It was a pleasant time because Aunt Susie and Travis (cousin) met us there for the night! Have you ever heard of the Palo Duro Canyon? Second largest in the country next to the Grand Canyon...brush up on your Texas history ;) We had dinner in the canyon and then stayed for the lights show! Above the canyon...

And OH what a meal...
Travis' favorite part of the dinner...Emily's favorite part of the dinner :)Happy men...

Happy Family...
Matching sunglasses ;)
The ladies! Aunt Susie! You have to have your eyes open!!
Charlie's expression after stuffing...
It is a well known custom in these parts that a little siesta follows a huge meal...
We walked into the plaza, listening to some Cowboy Joe music ;)
The parents threw coy looks at each other after they spent too much money in the gift shop ;)
As we walked to the amphitheater, we were reminded that we are proud of our state :)
Smile in your seats!
"HEY DAD! Take one with me!!"
FIREWORKS!!!!




Okay, enough of Amarillo. There's not much more of interest there :P So now we'll go to OOO-----Klahoma :) and see Bill & Uni (their real names are Opa & Oma) ;)


Mom will insist on taking a picture of their pictures ;) Aren't they adorable?!
After a wonderful lunch with such dear friends, we'll run over and visit more friends! Aunt Karen and Uncle Loren! Charlie will, of course, talk during the picture-taking time so he'll look funny in the pictures... ;)
Mom had breakfast with Karen the next morning, during which time Karen showed her amazing handiwork at quilting! Here are some samples!



Well, we took our time in Oklahoma. It really was a beautiful area.



We headed further cross-country and landed in Saint Louis to visit with the Buntes. We sadly have no pictures from this venture. We celebrated Charlie's 63rd birthday while we were there and he even had a Fairy Barbie cake!!! (It was pink) I wish we had pictures of the excitement on his face...priceless. While we were there, we had a bit of a traumatic event take place. We kept the animals in the trailer over night while we stayed inside the house. The cat, being a cat, likes to find the tiniest and most inconvenient places to hide herself. The next morning as we're packing up...we've got two dogs, but no cat. We searched for hours and resigned ourselves to the fact that she had jumped out in the middle of the night and was gone. Mom was sobbing. So we left....this story to be continued in a minute.

Okay...so I got spoiled for a day :) Mom and Charlie agreed to stop in Morton, Illinois to see my manfriend :) We spent the evening with Jesse and his mom, Suzanne.
After dinner, mom gawked at the beautiful English garden in the back yard.
Jesse plays softball on a church-league team, so that night we got to watch him play :) He, of course, won both games that night. :D

That night after spending time with them, we got back to the trailer only to hear a faint "meow." Cue mom to start crying...there, tucked under the bed in the farthest corner, is the cat. :) Stupid animal...*sigh* it's nice to have her back :) Funny how she's become a whole lot nicer since then ;)

And now...we reach the climax of our road trip. BABIES!!!! :D Andrew David and Jackson William :) Here's the whole family :) Stephen, Rachel, and their boys. Jack was just a week old then.






He can say "nose" :D




His first experience of Mongolian BBQ...man food.
A wonderful time with the Ohio Bruckarts ended all too soon :( Absolutely delightful though. On our route back to Texas, we made just a couple stops. We had lunch on the Kentucky Dam...


And then stopped in Holland, Missouri (where Charlie grew up) and saw his cousins, Berl & Deborah. We went to lunch with them at "Boss Hog's"...amazing burgers :) We walked in the door and as if two boston terriers weren't enough for Charlie, he had to find this one....
And imagine, we run into his 1st grade teacher!
Charlie, Berl, Deborah, and Mom :)

Well, a trip that took us 5 days to get to Ohio only took us 2 to get home :P by this time, we were exhausted...especially the dogs...
But a pleasant trip, none the less. :D

Let's wait a while to road trip again ;)