A weekend to remember!

Well, I'm home again (as of Monday around 6:30pm), and what a weekend it was! I was feeling completely exhausted that night and knew I needed to get a good nights rest before babysitting all day yesterday, so barely even looked at my computer. Last night, I got most of this post done, but then it once again got too late, so here it is at last!

After packing my little car trunk (full) the rest of the way at Lauretta's place, we headed for MN...the land of lakes and trees!

 After a quick stop to pick up Michael (and then he drove), the next destination was the Marriott City Center in Minneapolis. It was nice to have GPS, and it didn't get us lost even. :)

 A beautiful looking church we drove by...

 We don't see this view just any day around here (and I'm glad)! It was amazing to see everything, but was also pleasant to leave it all after the conference was over. Guess I'm still a country girl at heart.

I haven't done much traveling, so this was the first time I'd been to Minneapolis.

It was also the first time seeing the inside of one of these large parking ramps. We found a place to park on level D, then went inside to find the hotel and to figure out where our rooms were. 3 elevators later, we were on the 25th floor, looking at what would be our home for the next couple of nights. Lauretta, Josephine and I shared a room, and Michael had a room that was adjacent, which made it convenient in the evenings, when we played games all together and watched movies. After finding out where our rooms were, we traveled back on the 3 elevators to get our things. Thankfully, there were enough of us that we only needed to make one trip.

 The view from our window...

 ...and looking off in another direction...

 ...and finally, what the big city looked like at night.

Josephine and I, unpacking...

 The "Weekend to Remember" (a Bible-based marriage conference) was excellent! The main focus was for married couples, but the things that were taught are helpful for singles pondering marriage (and they had a couple break-away sessions just for singles), and it gave us all things to think and talk about.  I'm glad we went! There was one part of the talks I'd suggest singles skipping, but other than that, I'd recommend the conference to everyone.  (I didn't get any pictures during the conference, as I left my phone in my room.)

There were about 1,000 people in attendance, so I hope and pray that many were blessed with wisdom to go home and make changes for the better in their marriages and homes!

Saturday night (which was my 28th birthday), Michael had made reservations for supper at a fancy restaurant nearby.  Before we left our rooms, he handed me a box (inside was a corsage!) and a thoughtful card!  He sure knows how to bring a smile to my face. :) 

(I took this picture the next day, so they were starting to look droopy by that time.)

 Lauretta & I...

 It was a very happy birthday!!

 We went across the skyway to get to the restaurant and then, after eating, walked around and did some "window-shopping" before returning to the hotel, where Lauretta took our picture... 

 We carried all of our luggage out to the car Sunday morning before the last sessions started, and once the conference was over, we left the city. Hooray! ;)  

 They look plenty happy too...

Michael wanted me to meet his grandma, Violet, so we stopped in Little Falls on the way to the farm and visited with her for a few minutes. She showed me a bunch of pictures of their family over the years.

Then, Michael decided to pay for another car wash, so we went through the fully automatic one in Randall. Michael paid for it with cash and he got some interesting change back ($1 coins), which we were investigating in this picture...

 This one makes me laugh every time I see it!!  He looks so mischievous.

 Pink and green soap bubbles. Wooo hooo!

We arrived at the farm just a little before the afternoon chores began.

Getting the barn ready...

Some of the girls...

It was a beautiful, sunny day...

Sisters...

For dessert after supper, Kathy surprised me by bringing out an ice cream cake that said, "Happy birthday Cora" and had a candle on it! :) It reminded me of home, as my family usually gets me an ice cream cake for my birthday...

Michael's brother, James was there and we 5 younger people played Skipbo and then Balderdash for quite a while that evening and had lots of laughs!

Monday morning, I got up early to keep Michael company as he milked. After chores, breakfast and visiting, we went for a walk on the riverbank. Then we went in and played a card game for another hour or so before it was time to leave.  Saying goodbye is never easy. :(

We got home to water being in places where there'd been snow when we left. The geese were flying and it really felt like Spring! Lauretta had to leave right away, but I stayed and visited with Thaddeus and Josephine for a few minutes before heading to my own home.

And that's the end of my story.

Now I'm off to do some babysittin' again.