Return to Iowa

On Saturday, July 10, Kyper, Joel, and I hopped in the car and headed to Des Moines, IA. Joel had classes/tests that he had to be on campus for, so Kyper and I decided to join him and visit friends.

Kyper was an amazing passenger! We kept a seat open in the back so that Joel or I could keep him company, which is where these pictures came from. It took a little longer, because we made a longer pit stop so Kyper could crawl around and get some energy out. It was perfect. We stopped and got Subway and then we headed to the next rest area and had a picnic.

Dad is getting Kyper hooked on Coke already.

On Sunday, we went to our old church. It was so fun to see our old friends. After church, we hit up Pizza Ranch with Nate, Becky, Laura, Ryan, and Jennifer. We then had a relaxing afternoon and waited for Rick and Monique to come home. Rick and Monique were our gracious hosts.

On Monday, while Joel was at school. Mom and Kyper visited Anawim. It was fun to see some old co-workers. We then had lunch with my old supervisor, Sr. Stella. Unfortunately, Kyper was not a happy camper at lunch. I picked up my friend Mo from the airport and we hit up Jasper Winery for one of our favorite wines. We ate dinner and hung out with Rick and Monique that night. I was also able to go to knitting club that night. :)

On Tuesday, Kyper and I visited Christia. I got to knit while Kyper napped at her house. The school had a picnic for all the 3rd years, so Joel, Kyper and I said hello to some of our old friends there that night, but we did not eat there. Roger and Meri, friends from church, hosted us for dinner that night.

On Wednesday, Monique took the day of work and hung out with Kyper and me. It was Kyper's birthday! We ran some errands, which included buying him some birthday gifts. Rick and Monique gave us a photo shoot for his birthday, so we did that in the afternoon. The pictures turned out great. If you want to see them, tell me and I can send you the link with instructions on how to get to them. We had a fast dinner with Rick and Monique and then friends from church came for a little party. We didn't advertise it as a birthday party for Kyper, but there was some cake and a few presents. Below are some pictures.


On Thursday, Kyper and I hung out with Katrina and her son Z. At night, we had a picnic with the spouses/significant other group that I was/am a part of through the school.

On Friday, Kyper and I had a very relaxing morning. At noon, we had a pizza lunch with Brandie and Clint, Eric and Chelsea, and Jayme and Sarah. It was fun to see all of them again. We played bocce ball and had ice cream. That night we went out to Lake Red Rock to see the cliffs.

On Saturday, we had to head back to west Michigan, but we couldn't leave without going to the Farmer's market. So, we hit that up first and then headed out. Kyper did well again on the way home! What a champ!