Day 1: Arrived in MN, picked up by my brother and sister in law, ate too many chips at the Mexican restaurant, saw the bro's new house, and finally had some cocktails and told stories til it was too late and we went to bed!
Day 2: Picked up at my brother's by the moms! Dereck's mom and mine made the 2 hr drive together to bring us back to our hometown. I am so grateful our moms get along so well! We enjoyed a lunch at the in-laws (hormone free, grass fed, locally raised beef hamburgers!), then later a dinner with the families complete with Alaska halibut.
Day 3: Picked up my friend Maria and went to the city to go shopping! Dereck headed up to Fargo for the bachelor party with some friends, so I had the day to shop (horray for USA stores!!). Came back home, saw Maria's husband and kids (and my Godson!), then back to my house for dinner with my parents.
Day 4: Got a haircut by my favorite stylist, lunch with my mom, then drove 2.5 hours up to Fargo for the rehearsal dinner. Caught up with old friends and met new members of the wedding party. After the rehearsal we went to the largest Scheels sporting goods store (complete with ferris wheel!). Decided to look for flights back to Japan one last time, in a hopeless attempt to not have to Space-A all the way home, and found great deals! We booked our tickets and got 2 more days in Minnesota :-)
Day 5: Morning workout and coffee with a high school friend, then WEDDING!!!!!!!!! (beautiful Bride, beautiful weather, and beautiful Wedding!)
Day 6: Slept in, attended gift opening, then drove 5 hours across the state to my Parent's cabin in North Eastern MN. Enjoyed a bbq with some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Day 7: Enjoyed a morning at the cabin going for a nature walk and having some mother/daughter and father in law/son in law time. Saw my aunt and her grandkids (cousin's kids!), then went fishing (caught fish!). Then we went to my uncle's lake house and went on a boatride and talked with more cousins! Finished the night by "camping" in the pop-up during a beautiful night.
Day 8: Ate fish for breakfast (hubby went out early that morning and caught more! yay!), then packed up and drove back to our hometown....
The next few days all kinda mash together but they include more family dinners, visiting with friends, shopping!, visiting with Dereck's extended family, meeting new babies, having a Friday night out at the local bar (and a 2 am meal at the Perkins!) and just having a non-stop awesome hometown time with people we love. One highlight was a Family BBQ planned by Dereck's parents that had all of his Mother's side of the family in attendance. We felt pretty special! Through all that, we even had some time to reflect on our beautiful surroundings... well, we at least had time to see the Dam!
Day 12: Drove down to the twin cities with my parents and met my brother and sister in law and aunt/uncle for lunch! It was so much fun. Then my brother drove us to my friend Gen's house where I got to see my 2nd Godson.
Then we met up with some more friends and saw a Twins Game at Target field. We played the Yankees (boo!) but won! (yay!). A few hours downtown to celebrate then back to Gen's for 4 hours of sleep before our flight...
Day 13: Gen brought us to the airport bright and early (or DARK and early... it was really early) and we flew to California. We spent some time in the LAX USO before Dereck's friends came to pick us up for lunch. The same friends that just got married a week earlier! It was fun to see them one last time before leaving. Finally, we boarded our flight to Japan and arrived here on Day 14.
I'm exhausted just thinking about it... which is nothing compared to actually living it!!! It was fantastic and perfect and just completely wonderful. I love my country, my state, my family, my friends, and just everything about being back! I am so extremely blessed!
