A vacation with a glimpse into the future

Andrew, Liberty, and I just returned from a week in South Dakota with family and a ton of sight seeing. It was a good week. I enjoyed so many different things this week.



First - the views. There is so much land in South Dakota that is just beyond beautiful. I spent the entire week just in awe of God's creation. I can't even begin to describe how beautiful it was. The hundreds of pictures we snapped don't nearly due it justice. There were plains and hills and trees and sunsets galore. We visited the Badlands which is just amazing. I had no idea what to expect going in. We got there just before the sun set, which made it even better. I'll post some pics on myspace in the next day or two.



We also saw some amazing things that God allowed man to create. Of course we visited Mount Rushmore. It was just cool. One of those things that you've seen several pictures of, and I got to see it in person. It was something that was on our list of places we want to see. We also visited Crazy Horse - which is somehow more amazing than Mt. Rushmore. Even though Crazy Horse isn't complete, all four heads on Mt. Rushmore will fit into Crazy Horse's head. It is absurdly large. It is all being done by one family.



We also got to spend time with family. Spending time with my mom, dad, mommom is always a fun time. We also had three of my cousins with us. They are 6, 9, and 10. I feel like I know the 6 and 9 year old pretty well, but I only see the 10 year old a couple of times a year. It was so great to get to know her and spend time with her. All three look up to me and just love me to death. It just feels so good to love on them and hang out with them. I really enjoyed being with them. We also got to spend time with my great Uncle Lynn and his wife Janet. We stayed at his house. I always enjoy getting to see him. He is a retired two star general and one great guy.



As for the glimpse into the future - I've always known Andrew was going to be a great dad. I've seen him interact with his nephews who are all older and a lot like Andrew, but that is the extent of him being around kids. This past week, there were several occasions where Andrew and I had two or all three kids by ourselves. Andrew was so good with them. He was working with the youngest one in the pool trying to teach her to swim. The ten year old told us several times throughout the week that we were going to be good parents because we make kids do stuff. LOL - What a awesome compliment. It was just such a turn on to watch him with those kids. Partly because that is my family. Those aren't his nieces and nephews. I could have just spent the entire week watching him interact with those three kids. It just melted my hear to watch him with the kids. It just made me look forward to having children with him even more. Of course that day is still in the not so near future, but now I've seen just how great he is going to be.