Today at church I felt empty. The eyes welled up and I knew something wasn't right. I was missing my other half. I couldn't understand why (well besides the obvious, that I missed him) but why it was hitting me so hard today. We went out to lunch with my in-laws, Craig's aunt and uncle and our Pastor, his wife and their two kidlets. It made my heart ache even more seeing their cute little family of 4 and knowing that Sundays should be spent with the ones you love. But really, why so hard today? I was confused. But then it clicked!
Can you believe that I was able to see Craig 4 weekends in a row? It's kind of like a dream! With him being on a project, I find this stat crazy! It is so nice that this project is close to home and the timing of things have been perfect.
What have we done those 4 weekends in a row? Obviously try to soak up every little bit of time together! We like to keep busy, so here is a little glimpse as to what we've been up to.
June 22-25:
*We did a little landscaping around our house. By we, I mean Craig. I helped pick out the new shrubs and plants, but Craig did most of the dirty work. But, I did help move rocks! We have quickly learned that those new shrubs and bushes are our little babies and need lots of water in this heat and lack of rain!
*We hit up the Drive-In theater in Long Prairie. It was a great night spent with great friends. And of course, two great movies, "Brave" and "The Avengers".
*We went to the most awesome parade ever. The Vikingland Band Festival!! And yes, our boys made it through all of the marching bands (I think there were about 18 or so).
*We went to the lake! Craig's family was out of town so we were on cat duty. So one of the days when we were checking on them, we took advantage of the lake and spent a little time there before Craig had to head back to work. So much fun!
At the Festival.
How cute is this?
Hunter loves his daddy.
Sweet summertime!!
June 30-July 1:
I arranged for the boys to go to Craig's parents the night of June 30th, and I was going to surprise Craig and visit him down at his work site to celebrate our 6th anniversary on July 1st! All week on the phone I kept asking him what time he got off work on Saturdays. Made him promise he wasn't going to come and visit. It wouldn't be worth the extra money in gas since he was coming home from July 3-8. We haven't really been able to celebrate our anniversary in past years together, so why try extra this year. The list goes on. Oh, and I told him no flowers, I had plans with friends that day (which I did) and wouldn't be home at all. Plus, I'd rather be surprised vs. the usual days to get flowers.
Well, I got nervous. What if he was really going to try to surprise me? What if we were driving in opposite directions and passed each other in the middle? So, that morning I gave him a call and told him I was coming down. I told him not to worry, it wouldn't be until later that evening so he wouldn't have to get off work early and that we would spend Sunday morning/afternoon together and then I'd head back so I'd be home in time for the boys to get to bed at a decent time.
I hit the road a little after 4 and made my trek to SW MN. With a couple stops on the way, I made it to his work site. I called and he told me he was in the field checking a couple things and would be back shortly. Well, I had to pee..like really bad. I looked around and saw port-a-potties. No way. Construction site. Men. Heat. Gross. So, I waited. I grabbed a book (thank goodness I brought it along) and read. And waited, and read, and really hoped and prayed Craig would be there soon. Finally after a little over an hour of waiting he arrived! Thank goodness! After an exchange of a hug and kiss I asked him where the bathroom was. He told me that they had port-a-potties. You have got to be kidding me!! I asked him if he was sure that was all they had. He thought and then he remembered that in one of the trailers there is a bathroom for drug testing!! Wohoo!!
He finished up at work and we headed to his itty bitty house. Seriously, it's small. After giving me the choice of a cheese sandwich or hot dog, or walk to the bar and grab some burgers, I opted for the burgers. I was hungry!
We got our amazing cheeseburgers at 10 PM and had a great supper. It was so nice just being with him!
The next morning, we got up, got ready for church and headed to Sioux Falls. We went to the church that the pastor that married us now serves. He didn't preach that day, but it was still fun to see him and his family. After church, we went to Falls Park, walked around in the heat and then headed to Red Lobster for lunch.
It was amazing, we ate way too much, but oh well! We then went and bought Craig a new pair of cowboy/work boots and headed out of town. We made our way to Blue Mounds State Park and hiked to old quarry and then drove to the top of the overlook. It was a great day spent together! The way an anniversary should be spent!
Saying goodbye was hard (as always) but for some reason harder. Usually it's him leaving, but it was so much harder for me to leave him. After many hugs and tears, I made my way out the door and north bound. Still crying as I drove down the road and remembered a Dr. Seuss saying. "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." It calmed me, and I sent a text saying just that to Craig.
Falls Park
Quarry at Blue Mounds State Park
Love this man!
On top of Eagle Rock.
July 3-8:
Craig took off work from these days. I think it was a much needed break for all of us! And his cousin from AZ was coming and I thought it would be nice for him to be here since he hadn't seen her for almost 3 years. We had a fun and busy week!
*Celebrated the 4th of July with family and friends. We enjoyed an afternoon on the lake and lots of yummy food.
*Had cousin's night out and went out for supper, went bowling and shot the minnow. However Craig wasn't brave enough for it. Really, it isn't that bad.
*Had family pictures taken. They turned out great!
*Went to Madagascar 3 with the boys.
*Celebrated Brody's 3rd birthday with a circus theme party. We had a blast with it!
4th of July
Love this!
Cousin night out!
Photo Booth at Brody's party!
July 13-16:
We had a really relaxing weekend. The highlight was probably being in our town's parade and having a date night.
Supporting Bob Cunniff at the parade!
I have loved the past four weekends with Craig! I wish we could spend all of our time together. Can't wait for our next weekend together and the fun adventures to come!
