Neil and I typically aren’t very spontaneous people, but this weekend we were! With Neil having a part-time job it’s not very often that he gets two full days off on the weekend, but thanks to Memorial Day yesterday we both had Sunday and Monday off. Friday night we were trying to figure out how to make the most of our rare weekend together and couldn’t make a decision. Saturday we woke up and decided we were going to head West River to visit Neil’s family, we hadn’t been out there since August! After checking with his parents and sister to make sure they’d be around Neil headed to work until four while I finished painting our basement (finally!), cleaned the house, and packed so we were ready to go when he got off work. We made it to Spearfish around 10:30pm mountain time and were able to enjoy all day Sunday out there and half of Monday. Sunday we went to Newell for lunch and stopped in to visit Neil’s grandparents. When we got back to Spearfish Sunday afternoon Alex and our niece were home so we got to see her for the first time in six months! She’s such a sweetie. She was a little bashful around Neil, but when I went to check on Brownie downstairs she came to find me with Neil and ran right up to me and gave me a hug! Candace even told me after she put on her Disney princess pajamas she said she was sure Auntie Sam would love them, which of course I did. Sunday evening his parents very kindly volunteered to come to Spearfish to babysit our niece while we went out for supper with Candace and Alex. After supper we headed over to Deadwood and did a very little bit of gambling, Alex won $66 and Neil lost $5. Neil and Alex played a game of pool in the sports bar while Candace and I sat and talked. I don’t think Candace and I have ever just sat and talked just us two and I loved it! I love how close I am to my sister-in-laws because that was a major fear when I found out Neil had three sisters. I know how protective a sister is of her little brother, but they’ve all welcomed me into the family and made me feel included. We also saw Ryan, Whitney, Gary, and Aileen in Deadwood and were able to talk to them for awhile.
Monday we had planned to leave fairly early, but Candace invited a bunch of family over for Memorial Day lunch so we hung around until everyone showed up. We were able to see people we haven’t seen since our wedding and meet a new little Brunner for the first time! We didn’t leave Spearfish until close to one, and even though the six hours home was a long ride it was totally worth it!
Of course, I have to mention Brownie too. We took him with us for his first six hour drive and he did AMAZING! He sat on my lap the whole way there and back and we only had to stop once for him to go to the bathroom. He loved looking out the window and all the extra attention. He behaved well all weekend, but was exhausted when we got home. There was just too much excitement to sleep in the car and by bedtime last night he willingly walked right into his kennel to go to sleep.
And lastly, an update on my dad: He’s been very busy out in Pierre getting ready for the flooding. He’s just been maintaining the radios for the most part, but he says everyone out there is scrambling to get ahead of the water. There are policemen at every intersection making sure dump trucks can just go straight through without having to stop anywhere in town and the Governor even lifted the CDL requirement for people to drive trucks. They put up spotlights last night so everyone’s been working day and night nonstop. He was told they would probably be there for more than 10 days, but the good news is they cancelled the two week drill (for now) and they told my dad as soon as my Grandpa and little brother are ready for him to come home and plant his fields someone can come get him from Pierre. He’ll be able to come home, plant his fields, and then have to go back, but at least he’ll have a crop in! Thank you for all the extra prayers, God continuously amazes us and is working everything out in a very unique way!
