We had a whirlwind 3 week visit to the USA at the end of the summer. Here’s a recap!

Jay is pretty much the father of the year. We landed in Moline, ate Navajo Tacos with Memaw and Papa (yum), and then Jay and Ty hopped in the truck and drove 2.5 hours to Des Moines so that Ty could play baseball with his buddies in the last day of the State Championship. Ty has played baseball with some of these boys for many years, and while he has found a great team in Germany to play ball with, he was missing his Royals family. Ty pitched a victory in the semi-finals which allowed them to advance to the championship game – which they WON!!!!! Such a great memory for Ty and Jay.

Next on the USA checklist was a roadtrip to Montana with my parents to go to my Auntie Shell’s funeral. The drive from Bettendorf to Bozeman, according to Google Maps, is 18 hours, one-way. We rented a suburban and piled in (along with 8 dozen ears of sweet corn). Jay assumed the Super Trucker role and over the next 5 days he logged most of the 46 driving hours.

The funeral was difficult. I have shared previously about how much my aunt meant to me. During the funeral, my niece Oakleigh was sitting on my lap giving me good snuggles, which was what I needed to get through the service. But after everyone left the funeral home, I stopped and watched the slideshow for a few more minutes and broke down when I saw a picture of her and I at my wedding. The graveside service was also heartbreaking, but she is resting now in a beautiful location under a tree near the mountains. The time that I spent with my Montana family after the ceremony was beautiful. We cried, we laughed, we celebrated the adventurous life of Auntie Shell. I wish she could have been with us in the garage, laughing along. She would have loved it.

I have been friends with Courtney since 4th grade. She’s one of my favorite humans. We don’t get to see each other often enough, but when we do, it fills my soul. Court spent a weekend with us and we visited the shaman to find out her spirit animal. She’s a bluebird, which is a sign of happiness. She has the most lighthearted and fun personality. We can be silly, serious, and sad together. I was so glad we got to spend so much time together!

Look out!!!! Ty got his drivers’ permit!!! I got approved to be a proctor for an online exam before we flew back to the US, which Ty passed. We made an appointment at the DMV and he got his permit. He won’t be able to drive in Germany (have to be 18), but it was fun for him to drive around the Quad Cities. He did great!

The Iowa State Fair. My family is a HUGE fan of the Iowa State Fair. We go every year, usually several times. We only had time for 1 day, so we packed in a lot in a short amount of time. We saw family and friends, ate our favorite foods, drank lemonade, shopped at Western Edge, and took our annual family photo at Stockmans. A good time was had by all… 🙂

As we wrapped up our time in the USA, my social battery was about drained, we were all exhausted, our bellies were satisfied, sad about leaving our friends and family, anxious about the new routines awaiting us in Germany, and looking forward to snuggling Kaycee. To everyone that carved time out of their busy schedules to meet up with us, thank you. We needed a reboot, and you all gave us that.

And finally, Kaycee. We are so lucky to have been introduced to Vivalda, who might be Kaycee’s best friend. She spent 3 weeks at our house taking care of Kaycee. He gets spoiled rotten by her, but it’s OK – as long as he is a happy pup!!

Until next summer, peace out America!