10.14.2008

Road trip!

Last week we drove to Nebraska, in part for my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. In spite of a tanking economy, increasing job insecurity, my new status as a stay-at-home mom, and general reasons to freak out, a road trip is still a beautiful beautiful thing. Especially when we got to see friends with new babies, like this gorgeous gal:



And we got to catch up with some (young) old friends for a break from the drive:





Of course, the drive was pretty arduous, and led the bug to sleep in some unusual positions:



Reaching the grandparents in Omaha provided numerous opportunities for high-quality grandchild time. This unsurprisingly led to some new perspectives on the world:



Cousins also played a meaningful role in the weekend. First, the bug and monkey got to hang out with their cousins:



Then we headed north, and cousin-wise I saw relatives I hadn't seen since before Matt and I were married. Our extended family is even cooler than I remembered. The anniversary party was up north in the town I grew up in, South Sioux City, at the Knights of Columbus Hall. So, further driving led to travel back in time as I revisited the scene of my eighth grade graduation dance. Mom had also been to her share of dances at the KC Hall, but never before with so uncoordinated a dance partner. At least he couldn't step on her feet:



And here are the amazing couple. I should really write another post at some point about my Aunt Jo and Uncle Ray, but their family of three kids and multiple grandkids and their love for each other are really inspirational. No joke. They love each other so much and have stayed really close to their kids and grandkids, which is a beautiful thing to witness. It's hard to capture them in a brief post, but my aunt is the kind of person who could never let a stray kitten go to the pound, and my uncle is the kind of guy who is patient when a 7-year-old terribly uncoordinated girl is just learning to play pool.

Here they are opening their present:



In short, a lovely weekend was had by all Beasleys, and we returned to Colorado much refreshed. Thanks and love to everyone we saw along the way!

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