over the hills and far away...

when harley got home from work we decided that we'd just take off right then-not sleep a few hours and leave at 3:30 in the morning but, right then. it was spontaneous and awesome. we filled his dads thermos full of coffee, loaded the car, loaded the kids in the car and took off. i took a sleep aid so i could get a few hours of sleep in the car before my driving shift. it's hard sleeping in a car no matter how powerful of sleep aid you have. i woke up before the sunrise in wyoming and harley and i were able to watch it together. it was beautiful! the roads were pretty desolate. that's the only word i can think of to describe what it felt like leaving home in the middle of the night in the middle of the week and heading through wyoming and parts of nebraska. i'm just grateful my driving partner is a fun one and keeps things interesting ;)
when we got to our destination-pender, NE- we were greeted with smiles and hugs-and a lot of yummy food and strong beverages!!

we went golfing-well the boys golfed and we ladies drove the carts.

we visited grandma meyer. i love this woman. she has a story for everything...and she loves telling them.

i made a comment on grandmas excellent taste of music and she insisted i take her louis armstrong box set. i felt so guilty taking it but, who can resist louis armstrong?? clearly not me ;)
we got a chance to visit with the miss shyla.

i think he's impersonating himself fishing..

cash and the toad. harley and i were so happy to see he wasn't afraid of this little creature in the least. he dove right after it and wouldn't let it go until we told him he had to. that poor thing was launched across a sand pile and the lake. cash was thoroughly entertained by the toads agility and acrobatics.

miss emily.

miss paige.

anyone who has seen these two knows that this picture right here explains their relationship perfectly. nothing but love.

little bit and paul.

mister tate.

brothers and cousins.

aunt donna. one of the greatest women on earth.

photo bombing at its finest.

nothing brings children together quite like a toad.

dinner with the adults. at least that's what we call ourselves anyways ;)

RIP leo paul meyer. we love and miss you so much.

madalyn took the kids to the pender park.

we got caught in some severe weather on the way home. i'll admit, for me this was scary. growing up in utah, i've never seen skies like this before. we were in a tornado warning in sydney, NE. now here's the thing, although i was scared and wanted to pull over and duck for cover harley insisted we keep driving...it wasn't until the hail was pelting our car so hard we decided to pull under an over pass....

...so i get out and start snapping pictures, of course!

when we reached cheyenne, WY we drove through 60 mile/hr wind gusts that pelted our car so hard that there is dirt and sand permanantly stuck in my windshield. never. a. dull. moment. ;)

it was an awesome drive home. harley and i witnessed things together we will never forget. the lightening storms were nothing short of awesome and we got to have those long conversations that a busy life prevents on the day to day and luckily we still have a lot to talk about as a couple of 8 years!

the dogs were very excited to see us when we got home as you can imagine!...and we were beyond elated to see them!

listen to led zeppelin: over the hills and far away

'many dreams come true and some have silver linings...i live for my dream and a pocket full of gold.'