Mike used cutting trees as an excuse to head west to visit a couple of friends in South Dakota. It turns out the weather was just a bit too cold and windy to get much of the intended goal done. The plan was to start driving as soon as Mike returned home from work on Friday. Fortunately, Mike was allowed to leave a couple of hours early due to the snow. Unfortunately, he arrived home to a driveway with about 8 inches of snow even though he had shoveled it before work that morning. The girls and I (well, just I while the girls played) attempted to shovel the driveway midday, but the snow was wet and heavy. I only got about 1/4 of the path completed.

So we finally got all packed up and de-stranded from the home and started to head out of town. The goal was to arrive at Mike’s mom’s house around bedtime and get up the next morning to travel the rest of the way to South Dakota. However, we received a phone call from our first host warning us if we waited until the next morning, then there was a good chance we’d get stranded because of the heavy winds and snow drifts. Mike and I had a minute-meeting and decided to just go the whole way that night. We did make a pit stop at Mike’s mom’s which was a nice break. We made it to the Arnold’s in SD around 1:30 a.m.

The next day was as predicted and was very windy and ccccoooold. Mike still did the tree job he intended to do, but the rest of stayed inside the whole day. The Arnolds now have 3 boys, two of which are about Annie and Mimi’s ages, so they played great together. Shannon and I chatted, did a quick photo shoot with the kids, and made some butter fingers. Even if I didn’t get the grand tour of Watertown (this was Mike’s hope), we still had fun just hanging out with the Arnolds for a day.

The kids had a blast together. It was sad to for them to say their good-byes.

The next morning we headed even farther west to spend a couple of days with the Knutsons, Matt and Jenny. It was some crazy driving out there with snow drifts as high as our truck. We made it though with only a couple of delays. The Knutsons also have 3 boys with two close in age to Annie and Mimi. They also have a huge playroom with a trampoline in the middle. Can you just imagine the pure excitement the girls felt? Even Mike and I had a few jumps. Lucy even had a buddy, a German wire-haired pointer named Willy. They had a blast. I helped Jenny make Roman shades while Matt and Mike cruised around town and attempted some hunting. The tree work was going to be impossible, so they just spent the time goofing around. The second day there was much nicer, and Jenny gave me a quick tour of their town. The kids also got to go sledding. In the afternoon Mike snuck away to try to shoot a deer. His luck was with him because he wasn’t up in the deer stand for more than 15 minutes before he shot one. Sadly, we just weren’t going to have time to deal with all that, so Mike donated the deer to one of Matt’s friends.

Annie’s first time sledding.

Check out Annie feeding their baby. This is good to know should there ever be a Thing #3 added to the Hawley brood.

Lucy and Willy wrestling. Willy had this jump and spin move that really impressed Lucy.

Jenny was giving Lucy a chiropratic adjustment. Willy got a little jealous.

We got up not bright and early and started our trek home. Of course, the roads were slick and snowy, so we had to take it slow and easy. Many cars/trucks/semis were down in the ditches on our way home. Thankfully, we made it home at a reasonable hour. Thanks to the Arnolds and Knutsons for opening their homes to us and dealing with our crazy kids. We had a wonderful time and hope to do it again when it’s about 70 degrees warmer.

We hope every is having a safe and merry Christmas so far. I’ll be posting pictures tomorrow.