Labor Day Weekend Fun

     Labor Day weekend this year happened to be at the perfect time for us.  Ryan ended his second rotation that Friday in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and I was lucky enough to not have to work Monday so I was able to fly out to Pennsylvania to see Ryan.  It had been 8 weeks since I last said good bye to Ryan and we both felt extremely lucky to see each other.

     I took a red eye flight Friday night to Philadelphia and Ryan picked me up at 6 am Saturday and the fun began.  Once we got out into the county of Lancaster, the Amish started to appear.  I love seeing the horse and buggy everywhere.  Pretty sure I told Ryan to slow down at everyone we saw.  We even saw one at a convenient store (stopped for doughnuts) and I had to hold my composure to not ask to take a picture with an Amish gentleman, but their horses are beautiful.

     We headed to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania so I could see the town that we may hopefully have a chance to live in.  This may have been the worst idea, because I fell in LOVE with Harrisburg.  Harrisburg is only 10 minutes away from Hershey, Pennsylvania, home of the Hershey candy bar company.  So we headed to Hershey first to eat breakfast at the famous Hershey Pantry.  The food was divine and the portion sizes were huge.  This was just Ryan's breakfast....

     We headed over to the Hershey Chocolate Factory to do the tours and hang out for a few hours.

     After exploring Hershey, we headed to our hotel for some relaxation and to watch some college football.  We went and ate some dinner and then we explored Harrisburg.  Pennsylvania is just plain beautiful with all of the trees and the weather is A LOT cooler then Arizona.  We went on a long walk along the green belt.  We saw some beautiful old colonial homes along the river front, beautiful flowers, and ground hogs.

Don't mind that you can't see Ryan's face, the clouds were pretty! ha

Then we ended our amazing day with RITAS!!  We love this place and lucky for us they are all over Pennsylvania.

     The next day we drove across Pennsylvania to Kirtland, Ohio to visit and stay for the day.  We went to the Kirtland LDS church site.  They show an amazing video about the church history that occurred in Kirtland and then they take you on a tour of the grounds.  The original NK Whitney store is still there and you are able to go inside and learn some more history about it and some events that occurred inside of it.

     The next morning we headed to Toledo, Ohio where Ryan's next rotation was at.  We drove around the town (not much there but the ghetto) and saw where the hospital was.  Before we knew it the fun weekend had to come to a close.  We said our goodbyes again for another 8 more weeks apart.  I am sure proud of how hard Ryan is working, and I will be so happy when we will be with each other again.

The happiest place on Earth

     Well with Ryan gone and another quarter of school finished for me, I was able to head home to Idaho for some much needed family time.  My dad was kind to fly in right after my last final and make the 14 hour trek home with me and Abbi.  It was going to be an interesting trip because Abbi had never rode in a car for longer than 10 minutes to the vet.  Don't worry, the pharmacist within me was prepare with some benzos to help her sleep for most of the ride (if needed), but she did a really good job!

We drove to my sister's house in Salem, Utah and watched Harper with her swimming lessons, Grandpa babysat slept, and Abbi went on lots of walks with Harper

 We headed to my sister Kodi' house.

Gunner loved Abbi's pen, he would come up to me and say "JoJo, Abbi out" 

Then I met up with my in-laws at the reservoir for a fun evening, everyone was checking out the newest addition

Abbi was able to meet some other friends.  She loved eating the grain, pretty sure she was bloated for a whole day after eating with Danny and Rival.  I feel bad keeping her as a house dog knowing that she should be outside running around with these guys.

Just playing around at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Abbi's pens were the best to keep the kids all wrangled up in one place.  

We then all loaded up and headed to the cabin in Driggs, Idaho for the Hess Family Reunion.  Pretty sure NO state can beat Idaho.  Idaho has everything and this view is unbeatable.  Yup, we got to wake up to this every morning.  My grandparents have the best place in Driggs.

Someone got very spoiled this trip by grandma and grandpa.  Pretty sure when the trip started she was in the bed of the truck and then I got sent a picture message of her in the back seat.

After much shopping in Jackson Hole, The Bar J Wranglers and just hanging outside and being with each other it was a great reunion.  We headed home and I was able to go to Tanner's birthday party that was Cars themed!

It was almost time to head home, but first my sister Kodi had her first half marathon to conquer.  So we all headed to Park City.  She did such a good job!  It was a fun race and had beautiful scenery.  Can't wait to do another one with ALL my sisters next time!

It was a much needed trip home.  I was a little burnt out with school and with Ryan being gone, it was very nice to be with family and feel refreshed.  Til we meet again Idaho, til we meet again.