The next day Charity and her boyfriend, Mark, and I road tripped to Pender to see Megan whom I haven't seen since my wedding. I was really bummed that I didn't make it back for her and Derek's wedding in September. It was fun seeing all the pictures at her parents. Susan, her mom, was even nice enough to give me an extra photo of them and one of the wedding favors, a cookie cutter with a cute tag containing their names and the date of the wedding. I heard they had several kinds of cookie cutters on the tables, ranging from shapes of Nebraska and Michigan to cows and hearts. I also loved her flowers in mason jars on all the tables which they had bought at a farmer's market earlier that morning. Megan reminds me of Martha Stuart with all her creative ideas. Anyway, we had a wonderful evening at her parents as they always show us a good time! We had amazing lasagna along with some wine and champagne (I brought a bottle of champagne that I had gotten from my trip earlier in October to Champagne, France). We also were given a tour of her father's, Joe's, Veterinary Clinic in Pender which was really interesting.
Finally on Monday, I was able to see my family. My mom picked me up in Lincoln and then we did a little shopping before heading back to the farm (I picked up Shannon from Omaha later in the week since he was at his conference). Since Harvest was in full swing while we were back, we were able to help out a little. My main job was making the guys lunches and driving them between fields. My mom, Kathy (sister-in-law) and Shannon took turns driving the grain trucks while Clay (my brother) drove the semi. My dad of course had the most important job, combining. He also had a hired man drive the tractor / auger wagon. One year I drove the auger wagon, but then we broke down. Ever since, I haven't been asked to drive the auger wagon again, maybe they just think I'm bad luck!
After I picked up Shannon at the airport on Oct 24, we headed to his folks for the night and then off to a wedding near Ogallala the next day for two of Shannon's former coworkers (Chris and Rachelle Fryzek). Luckily, my friends, Missy and Andrew were invited, so we were able to carpool and stay in a hotel room together. The wedding was really nice and the reception hall was extremely fancy...it was on a ranch. We had a good time, even though none of Shannon's other coworkers made the long trip which we were kind of bummed about. Regardless, it was fun catching up with Missy and Andrew and watching our entertainment for the evening, Camryn, who enjoyed being on the dance floor nonstop!
We stayed with Shannon's family a few days here and there travelling back and forth between our families. Shannon hadn't seen them for almost a year. I had stopped by last May for a brief visit. His mom held a nice family dinner one evening in which his brother's family Lonnie, Amy Jacob and Jordan along with his Grandma Mildred and Aunt Trudy and Uncle Steve and Cousin Wayne and Jill and their baby Shali all attended. It felt like Thanksgiving because we were lucky enough to have his Grandma's pecan pie which was much better than the Belgian interpretation of a pecan pie we had on Thanksgiving Day! While Shannon was at his parents, he helped his dad work on the corn head, but mostly played with guns in the shop since he's going through withdrawals (his brother and dad run a gun business called Run-n-Iron). Jody, one of Lonnie and Shannon's friends, came out to the farm one day and the boys decided it would be fun to head to the canyons to do some shooting. Every once in awhile here in Belgium, I find Shannon on Gunbroker.com buying something I don't think he needs, but I'm sure he'd say otherwise (it's always a 'good investment' I'm told)!
On Halloween I went trick-or-treating with Garrett and Emma along with their mom, Kathy, and my mom. Garrett was a turtle while Emma was a pumpkin (you'll see pictures below). We pulled the kids in wagon so they wouldn't get tired trucking around the town. They both really seemed to have a fun time, even though Emma is still a bit young; Garrett out-lasted her in the end and made it to a few more places with his mom.
For the Nov 1st Husker game my parents hosted a Fish Fry. We had several bags of catfish from our pond in the freezer which needed to be eaten. Some of my parents' friends came over to help deep fat fry the fish and also onion rings. Everything was really good...I tried not to think how fattening it all was! Even though the Huskers played horrible against Oklahoma and got beat by over 30 points, we still had a good time gorging ourselves on all the snacks and of course deep fat fried catfish and onion rings!
We tried to see as many people as we could while we were back, but of course could not catch everyone. In addition to the people I've mentioned that we've already seen, here is a few more. I was able to make it over a few times to visit my Grandma at the Harvard Nursing Home. She seems to be in high spirits most of the time. While we were in Lincoln, Shannon stopped by his former office to say a quick hello (it was pretty quiet as so many people have left and most of them are fairly new). We also had several doctor and dentist appointments while we were in Lincoln. We met up briefly with my Aunt Marilyn for her birthday at The Green Gateau along with my mom and my Aunt Judy and cousins, Gina and Sandi. After some shopping (things are a lot cheaper in the US than in Brussels), we ventured out to Tarah and Ben's place in Hickman and saw their two adorable children. We also stopped by Katie's new place and couldn't believe how grown up her little boy is now! (She used to live in our basement - aka apt -in our house in Lincoln). We even made it to Shannon's good friend, Matt's house in Fallbrook for one evening where we ended up spending the night. Another day, Shannon and I met Kari, Shade and Vicki (along with some of Kari's coworkers) at a bar in Hastings after their volleyball match. It was great catching up with those who we were able to meet up with and hope to catch more friends and family next time!
It wouldn't be right to fly all this way home and not to go a Husker game, so the day before we were scheduled to leave, we went to the Nebraska vs. Kansas game. We used my grandparent's tickets. My friend Elizabeth had organized a tailgate in which lots of our friends attended. Despite, the freezing temperatures, we managed to have a fun time socializing, drinking and snacking away. Evan even got a ticket from one of his friends so he had ridden up with us. My cousins Jake and Jacey even stopped by. Otherwise, lots of people were there like Missy, Andrew, Gina, Charity, Mark, Ashley, Matt, Tim, Curt, Emily, Brett and few other Sandy Creekers.
The entrance of my parents' house with their dog, Rowdy, and cat enjoying the nice day (I'm not sure what name Garrett has given the cat)
My dad, the master mind behind the combine!.jpg)
Our niece, Jordan, and nephew, Jacob, (on Shannon's side) wearing their Christmas presents since we had to buy presents early because of the expense in shipping items across the pond.jpg)
Shannon's cousin, Wayne and Jill with their baby, Shali
Our niece, Emma, and nephew, Garrett, (on my side) sporting their Halloween costumes.jpg)
My mom and I trying to get Emma back in the wagon or at least to walk in the right direction, but she preferred walking her own way while Garrett didn't mind riding...you'd think it would be the other way around!.jpg)
Clay with Emma and Garrett messing around on the farm
My dad and brother, Clay, frying up some onion rings (the catfish was in the deep-fat fryer nearby)
Clay, Emma and me.jpg)
Husker Game against Kansas, tailgating with friends, Elizabeth, me, Gina, Missy, Charity and Ashley.jpg)
My other brother, Evan, who also went to the game
Bundled up and ready for the game
Some additional strays from Sandy Creek, Curt and Tim, who also joined the tailgate
Nebraska Football stadium on game day (80,000+)
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