surprise weekend!

My super romantic husband Corey surprised me with a fifth-anniversary weekend getaway to the Black Hills (in South Dakota). We had a fun weekend of hiking and relaxing in Deadwood (yee haw!) and Spearfish Canyon. Extra thanks to my sister Caitlyn and her husband Chaz for taking good care of Kya while we were away.

. . .

For the past two weeks, I knew we were going "away" for the weekend (and Kya was not joining us) but I had absolutely no clue where we were going. Corey gave me a few more hints the day before we left that included instructions to bring clothing for hiking and chilly weather and a nice outfit for dinner out. 

We headed west on Friday, early afternoon. I didn't know where we were going until we arrived at the Lodge. This was such a fun and special surprise!

The trip was made even more fun with a emergency visit to the locksmith in Dickinson (100 miles into our journey) because Corey left this gas tank key at home. We were thankful we realized this while near a town and not during the 200 miles of barren nothingness in South Dakota. It was a quick fix ... and while that was happening, I got to pay a quick visit to MoeMoe's Garden (my #1 Bison Booties retailer). The visit was very overdue and I was super excited to have a good excuse to visit the store - it's amazing!



After about 5 1/2 hours of driving, we arrived at Spearfish Canyon Lodge - it was very dark nighttime even thought it was only about 6 pm (this photo was taken the next morning). Our room's deck is the one on the second floor, left side.


We had a suite decked out with rose petals, chocolates, wine, jazz music, a fire in the fireplace, and chilled champagne. Oooh la la!


The living room area of our suite.


The view from our deck.

Saturday morning we hit the trails! All in all we hiked three short hikes for a total of about 4 miles.

The first hike we did was the '76 Trail ... it went straight up and then straight back down. It was even more difficult with packed snow and ice on the trail and something joked about - 'mud ice' - that was incredibly slippery. My lovely hiking buddy was quite a gentleman and held my hand at all the slippery spots.


We made it to the top of the canyon rim!


Spearfish Canyon ... it's older than the Grand Canyon!



The next two hikes took us to waterfalls.

(somewhere along the trail) 
I love him!




We were both fascinated at the partially frozen icy waterways.

This was a nature trail that was surprisingly exciting.
This was the neatest thing! The waterfall's spray/mist froze, creating beautiful ice forms.








I really disliked crossing this bridge. I also disliked Corey lollygaging on it.



We spent the afternoon in Deadwood.


We had about four hours in town until evening mass, so after aimlessly roaming Main Street, we donated some money to the Deadwood Historical Society (tried our luck at a casino). After Mass, Corey took me out to a nice anniversary dinner at Jakes. Corey discovered it based on online reviews and we found it amusing that the restaurant seemed to be secret ... located on the 4th floor of a small casino, with nearly no signage along the street. But wow! this was a fantastic – and romantic – meal! Upon leaving, we learned that the restaurant (and whole building) is owned by Kevin Costner. What fun!

. . .

This afternoon, we arrived back home safe and sound. I missed Kya dearly and felt a little guilty that we were hiking without her (it's one of her favorite activities). Again, many thanks to Caitlyn and Chaz for taking such great care of Miss Kya while we were away. She was happy to see us and told us all about her fun weekend with "Kiki."

I'm very blessed to have so much love in my life.
Thank you for this amazing weekend, Corey.
Happy fifth anniversary - I love you!

ice, ice, and more ice

Last night it started to rain and it sprinkled all night. This was not just regular rain – it was angry freezing rain.

The entire central and western North Dakota was under a "no travel advised" warning.
So we cancelled our planned weekend trip to Fargo, and hunkered down for a couple days at home.


This morning was actually beautiful if you could get past the glare ice covering every inch of land/sidewalk/driveway/porch. Once we got over the ice skating rink, we had some fun!
Corey tried his luck at pheasant hunting again. (no luck)


Kya and I took photos of the ice.


Kya's poor tree. I hope the branches are able to hold strong and don't break.


Our lawn


Ice flowers




Catching snowflakes!


Crunching ice in the tall grass


Kya absolutely loves the snow! (and in this case: the ice)


We were ready to get back inside and have hot chocolate, but she insisted on a quick game of soccer. She just couldn't get enough of the brick morning outside. Funny kid.

Kya lately

This iPhone is really becoming a necessity for me. And that is really saying something since I refuse the smart phone trend until about a month ago. It's a phone — and camera — by my side all day. Wow what a great idea. This means lots of random awesomely adorable photos of Kya. Enjoy.


Super silly face at opening day of the new indoor toddler land at Kirkwood Mall (back in mid-October)


Kya, telling me something very important (the pointy finger comes out if it's really important) while having lunch at Subway during our 'girl's day' (Corey was enjoying pheasant hunting on opener weekend)


By the way, the guys got their pheasant limit - my grandma Darwin, Uncle Bob and Corey's birds.


Kya and Parker in their favorite spot at Grandma Rene's sewing room.


Homemade squash soup - Kya loves it!


Sewing Bison Booties ... just like mom.


Learning to cut ... just like mom (when I cut fabric for booties)


We were at my grandparent's house for no more than 3 minutes and in that time, Kya transformed herself into this masterpiece. Watch out, world!


Watching me cook dinner. Love this girl.


Kya and Lauryn (my cousin) at the Vander Vorst's for a fun fall gathering.


So sweet. Napping on Grandma Rene.


Love for Baby Rose.


Future ballerina?


Jumbo perler beads = hours of fun


First snow! (late October)

And today:

Our new washing machine and clothes dryer were delivered! Kya and I are really enjoying laundry today, which is good because we have about 10 days worth since our old dryer went kaput. Kya is a super helper now that she can reach into both the washer and dryer (we already had a stern lesson about not going in the machine).

kya and the first snow

This kid really gets excited about snow.





 ... guess I can't blame her, I think snow is pretty neat too.

the month of many celebrations

November is a big month around here ...

Just to name a few celebrations: Corey and my anniversary (wow FIVE years already!), Corey's birthday, Caitlyn and Chaz's anniversary, birthdays for Corey's brother Jesse and his wife Megan, my uncle Bob's birthday, election day, and of course Thanksgiving!

Other fun dates:

November 1 is Bison Booties' birthday. I opened the Bison Booties Etsy shop on November 1, 2010, and what a fun and exciting two years it has been! More about that over on the Bison Booties blog.

photo credit: http://www.facebook.com/NDBison

November 1 is also National Bison Day. What is that you ask? A special day for bison, the day was selected by a grassroots effort to name the bison as the national mammal. Personally, I think the bison is deserving. Anyway, I guess it's a fun day to celebrate the mighty bison.

photo credit: http://www.luvnd.com/

November 2 is North Dakota's birthday - 123 years! As a fifth-generation North Dakotan, I find this reason to celebrate! www.luvnd.com put together a bucket list of 123 ways to love North Dakota and I'm proud to say I've experienced over 50 of them!

photo credit: http://www.prideofdakota.com/

November 30 is the first day of the 2012 Pride of Dakota Holiday Showcase in Bismarck. This is the largest show I sell Bison Booties at and it's a blast ... and busy insane! I'll be a wee bit preoccupied with this between now and November 30, so if I don't return your phone call or e-mail right away, know that this is my excuse.