Kansas Weekend

I hope you all have had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! 
I had a very busy one full of lots of driving and great family time.  This weekend, I left Jonathan and Sugar to their own devices, and Mom, Dad, and I headed to Kansas.  We dropped Dad off at my Grandpa's house for the weekend, and then Mom and I drove to Hutchinson for the night, but not before making a very important stop in one of our favorite Kansas towns, Yoder.  Yoder is a Mennonite community that has a restaurant, a furniture store, an amazing hardware store, and several other cute little shops.  They also had a farmer's market going on.  Here is a picture of almost all of the items I purchased during our time in Yoder.

This includes a purse, a 1-gallon crock, a couple of packages of wheat kernel snacks, a quart of homemade bread and butter pickles, a quart of homemade sweet garlic dill pickles, and a jar Sandhill Plum jelly.  Not included in the picture, is a cinammon roll as big as a dinner plate (no exaggeration)  from the Carriage Crossing Restaurant.  It was yummy!

 The next morning, we drove about an hour and a half to Wilson, Kansas for the Steinle Family Reunion.  On our way, we passed the Smokey Hills Wind Farm.  After miles and miles of flat land filled with wheat, it is amazing to see rolling hills filled with enormous wind turbines with blades slowly turning that close to the interstate. It was a beautiful site! 

The reunion was wonderful time filled with lots of love and laughter (and lots of yummy food).  Mom has two remaining aunts on her Dad's side, and it was wonderful to see them and all of the many cousins and second cousins that she hasn't seen in many, many years (the last reunion we attended was in 1983), and meeting many others for the first time.  We had a great time, and can't wait to do it again!  Here are some pictures from the reunion.

Mom and I

Mom with her Aunts Helen (L) and Violet (R)

Steinle 1st Cousins

Steinle 2nd Cousins (minus a few who had already left)  I am the pink arm - my head is hiding.

That night, we stayed in Salina, and on Sunday,  we started our trip home.  When we got to Edmond, Oklahoma, we made a short detour on Route 66 to stop at one of mine and Jonathan's favorite places, Pops, and picked up two 6-packs of various assorted pictures.  I have never seen Pop's so busy in my life!  Granted, we are normally there when it is 15 degrees outside, so that may have something to do with it.  After that, we headed the rest of the way to Mom and Dad's house, and then I came the rest of the way on Monday.  I am so glad to be home.  I think I drove some 1400 miles total this weekend, and I am tired!

On another note, with this being Memorial Day, I wanted to take a moment to remember two very special people who are no longer with us:  My wonderful Poppop, Ben, and my beautiful Grandma, Thelma.  I love and miss you both!!

Poppop

Grandma and Grandpa with my Dad as a baby