Tuesday, May 20, 2008

South Dakota 2008 - May 14th thru May 19th

South Dakota 2008 - May 14th thru May 19th

So here is where I went on vacation in May:

http://www.recsprings.com/

I recommend staying here if you ever go to the Black Hills of South Dakota - it's owned by a father & son and they are really a great family. It's not fancy, but the food is good & they treat you like family! Papa Joe is a great guy, so is his son little Joe! I really enjoy going there with them, every year and I'm even thinking about going back in the fall to see the leaves change in the Black Hills.

So here are some pictures from my trip: I'll try to put in some info under each one.....

This is the first day ... it's me with my wheeler @ the top of one of the power line trails. 
The Black Hills are so beautiful!  It feels like you are on the top of the world! 

Here's me & my friends Greg and Carol.  At the Highest Peak in South Dakota. 
Here is me catching some air and jumping over the hill!  LOL!   I hope to show my kids this some day so they'll know that their mom wasn't always bossy and lame!  LOL! 


This is Carol & Me - I think this is Terry's Peak.   Can you believe we had snow in the middle of May!   In some places it was hip deep!   There were a whole lot of pulling wheelers out when people got stuck! 
Here's me on another day!   I don't think my pictures are in order because this is one of the later days when it had gotten warmer! 
My wheeler taking in some sun! 
Here's me, Dan, & Brandon - taking a break!   You can tell it's me in the picture because my pigtails are sticking out the bottom of my helmet! 
The sky is so clear and beautiful in the Black Hills :) !!
I walked half way up the power-line hill to take pictures of all the riders as they came down the hill & Dan was last so I asked him for a ride down the hill!   Dan went a little faster than I was thinking he would!  HA! 
Mount Rushmore...... 

On Wednesday - I took the day and drove from MN to SD - it took me about 10 hours & then when I got there that night I just checked into the hotel and slept.  Then when I got up in the morning - Dan & Bette had arrived during the night - so we went to breakfast.  After breakfast there were lots of people there from my atv club and we went and rode the whole day!   
The next few days: Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday we rode - I even lead the group on Saturday - I was really proud that I was able to lead such a large group of riders.   We would ride all day and then come in for dinner in the evenings and then just hang out at night at the resort.  In my opinion it's a really great vacation because you don't have to run around a whole lot if you don't want to... we were able to go everywhere on our wheelers - which I love!   I just turned over 2000 miles on my 2006 Bombardier Outlander 650 XT - which feels like a whole lot of miles!   Oh well I've enjoyed every single mile!   I have worked hard to learn everything about 4 wheeling and I play hard every time I go out!   I drove home on Monday and then took the day on Tuesday to relax and unpack!  I stayed home with IV.   It was nice!  

This is Sunday - and this is the whole group lined up in front of the lodge w/ Papa Joe, Little Joe, his girlfriend and their puppy Missy.    Then the turkey on the left hand side of the picture really really liked Ashley the little girl on the left.   It would follow her around all weekend!   Too funny! 

This shows how many riders we had ... there was only me and one other in front of the wheelers shown in the picture! 
Here's all of us trying to get a group picture! 
More wheelers! 
All of us in line - in South Dakota, you can ride 4 wheelers on the road!  It rocks! 

If you ever get to take your kids here it's a great place to visit for families - there are some nice images of the Black Hills in the Movie National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets - it's a great movie so if you haven't checked it out!  Think about renting it for 'date' night with the one you love!   So that was my vacation!   Hope you'll all enjoy all the pictures I know that I had a blast! 
MandyJo

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Do you every feel like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdOxZVOiJWM


I was trying to get out of the office today to leave to go 4 wheeling and this afternoon it seemed like my day started to go just like the above link.... take a look! It's really kind of funny yet frustrating at the same time!

(By the way I did see this on somone else's blog - but it described my day as well... so I just had to share!)

Monday, May 5, 2008

Favorite Photo on Monday


Here is my favorite photo of my favorite little girl's curls :) - What a sweet sweet baby she is and I'm having a hard time with the fact that she is about to be almost a year and a half old this summer - right now she is 16 months old. She'll not hit the 17th month mark until the 12th of this month. So a few days we have left of sixteen month old IV.

I posted a picture of IV, because she always makes me smile and I had a rather rough weekend when it comes to people/friends making plans and then canceling or just really seeming like when you show up they would have rather that you didn't show up at all. I'll have to write more about this later. I'll also post about why there are no more face shots of my favorite little girl. I just wanted to say that I've been praying and thinking about all of you out there and I hope that you are doing well.
MJ

Is It May Already?



I can't believe that it's May already! I am very happy to see that spring has brought so many children home to their forever families! Congrats to everyone!
Troy, Rachel & Little D - http://journeywiththewilliamsfamily.blogspot.com/
Janine & Family - http://finding--emily.blogspot.com/
The O'Neal Family - http://www.oneal-itsasmallworld.blogspot.com/
Carey & Norman - http://russianfairytale.blogspot.com/
and one family that has been waiting so long and I'm so especially happy for:
Debbie & Dave with New Baby Izzy - (I wonder why I love that name as well? *wink*wink) http://russianbrown.blogspot.com/

So to each and everyone of you! I'm so happy that you've come together! Congrats!

Also if anyone has wondered why I am not posting pictures of my little niece IV anymore it's because her dad EV - doesn't want her pictures posted online anymore :( - so I was asked to stop posting them online. I'm a little sad about this because she is just so important in my life, but I have to respect their wishes. So the next one that I will post does not show her little face only her curls.

I posted the above picture of me from Saturday night out dancing. I was trying to do my America's Next Top Model Pose - but I really can't seem to get it perfected! Yes I watch that show I know I'm crazy but hey I have started to like fashion just a little bit! Do you think that the hat is too much? The jeans are so cute I Love them! I like the little top as well and the boots where ones that I wear to work and just switched them to a going out outfit. Oh and I want to add a few more because I went out with my sister AJ & EV my brother in law/trainer!


I just love how my sister and her husband are so cute together! I just love it! They are adorable. Plus they look so romantic when they dance together and smile and stuff! I can't help but be a tiny bit jealous!

Here is me & AJ dancing together we had so much fun! I think I had more fun on Saturday night than I did on my birthday.
So I had some great times with my family this weekend and I really needed that time. We had dinner on Sunday night with the whole family and that was nice for us all to get together.

I have to separate the post about the stuff that was bothering me because I just don't want to lump it in with the stuff that is good in my life. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I'm hopefully going to be updating the layout of my blog soon because I want to freshen it up for spring!

Miss hearing from you all and I'm enjoying your blogs immensely!