The Adventures of Sam and Lacey (Part 2)

So five and a half months ago I posted an entry entitled "The Adventures of Sam and Lacey (Part 1)". I know you've all been dying to read "The Adventures of Sam and Lacey (Part 2)". Well here it is... Better late than never...

Why so late? I would like to claim that I am too busy to blog. Obviously, that isn't entirely true. But maybe if i create one massive post showing everything that I haven't gotten around to blogging about, then maybe you really will believe me if I claim to be too busy to blog.

BRANSON, MISSOURI

May 2009

The main attraction of Branson is the cheesy, family friendly shows. Sam and I went to 4 fun shows while we were in Branson: The Acrobats of China, Six (6 Mormon brothers who sing A Capella), The Duttons (another Mormon family that sings), and the Dolly Parton Dixie Stampede. We didn't get any pics of the shows, but we took some pics on our bike ride. It was pouring down rain, but the trail was so beautiful that it was worth it. We rode clear into Arkansas. (It was only like 8 miles round trip - but it was fun to say that we crossed the state line!)

GIRL'S CAMP

June 2009

I spent a week at our Stake Girl's Camp. Lots of fun memories. Makes me wish I was a Young Woman again. (kind of.......)

OUR 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

June 16, 2009

For our anniversary, Sam surprised me with an overnight stay at the Chateau Avalon. We stayed in the Jesse James Escape theme room. It was very fun and even romantic in a wild, wild west kind of way.

HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, ARKANSAS

4th of July Weekend

If you've never heard of Hot Springs National Park, you aren't the only one. I hadn't heard of it before either. But it was a fun little getaway. It is just a charming, old street that was used to be used as formal bath houses. Most of the bathhouses are closed down, but the buildings are still standing.

Rub-a-dub-dub....

Sam and I are always up for hikes and there were lots of cool trails to hike near the Hot Springs National Park. Yes - I was hiking in flip flops. (Side note to the Mitchell Family - yes - those are "the" flip flops.)

One of our favorite parts of Hot Springs National Park was this Shaved Ice Stand. Super Shady, but super yummy.

DALLAS, TEXAS

JULY 2009

I had to go to Dallas, Texas for a staff conference this summer. Staff conference wasn't so fun, but it was fun to see my little nephew Kellen. And his parents of course :-)

THE MITCHELL FAMILY CABIN

McCALL, IDAHO

JUlY 2009

For my family, a trip to the cabin is not complete without a massive white elephant gift exchange. I'm not kidding you when I say that some members of my family prepare months in advance for this party. We get regular texts from my brother informing us how many months, or weeks, or days we have remaining to prepare for the white elephant party.

So here we are, looking over our toes at the massive pile of white elephant gifts to be opened.

Us Mitchell kids get a little goofy at the anticipation of opening all of these thrift store treasures.

Here we all are sporting the bathrobes Brian picked out for us.

Not sure what this is that Sam is wearing.

In case you can't read my dad's outfit it says "Nasty Curves." Too funny!

This is my special brother Brian. No need to say any more.

Another family tradition is to take a 30 minute hike. When we were little my mom used to always tell us that the hike would only be 30 minutes. I guess it is okay to lie if you are a mom???

Here I am with my lovely sisters.

Me and Sexy Sammy.

It was a hot day, so a few of us jumped in the lake.

Dad and I are giving a thumbs up. Not sure why.

Here we are all dressed up. We were good boys and girls and we went to church while we were on vacation. (Nevermind the fact that we left after sacrament meeting.)

Another family tradition is to hit golf balls off a cliff. Driving ranges just aren't nearly so fun as this.

Sam and I took a break from the rest of the family and took a hike down to Goose Creek Falls. It is times like this that I really miss living in the beautiful state of Idaho.

ROAD TRIP TO SOUTH DAKOTA

LABOR DAY WEEKEND 2009

Our first stop was Mount Rushmore.

Our second stop was the Crazy Horse memorial.

This is what the memorial is supposed to look like some day:

This is what it looks like right now:

We took the journey into Montana to visit Devil's Tower. I wasn't too keen on the thought of driving an additional 2 hours to see this, but it was totally worth it. Pictures don't even do it justice.

We drove through Custer State Park. Apparently it is famous for donkeys and buffalo.

This is me trying to act cool, but my window was rolled down and I was completely terrified that this donkey was going to reach in and bite me.

We also took tours of a couple of caves while we were there. These pics were taken in Wind Cave.

Here we are at Badlands National Park. It reminded me of a white rock Bryce Canyon. I never would have guessed that a place like this would exist in South Dakota.

On our drive home we stopped in Mitchell, South Dakota.

Apparently this town was named after one of my ancestors.

So this picture is for my family. Love you Mitchells!

Mitchell, South Dakota is home to Dakota Wesleyan University. This is the University that Sam had a baseball scholarship to. He toyed with the idea of coming here his Freshman year of college, but in the end he decided it just wasn't the right thing for him to do.

Mitchell, South Dakota is also home to the semi-famous Mitchell Corn Palace.

This place is too wierd.

Yes - the entire outside of the building is decorated in corn cobs and corn husks.

Even the inside of the building is decorated in corn cobs and corn husks.

Sam and I have had several other adventures that somehow went unphotographed. In no particular order, they include:

* Camping at Smithville, Lake

*Visiting the Kansas University campus in Lawrence, Kansas

*Hanging out with my cousins in Wichita

*Attending LDSFS conferences in Salt Lake and St. Louis

*Chloe and Tyler visited us for Thanksgiving. (Check out Chloe's post about it)

*Spending 2 weeks with family over Christmas break

etc... etc... etc...