Bismark Get Away

This past weekend we headed to Bismark for Stake Conference. A lot of people complain that they have to drive four hours for stake conference but we looked at it as an excuse for a much needed getaway! We drove down on Saturday and checked into our hotel. Ivan has a program through work where we can get a pretty good deal on a hotel room. We decided to get two rooms in case somebody in our ward was not able to find one. Kelli and her husband Jeff ended up taking our extra room. It was fun to have some friends right there to hang out with. Ivan ended up watching the kids while Kelli and I ran and did a little shopping. I was happy that she has a Sam's Club Card so I could buy a big box of diapers. I am really missing Costco! After shopping we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. The wait was forever and we ended up being late to the adult session. We really enjoyed what we were able to be there for though.
After conference we headed back to the hotel for some swimming. The hotel we stayed at had a fun indoor water park. Emma was sooooo excited! Ivan took her swimming and I watched from the sidelines with Levi and Kelli's baby Reece.


It was an easy babysitting gig...I had them both to sleep in their carseats in about 3 minutes! Kelli's husband didn't get there until late that night so it was good that she could take her other two little kids swimming without having to watch Reece. Our friend Chris also came to our hotel to swim with his two little kids. His wife Shawna is our wards Young Women's President and they had a youth activity that night that she had to attend. We also missed our friend Mandy and her kids that night. She was going to hang out with us but ended up getting really sick and spent the night in her hotel room. The water park was really crowded and out of control but I think all the kids had a blast!


On Sunday we went to conference. We got there an hour early to get a good seat. We saved a couple benches so that we could all sit by eachother. The missionaries from our ward and Brother Evian from our ward also ended up sitting by us. We put all the kids on the back row between Jeff and Kelli and Shawna and Chris. They had lots of coloring books and stickers to keep them entertained and they were really good. Levi slept through most of it so it was nice to be able to just sit and listen for a change. Elder Paul Sybrowsky of the seventy and his sweet wife Lynne spoke to us. They have had some great experiences in their lives. The stake center sits on the same property as the Bismark Temple. Our stake president asked all the primary children to stand and told them to go touch the temple after the meeting and ask their parents why he would have them touch the temple. So we went and touched the temple afterwards and took a few pictures. The little boy in the pictures is Emma's buddy Reddik. He is Kelli's little boy. The little girl in the one picture is his little sister Lexy.





Next we had some lunch and then went to an amazing pumpkin patch. I thought we were all just going to look at some pumpkins. When we got there we were shocked! They had castles made out of hay bales, a corn maze, pumpkin cannon and launch, tons of photo op spots, playgrounds made out of pipes and hay bales and piles and piles of pumpkins. They also had a ballet company that was performing. Emma loved that! The kids had a blast! The weather was perfect and it was fun to get outside and spend some time together. Mandy and her kids were there with us as well as Chris and Shawna and their two kids. Amanda and Justin and their two kids also joined us.











Ivan decided to take the scenic route home. I wasn't thrilled about adding an hour to our drive but it was really beautiful and we enjoyed ourselves. We even found some "mountains!"