Midwest

A week after Andrew and Carrie's wedding the Linebacks were having a reception for them in Kansas. My mom, dad, and I planned on going to the reception and decided to make a week long trip out of it. Our flight left in the morning and was planned to land at 2pm in Kansas City- which would have been perfect for the 6pm reception. Of course, it didn't end up that way.. Because of the terrible weather, the Kansas City airport closed and our plane had to land in Tulsa, Oklahoma instead. After a long day of traveling with bad weather news followed by more bad news, our flight landed in Kansas City at 9pm and we finally made it to the reception a little after 10, needless to say, slightly late. The reception was beautiful and we enjoyed a great after party with delicious food and great company.

The next day we woke up and headed to the Cabelas head quarters. Cabelas is a huge outdoors store that has everything you could ever imagine. It was fun to walk around and my dad and I even got Cabelas hats :)

My parents after eating at Cabelas

After we left Cabelas we met up with Andrew and Carrie and saw some church history sights. We went to Independence and saw the visitors center there and then went to see Liberty Jail. It was a fun afternoon and it was interesting to see all these sights and learn more about what happened.

Visitors Center in Independence, Missouri

Eating chocolate covered strawberries from the reception- they were soo good!

Liberty Jail

That night we drove to Branson, Missouri where we spent the rest of the week. It reminded me of a little Las Vegas, but much cleaner.

Branson Creek Landing- this was a cute area downtown with lots of little shops and fountains next to the lake. We spent the evening walking around and watching the water show.

We also went on a lot of walks, there was a really pretty path that led up to an observation tower that looked over the Ozark mountains.

my dad and I walking up

Climbing the observation tower

My cute parents, I love the smile on my mom's face.

Picture from the top.
(it was still pretty early in the morning for me haha)

We went to a place called Silver Dollar City which was an amusement park, but everything was oldfashioned. When you walked in everyone was dressed different and you really thought you had gone back in time. The park was really pretty and it was fun just to walk around and

There was a sign about teeth, so naturally we had to take a picture by it :)
&no- my parents did not plan their matching outfits haha

my dad watching one of the shows

My mom on the cave tour

One thing that seems to be a trend on vacations is playing ping pong. We've never had a table growing up but I remember playing with Andrew when I was little and then also with my brother in laws on vacation when I was a little older. My mom, dad, and I kept the tradition and went down to the pool to play some ping pong.

My dad's champion picture

Some action shots :)

classic tickling picture.

Thanks mom and dad for such a great trip and for being so much fun, it was a great vacation.

Sisters Weekend

The weekend after Andrew and Carrie's wedding we had our first (and definitely not last) sisters weekend. Michelle, Melissa, Rachel, and I drove to LA to stay with my oldest sister Sara. We got there late Friday night, but not too late to eat half a chocolate cake of course. There the party began.

Saturady morning we slept in, had a family favorite of bran muffins for breakfast and headed out to hike the hollywood sign.

All the girls on the way up

So someone told us about their daughter actually sneaking down to touch the sign but had to run back up because a helicopter came around with its lights. When we got to the top we sat down and talked for a while until everyone else had left. We then had the great and daring idea of going down to touch the sign.

Going under the fence to get to the sign

Running back up when an alarm- yes, there is a motion sensor alarm- went off

After the hike we went to a farmers market for lunch. They had the best food that was so cheap, especially for LA.

Melissa's food was a little spicy

Getting some produce to take home

After we got back to the apartment building we went and sat by the pool and then the fire pit.
Shelb took this picture and we thought it looked like I was throwing fire
(She's just that good of a photographer :)

We decided we all wanted to go out that night and that it'd be even more fun if we all wore Sara's dresses. So we all showered- with a strict 5 minute limit to ensure hot water and leaving in a decent amount of time- and got ready to go out.

All of us before we went out

The fountains at the Grove

Dinner at Maggiannos- my FAVORITE

Going to see the stars after dinner

Sunday morning we got up got ready for church- all in one mirror..

Then headed to the beach for a relaxing and fun afternoon.

So a little background- all of my sisters were cheerleaders in high school except for me- which would explain the following pictures..

Just some coaching
my sad attempt of a toe touch

we had fun :)
just about as good as we got

needless to say, I am not very flexible

all the girls

Monday morning we woke up at 4:30 and were out the door before 5 to get in line for tickets to the PRICE IS RIGHT!! We stood in line for an hour for our tickets then were told at 6:30 that we needed to be back at 8:00 for the 1:30 showing. We all ran home, got ready quickly and spent the morning reading magazines, talking, and snacking. Finally at 1 we got to go into the room where it was filmed. The show was great and when it was time for the last contestant to be called down we heard "Jessica Toolson come on down, you're the next contestant on The Price is Right!!!" Words can not describe how ballistic we went. We jumped and screamed and I finally ran down feeling like I had won a million dollars right then and there. I was the last contestant up and the first to bid so I didn't make it any further but it was still unreal.

All of us after the showing
Because it's so loud in there they hold up posters with the names on them so I got to keep my poster. I also won a floor lamp and a phone for being called down.

All of us in our sister #1-5 shirts.
We had people ask if we were really sisters or 'sistas'
I am proud to say they are my four beautiful sisters all from the same parents :)

My best friends.

Thank you to my four amazing, wonderful, incredible sisters for one of the best weekends of my life. I love you all.