From Minnesota to Missouri

Where to start...let's say Minn-e-so-ta. This last weekend Ryan and I traveled to Mexico, Missouri. Yes there is a Mexico in the United States. It is in the north-central part of Missouri (aka middle of nowhere).

The trip started on Friday afternoon at 3:30pm after I was finished with work. The drive from Northfield to Des Moines was nonetheless flat. It got better once Ryan and I got to southeast Iowa/northern Missouri. There are many Amish in this region and we did see some wagons with horses on the shoulder of the roads. Both of us were stunned to see so many of them out after dark. We encountered many signs that said "Please share the roads." underneath it was a picture of a wagon and horse. We arrived at Mexico about 11pm. We were both proud of ourselves for only stopping twice (especially me because my bladder is very small!).
Now we come to the purpose of our trip. My cousin, Jake from Arlington, Texas attends a high school military academy in Mexico, MMA. Every year at the end of the school year they have a send off for all the boys. During the send off they have a final formation and graduation for all the seniors. Jake of course wasn't a senior, but he was involved from the beginning to the end.

These are pictures of the final formation.

After the final formation was complete commencement started. It was a very formal ceremony.

All the students ushering in...
When graduation was done the boys lined up out front and were released/dismissed. I don't think I have ever seen so many hats thrown in the air. Jake's seemed to be thrown the highest. I wouldn't say that it is any inclination of his experience there because what I saw that weekend was different. The relationships that the boys have made and the experiences they went through showed me the bonds they have will last forever. To see my little cousin have that experience was emotional for me. I am so happy and honored to tell people that my cousin attends MMA. It was great to see my cousins, aunt, and my Grandpa Tom, who drove down from Des Moines to haul Jake's things home. Below are some more pictures from the weekend...

The Boys

Grandpa Tom and some of his favorite grandchildren

Cousin Erin, who just graduated high school!

Cousins and I...love them!

The Myers Family

Waiting patiently to watch Jake and embarrass him

After saying goodbye to Katie, Grandpa Tom and the cousins we ventured over to Columbia, MO, home of the Zou. We walked around the stadium and campus. We ate at a brewery downtown and decided to stay in the city for the night. We were so both physically exhausted from the long night of driving before. The place we stayed at had this huge statue of a moose out front. I don't know if the statue was necessary but nonetheless it gave us entertainment.

The next morning we awoke and started on our way towards home. While we were completely bored driving through Missouri, we came across Yogi the bear. We were crying from laughing so hard. Here was Yogi in front of this business with two garbage cans full of what looked like gasoline tanks. Only in Missouri would you find a moose and Yogi all within 20 miles of each other!

Since we had all the time in the world to get home we also stopped at Pella, Iowa to have lunch. It was a quaint town with a college and a downtown with a danish touch. I loved it! It reminded both of us of Northfield with all the boutiques downtown. We even had our lunch in a park in front of Pella Windows manufacturer. According to Ryan this was his favorite part of the trip. He also figured out that Central College is located in Pella, which then lead to him talking about St. John's football. I guess they always gave them a run for their money. An old windmill in downtown Pella. Another stop, Des Moines. We HAD TO check out the capital. Here is a look from the capital steps of downtown Des Moines in the background. The coolest thing I thought about our capital visit was that people were taking wedding pictures while we were there. It was at the point of the wedding where the groom was seeing the bride for the first time. It brought me back to August 21, 2010 when I married my best friend!

The capital of Iowa

I had to take a picture of this because I hope Ryan someday will be able to park a foot away from the state capital. Here ends our trip for the most part. The drive between Des Moines and Northfield was very bland. Not much to see besides fields, corn, beans, and a couple homes here and there. We were so happy to make it and see our wonderful cousins!