oodles of pictures and oodles of fun!!

I finally found a wireless connection so since it saved me a lot of time not having to transfer all the pictures to my parents' computer, I decided I better do this today before I get another scolding!

As I said in my 'teaser post', I had a fantastic time in Maryland! I really don't think it could have been any better. It was just a really special time for Bobby and I because we had been apart for 2 months. We were able to do a lot of talking and laughing, went on several dates (something we weren't really able to do a lot in Japan), and just enjoyed doing "everyday stuff" together like going to the grocery store and going to church together.

We also spent a fair amount of time with his family and it was really fun getting to know them. It was really good to meet his younger brother who is battling Leukemia right now (he was in the hospital the whole time I was there, but he got to go home the day after I left). I especially enjoyed spending time with Drew and Izzy, Bobby's nephew and niece. One day we (Bobby and I, his brother and sister in law and the kids) went to this place called "Family Place to Play" where they have a giant climbing structure and super fast slides as well as a few of those big play structures that are blown up with air. We sure had fun and we certainly laughed a lot as the kid was brought out in all of us! We all got a good workout that day and my stomach was aching for a few days after because I had been laughing so much!

Here's a glimpse of the fun we had... Drew and Izzy are SO cute!

Izzy and I...

Drew and I...

Izzy, cute as ever!

bouncing around...

these slides were ridiculously fast!! (I quickly found out why you have to sign a waiver when you go in!)

A few days after that, we went on a little road trip to Hershey, Pensylvania :) We had some Christar staff that we had dinner with about an hour away from there so we stopped at Hershey Chocolate World and a little Hershey history museum. It was really cool! Chocolate World is free (!) and they have a neat little tour that you go on that's kind of like a ride and it explains how they make chocolate. They also have a huge gift store (where we took this first picture) We also went to a 3D show about the history of Hershey. The whole experience was really cool and now I can say I've been to Hershey!

The first of many of our famous self portraits :)

We were having fun trying to get the sign in the background and then a kind stranger came and offered to help us out! :)

Another day we decided to go skating! I found it funny that we had been planning to go skating when Bobby comes to Canada but ended up doing it in Maryland! We had a lot of fun and actually had the rink to ourselves for at least 1/2 the time we were there. It was fun racing and pretending we were Olympic figure skaters :)

Thought this one was cool since it has both of our flags in it (and the Maryland flag!)

What a fine skater! :)

I needed a little break! (We skated for almost 2 hours!)

Then one day we went to Washington and went to some of the free (!) Smithsonian museums. We also went up the Washington Monument (free too!) which was really cool!

One of the views from the top...

Having fun at the bottom... (It was a little cold- can you tell we were freezing?!)

At the museum of natural history, we went to a 3D Imax movie about the ocean... I know, you're jealous because you wish you were as cool as we are!

Because my boyfriend is so amazing and knows how to make me smile, we went into the butterfly exhibit at the same museum and Bobby took some awesome pictures...

Then another day, we went to the zoo in Washington... which was free too! (How cool is that?!)

Couldn't resist posing for this one... and look,

I found my prince!!! :)

Yeah, that's right... we're so cool, you don't have to tell us!

After the zoo, we went home and got dressed up for our first "fancy date" and we went to the Cheesecake Factory :) It was really fun... and of course delicious! Unfortunately, no one was home to take a picture of us so we went for another self portrait :)

We clean up pretty good don't we?! :)

Then on Sunday, since it was such a beautiful day, we enjoyed some time outside at his parent's farm. Bobby took some fantastic pictures of his Mom's crocuses... these are just 2 of them...

We also took some pretty good ones of us... here's 2 of my favorites....

So there you have it... just a glimpse of the amazing time I had in Maryland! Thanks for the many memories, Bobby! I love you!

Now we're looking forward to Bobby's visit to Winnipeg at the end of this month! He'll even get to meet Lissa and Brad because they're coming for Easter :) Boy, it sure is fun being in love! I don't think I could be much happier than I am right now! God is so good...