The Tolleruds Take On South Dakota: Part 1

One of my favorite songs is entitled, 'I Lived' by One Republic. 

The following lyrics especially, have always stood out to me...

'I hope when the moment comes, 

you'll say...

I did it all. 

I owned every second that this world could give

I saw so many places,

and things that I did.

Yeah, with every broken bone

I swear I lived.'

This past week, my family and I made these lyrics and this song a reality.

We may have only traveled across one state, 

but we lived.

I am so very thankful that we spent these moments together, exploring new (and some very familiar to me) places and experiencing new things.

It truly was one  of my favorite times with my four favorite people.

The Badlands was our first stop...

You may not be able to tell but I was freaking out a bit in this shot..

behind us, by about 8 inches, was a major cliff

and the nice tourist (from MN!) taking our photo,

well, 

I thought for sure he was going over the other side (about a 20 foot drop) as he backed up to take this shot..

and is it bad that while I was worried about him, I may also have been thinking about my camera in his hands?! 

I had to keep reminding myself to just ...BREATHE.

Heights just aren't my thing.

These kids of mine were daredevils and climbed up and down steep embankments all the while yelling,

'Mom, dad, look at me!'

(Tanner was a little more cautious like his mama...heights aren't really his thing either!)

Our beautiful cabin on Terry Peak.

I'm so glad that we chose to stay here vs. a hotel somewhere!

We only ate out a couple of times and chose to cook most of our meals in the kitchen.

The first morning we were there, we hiked to Roughlock Falls in Spearfish Canyon.

It was a fairly easy 1 mile hike to the falls.

Another wonderful family from MN (I think they caught on that we were from their state..can't imagine why?!!) offered to take our family photo at the falls.

I am in love with this shot,

so damn thankful that we decided to spend some money on experiences instead of things!

We took the road less travelled and slid down a pretty steep embankment and climbed across a creek to see Bridal Veil Falls up close and personal..

It was truly breathtaking...

After Spearfish Canyon, we made the trek to the town of Spearfish and went to their amazing outdoor aquatic Rec center to cool off.

The big guy was struggling a bit on this part of the pool!

At just shy of 6 feet tall, he may be a bit too big to enjoy this!

           

When we came home that night, we made supper at the cabin and put the kids to work doing dishes.

They weren't thrilled..

but, a little work never hurts!

 They all loved the loft!

Madi and Tyson were the only two to sleep up there though...

Tanner enjoyed the basement coolness instead.

Madi and Tyson put on their pants and long sleeves to venture into the Black Hills wilderness around our cabin...

A view from the outside of our cabin.

I enjoyed my morning coffee out here on the deck each morning.

The kids enjoyed the extra space to play and run around.

More to come,

this was just the beginning of an awesome week!

Last Time for Everything

It was well over 60 years ago, when these two people met and fell in love.

Meet my grandma Betty, and my grandpa Dallas.

Two extremely influential people in my life.

These two taught me so much over the years but the single thing I will cherish the most is their LOVE of FAMILY.

Sadly, we've lost a few extremely important members over the years, and a few just couldn't make the trip today (we miss you guys!) ...

but we were still able to come together and celebrate the end of an era.

At the end of the month, grandma is moving to an apartment where there will no longer be enough space for all of us to gather.

Driving away this afternoon it hit me.

This house has been a big constant in my life (and I'm sure many of the people in this photo can say the same). 

It wasn't easy to come to this realization.

I'm going to cherish all of the countless memories we've made here over the years.

Today was our last BBQ get together...

Sadly, there really is a 'last time for everything.' 

We're a BIG group (and quite a few weren't able to be here!)

Great grand-kids.

Comparing bellies...what do you think?

Who wins this battle?!

Grandma with all of her kids standing in front of the house.

Lydell and Dianna and family.

Randy and Marj and family.

David and Debbie and family.

Pam and family.

Candace and family.

Grandma with all 9 of her great grandkids.

Grandma with 10 of 13 of her grandkids. 

A Week at the Lake

What a summer we've had! 

Last weekend we came home from the fair and turned right around and had the chance to relax and cool off in the lake at a beautiful cabin on Lake Crystal this past week.

We had a great time spent with grandma, auntie and uncle, and cousins in the warm Minnesota summer sunshine. 

Here are a few of our many, many highlights!