The trip was great, I went to states I had never been to before - like Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. It was great to see this beautiful country, I feel very blessed to live here in this great land. 
We drove out through Colorado and Kansas, then back through Nebraska and Wyoming. It was kind of funny, my car has a GPS system, Mr. Handsome's phone does too AND we had the iPad, which also has Google Maps on it. At one point all three of the electronic items were sending us in 3 different directions!! When we got to Missouri, I insisted that we go to the Auto Club and get old-fashioned PAPER maps that don't move when you touch them or go "out of service area" at inopportune moments. This made me very happy, I got out my little yellow high-lighter and marked up my maps and knew where I was the rest of the trip. We had to detour around about 100 miles in Northern Missouri and Iowa on our way home because of all of the flooding along the Missouri River. We saw farms, fields, homes and more halfway underwater! It is amazing to see it in "real life" instead of on TV. It really brings home that people really are suffering.
We went to a funny restaurant in Missouri called "Lambert's Cafe" it is the home of the "throwed rolls" - where they literally throw rolls to you when you want them - it is a crack up. Especially to see the kids catch the rolls.
On the way home, we went through Lincoln, Nebraska and guess what is there? That's right, "The International Quilt Study Center and Museum". Totally cool. The admission is $6.00 per person and I graciously told Mr. Handsome I would pay his way, but - it was free admission the day we were there because they were having some sort of event! Lucky us. It was neat to see the exhibits and just to be in a place where people study quilting! Wow!
We stayed in some real dives, including "The Annie Oakley Motel" - thank you Expedia - NOT! I think my real problem is that I have "Hilton" taste and a "Motel 6" budget... It's good to be home, but I had a great time, with my daughter, grandkids and wonderful hubby. (Yes, it was fab to see Mr. Ben too!)
I finished hand sewing the binding down this morning, while watching "Dora" and brushing up on my Spanish. I am keeping an eye on the little bear, for a few days, since her momma went to a family reunion with the "big kids" and was worried about "Little Miss 2 year old" and the cars at the campground. 
I hope she likes it - it is nice and snuggly. 
For dinner one night, we drove up north to cousin Karen's house. She is doing a fundraiser with her kids - they are cooking dinner and serving it in their amazing backyard and the money they collect all goes to build schools in Kenya. Michele couldn't come to the retreat, but since she lives near Karen, she joined us for dinner. We got Aunt 
I got one quilt top completed and another one all cut out and ready to go. The completed quilt top (in the bottom box) is for my niece-in-law's shower next week, so I can't show it yet...
I was telling Rose and Deanna how much I loved my Shark steam mop, so when they brought me home on Saturday, they both just had to try it - they were fighting over who got to mop my sticky kitchen floor! (The 
All in all, a wonderful weekend, although we were joking that it was "The Grandma Retreat" this year, since we were all grandmas - the younger girls didn't come. (Although I heard a rumor that Jen showed up after I left...)
Some of got our eyebrows professionally waxed by Jessica, who has just finished Esthetician school - very nice. Everyone brought a snack, so we had some yummy treats too.
First, I cut apart the panel and added sashing, then giant flying geese. I still had to add some plain blocks to the top and bottom to make it long enough. I used all of my extra fabric purchased on the back - quite a lot of pieces, plus I added a wide strip of Minkey to the top part, so that would be next to his sweet face at night. Since I pieced the back so much - it has a few tucks... 