Three day getaway

This weekend I was fortunate enough to attend my brother-in-law, Mark Bracken's, graduation from Penn State's Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. I took Friday off and flew along with my parents to enjoy a weekend on the east coast. Here is a little travel (b)log of my weekend:

We left Orange County at about 6:30am and landed in Minnesota for a quick layover. I actually had no idea we'd be stopping there and when I found out I was super excited because I hadn't been back to Minnesota since my mission. I can honestly say that my favorite part of my mission was the 4 and 1/2 months I spent serving the members of the Warroad Branch in Minnesota.

Next stop on our list was Baltimore, Maryland. When we arrived in Maryland we had no problem getting our luggage, finding our rental car, and getting on the road. However, as you can see by the picture above, we had a little quarrel with our directions. The map said one way and the rental car guy said another. Look where we ended up. Yes! For real! We got lost and ended up in front of a sign that said TIMBUKTU.

Luckily we got back on the road again and made it to our destination. Carlisle, Pennsylvania. We met up with Mark, Jacki, and Mark's parents at Red Robin for dinner, just one of the many places Jacki worked while putting her husband through Law School.

It was so fun being reunited with my little sister and to see her cute little baby bump growing bigger. She's due in October.

Saturday morning we woke up early to attend Mark's Graduation ceremony where he was presented with several awards and then deemed the newest lawyer in the State of Pennsylvania.

The ceremony was held outside amidst the beautiful spring backdrop at Dickinson College.

I fell in love with all the beautiful architecture there. I could have spent the entire day enjoying all the old buildings on the campus.

Jacki with her husband Mark, the proud Law School graduate.

Jacki was also excited to be graduating...graduating from Pennsylvania and moving to Arizona for Mark's new job in Phoenix. Hooray!

The Messick and Bracken Family.

After the graduation ceremony ended, we were invited to attend a bbq style luncheon where we enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs and ice cream sandwiches.

Once our bellies were full we all went back to our hotel rooms for some R&R. After re-charging we decided to head to this great place called Rita's for Gelato and Custard. It was one tasty treat! With our bellies once again full, we took to the streets and decided to stop in at a local antique shop. I fell in love with a beautiful antique ring and even more in love with the price tag. $1. Oh yeah!

Dinner that night was amazing. We had a delicious five course meal at a restaurant downtown that is owned by the Primary President in Mark & Jacki's ward. It was the prefect ending to a fabulous day.

I had such a wonderful weekend in Pennsylvania and spending time with Jacki & Mark and I am so excited for them to start a new chapter of their life in Arizona. New house. New job. New baby. I can hardly wait!