Last week, Dan and I flew to Rochester, MN for a long weekend to visit our son, Ethan.

For the past few months he’s been completing the later portion of his Master’s program in molecular pathology at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. This required applying for and completing an internship at various locations around the country. His first choice was to go to the Mayo Clinic. This was quite an accomplishment since the program took only four applicants from around the country. The Mayo Clinic is home to more than 3300 physicians, scientists, and researchers who share their expertise to help the thousands of people from around the world who travel there each year for medical care.

We’ve been keeping up with him through Sunday night phone conversations and text messages but we were missing him badly! It’s so life-giving to watch your children go after something they want, put in the work, and be successful at it. He loves what he is doing and that makes my mama heart very happy.

Just before we arrived, Ethan interviewed for a job in one of the many state of the art labs he’s been fortunate enough to train in. We are so thrilled to say that he is now officially going to be employed at the Mayo Clinic working in the genetics lab this June. DNA anyone?!

Next up, his official graduation May 13th!

While I’m so happy for him, I’m trying not to be selfishly sad that he’ll be so far away!

First up, we spent a day with Ethan touring the clinic which is sprawled throughout the town.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to spend everyday with him due to school commitments. LIFE!

So, we took an entire day and drove along the Mississippi River over to Wisconsin and back down the Minnesota side. The countryside is breathtaking with it’s rolling hills of plowed farmland, weeping willow trees, old homes with red barns, and an abundance of old country churches. I think we took our Texas weather with us because it was perfect for exploring!

We stopped on the side of the road to capture this beauty. The gentleman that owns the property was very kind and gave me a brief history of his life and this 100 year old barn.

Red Wing, Minnesota located along the Mississippi River is one of the most unique and charming little towns I’ve seen in my lifetime. It’s also the home of Red Wing Shoes.

I’m looking forward to making a trip back here to visit longer. Now that Ethan will be calling Minnesota home for awhile we’ll definitely be spending more time here.