Tattoo Day

Some of Dave's co-workers have been talking about getting tattoos together for about a year. Dave finally decided that it was time. His co-worker Sarah knows someone who does tattoos so Dave called her and set up a day for all of them to go in together. Her shop is in Mountain Home and she had them all come in on a Sunday so that they would be the only ones there. We all showed up and spent the entire day there while the tattoos were getting done.
Dave's co-worker Doug was the first one to go. This was his first tattoo and he was really nervous. Once she got started though he did fine. His clover has both of his parents initials in it. Sarah was next to go. Sarah is a HUGE Michael Jordan fan...she even has a Michael Jordan room in her house. I thought hers turned out really good.

Our friend Megan went next. Megan has been wanting this tattoo for at least a year. She was really happy to finally get it done. Hers took about two hours, and she was a total rock star...I only saw her wince twice while she was getting it done.

Ryley worked this summer at Lansing. This was her first tattoo and she decided this was what she wanted while she was in Oregon on vacation this summer. She was really scared before Laura started, but once she got going she did really well. We all thought she would be the most freaked out......(more on that later)

At about this point I said that I should take a picture of a picture of a tattoo and send it out to Marcy and Perry by phone (they were camping) and put it on Facebook that I had gotten that tattoo. Megan had been posting all the pictures as everyone got done. Sundii picked out a picture of Betty Boops head in a shot glass and we said that I had that done. We were sure that people would start calling me asking me what the heck I was thinking. We were very disappointed that not one person called...I finally decided that we picked one that was too realistic and everyone was afraid to say anything for fear of offending me!! So, I really didn't get a tattoo of Betty Boops head in a shot glass.

Tattoo Day

(I am not sure what happened, but I can't seem to add any more pictures so this will have to be in two posts....hopefully this is the second, but if not please see the other have of the Tattoo Day post!!) Stephanie Campa is a summer worker that has been at Lansing for the last three years. (I think) She got this on her foot and is turned out really pretty.

This was Colton before she got started on him.....at this point he was still excited. Shortly after this he was not so excited! This was his first tattoo and he got really nervous....then she started and he didn't do so well. He literally turned green and Laura had to stop the tattoo because he was about to pass out. Her helper had to fan Colton with a magazine for about ten minutes, and Ryley must have given him about twenty cups of water. We were all giving him a little bit of a hard time, and told him it was Ryley we thought would have the hardest time! After that though he was totally fine. It took her about two hours to get his done and he did great.

Colton is a huge comic book character fan so he got this tattoo to represent that. The CK is for Clark Kent, but also Colton Knopp which I thought was pretty cool. The Spider Man is half regular and half the Black Spider Man. It turned out really cool.

By that time it was 8:30 at night and Laura had been tattooing for ten and a half hours. She was awesome and totally worked her butt off. She never stopped to eat lunch or dinner, and had just had a few snacks we had given her. All she did was wipe everything down after each person, and start another one. So by this point she was tired, and she still had to draw Dave's up and do it. They both decided that it would be better if he came back the next week to have his done since it was very detailed and would take a long time. He was really disappointed that he didn't get to get his with everyone else, but he knew it would be better if he waited.
That next Friday he left the house at five in the morning and went to Mountain Home to have Laura do his tattoo. It took about five hours and turned out amazing. It has huge meaning for him and he has wanted it for a long time. He had her hide the girls initials in the wood like he had them hidden in the rocks on his dragon tattoo so I really liked that he did that. I told the kids.."I never thought I would be married to someone with so many tattoos." Brooke replied, "I never thought I would have a mom who didn't want any tattoos!" He totally loves it so I am glad that he finally got to have it done.

This is Laura, the tattoo artist. She did an awesome job on every tattoo that she did, and was so much fun to hang out with all day. She totally entertained us with fun stories about stuff she has done and she fit right in with everyone. When we left she gave Dave a hug and said, "I feel like I am really going to miss you guys." If I ever do decide to get a tattoo I know where to go now!