Happy Holidays!!!

Are we the only family that cannot believe the holiday season is already in full swing and rapidly passing you by? Most likely not! This year I actually sent out a card and letter! Every year I fully intend to get that letter written but it simply has never happened. With all the changes we have had this year, I figured it would be a great year to finally do it. Well, now the mystery is how you fit an entire year into one 8.5"x11" sheet of paper. Sigh! After writing it, I felt like I left out so many great moments. In the process, I also managed to write something in a way that I was bombarded with phone calls asking if I was pregnant. LOL! Leave it to me!!! The long and the short of the letter is that we are all well, we are all as happy as we have ever been, we love our family, our friends, and we hope that this year will bring love, laughter, joy, and peace to everyone we know!

Bodie all "googley-eyed" in the morning.
Annelise our resident artist. So thankful that she has been down the Great-Grandma Lois gene and loves anything to do with art.

This is how our riveting game of hide and seek looks around here. Do you see anyone?

The children all take swim lessons here at the YMCA and love it! They all love playing in the water wherever we are but I cannot stress enough how great it is to know you children are learning how to actually swim. That simple act can save their life one day and I am all for the lesson while having blast!

These beautiful horses live here. . . lucky us!

Everyone keeps asking us about the cold. Yes, it's cold but if you ask me, after a certain degree, it's all the same. You still get bundled up and layered up to go play. The snow has certainly fallen and our property looks so beautiful all blanketed in white. We have chosen to embrace this weather and love it. After all, the children love the snow and it's all in how you chose to view it.

This is Kitty Kitty, Pokie Pokie, and Alice out in the barn with Anna. Everyone loves the new additions and although Bodie and I are not cat people, even the two of us have come to love them. The cats just follow us around everywhere we go and it's pretty funny to watch them play in the snow too. They may convert us yet!

We joined my cousin Brandy and her family in Minot for a day of swimming recently. We also got to spend some time with my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Randy that day as well. Having some family near is an added bonus for sure. They also got to witness a nice melt down by Annelise that day while we all went shopping. To put it mildly, Target may never let us back in!!! :)

Annelise swimming. She is quite the Ham now days!

Thought we leave you with a smile. . . .worth a thousand words! We hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday and even though we are far away from friends and family, we think of everyone often! Love and miss you!!!!

B-Licious!

What is the little mans new obsession you dare ask?
What does this 16 month old love to do all day long now?

He will race Annelise and Bodie both to be the first to get one. . .

He will even go where no man has gone before. . . under this kitchen table is pretty disgusting so believe me when I say, not many will go there!

However, if he can find something to read under that table, it's all good! Brayton has recently joined the reading frenzy going on at our house. It's hard to say if it's the weather or the recent change but all our children are just crazy about reading right now. Annelise has been in the phase since birth it seems and Bodie's desire is a little more like a yo-yo but around here we can be found reading for hours lately. I mean that seriously! HOURS! Good thing we have nothing but time to spend with each other and a cozy spot by the window to curl up together!

Another day. . .More play!

We were on our way to the YMCA. . . .Seriously! We were!!! Then, I admit that I didn't feel like working out at all, I asked the children what they would like to do. They, all together (minus the baby) yelled park!!!!!!! So, that is what we did. I have been getting up CRAZY early since daylight savings time and we were actually at the prk at 8:30 a.m.. We also live 27 miles from town. . . .needless to say, we were early! It was a great park and we had a lot of fun. The sun was shining and we were all thrilled to be outside. I understand snow is coming so we better enjoy the warmth while it lasts

I think I'm gonna like it here!!!!

Sometimes you can just see happiness. I know I can. As many of you know, we are 27 miles out of Bismarck. Well, it may not be for everybody but we love it. I mean LOVE it! One thing I have noticed is that when you take away all the distractions in your life, you are able to focus on the most important things like your family. No wonder we are so thrilled with North Dakota! With no television or electronic games for the children our entertainment really comes from each other. Can't say I mind it at all!

The windmills in the background are all around us. It's far more windy out here than we are use to but the children are excited about so much kit flying weather. Their Nanny got them a kite last year and it has been put to good use!

That's an old school house on the property. Quaint huh? Built in the early 1800's and the owner's of the property stay there when in town. Luckily, they are really great people and we don't mind at all. We love the charm of it out here and the children think it's pretty cool too.

When you have nothing else to do, go bowling with pumpkins. Down slides of course!

Brayton running. . . .he does a lot of that around here! We have so much wide open space that we all run around a lot these days. Quite frankly, it's fun. Try it!

One of the many bird houses on the property. We cannot wait to see who sets up nest in there come spring.

On our front porch playing. It's a little older than our old house. A little more lived in. Not quite as big or renovated but it sure is cozy. The bushes are overgrown and the paint needs a little love but we are all tucked snuggly under that shake roof and nothing seems to be more important than that these days.

School WAS in session.. . . .Old school house actually has old school bench. Kids find this thrilling!

This is the nest above the barn door. We plan on getting a ladder and looking in this week. Not touching but certainly looking. Who can resist? We use to have hummingbird nests in our old yard (Now our renters have them, LUCKY!) but now we are anxious to see who will be living here!

Why was Bodie so happy? I actually have no idea. Perhaps it was because his entire family is all under one roof and has been for three weeks. Maybe it's because he's 3 and I typically find this age to be a happy one. Maybe it's because he has a little crush on his swim teacher? Neither here, nor there. . . does it actually matter why? Nope! I didn't think so either!

This is a picture from our first playgroup. I would love to have called it a total success, except it wasn't. The crowd was. . . .interesting. The kids were. . . .. tougher than normal, and the parent's were. . . .distracted by starbucks. However, one kind mother reassured me that not every week is like that and it really is a great group of kids so we shall try again this week. After all, we don't have any other plans. Fingers crossed everyone!!!

This is Kelly. Kelly is amazing. Not sure? Ask Bodie! He LOVES her! The twins started swim lessons this week at the YMCA. We recently became members there and love it. I normally HATE working out but actually find the little time away from the kids relaxing now. They love the play center and I love my limited time away. Plus, the swim lessons have been great for the twins. Those of you with singletons have no idea how hard it is to do swim lessons with twins. They love it! We love it! We have made friends! What more could we ask for?

Because I love her! She has been so, "Girly" lately. She is a little dramatic at times. A tad sensitive and a bit goofy too. What can we say. . .we have our girl. This girl is also the most generous, kind, polite, and thoughtful 3 year old I know.

Say no more! He is a dream. However, can someone tell me why my toddler that slept thru the night is now getting up? Up once, twice, even three times every now and then? Who is he? What and why on earth? Please sweet baby that takes all his naps so sweetly, please sleep!!!!

What a Ride!!!!

We're here!!!!! Well, we have actually been here for two weeks now but I am just now finding the time to write a post about the last month. It has been one crazy, amazing, fun, jam-packed, eventful month! To start it all off, we decided to pull the trigger and just move this fall to North Dakota. Well, we rented our house faster than we thought we would (to the best renter's ever!) and that put our plan on the fast track. Two weeks later we had the moving truck on the driveway and all our friends over to help load the puppy! Bodie was in ND working the entire time as well so I was one busy lady while he kept the crew's on task 1,100+ miles away.

In the middle of all that craziness we had birthday parties, going away parties, our must see pumpkin patch outings, and of course visits with friends while we packed the house up! Whew! The children were troopers and really did great the entire time. I was actually glad it was so busy because it left me little time to get all weepy. In all actuallity it gave me special time with dear friends and a lot of time to reflect on the people I love and already miss.

The trip started out a little rocky. On night one, we broke down at 11 pm just over the Montana state line in freezing temps. Bodie was driving the 24' rental truck and I had the F-250 pulling the 32' flat bed trailer that was loaded with my packed Tahoe and a lot more. The F-250 lost both alternators and had to be towed. No biggie had we not been in the middle of nowhere at the wee hours. We had to unload the Tahoe, unpack the tahoe, switch the car seats, and then pack the truck with all the stuff from the Tahoe. Did you follow that???? Me either but it all turned out well and left us with a thrilling start and a great story to tell.

We finally made it to our new home 2.5 days later!!!! Needless to say we have been busy UNpacking. The house has had it's issues but it is certainly turning out quite cute. The kid's love the new adventure and are quickly adjusting to life in the country. We are 27 miles out of Bismarck so it's a ways out here but we all really do love it. So far we have joined the YMCA, started swimming lessons, and this Friday we have our first playgroup where we hope to make some new friends as well. All in all, we love it! We have even had our first storm! The best part is that we are all together again. Can't believe we did the travel for so long. We miss our friends and family but we look forward to the visits and know that they are just a phone call away for now.

Brayton with Daddy putzing aroung the farm.
Bodie FULL THROTTLE around the farm!
The children think the wind here is great! Flying the kite is a new favorite past time. Luckily, ND has plenty of wind!! LITERALLY!

Bodie at the new house. The mattress in the background that we had to hoist up to the 2nd story to get in the house after taking out the window. Should be fun when we leave!

Brayton with Belinda. He managed to snuggle every woman that came over to help. He's a lover!

Could be his first crush here! Brayton and Barbie=love!

Loving on Aunt Angela at Natalie's party! Miss them both!!!

Bodie wrangled a grape soda at a party. . . He loved it to say the least!

Annelise at one of our many trips to the pumpkin patch!

Desi was a gift from my friend Jerianna! She sent her over from Portland to watch the kids while I packed and WOW did it help!!! We love her dearly and were so grateful for her help.

Packing fun!

Home is where your heart is. . .so they say!

I know the old saying. "Home is where your heart is." Surely that must be true. Surely when the boxes are all packed and the tape has sealed them shut my heart will be in there somewhere waiting to be opened at the next destination. Right?

There are so many, many things I am so grateful for right now. We have work. Our employees are getting paid. We are all healthy and well. So, there are numerous things to rejoice about. It's simply that no matter how simple, or how silly it may sound, I am having a very hard time walking away from this home.

This house is the home all three of our babies came home to. The house they have had every "first" in. The house we remodeled with our own hands over a matter of years. There were no trees, shrubs, or even a circle drive. The inside was a disaster and yet Bodie saw the potential and talked me into what it could be. I trusted his vision and was so happy I did.

This is the place our families have gathered and holidays have been photographed. The place I cried when my grandparents died and the place I laughed while we enjoyed our babies.

Make no mistake, I am sure it will all be as it should be when the boxes are unpacked but right now, right this very second, I feel a little broken and sad to go.

I know it's just a house. A material object. However, it's still my home and where my heart would like to stay.