One of our goals is to update our blog more often... which if it happened biannually that goal would be fulfilled. In this post we wanted to let you all know that we made it to Minot, ND. We had a fantastic trip driving from Texas and visiting in Utah on our way. We stopped in Laketown just in time to go to the demolition derby with Grandpa Ogilvie. Emma and William LOVED it and still talk about it today. In Logan we visited with lots of friends and family. After being gone for so long it was a much needed visit and we loved every minute of it. The derby, church with Grandma and Grandpa Ogilvie, relaxing in Logan with Grandma Jensen and going to the parks, eating delicious food that only seems to happen at her house, visiting with Debbie and Mindy, The pool party at Heather and Kirk's... all very memorable. Thanks to everybody who made it a good time for us and we really miss you all a lot.

This was a nice park in Colorado where we stopped for lunch.

We arrived in Utah for the first time in a couple of years and were VERY excited!

The very first thing the kids wanted to do in Utah was climb a hill (which they really haven't even been exposed to for most of their lives.)

Grandpa Ogilvie was transporting people at the demolition derby in his ATV. We all got a good ride.

We sat on a hillside to watch the derby. The stands were all filled up. It was a lot of fun.

In Logan, Grandma Jensen introduced us to a really cool park just a block away from her home. After living in Texas during a tough drought and record high temperatures, visiting Logan was truly like being in paradise.

We are still waiting for a few more pictures. We'll post them next time in another year.

Family Pics

A few weeks ago Emma did her first fun run. She was so excited about it and was sure she was going to win. But when we got there she was so intimidated by all of the people she started crying when it was time to run. Dennis got her calmed down and she ran the rest of the race fine. She was still sure she had won the race I think because she got a medal. We had to break it to her gently but she took it okay. They gave the boys medals for sitting in the stroller while I pushed them for a SLOW 1K walk.

Elise, a co-resident of Dennis', and a good family friend took some family pics of us about a week ago. It was rough getting three kids to cooperate but a few turned out okay.

Why Not Minot? The Freezin is the Reason!

So... we got our assignment last week. We'll potentially be living here for four years.

I guess we haven't posted it because we were in shock first, then really busy with the kids, and then lazy.

We were given a list of all the available bases and asked to prioritize them based on where we'd like to go. Most people get within their top five, a few within their top ten. For us: listed in spot number twenty three, yes that's right 23, was Minot, ND. It's a really nice place by all we have been told. It was just #23 on our list so it kind of caught us by surprise.

I don't really want to talk about it that much right now. I think I'm still going through a grieving stage. Amber is handling it pretty well. I will say that when I called Amber to let her know she was in the van evacuating our house from some local wildfires endangering the neighborhood. She didn't take the news in the moment too well either.

Whatever. Someday, we'll all look back on this and laugh.

I guess I could post a pic or two of our beautiful soon to be kid-sickles.

PS The fires were a real threat, and continue to be, but we have been absolutely fine. Our house just smells like smoke and there's a fair amount of ash in our garage, but overall we are out of harms way where we live.

Some events from the last couple of months...

Two Texas snow storms. One which left the city closed down and Dennis out of work for three days! We got about 4-5 inches Ha! Ha! The roads were complete ice and people drive crazy on them!

We learned Texas homes are not built to withstand winter. We just about froze and they had to have scheduled power outages because people were using so much electric heat during the cold spell.

Still recovering from back surgery. I feel good most of the time and have faith that over time I will make a full recovery. Thank you all for your prayers and kind words in my behalf.

Trying to keep up with three kids home all day. I can see why people put kids in school earlier than five. Having three home all day is crazy! But I wouldn't change it for the world. I have had the chance to talk to Emma so much about the gospel this past year and answer a million questions that she has about the Savior, the adversary, missionary work, etc.

Emma wanted face paint one day. I found a

recipe online and she went to town.

William finally got hearing aids and is starting to talk better. He also had his third birthday.

Dennis made this pinata for William's b-day party

Just still enjoying having Bryant around! He makes us all a little happier.

Looks like he's outgrown the bouncer!

The last couple of months

Over the last couple of months Dennis has been collecting most everything he needs to be able to make stuff for our house. He completed his first project in Nov. and it has been wonderful. He made some shelves for our toy room with a little table in between. It is so easy to keep the toys organized. He would love to work out in the garage all day every day!

We had a nice Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Ogilvie. These are the ginger bread houses we made on Christmas Eve. The adults make the houses, the kids decorate/eat candy.

This little guy is so fun to have around. He is happy most of the time and we just LOVE him!

One day after Dennis returned home from running Emma wanted to go out running with him. We dressed her up and she put on her lipstick and they went running together. They had a great time.

Emma taught William how to take a "silly" picture, and now this is all he wants to do when we pull out the camera. Great.