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.

Fall Update

Here are a few pictures of the kids doing their stuff!

Emma continues to LOVE Bryant! He for the

most part likes the attention. As seen here

he occasionally gets adorned with bows, crowns,

and other girly items.

Emma wanted to earn some money.

She wants to buy a kids digital camera.

So I told her I'd give her five bucks for

cleaning the fridge. I think she earned it.

She scrubbed the whole thing! It

was spotless, the only thing I did was help

unload/load it and clean the drawers.

This is what happens when you tell Will to

smile.

We celebrated "Mr. Powded day" Mr Powded

is a person Emma made up a year or so ago.

She doesn't use the name much anymore

but we thought it would be a fun family

holiday. We had a little obstacle course

in the backyard and...

Cupcakes with candles. It was a hit!

Wow what a month we have had. Dennis is fully into his program and we all miss having him home so much! He really likes the other four residents in his program. It of course has been stressful but I guess he can handle a year of anything.

I hurt my back pretty bad this month. I was having problems with my back since Bryant's birth and wanted an MRI to see if I had another herniated disk. Of course they make you do physical therapy first. I went to physical therapy just one time and she did some adjustments on my back and showed me some stretches. I went home feeling really well. But a day later I turned to grab something in the washroom and whatever she moved shifted back and maybe then some. It sent terrible pain all through my back and down my leg into my ankle.

To make a long story short it didn't go away for 4-5 days. I was in the most pain I have ever been in and for the first time I had to call someone in the ward to take the kids because I couldn't take care of them. My Dad flew out the next day to take care of us. I finally did get an MRI and it is just a bulging disk. The pain has decresed a lot and I am able to at least take care of our kids which is such a blessing.

For the 4-5 days that I was laying on the couch I learned a couple of good lessons. It was so enjoyable to just lay there and play with the kids. They would bring toys and sit on the floor and I would play with them while I laid on the couch. I enjoyed so much just spending time with them and not worrying about everything else that needed to be done. I learned I need to live in the moment and not be so concerned with the next task at hand.

I also am so grateful for all of the family and ward members that were willing to help. We had family that was willing to fly out next after my Dad left if needed and I can't count how many wards members offered service. We are definitely blessed to have so many that love us. I want to be so willing to serve others.

While my Dad was here we did celebrate his b-day. We used white powdered doughnuts and candles and the kids loved it as much as cake!

We get some pretty heavy rain here. There are big canals running behind all of the houses to help the rain drain. The kids love to go back and play in it during/after a big storm. It rained hard almost all day so it was pretty full. Without these canals I'm sure our house would flood with these big storms!

And...

Emma and I got our hair cut awhile ago and I haven't wanted to post anything until now so...

Before...

After...

Emma picked out her haircut and she LOVES it!

I haven't been able to get mine to look like this and the stylist assured me it was sooo easy. But I found if I just wash it and let it dry it really looks okay. Okay works for me most days so I actually kind of like the haircut now. Sorry we weren't brave enough to do it while living in Milwaukee Marianne! I guess it took a hot Texas summer to get us to finally shed the extra hair.