A Bit of MN in MT

We were able to see our friends Aaron and Heidi Espe last week and meet their new puppy! They live in CO now but he is formerly from MN. He had several concerts in the area so we were able to go to one of them. It was great to see them and awesome to make it to a concert! Madison came with us and had a blast - she has been listening (and loving) him for years :-) She knows his lyrics almost as well as him :-)

Here is Story - she is such a cute, nice dog. Although she is only 5 months old she is almost as big as Samson. They had tons of fun playing. She is very well behaved and mellow and we miss having her running around the house :-)

We went out for pizza then came back to our house for some ice cream. Heidi and Aaron introduced us to mint chocolate chip ice cream with Val's chocolate sauce - DELICIOUS, a new favorite. Thanks guys!! :-)

 

Samson and his new friend Story. It was fun to see how nice Samson was to her and how well he did sharing all his things with her (including all of us) :-) 

Growing up right . . .

. . . . Establishing her love of ice cream early :-)

This is for our fellow ice cream enthusiasts, Val and Sheldon! :-) I knew they would be proud of their part in Hannah's very clear and definate phrase the other night. The kids were having an ice cream cone and she was reaching for it and very clearly said "ice cream". She was very excited when Brock put a little bit in a cone for her! Now where would a little girl hear this word, let a lone want some for herself? Hmmmm . . . .

It is a custom for us to have ice cream and chocolate sauce with Espe's and ever since Hannah was little Sheldon has been itching to give her a taste of his beloved ice cream :-) We couldn't hold them off any longer and thought it would be okay for her to try it out - beings we were leaving and all :-) She liked what she tasted and she may be hooked to Val's chocolate sauce like the rest of us!

She is doing her famous "uh oh" - wonder if she thinks she may get in trouble beings she has been denied this delicious treat up until this point?

Such excitement - she is looking excitedly at Sheldon who I am sure is sharing in her joy :-)

Time for a little snuggling, to top off this day of new and exciting tastes :-)
Oh no, what has been created? First a taste of ice cream now a taste of an oreo! Has all my effort to keep her away from sugar gone up in smoke??

Appears that way :-)

Farewell Photos - Part 2

This isn't getting any easier as I continue to trudge through the "farewell" posts. Minnesota was HOME to us, our first real home and all our friends there mean so much to us. It was so hard to say goodbye and it is still hard to do all the normal things each day without the "normal" people to do it with :-) However, although we really miss everyone we are very happy to be here. Knowing that this is where God has placed us gives us such peace. So, while there are sad and lonely days they are always overshadowed by the fact that we KNOW this is God's will for us.

Rachel, Hannah and I. Rachel helped us IMMENSELY as we tried to get ourselves all packed up. She was always busy doing something while I ran around scattered and completely disorganized! We would have been there another day or two if she hadn't been there :-) We did tons together. We especially loved to scrapbook (or if there was no time for that we would just shop for scrapbook stuff instead) :-) Our families got to hang out a lot and we had tons of fun. We have gone to Bluewater together year after year and will definately continue that tradition (even if it takes us 2 days to get there, it will be well worth it!) :-)

Micah (Rachel's son) and Madison (kind of an awkward picture but it was all I had) :-) They have always played so well together since they first met (about 6 years ago). They are especially funny to listen to when they are playing webkinz over the phone! It is hilarious to hear the play by play they give eachother :-)

Madison and John and Marcy. Madison goes to their house once a week to do art stuff. She has been going their for over 3 years and it is a highlight of her week. She works on all sorts of things from drawing, painting, clay to just hanging out, talking and hearing many of Marcy's pearls of wisdom :-) They are both such neat people and mean alot to our whole family. The impact they have had on Madison is tremendous and I feel that God placed Marcy and I in the same Bible Study long ago so that the connection could be made between Madison and Marcy. They are like peas in a pod and love all the same stuff. How fun it is for Madison to have a kindred spirit to share her love of art with and learn so much from along the way :-)
Val and Sheldon having a late night coffee after TONS of help. Sheldon was the steam and the power behind most of our moving - he worked like crazy from morning til evening! Just like Greta (their daughter) is like family to us so are they. They are like grandparents to the kids, and friends and mentors to us. We spent tons of time at their house (usually eating ice cream with Val's delicious chocolate sauce). Sheldon's motto is there is always room for ice cream ("it just fills in the cracks" as he says). If we are ever having taco's Isaac wonders where Val and Sheldon are (because we usually eat them at their house) The kids love to go over there and they love the attention they receive from them!
Micah, Abby, Madison and Isaac. Abby lives right across the street from us and she and Madison were "almost twins" as they liked to say. They are the exact same age (born only hours apart) so they think that is really cool! It was such a treat for Madison to have an awesome friend next door. They were always watching for eachother out the window and would race outside upon first glance.
Tina and I. Just like Rachel, Tina worked like crazy to help us our last few days. We had no idea how much physical and emotional strength we would need to get packed up and out the door so the help we received was a HUGE blessing! Tina and her family were the first people we hung out with in MN. They invited us to Bluewater after knowing each other for less than a month. We were completely comfortable with them and we even stayed in the same cabin :-) Nothing like hitting the ground running! We had a blast and have had lots of fun ever since.

Madison and Jennika. It is always fun when Madison gets a chance to play with Jennika. She is a little older than her so that makes it even more fun and exciting :-) Nearly every item in Madison's wardrobe comes courtesy of Jennika! What a treat for me (I don't have to shop) and for Madison (it makes the clothes extra special knowing Jennika used to wear them) :-)

Angie, Jennika, Brock and Madison. Angie managed the theatre for us for nearly a year and was THE BEST!! We wouldn't have made it through the last year without her, she definately saved us from burnout and became a friend to us all in the meantime :-) Now, they own the theatre and we are very happy for them :-)

Isaac and his friend Izyk. These two are a blast to watch - they are crazy, hyper boys that have fun fun fun! And they are so adorable too :-) I am very dissapointed that I didn't get a picture of the rest of Izyk's family when they were over saying goodbye! Although we have only known them for 1 1/2 years it feels like we have been friends forever. We connected right away and Denise is an awesome friend (and a really good cook who has already taught me lots) :-)

Victoria and Madison. Although Victoria looks way older than Madison she is actually only 1 year older (she is very tall) and Madison really adores her. She is such a nice sweet girl so I don't mind her mild obsession :-)

I finally finished this post and was going to do a Part 3 but realized I lost nearly 100 pictures yesterday! AAAAHHHHH!!!! When I cleared off my memory stick it reset my photo numbering so all new pictures started at 1 (instead of 95 which is where I had left off). Therefore, when I transferred the pictures from my memory stick to my computer all the new pictures (from about a week ago) copied over my old pictures. Thankfully, I had put several onto blogger already (the ones you see in this post and the previous one) so not every picture was lost. However, all the other pictures taken from the last two days in MN are gone. When I realized what happened I felt sick to my stomach and if I must admit it I did cry. These pictures were so meaningful to me - they captured so much of our last few days in town and now they are all gone. Frankly, I am still quite depressed about it. I had plans to go to the thrift store and the library today with Brock's mom and I almost cancelled because of this. Am I too attached to my pictures? Hmm . . . maybe. But in my defense they are all I have right now of life and friends in MN. I guess I am justifying my sorrow :-) So . . . while many of you didn't make it to the blog you are still in our thoughts and we are so thankful for your role in our MN lives. We fully expect all of you to become a part of our MT lives too - so come visit . . . . soon :-) We miss you ALL!!!!

Farewell Photos

It has been really hard for me to update the blog - to post all these pictures of friends that were so hard to say goodbye to. It has been 2 weeks and it hasn't gotten any easier so I might as well just get it done :-)

Madison and Kristen - her riding teacher and friend. She is such a nice girl, Madison was sooo lucky to spend time with her each week.

Alika, Madison and Brittney. Alika was not born yet when we first moved to MN and Brittney was a little girl. How fun for the girls to get to grow up together! :-)

"Grandma" Elizabeth and the kids. When we first moved to MN we lived in the same apartment building as Elizabeth. She was instantly a grandma to Madison and a friend to Brock and I. What a blessing she was to us when we had no family or no grandma nearby for the kids :-) We continued to stay in touch even when we moved and she will always be "Grandma Elizabeth"

Madison and Andi (holding her tiny tiny turtle) They were instant friends when they met 1 1/2 years ago at Bluewater Bible Camp. Although they live 1 hour away from us, they got to see each other quite a bit

Madison and Alika (in tree), Isaac (or I mean BibleMan), Brittney and Tianna playing in the back yard shortly before we took off

What little cuties! Tianna is almost 1 year older than Isaac but they play together great.

The benefit of only making it to Fargo the first day was we got to hang out with Greta!! Greta was Madison's first babysitter (over 7 years ago!!) and our HUGE helper when we were opening the theatre! She was the ever present positive force when we were about to give up (the word "chairs" still sends a shiver down our back and brings laughter to all who experienced it with us!) She is like family to all of us and is appropriately called "Greta the Great"!! :-)

Isaac was "as tired as he'll ever be" so couldn't pull himself off the bed for the pic!

Killin' Time

Brock's race lasted over 2 hours so we had LOTS of time to kill. It was an unexpectedly HOT day so we spent most of the time trying to find shade and contain the kids. There were 3 families and 9 kids in our group, with 3 of the guys racing and 4 of the kids. It was a lot of fun, although I wouldn't want to do that too often - a little too much sitting around :-)

While it was hard for us to find things to do, Isaac and Izyk had not problem. :-) They played the whole time - never taking a break or running out of things to do :-) The invented a new sport called "goggle wresting". First you hold goggles to your head and . . . .

push the goggles back and forth, laugh alot and eventually fall to the ground. Next, get up and do it over and over :-)

Luckily Strege's are old pro's at the racing thing and came prepared - a trailer to hang out in and let the kids play in, lots of chairs and most importantly lots of food and drinks :-)

Berlin and Hannah staring at something - I am not sure what :-)

Denise and Berlin (like I said it was really hot so the kiddos were shedding clothes as the day went on. Here is Berlin down to shirt; however, she is still wearing her furry warm boots because that is all she had) :-) Izyk Strege demonstrating just how many goggles he can wear at once (he also demonstrates daily how many Bluewater necklaces he can wear at once) :-)

Race Day - again

Brock bought his motorcycle this summer and had never raced, but wanted to see what it was like. He was able to race with a couple of his friends.

Brock and Paul shortly before heading to the starting line

The course he raced was the same as the one Madison did in addition to lots of tight woods. Most of the course I couldn't see and a lap took him about 23 minutes. I was never very close to the course so it was hard to take pictures. Had I been more prepared I could have walked to different parts of the course and taken pictures. Oh well - I guess that gives him a good excuse for a "next time"

Brock at the starting line - he is on the red bike

Madison watching Brock - she wanted to be right there cheering him on! It was cute!

Here he is again (in the center - red helmet and bike). They all have to stand in front of the bike with both hands on their handlebars until the signal. He did a good job getting going and was the 4th one out.

My camera battery died just as I was getting a picture of him racing! My friend took one for me so I will try to add it later :-)

After the race. Brock was completely exhausted. He had been riding for a little over 2 hours! Madison was so cute - she raced over there and immediately started taking his boots off.

Hannah was very interested in what daddy was doing it. She ran right up to him when he returned and stayed nearby the whole time. Cute!

The proud kiddos and there daddy's. Jesse Strege and his kids (except Alex) - Andi, Berlin and Izyk and Brock and Isaac, Hannah and Madison

Picnic in the field

Madison and Andi preparing the spread

The gang, dogs and all

Hannah was very glad the girls brought carrots to eat :-)