Wednesday, February 18, 2009

February 14, 2009

Hearts & Flowers

Well, Valentine's Day was a bit of a bust this year. Jacob had meetings in Fargo and because Melissa went to a Stake dance, she was down there, too. They both got back at 4:40pm, so I stole my children and rushed over to Dairy Queen (mmm ... peanut buster parfait) and enjoyed a little sweet treat. Jacob didn't forget - he knew he was going to be gone the entire day so he surprised me with flowers on the night before. He knows I love roses ... they smell so awesome! Isn't he great? :)

Please note: the pitcher the roses are in still have the auction tag from the Diss auction on it! Ah, good times ...

On a side note, Melissa went to school last Monday (Feb. 9) and the roads were a thick sheet of ice. Melissa's bus was in a bit of an accident - the driver lost control and hit a yield sign and a fire hydrant. The kids on that bus were given a free pass - no school! I had Melissa go and take some pictures, but the only one she took had a fire department vehicle in it ... the roads look wet, but it's all ice. Slip, slide and away they went!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

February 11, 2009

BUGGY ...

I took some pictures the other day of our arrival onto the base ... through our very buggy windscreen (ha - check out the British verbiage!). It may not be too pretty, but you can get an idea of what it looks like at the front gate. I KNOW everyone will be overjoyed and ecstatic to see these! :)

the exit off Hwy. 2 ...

Misc. planes & stuff - I am assuming that they are the remnants of glory days gone by at GFAFB ...

approaching the "Avenue of Flags" ...

Flags ... need I say more?

Flags ... again. Please, curb your enthusiasm ...

Thursday, February 05, 2009

January 31, 2009

Snow & Sioux
On Saturday, the weather was warming up - it said 44 degrees in our car - so we took everyone to Turtle River to go sledding. WOO HOO! When we first arrived, there was absolutely no one there. :) That didn't last long, but even at the zenith of people, it was manageable. The snowboard wasn't such a big hit as it was previously ... the snow was packed down and very slick.

Melissa, revealing her "secret weapon" signature sledding style ... she challenged me to a race and, the poor thing, lost.

Austin is skidding to a stop ...

An action shot of Austin, running into Annika ... her sled stopped in the middle of the hill and she sat there and didn't move and it was too late ... Austin had already started going ... and blam!

Our love, enjoying a trip down the hill ...

Even the dogs came ... Pirate's expressions are always ludicrous
While living here in the frozen tundra that is Grand Forks, we have found that an important part of life here is enjoying the local university's hockey teams. Seeing as I had a devilish hard time finding men's hockey tickets, I opted for the considerably cheaper and available women's hockey tickets.

A statue of Sitting Bull, one of the most famous Sioux Indians

Here are the kids, outside of the arena ... will I ever have all of them look at me at the same time?
After sledding, we rushed back home to get ready for the hockey game. When we got there, Austin really wanted a #1 fan foam finger (he has been begging for months), so I went to the Sioux store inside the arena. Did you know that everything in the store ends with 23 cents? Why? Because Ralph Englestad's number was 23. Count yourself knowledgeable in all things Ralph! ;)

Austin, enjoying his finger ...
Fooling around and picking their noses with their fingers ...

Making an "A" out of the fingers ...
What a goofball ... with the fingers! ... :)

The only decent shot of Melissa ... she's getting camera shy ...
Woo Hoo ... the kids are on the big screen!

You can make out the whole gang ... and I look like a doofus, taking a picture!

The game was really interesting ... none of us have ever been to a hockey game before. Austin said that it was "better than football" ... I think it was because we had awesome seats and really no seat is a bad seat at the Ralph! May I add that the seats are leather? Yes, nothing but the best for us Forkers! ;) muah ha ha ha ...


Ha - this lady in front of us, sporting her "modern technology" ... I haven't seen one of those in FOREVER! :)
LOOK! BC in North Dakota! more fodder for my calendar ... :)