Minnesota: We Made It!

What do you call a jam-packed Suburban stuffed with a toddler, a baby, and two crazy thirty-somethings heading from small-town Idaho to the northern Midwest? 

An adventure!

We took five days to drive across Montana and North Dakota to visit the Great American West.  It was fun and exhausting, and we are resting today before driving a little bit more to do some house-hunting.  Stay tuned for more photos and recaps as the adventure continues....

Weekend in New Jersey

 The babies and I flew to New Jersey for a quick weekend trip over Mother's Day weekend.  We celebrated Mother's Day with my wonderful mom and my 93 year old paternal grandmother, but the REALLY big deal was my dad's 70th birthday!  Happy Birthday Dad!  And let's not forget, my mom's birthday is the day after my dad's, so we got to celebrate her, too!

Let's just say - it was a busy weekend:

Thursday: Mom's Birthday + baby J's first flight.  Thank heavens for the iPad and the Winnie the Pooh movie!  I used the Cares 5 point harness for M, but I wouldn't recommend it.  In fact, I'm returning it.  He kept sliding out of it and was unable to lean over to rest his head and nap.  

Friday: we had a great visit with a dear friend from college!  She brought her daughter over to play with the boys and my nephew.  It was so good to see them.  As we prepare to move, I am reminded of how important it is to maintain friendships.

Saturday and Sunday were filled with family time and celebrations.  Then on Monday, we flew back home.  It was great to see everyone, and us being gone allowed D to get a lot of packing done.  Some pics from our family time:

Happy in the air-conditioned hotel!

 

M rockin' his "ear muffs" for his movie!

Snoozing with Uncle J

Cousin Lego time

Whenever we go to New Jersey, we always walk to this little pond near Granny's house.  Happy Birthday to my parents, we can't wait to see you again in June!

#7QT: Moving!

1.  We're moving to Minnesota!

2.  In one week!  Anyone want to help me pack?

3.  Why we are moving:  D received a great job offer with a great company, better benefits, etc etc.  Onward and upward!

4.  We will miss Idaho and the wonderful friendships we've made here, so much.  This is such a beautiful place to live and we found our sweet boys here!  God truly meant for us to be here at this time in our lives.  We hope to make many trips back.  I love new challenges and adventures, so I guess this will just be another chapter in our lives.  I never imagined I'd live in Idaho, and I never imagined I'd live in Minnesota either.  I hope my winter coat is warm enough!

5.  We are taking an epic road trip from here to there: hoping to stop at the Museum of the Rockies, home to the largest T Rex fossil collection in the USA, Yellowstone, and a couple of other national parks along the way. 

6.  I probably won't be blogging much along the way since we are really trying minimize everything that we are bringing with us in the car, but I'd love to share my adventure with you via Instagram.  I'm American_Annie, feel free to follow me there!

7.  Where are we going?  Not quite sure yet - our road trip will be capped off with some house hunting adventures, and probably some hotel living for (hopefully) only a few weeks until we can close on a place.

Hope you'll follow us on our next adventure across America!  

For more quick takes, check out: Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum!