Minnesota so far

We have now been in Minnesota for one month.  It may be that this was the longest and shortest month of my life.  Moving in, meeting new people, settling into a routine, and exploring this new place we now call home has made for an interesting month.

 This is our new house here in Plymouth, Minnesota.  It's actually the back side of our house, but the kids (well, all of us) were so excited to have a fenced in back yard complete with a fort that here is where we took all of our pictures.

 Even though we started paying rent as of June 1, the movers didn't bring our things until the 8th, so we had a week to kill while living in an apartment.  Chase hadn't yet started work at Target, so our main job was to keep us all entertained while we waited for our stuff.  Though frustrating, it did allow us to explore the area.  Above is the beautiful French Park, just located off Medicine Lake.  There is an amazing playground and a beach that we enjoyed . . . until Logan fell in.  Swim suits next time!

One day we took a rainy 2 1/2 drive to Duluth, an industrial town located on the shore of Lake Superior.  There we took a train ride with the kids. It was really fun, especially in the outside car even though it was only 46 degrees!

 Moving day finally arrived, and we quickly began to settle into the house and our new routine.  One of our favorite things to do is to walk to Schmidt Lake Park that is about 5 minutes from our house.  There, the kids love to go down this big slide.

One of the best parts about living in Minnesota are all the lakes.  Our friends the Taylors have a wonderful backyard that goes right up to the lake, and they were nice enough to invite us over for an afternoon of boating and playing in the sand.

One weekend we were hit with some terrible thunderstorms that not only knocked out our power, but flooded our local streets and knocked out a great number of fences and trees.  Here is our next door neighbor's beautiful tree that fell over due to so much water and wind.

One of the most exciting things that happened to us was finding out that baby # 3 is healthy, due Nov. 14, and is a GIRL!  We are so excited for her to join our family.

A New Post With a Lot of Catching Up

So being morning sick and moving from one state to another does not a great blogger make.  At least in my case.  I don't think I've ever gone this long without blogging, but so much has happened and I've been so sick during 95% of it, that I honestly was on low maintenance mode.  However, now we are moved in AND I am no longer throwing up everyday, so here is my catching up post.

 In March, we went to St. George with some of our England side for Chase's last Spring Break.  While we were there, we hiked the "Short and Scary Hike", went to the park, and had our family portraits taken, among many other fun things.

 I wish I could have devoted an entire post just to our family photos.  The kids posed so well, and we got lots of great shots with their cousin Jax, their Grandma England, and Great Grandpa Stander.

When we got home from St. George, I started feeling a little bit queasy.  The more I was around food, the sicker I got.  Well, that prompted me to take a little test, and we found out we were pregnant!  It was a wonderful surprise that we are very grateful for.  Our little baby is due November 14 (same due date as Courtney Cope's).  And thus began about 3 months of morning sickness which I will try my very hardest to forget:)

 The last week in April we celebrated Mckay's 3-year-old birthday.  He was really excited for his birthday, and I decided to throw him a birthday party with a Mickey Mouse theme.  It was a great way for him to have his first "official" party and also to have a sort of going-away bash with all of our friends in University Village.  The above picture is of our two youngest guests, Logan and Walter, and Grandma Sainsbury.

 Opening presents was fun for every kid!

 This is Mckay saying "Cheese!" so that we could take a picture of his new scooter.

The following week, my brother Stephen married the wonderful Courtney Cook in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.  It was a beautiful wedding and a beautiful reception.  I am so glad that Courtney is in our family now!

Chase graduated from the University of Utah with his Master's in Business.  I am a terrible wife, and didn't get a picture of him in his regalia, but the ceremony was great and I am so proud of him!  We've been married now for almost 5 years, and school has been a big part of our lives.  We are both excited for the next chapter . . . working at Target Headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

A week after graduation, we went to St. George with our Sainsbury side of the family.  Again, we love the "Short and Scary Hike", and went to the park, Nelson's Frozen Custard, played lots of games of Rook and Settlers of Catan, and went hot tubbing.

Upon returning from St. George, we spent the next three weeks in transition.  We moved out of our University Village apartments and spent two weeks going back and forth visiting both sides of our family.  The Copes were in town for part of this time, and Matt and Jaime were in town for another part of the time.  We were so grateful we got to see all of our family these last few weeks before we moved.

While with our England side we . . .

 . . . did some fun toy shopping,

 . . . went hiking,

 . . . went to Kamas and swam, barbecued, and went off-roading,

. . . and ate out at Chick-fil-a.  We had such a good time!

When we were in Payson, we. . . 

 spent lots of time on the trampoline and grandma and grandpa's garden,

 . . . went 4-wheeling and bike riding together,

. . . and spent lots of time with cousins (I wish Walter were able to be in this picture!)  They met their new cousins Brigham and Tacem (no idea if I spelled that right).  

We had such a wonderful, busy March through May, and since this post has been so long, I will end for now and blog about our new adventures in Minnesota another time.

For now, I just want to say goodbye to Utah.  Utah is where Chase and I were both born and raised, where we met, got married, started a family, and finished school.  Most of our major milestones happened in Utah, and most of our family is still there.  We will miss this beautiful state and all the memories and connections we have there, but are excited for this new chapter in our lives.