Sioux Falls Family Pictures 2010

Right before we left Sioux Falls, our friend Chiellcie (http://cdmfoto.wordpress.com/) surprised us with a family photo session at beautiful Sertoma Park. These are some of our favorites -

Crossing the Plains

Time to move on.

One last Sunday snuggle with Daddy.

Saying goodbye to Elders Patterson and Gardner . Tyson was Ward Mission Leader so he got to work closely with some good Elders.

Finally taking a picture by the old tow truck that looks just like Mater from Disney's Cars.

We loaded the moving truck on September 9th - exactly 2 years from the day that we arrived in Sioux Falls. It kind of feels like leaving a mission. We can't thank our amazing ward enough for these past 2 years! To cap off all their love, fun, and service with loading this huge thing - we met some amazing people out here!

On Friday, September 10, we headed out. 3 1/2 month old Lydia and I flew. This is a picture of her very first flight - from Sioux Falls to Minneapolis. Grandpa Jim flew up from Arizona to drive with Tyson and 3 year old Tyler on their "Man Adventure" back to Utah. He was excited to go see Mt. Rushmore because really, when do you ever get a chance to see that? We're grateful for his help! If we ever find the other camera's cord, I will post Man Adventure pictures.

I knew I was in for a long day with little Lydia. 3 flights with 2 long layovers just to get from Sioux Falls to Salt Lake City, juggling a newborn, our carry ons, plus all of her gear - stroller, car seat, diaper bag, etc. So I just decided to have a positive attitude and laugh no matter what. And you know what? It worked. I had so much help. From the little Asian lady holding and jabbering in some language to Lydia while I piled all of our stuff through Security to the young, scruffy college boys holding her and cooing while I gathered stuff up. And check out this sweet Mother's Nursing Lounge in the Minneapolis airport (see above picture)! You have to have an Info Desk Volunteer escort you up and unlock the door, but I can see why. Who needs a First Class seat, when you can sit here during your layover? :-) Tender mercies everywhere.

We were happy to arrive in one day and hoped the boys were faring well. Lydia got to meet her Great Grandma West for the first time.

And she was so happy to be joined by her brother three days later on Sunday. Look at that adoration on her face! So we're here. Safe and sound. And looking for a place to live.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Review

After two years, here is our review of Sioux Falls, South Dakota:

We Will NOT Miss
-When the weather guy says, "If you are outside with any exposed skin for more than 5 minutes today, you will get frostbite."
-Tornado Warnings
-The bugs
-The radio stations - or lack thereof
-The cell phone reception - or lack thereof
-Three words - Wind Chill Factor

We Will Miss
-Our friends
-The missionaries
-Our backyard forest
-All the deer, rabbits, squirrels, and birds (cardinals!) in our backyard forest
-The traffic - our lack thereof
-Tyson's commute (7 minutes)
-Lightning bugs
-The beauty
-The Hy-Vee (grocery store) curbside grocery pickup
-Our tiny little airport and the 5 minutes it takes to get through Security
-Bishop's Great Harvest Bread store (He brought free loaves to Church and got us hooked!)
-THE SIOUX FALLS 2ND WARD

Conclusion - If you ever have the chance to move there, we think you will really like it.
Good bye Sioux Falls!

Moving On

After 28 applications, a third resulting in interviews and about as many offers, we have made a decision. Tyson will be joining...

as their 6pm Producer in the beautiful city of

 

Salt Lake City!

It was not easy. Tyson got a bunch of offers, but none of them felt right - he would have to work on Sundays, or work the graveyard shift, or the pay was less than what he was currently making. He got a couple of better offers, but they just didn't feel right so we turned them down in faith that the "right" job was still out there. Then, with 2 weeks left on his Sioux Falls contract and sweat breaking out on our foreheads, ABC4 in Salt Lake called and said, "We want you now!" It's exciting to be making such a big jump in market size and to be going back closer to family, places, things, and people we've missed so much!

Unexpected Staycation

This is what your living room looks like when mold is discovered in the bedroom (you ought to see the kitchen with the rest of our belongings).

This is what your bedroom wall looks like when the mold is located in the drywall.

I am SO grateful that this is not our home. That we are only renting. That said, we have suffered quite the August because of it. For quite some time we have noticed a portion of our bedroom carpet getting wet whenever it rains. When it started to smell, then our landlord took us seriously.

This became our home for a week. It was quite a nice hotel with free breakfast and dinner, a swimming pool, HGTV (for Carrie) and the Cooking Channel (for Tyson). And little Tyler made a bajillion friends with the hotel staff (I took him down to the desk with me to negotiate the room rate and he charmed them right into knocking a 1/3 off the price). Despite the hassle, it would have been a fun little staycation - had we not all been so sick (except for Tyler). We don't know if it was from the mold or just a regular get sick kind of thing, but it was rough for Tyson, Lydia, and me. Once again our wonderful ward stepped in and helped out by taking Tyler so we could recuperate and then clean our mold infested belongings.

Once we were feeling better, we tried to make the best of things. Here's Tyler's getting a huge ice cream sundae at the fair.

It sure was nice to get home! Things still aren't back to normal here, but we're leaving soon anyway (stay tuned for this announcement).

Lydia's Fashion Show

Oh, it is fun to dress a baby girl!

Lydia at 6 weeks old

6 weeks old

7 weeks old - Her tennis outfit. I don't even have a tennis outfit!

8 weeks old

2 months old

11 weeks old - love the elephants and let's be honest, the hair!

Little House on the Prairie

Growing up I loved reading all of the Little House on the Prairie books. So when we moved to South Dakota and I found out the setting for some of the books took place an hour and a half away in De Smet, we knew we had to go. We spent Saturday, July 31, at the Ingalls Homestead where Laura and her family really lived 130 years ago. http://www.ingallshomestead.com/

A pioneer dugout.

It was surprisingly cool inside. I could see why they would live in these.

Tyler and Carrie in the shanty.

On a covered wagon ride out to the schoolhouse. Look at all that wide open space!

Carrie and Tyler on the wagon ride

A little house on the prairie.

Tyler pretending to cook inside the house.

This was such a fun place to visit! Lots of places to explore that demonstrated what life was like. And lots of animals. Cats, chickens, a baby cow, horses, and these cute miniature horses saddled up for the kids to ride. Tyler was too nervous to ride, but he sat for a picture.

Tyler's favorite part of the whole homestead was the kittens. Lots of tame barn kittens that didn't mind (so much) a 3 year old scooping them up and loving them.

Our family relaxing in the gift shop. I would definitely recommend the Ingalls Homestead to anyone coming out to South Dakota. It was so cool to see this place where Laura and her family actually walked. That was my favorite part of our day trip adventure. Tyler's was the kittens. Tyson's favorite part was watching Tyler's little legs running all over the wide open prairie. And Lydia liked sleeping in her stroller the best.

Baking Success!

http://www.bakerella.com/red-velvet-cake-balls/

These beauties made for one happy husband on his birthday (July 26). Happy Birthday, Honey!

MSP Birthday

My wonderful sister, Lisa, surprised me with a most fun birthday present - a day trip to the Mall of America in Minneapolis (MSP). Wow! Who does that? Someone who works for Delta and always has the most creative present ideas. Initially I thought I just couldn't leave my newborn. But then I realized, I need a break and Tyson is perfectly capable of taking care of the children, so away we went!

This is just a portion of center court at the mall. It's a full on amusement park! Once we flew in, we took the city tram to the mall and had about 4 hours to shop and go to dinner before we needed to be back at the airport. Some of my favorite stores were: H&M, American Girls, Wisconsin Cheese, and a lot more. We were booking it as the mall is huge!

I know I look a bit maniacal in this self-taken shot, but here's my proof that we were there!

As any good trip would have, we did have a series of mishaps, but we just went with the flow and enjoyed ourselves. Our initial plane was delayed so we skipped our trip into downtown to see this -

Add it to my bucket list. Some day I will post a picture of me standing by this awesome sculpture of a cherry on a spoon.

More mishaps.

On the way home, we flew past this incredible lightning show in the sky. It was beautiful...and apparently dangerous enough to close down the Sioux Falls airport, so the pilot turned the plane right back around to MSP. Uh-oh. That was our only fear about taking this trip - Tyson was home alone with the kids - one of whom is dependent on her Mama for food. I called him to see how many bottles were left and he thought I was joking (one left, by the way). We were on the last flight of the night so if it was canceled...well Lisa was ready to rent a car to get me home to my baby.

Back inside the airport, our fellow passengers camped on the ground at the gate while Lisa made a comfortable bottle pumping station for me. In the bathroom. Too bad I couldn't FedEx it out to Baby Lydia...but no need! After an hour of nervously laughing at our situation, the weather cleared enough for the pilot and crew, who also wanted to get home as much as we did, to whisk us up and away.

I had a blast, thank you Lisa! I want to go back! 

But it sure was nice to get home. :-)