eating away the winter blues

 here we are again. another incredibly random as of late post... but such is life at the moment! I can't believe we really haven't been on any sort of 'vacation' for 3 months now... (tear...) I know that sounds ridiculous, but HOLY COW, i'm ready to get the heck out of here! Counting down the days until Friday!!! I'm putting those girls in the car and heading to Utah! Am I crazy for driving 16 hrs by myself? Yes. Is it worth it? Totally.

That being said, we do love it here. It's just so damn cold!!

But how cute are these girlies? I can't believe how BIG Clara is! She wants to be just like Lucy and does everything she does, she says everything, and is such a spit fire! Holy cow! I love her and that little mullet she is still rockin'!

 We've had a few babysitting nights where Clara got her first kiss from Ethan!

 Lucy got this rocking chair for her birthday and refuses to sit in anything else! She absolutely adores her cute friend Emma too! I'm sure they are all watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse- we're a little obsessed over here!

 I finally got my hair done here in Minot! My friend Angie does such a good job- she just does it out of her house and totally made fun of me for wanting to lay back over the sink. I guess the gymnast in me is still in there somewhere!

 Minot had it's first Snow day this year (in MARCH)... so we spent the day having tea parties and causing mayhem as usual....

 Anson and sweetest baby Norah came over to bake some goodies one day, and Clara was in love with Baby! Love it!

 Glazed lemon cake! Yum!!

 Spent more time with the other 'Nora! Haha. Sweetest baby Eleanor!

 Went to a Dr. Seuss story time one Saturday, AND to McDonalds! Whoa!

 I've been working the last few Wednesdays down in New Town, and this week on the way home it was rather eventful....

 I blew my tire...

in the middle of no where....

 I was about an hour away from Minot, and 30 minutes from New Town, but luckily I was right by a gas station that I pulled right into, for some stupid reason I was to embarrassed to ask for help and I have NO idea how to change a tire so I called Tyler to come to my rescue. Being the sweet dad he is, he was worried that the girls hadn't eaten dinner so he called one of his cute girls that works with him to come over and babysit-- I would have just thrown the kids in the car with some snacks, but whatev! After randomly tearing up to the cute ladies working the gas station, etc... etc... Tyler finally gets there like an hour and a half later, attempts to change the tire-- 3 men jump out of a car and take over and get it done in 30 seconds, then the spare is flat, he sends me home in his car to get to the girls, while he makes his way to these nice people's house to fill up the spare.... I get 15 minutes away, I need to go back and get him because the tire won't stay on the rim... I go to flip around and slide into a DITCH in his car.... a random man in a truck of course has a chain and pulls me out, I then can't get Tyler's car out of 4-Lo for about 10 minutes or so, or find his emergency lights-- because, Yes, I am the stupidest person in the entire universe at this point... eventually make it back to the gas station. Tyler calls 15 minutes later, these guys had made the tire work somehow and I could leave again for the hour drive home...... How awesome of a story is that? 

Lesson learned: Next time you blow a tire in the middle of no where oil field land where burly men run a-plenty.... Get out of the car and act like you are going to change your tire, or make some sort of hint that your tire is flat, and it will be taken care of for you in about 5 minutes or less. I don't know why I did none of this. I just looked like some parked car in the gas station parking lot, as soon as people knew we were changing a tire we had at least 5 cars stop to help, and the cute lady in the gas station and her friends ended up taking care of Tyler and my car for about an hour! And like 5 cars stopped to make sure I could get out of the ditch not even 5 minutes after I had slid into it. We truly live in a great place! But man... it was a LONG day! Haha. 

But my kids are pretty cute... They play with their food ALL the time and I frequently ignore it.

 I went and saw 'OZ' Thursday night with my cute friend Anna and some friends! She is moving to Denver... Tear... I am seriously in denial about it. She has been one of my dearest friends her, our only close neighbor, and we love them... I am so sad!!! and yes I am wearing my glasses under my 3D glasses... I seriously need contacts!

 Tyler and I were finally able to get out for a fun date night just the two of us to a new restaurant- Souris River Brewery, we enjoyed the fine selection of brews... I mean.. burgers. And a root-beer float of course! 3 cheers for good food in Minot! The choices are slim here!

I also discovered that I can't smile normal for a camera. Overrated.

 Last night we hit up the new KOHL's- Minot is moving up in the world people! I went with Jaymie and her cute daughter Ivy- who is the coolest 11 year old ever. I love her! We had a great time, and I made it home just in time to discover that I leprechaun had stopped by our house for St. Patty's day!

Lucy was SO excited to paint her nails green before church this morning!

and the girls' busted out their cutest dresses ever from Grandma Carrie! I'm in love!

It was our ward conference so the Stake was teaching our Sunday school class, so I went in to help with nursery and got to hang out with this cute babe all afternoon!

I could eat you up, I love you so!

 Clara loves nursery, and I love all those cute kiddos! Lucy was pretty worn out on the ten minute drive home... Bless her!

 We've been doing a lot of hanging around in our PJ's on these cold, snowy days, and the girls love trying to do Yoga poses with me! Lucy is mainly obsessed with perfecting her handstand and cartwheel- just the way she wants to do it though of course....

 Clara loves practicing her straddle, she says, "Touch your toes!!" Cutest thing ever. 

 and here's a peek at our weekly forecast... I kind of want to curl up into a ball looking at it... this has been going on for 4 months now people. 4 Months! That being said-- I really am truly, and sincerely grateful to be here in Minot. It's just really cold. I know this is where we are supposed to be, and I can't tell you how much we love the people here! It's such an amazing place, and I just can't wait for the spring weather to hit! =)

We're off to Utah on Friday! Hopefully we'll have some more exciting posts after that! Haha-- until then we'll be curled up in our jammies making cookies all week and dreaming about Hawaii... Less than a month away now! Wahoo!