Snow Day!!!!

We have been under a blizzard watch since Dec. 23, and it was set to end about 6pm Dec 26. Darin was able to make it home on Christmas day by using Hwy 10, the interstate was closed. The blizzard watch has been lifted and now it's a Winter Storm warning until Dec 27.

Jo was awakened this morning by Darin saying, my truck is stuck in the driveway, can you come help me decide what to do exactly. Out we went, (with our new warm Christms wear.) The truck was very stuck in a large drift. Darin ended up calling work and was told not to worry, there were 6 ft drifts in the parking lot at work, and the dispatcher's relief couldn't make it it, call back in a few hours for an update. So we began enjoying our Snow day! This was about before 6am! By 7:30 we had received a phone call from Jo's work saying they couldn't open and to not even try to make it in, SWEET, I can't even get out of the driveway! No worries. When Darin called into work again, about 8 he was able to report that the truck was unstuck and he could head down the road, if they wanted him to. He was again told not to worry or try, same situation as before, please report about noon, with a road report as well.

So about 11:30 we braved it, and went for a short drive, we made it to the interstate which was empty but looked to be open! We went down a few other roads since they were really ok. There was one road we had to turn around from, notice the pic of the fenceline below. We went through town and was pretty shocked at the piles of snow. The drifts were so high, I didn't include a picture but took one of some storage sheds on the way to our house, the drifts were completely blocking the doors, and was about level with the roof. Didn't seem like it had snowed that much, but blow it had for sure!

All in all, we have had a very nice day together, watched some TV and were even able to take a nap together, I'm sure we will regret it when it's time for bed tonight, but with how incredibly crazy it's been lately, it was nice to just relax and lay around together! For tomorrow, I'm sure it will be back to reality, Darin will go to work and Jo will as well, although we did get the call a little earlier, that Church has been cancelled, don't suppose work would two days in a row? HMMMMM, we can hope!!



this is a parking lot in town and the pile of snow they had on Sat. about noon, when we made the drive into town.



After getting the truck unstuck we took a short drive to give Darin's work a road report and this is one of the roads we seen, obviously we didn't try to go down. There was another car on the other side of the drifts doing the same thing we were. This is more a shot of the fenceline just off the road, but with this shot, you can just imagine how deep it was on the road.




And the other side of the house, Darin to show you how a good depth.




The backyard, normally you can see the Bar-B-Que, and the dog house, as you can see you can't even see the fence in some spots!

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas this year was a rough one for Jo. Having never been away from family, it was very different for her to be alone for most of the day. Having been so busy lately, she spent the cleaning the house, watched a Christmas movie on TV, and was more than ready for Darin to be home, when he was lucky enough to get off and be home by 6pm. We then opened all of our Christmas gifts and enjoyed a nice evening together. We were all very spoiled this year, with roasters, homemade aprons, cute teddy-bears that sing beautiful uplifting songs, personalized bakeware, clothes, and cell phone accessories, and Darin's favorite gift a water pillow! The dogs too were spoiled as always with plenty of new toys (just in time since all the others are buried outside in the snow) and treats galore!

We miss our family and friends tremendously, and being so far from both is very hard, however we still believe this is a good move for us, and we are growing as a couple as well as growing as individuals!

We also everyone was able to take a few minutes to remember the reason we are able to celebrate this amazing day. Happy Birthday Jesus!

Lots of love to all and a very Merry Christmas!

Better late than never.....

So, we took out the camera yesterday for a few Christmas pictures and I found these pics from mid November. So I thought I would give ya'all a quick post about it. Right after we moved to North Dakota, Jo went and signed her Scentsy business up with the Chamber of Commerce here in Dickinson. To help get active in the community and get her name out there. They were having a Holiday Craft Show on Nov 14. The cost seemed pretty fair, and so we signed up. It just happened to fall on Darin's day off, great help for Jo. This was our first Craft show with Scentsy and it was a Success! It seems that since then, Jo has been constantly busy with Scentsy! No complaints of course. She had her biggest month in November for sales, which in turn helped her team have a great month! And she was able to add two members to her Scentsy team during the month. She has been working non stop between working her Part-Time job and Scentsy, and was even making deliveries until about 5:30 pm Christmas Eve.


Here is one of the pics that we took of the display!

Ready for Christmas??? Ready or not here it comes.

It occured to me yesterday that we are only 10 days from Christmas!!! Holy Toledo's where has the time gone?!?!? With both of us working so many hours and Scentsy, we have been pretty busy. However, I must say that I think we are ready, sure we may have a few small things left to buy for Christmas day but nothing to stress over. The Christmas packages have all been sent to Iowa and Utah, when did shipping get so expensive? The Christmas cards have all been sent out, if you didn't get one, please email us right away, it means we do not have your address, and we would like it. The tree is up, and although we have no outside decorations this year, we are enjoying the season. I do wish we were going to be with family this year, but we are making the most of it, and going to enjoy our First Solo Christmas (if you happen to call on Christmas and Jo is in tears, it's not your fault, she's homesick for her family, just bear with her.) We hope everyone takes a few minutes during this Holiday Season to remember what it is we are celebrating. We wish each of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a wonderful HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Saying Goodbye...

Can you ever truly be prepared to say Goodbye to someone who has touched your life? I think the answer is no! The Friday after Thanksgiving we received the call, that Darin's Aunt Bonnie had passed away. We were saddened by the news, but felt relief in knowing she was done suffering and moved on to Heaven to be with her parents and wait for the rest of us. As we talked about Going to the funeral vs. Not Going there were pro's and cons on both ends. Darin felt very strongly that we needed to go, and so we went. We left North Dakota early Sunday morning and drove straight through, arriving in Brandon, Iowa about 10pm Central time. We woke the next morning to attend the funeral, see some family and head for home. We stayed Monday night in Alexandria, Minnesota and got home just in time for Jo to make it to her Scentsy party Tuesday. It was a fast trip, but a good trip. We were able to see a few family members, and visit, but most importantly we were able to pay our Respects to a very wonderful lady.

I didn't know Aunt Bonnie well, but as I listened to the stories that were told about her at the funeral, I was touched at how she had affected so many lives. They talked about her love for her Church and her laugh. I haven't been in the family long enough, or around enough to have heard her laugh, but I can almost hear it as everyone around me was remembering her. What a special spirit she was. She was born with Down Syndrome, and had her fair share of trials, but she came through smiling and enjoying life. What a woman, she was! At her funeral, the pastor relayed a story to each of us, afterward they had some copies made, I took one and wanted to share it.

Welcome to Holland
by Emily Perl Kingsley
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child
with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared
that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would
feel. It's like this...

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip- to Italy. you buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. you may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"HOLLAND?!?!" you say, "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. it's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, let flashy than Italy. but after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills.. and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things... about Holland.


I can't explain exactly why, but that lil story really touched me. I'm so glad that we were able to make it to Iowa for Aunt Bonnie's funeral, and although I didn't know her well, I feel as if I did. I enjoyed hearing all the stories shared about her personality and enjoyed hearing some of the family's favorite memories of her. Again, my only thoughts are, What an amazing Special Spirit she was! We were all so lucky to have known her! You will be missed Bonnie!