New Truck

Flannel is doing a study abroad in Paris for a semester so Sam flew to Utah, stole Flannel's truck, and drove it back to Williston. Although the truck is a gas guzzler, it has been so nice to have two vehicles again and I am really excited to have a truck in the winter. It makes driving around here less intimidating.

We took the boys outside to see the truck for the first time. They didn't seem to understand that it would be ours for a little while.

We've never had a truck before so I occasionally make the mistake of referring to it as a car. If Alex hears me, he laughs and says, "It's a truck! You said 'Car!'" I love that kid.

It is legal to have Alex forward facing in the middle of the front seat in North Dakota. We don't do it unless we have to (which has been once) and he loved it. Now he asks to sit in the front seat all the time.

My padre is always looking out for us. I am so glad he is letting us use this truck while Flannel is gallivanting around France. Although I only drive the truck once or twice a week, it is mentally freeing to not be stuck at home every day.

The Nuggie's One and a Half

I had big plans to give Edison an awesome half birthday post today, but it just isn't going to happen. We went out for ice cream after dinner tonight, and as I was turning around to help Alex buckle his carseat before we left the parking lot, Alex threw up into my hands and all over his carseat and the back seat. Yay!

Edison, when you look back at this and think we don't love you, just remember that it was Alex that ruined your half birthday. So selfish of him. His stunt did allow you to stay up an hour later than usual and take a late bath. You didn't really seem to be bothered. Also, we do love you.

Ward Service Project

Our ward had a service project to clean up a nearby park. It was the same park where the Chokecherry Festival was held. I had noticed during the festival that the park was kind of a mess. Cigarette butts and wrappers everywhere. People sleep in this park sometimes so it was kind of nasty.

I feel like I could have sat in the same place for five minutes and never run out of garbage just by turning in a circle. Each time I picked up something, it unearthed more garbage. I wish it would have felt like we made more of a dent in the litter but I am glad we could help make it a little better.

After we called it quits at the park, we headed to our church building to clear weeds and trim trees. Alex made a friend with a little boy and they were running around nonstop. At one point, I was freaking out because we couldn't find them. They had run completely around the building and we coming up behind us before we found them.

  

While we were eating lunch at the end, Sam was talking to a guy (Tanner) and realized that they knew each other from Layton. Then Sam learned that one of his good friends from high school (Amy) lives here and I had already met her at a baby shower! Such a small world. Sam has gone golfing with Tanner and Amy's husband multiple times now and has an early tee time set for tomorrow. He is so happy to be golfing again and I am glad he could find nice guys to give him some good competition.

Chokecherry Festival

We heard about something called the Chokecherry Festival. I had never heard of chokecherry before so we researched it and learned that the chokecherry is the official fruit of North Dakota. Sounded good to me, so off we went.

The first night of the festival had free burgers for dinner and ice cream with chokecherry syrup for dessert. Chokecherry is pretty good. I even bought a bottle of it at a farmers' market the next week.

The boys weren't really interested in dinner. They just wanted to play at the playground. So that is what we did. It is crazy how much these boys are growing up. I was getting nervous with the giant slides and climbing but they both loved it. I guess I need to accept that they are getting better at things.

The next morning we went back for free pancakes with chokecherry syrup.

They also had tons of activities for the kids. Every time we go back to this park, Alex asks to play in the sand box. Too bad it isn't there anymore.

They had a dunk tank but it was cold and windy so I couldn't convince anyone to get dunked.

The festival had the perfect of number of people attending. It was beautiful. I guess that is a good thing about living in such a small town. It is big enough to have activities like this, but small enough that no one comes.