Come see us...

In the middle of September, after we had settled into our apartment, Dan's parents came up from Florida for a visit.  We enjoyed just hanging out and catching up, but we also wanted to show them a little of the area.  Where better to start than Theodore Roosevelt National Park...

with grandpa...

The park had lost some of it's color from the last time we visited, you could definitely tell that the nights (and days) were getting cooler and that fall was right around the corner...

We took a picnic with us and as soon as we finished eating the kids took off running...enjoying the open grassy area for a game of freeze tag...

Next, we picked up Jr. Ranger books for the kids.  They thought it would be extra fun to do them while their grandparents were with them.  I think most things are fun when you can do them with grandparents :).

One of our favorite things at TRNP is the area with the cannonball concretions...

trevor and grandpa

They look like giant balls that got stuck rolling down the hills...

The kids love to scramble around on the rocks.  Climbing is fun :)...

At the base of the hills there is soft sand.  Apparently the bison pass through there on occasion...

so glad i didn't come face to face with a buffie when i rounded the corner

After the rocks, we went for a drive through the park.   Lo and behold, the buffies were migrating...

At the far end of the park, we got out to walk the trails and see the sights...

Mmmm, sage...smells so good...

This overlook is towards the middle of the park.  Beautiful views of the river and hills...

We took them to our favorite spot on the lake, but it was too chilly to get out.  Driving around, we found a field full of thistles with orange flowers.  We looked it up and it was a Safflower field!  Pretty neat :)...

blurry photo, pretty flower

They wanted to see where Dan works.  Since that changes constantly, we just showed them several different locations.  Not places that he necessarily worked, but similar...

*i didn't take this photo

Before they had to leave to go back to Florida, we had another little birthday party for Ash and Ty (their birthdays are 1 year and 2 weeks apart, the visit was in the middle of that).  They wanted to share their birthday cake with Grandma and Grandpa :)...

We had fun, but the time came when the grandparents had to go back to Florida.  It's always hard to say good-bye, so we don't.  Just "see ya later"...

Life.

When we were looking for an apartment, we really wanted one with a garage.  A place to park my car out of the weather (hail storms and snow), but also for the extra space.  We needed somewhere to put all of the tools and things that were in the under storage area of our camper and we also wanted to have a place for a small chest freezer.

Because we waited til the very end of summer to rent our apartment, they were having a special...free 2-car garage included (it was going to be a few hundred $$ extra per month earlier in the summer).  I'm glad we waited, free is my favorite ;).

So, we got the garage and a freezer to go in it.  Time to fill it up!  I enjoy canning and freezing fresh foods when I can get an abundance at a good price.  The fresh food co-op that we have been participating in here in Williston has been so awesome for that.  When the grocery store produce shelves often look like this...

...and there are lines like this waiting for the store to open...

...it is SO nice to have an alternative.

One of the first things we put in our freezer was sweet corn.  This is something that we hadn't done in years, it is so time consuming and we haven't hardly been still long enough.  Knowing that we would most likely be spending the winter here, we decided to put up some corn...

The kids were such big helpers!  It was awesome! 

It took all of two Saturdays, but we ended up with 96 quarts of corn cut off the cob and ready to eat.  I'm glad we have it for the winter, but I'm also glad we don't have to do it again anytime soon ;).

Another thing that we were able to get through the co-op was Hatch Chiles.  I had never done much with peppers and decided this was the time to change that.  I got two 25lb. boxes on two separate weekends.  When I roasted them...the smell, ya'll...it was di-vine. 

Roasted, peeled, seeded, and in the freezer they went.  I have been pulling them out to make a chile rellenos casserole that we love and slipping them in various soups, etc.  Definitely going to be putting more of these in the freezer the next time I get a chance...

and that drink...fresh prickly pear limeade...SO good!

We canned tomatoes...

making homemade tomato soup

...diced and froze some of the sweetest mangoes ever.  Pears, plums, cauliflower, grapes, blackberries, and blueberries...into the freezer so that this winter, when it is 30 below zero, we don't have to venture out any farther than our garage to get the groceries.

Some of the things we get from the co-op are new to us.  Like red corn...

southwestern chopped salad with some of "our" corn

...and Italian plums...

making plum tarts...

...one of the kids' favorites

I love it that my kids will pretty much try anything...and usually they like it :).

When it was time to set up our apartment with furniture, we didn't want to spend a lot of money.  We have nice stuff in storage (in Florida), so this stuff needed to just be nice enough.  With a little effort we were able to pull it off.  A cute vintage dining set from a shop in Bismarck ($39.99 ya'll!) and a truck load of (free!) pallets for building shelves and a bench really helped to keep the costs down.  We had to give the table and chairs a good scrubbing and Dan had to build the pallet stuff, but it was worth it for the amount of money it saved us vs. buying the items new at a furniture store.

vintage suitcases...I keep the kids extra school books in these.  they look cute stacked up :)

When the first storm came, it was such a relief to be in a solid structure and not the camper.  It was still a little scary, the glass in the sliding doors to our balcony was flexing like your chest does when you breathe in and out, but we felt much safer.  The weather up here turns wild with a quickness...

We have celebrated two birthdays so far in this apartment.  Ashlyn turned 13 (!!!)...

...and exactly two weeks later, Tyler turned 12 :)...

For a special treat, we went to see a movie in town.  Dang, it's EXPENSIVE.  And just a fyi...if you find yourself in Williston, ND, and heading to the movie theater...take cash.  Lots of cash.  They don't accept debit (or credit) cards. 

the old theater..."Our Screen Talks"

The birthday kids chose to see Dolphin Tale 2.  It was cute...and made us completely homesick for the Gulf Coast of Florida :(.  To help forget about our woes, we hit up the thrift shops before heading home.  There is one shop here that gives out free books, the kids always like to go in and see what they have.  Of course I go too (or maybe it's my idea to begin with ;)...)...and of course I always find something...

vintage tablecloths...my picnic table gone be lookin good ;)

Life.  The times of constant movement...and the times of slowing down...they compliment each other in the best way. 

Catching our breath in Cocoa Beach, FL

When our cruise was done, the ship dropped us off back at Port Canaveral in Florida.  I had made reservations before we left for a couple of nights in Cocoa Beach...and boy am I glad for that.  We were TIRED, haha :)!  All that go, go, go had caught up with us and we were ready to crash.  Check-in wasn't until the afternoon, but we went on over with hopes of getting in early.  The lady at the desk was super nice and graciously let us into our rooms half a day early.  So thankful :)!  The rest of that day is a blur...it involved sleep, lots of sleep :), and a pizza delivery at some point.

After catching up on some much needed rest, we did venture out a little bit over the next couple of days.  The very first place we went was Olive Garden.  It was Tristan's 9th birthday and little man wanted some pasta for lunch...

Happy Birthday Tris :)!

We also did a little (more) shopping at Ron Jon's, they have the best selection of flip-flops (which we pretty much live in)...

Stopped for a coffee or two ;)...

The majority of our stay in Cocoa Beach was spent just hanging out in our rooms.  I had tons of unpacking/repacking (and laundry!) to do.  I had to pull out my Tetris skills to get the car repacked with all of our new souvenirs and things that followed us home from the Bahamas :).  The kids enjoyed a few days of uninterrupted lego building and play.  They have learned to quickly make themselves "at home" wherever we are, for however long.  A good thing, in my opinion :).

All rested up and ready to go...where?  Stay tuned :)...