Recap of '11

Packing the truc

So my New Year's Resolution is to try to keep in contact more often and keep everyone up to date on a regular basis because I have been absolutely horrible since we've moved. and I guess that's where I can begin. So here was our 2011 in a Nutshell.

Enjoyed what little time we had left in California and prayed for Chris to find a job. It really came down to the last minute with getting interviews and offers. We ended up with two offers and chose the Operations Instructor job in Minnesota.

Loaded!

Good ole Randy's off road gas station

We had just about two weeks to get everything packed up and get in touch with people in Minnesota to look for housing when we got there. So with a uhaul strapped to the back of the truck, a car storage compartment on top of the truck, items strapped to the front of the uhaul with bungy cords, two dogs, two cats and the truck so full we had to move items to get to Paisley it was an interesting driving adventure. We had some bumps along the way but we were able to get through them easily. Someone didn't like to read the signs saying no gas for the next 110 miles to we had to go out of our way about 16 miles to a tiny little off road gas station to fill up and get back on the road.

Paisley's 1st Birthday

Our home

 We arrived safely in Minnesota only to have Chris' wallet lost the next day which had all our cards in it. It was quite the adventure dealing with the bank and the one credit card I held in my pocket and transferring money constantly until we established a bank and a house. Thankfully it only took us 3 days to find and rent a beautiful home and we slowly began to settle in. We moved in on the 11th with the following day being Paisley's 1st Birthday.  On her Birthday we took her to Mall of America's Sea Life Aquarium then back home for some cake and she had a blast with it! It was a nice quiet Birthday settling into our new surroundings, I'm sure next year won't be as quiet and there will be lots more people to help celebrate.

Blowing bubbles with Uncle Brenden

As we got used to Chris being home every single night and getting used to his schedule m-f home by 4 with weekends off I wasn't missing the Navy one bit. We visited my family in New York in August and we had a good time. Paisley had a blast swimming and learning how to blow bubbles with Uncle Brenden. It was nice being home and getting to see everyone at the family reunion.

Great Grandma Kittredge

It's windy!

The summer flew by and the fall came and we quickly learned that it gets extremely windy here with wide open farm fields. So we battled the wind and still had fun playing outside. We also went to Maryland to visit Chris' family and got to spend some nice relaxing time with them. It sure was a great time. Paisley got to go trick-or-treating for the first time and we found a really cute costume (Flounder from the little Mermaid) at a second hand shop. Super Cute and super warm and we were invited to walk around the neighborhood with our friends across the street. Paisley loved going up to the houses and picking out the candy. I know she'll enjoy it even more next year. We all had a wonderful night. She also got to go to her first fair which became one of many. Especially around here there are a ton of fairs and harvest festivals. We went to the Minnesota State Fair and to a Renaissance Festival which was a blast. Looking forward to taking advantage of all Minnesota has to offer next year and the years after.

Flounder

The end of the year really did fly by. Our old roommate Danny got a job at the instructor building Chris is in so we were able to spend Thanksgiving with him. He went home for Christmas and we spent Christmas day at the house lounging around and napping. We got to skype with everyone so that was nice. Now to the New Year.