Fun New Things to Enjoy in Minnesota!

-The radio stations are like a kid in an old fashioned candy store...SO many options that I don't know what to pick! It's so great....to get the wide range of different choices. Would you like to listen to the Stones at 7...yes please! Breakfast with the Beatles...um, sure!
-Even though we are moving to a small little community we still have all of the amenities that we enjoy only 30 miles away. These include Barnes and Noble, Chipotle, Noodles and Company, Starbucks, Endless stoplights (how'd that get in here), and shopping.
-A job.....I'm not even missing a pay check and so far I'm liking my new job. There's some new aspects about it that are going to be a fun challenge.
-Amazing scenery on your drive to work. If I had 3 arms I would have taken a picture for you. Picture large pond with granite rocks shooting up out of the water, large green trees paint the backdrop, and then steam rising slowly from the cool and shallow depths of the warm water.....trying to be more descriptive here so you can see it!
-Eventually our whole family will be there all together......awwwwww...it may take some time, but I'm thinking around September 28th, ahem, (Dan's installation service) that our little family unit minus the children will be in one place.

Please pray for our children as they will all be separated from each other. We know they are going to good hands and we'll be sending lots of anti-anxiety drugs with them so that they make it back in one piece, well at least for Riker anyway. Poor in-laws will have the nervous dog, my mom will have Meeko, and a family in Paynesville will be taking little sweet Suki. Poor thing...she might freak out, but at least she'll live! Since she and I will be in the same town she will be receiving bi-weekly counseling/cuddle sessions from me though!

Guess What I Did Today?

I hustled my husband out of the house to quickly make it on time to Miss Finley's 1st birthday party!!! The only problem is her party is next weekend, not this weekend. We had a nice chat with Grandma Deb, though and even more fun realizing that this is SO something I do! We should still be able to make it next Saturday too:)

Random Thoughts From the Dornfeld's

-I got the Gifted and Talented Job in the neighboring town about 14 miles from Paynesville. It's such a relief and exciting. I'm a little nervous because my job description is quite long. Some of the things I will be doing I've done before when I taugh G/T in Dickinson and some are brand new. I'm sure I'll relax when I get there and dig my feet in and get started. There's always that anxiousness about something new.
-We still need to sell our house in Bismarck.....any extra prayers would help so that we can get a house when we get there. I'll be crashing at people's places for the first week and then probably renting after that.
-We have our appraisal today on our Mandan home and feeling pretty good that it'll appraise at what we need it to.
-Working on getting pre-approved for buying a house in Minnesota.
-Paying bills and packing.
-As you can tell.....this is an exciting, but stressful week.
-Happy thoughts to everyone:) Please send hugs:)

It's Official.....we're Moving

After long talks and discussions we have finally made a decision and we are moving. It's a bittersweet decision since we have so many things that we love about Bismarck, but also exciting for our new adventure. I think I"ll miss my Carter family the most and then my amazing friends and my great job. I cried when I resigned:( We've spent countless hours getting our two homes ready to sell and getting me out of my classroom. Dan's office is next....whew!

We are moving to Paynesville, MN. It's 25 miles south of St. Cloud, 45 minutes from Albertville outlet mall, and an hour and a half from downtown Minneapolis. Paynesville is a small little town located right next to Lake Koronis. The population is 2,500, but with the lake it's 5,000. Our new church (Paynesville Lutheran Church) has 1,200 members. When we visited and Dan interviewed it was really great to see 80% of the congregation congregate after the service all together. We are looking forward with excitement, but also looking back with sadness. I knew we wouldn't stay in Bismarck forever, but I never thought it would be this quick.

We'll keep you posted on our new adventures out there!

Mayville/Lake Lida...Fugleberg style!

Lida Sunset
Hotel Shoreham
Grandma's house

I had the opportunity to hang out with my mom's family in Mayville and at the lake. My Grandma is doing SO much better. She's scheduled to be out of the home by August 29th. She still has a few more tasks to accomplish before she can leave, but she's very motivated to get there!

Jeff and Bruce were here from New York to see her too and then we had a blast hanging out on the water at Lake Lida.

The Dark Knight

Hands down an excellent movie.  Ledger was awesome as the joker and as far as Dan is concerned he agrees with the rumors that he should get an Oscar.  Wish Christian Bale would growl less as Batman.  The only complaint is the beginning was a little long, but other than that superb!

Dan

P.S. Dad, you should call me or I'll call you! 

Leigh

Awwwww....

See Mom, they do snuggle up together.  It's just hard to catch them!  So cute.  Riker is exhausted from being with our friends while we were gone.  He's skin and bones and just wants to sleep all day.

Disney/Daytona

A fraction of our kids.  This was our work group for the whole week and they were SO awesome.  We didn't need to re-direct for anything even once.  We were very thankful for them all!

The Magic Kingdom

I wanted to drive:(  

Three days at Disney and five at our mission site = a lack of sleep.  What we didn't get in sleep we got in enjoyment and fulfillment at watching the kids have eye opening experiences.  Our group worked at a disabilities facility in the morning and then played with kids at the Salvation Army in the afternoon.  We spent our am's with high-fives and lots of smiles and our pm's were full of extreme energy and hair braiding.  The little girls LOVED to do our hair and we loved to get our hair done.  Very fun!  We're just resting and catching up on sleep now....