Been A Long Time!

Well, it's been almost a year since I posted- and I probably still wouldn't have if not for my mother-in-law and husband :) We are living in a new state- one I swore we would never live in! We are in South Dakota in a town called Rosebud. Brian got a new job here and we will be here for at least 4 years. It is a pretty area, but I miss my mountains. We are living on an Indian reservation (never thought that would happen, either). It has definitely been an experience living here, and we have only been here 6 months.

Our Branch is in the only District (not stake) in the continental US. Our district consists of about as many people as are in a regular ward (this district is includes almost all of South Dakota- about 13 branches). We have 2 main families in our branch- about 25 people (including us). There is a new family that is moving in next door that is LDS and has 3 kids (2 are Averie's age)- and I can't wait!!!!

The closest city is Valentine, NE and it is about the size of Castle Dale and Orangeville put together. Pierre (state capitol) is an hour and a half away (little bigger than Price) and the closest big city (big is relevant to the area) is Rapid city (3 hours away). I thought that isolation was Castle Dale- boy was I wrong! No worries, though. We have the family moving in next door and some of our best friends from pharmacy school in Montana are moving here as well.

Brian can't wait until the fall. There is sooooooo much hunting and fishing that Brian is like a kid at a killing Christmas. I am excited to hunt white tail this fall as well.

We had a wonderful Christmas here, and yes, we did put pheasant feathers in the tree (it looked awesome and very dakotaish).

Our home is very nice, it is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath with an unfinished basement and a garage. It has a huge kitchen (compared to our other homes-I don't have any clutter on the counters-it's great!) and just the right amount of space. We live in an area that is reserved for hospital employees and their families only. There aren't a lot of kids now, but the family that is moving here is going to be right next door. Brian loves his job and I couldn't ask for more. He doesn't come home at night complaining and he doesn't dread going in the morning. He works 8 days on and has 6 days off- so we are definitely going exploring this summer! Nauvoo is only about 9.5 hours away and lots of fishing in Minnesota is calling our name!

Well, that is our life in 6 months in a nutshell. There will definitely be more to show and tell come this summer and fall!

House Pictures

Hunting Pictures

Holidays

Random

This is the state capitol. All these geese (there were hundreds) like to stay in this pond because it is heated in the winter time.

We had Roberts family pics done and these turned out soooo cute!