Merry Christmas! A Tad Late

We've officially become Minnesota residents as of December 14. We are still renting the home we plan on buying; apparently another government agency stepped in and said they wanted to see two of Dan's paychecks before allowing us to close. So hopefully, by the end of the first week in February, we'll be homeowners again. Until then, we pay rent.

We still like our home a lot! Note I've got some pictures down below. The gentleman we're buying the home from bought it nearly two years ago and renovated it. He took out one wall between the kitchen and dining room which really opens up the space (yay for space!). We also have a lot of built-ins like a hutch, some shelves, tons of cabinets! You're all invited to come and visit!

Dan and I and some other adults helped us get the house in order while my mom watched the girls in Minneapolis. We were able to get the girls' rooms set up before they ever saw the house. Very fun! We got a great deal on a bunkbed set and matching furniture off of Craigslist so Annika and Lauren have a pretty nice space. We also found some matching comforters and shams on clearance at JCPenney.com. We haven't really spent any money on ourselves/our family in seven years, so we are having a ball!

Dan began his job as senior pastor at Fairmont Evangelical Covenant Church on January 4. He preaches his second sermon tomorrow. The girls are planning on wearing the purple to church to let everyone know they're part of the Vikings cheering squad.

Annika began school at Budd Elementary--really nice staff there! The principal, Mr. Truman, was the one to give Annika and I a tour before she started. She began school three days before Christmas break (yes, the school here still calls it Christmas break--complete with Christmas trees in classrooms!) so she got in on all the parties and fun stuff!

We have more than two feet of snow in our yard and that's without counting what has been plowed into it. We also spent a week indoors due to sub-zero temperatures. Quite the initiation to Minnesota life, eh? (That's for you Yoopers!)

So, we're doing well. We plan on sending out cards to friends to give y'all our new address and more info. They obviously won't be Christmas cards. We figure we'll be on the 14-month calendar; and then, by the time Megan is in kindergarten, the 14 months might hit December again, and we can get back on schedule.

And, just for randomness, we currently have two 2-year-olds. Megan turned two on Monday; Emily will turn three next Friday. Kind of fun! Megan and I shared my birthday cake since we really didn't need three...the girls chose Barbie Fairytopia for me...hmmm. And then promptly argued over who got MY toy from the top. Good times, good times!

Please drop me a line or leave a comment, and let me know if you read this...Pics are below!

P.S. If you would like to see more pictures of our home, go to this link: http://bit.ly/OurHome

Megan trying to put on her new birthday turtle neck.

The girls sing a Christmas carol before opening gifts at Dan's Grandma's house
on Christmas Eve. Lauren and Annika are "reading" their song.