NORTH DAKOTA

We had such a great time in North Dakota-it is sad to be back home dealing with reality.  You know when you look forward to something for so long that once it is over you are left feeling a little sad.  I go through this with everything  that brings happiness to our family-vacations, birthdays and any other kind of special event.  (Beware-for journal purposes this post will be very long)

OK-so on to our trip.  The first day was mostly travel.  We woke up around 4am at my mother-in-laws.  We had to be up before her and Nicole, but Tony's cellphone alarm woke the whole house. Mom-in-law was soon up blaring the radio reminded me of something my mom would do.  We checked in everything went smoothly.   I was a little nervous to fly.  Most flights I have taken are less than an hour so our flight to Denver was close to 2 hours.  We flew in a larger plane that seated the three of us on one side.  Paisley was really excited so we let her sit by the window on the way to Denver.  She loved it.  Her hair was full of static.  It was pretty funny.  Once we got into Denver we had to find our connecting flight.  We came in on gate B12 and had to go to B90.  Denver airport is no joke.  It is the biggest airport I have ever been in-seriously.  We had an hour and it took us a good 30 minutes to get to our gate.  The fun part is that they had those rolling walk-ways.  Paisley was funny she kept saying is this flight going to take us to Flagdale instead of saying Fargo.  Our flight to Fargo was in a 50 passenger Express Jet.  I was a little freaked out.  I can get a little claustrophobic.  The flight to Fargo was pretty-most of what we flew over was covered in snow.  The scary part was that it was very bumpy.  I thought we were going to die-most of the hour and half flight.  Paisley and Tony slept through most of it.
 

Once in Fargo we were anxiously greeted by Grandma & Grandpa LeMier, Aunt Margie, Aunt Carol and Aunt Julie.  (Tony's aunts-Paisley's great aunts).  It had been 5 years since we had last seen them.  They all looked great.  Especially Margie with her Hawaiian tan.  We waited a short time for mom and Nicole then we headed to Margie's.  I can't forget to mention the walk to the car was a little more than I had expected.  It was FREEZING!  I don't remember the temperature, but it made my eyes water.  We had light clothes on the plane so when we got to Margie's we pulled out the heavier stuff.  Fargo is a big city with a small town feel.  Buildings aren't crammed in like they are here.  Everything is spaced out.  The houses are cute and there is a lot of farm land.  Most houses have basements.  We stayed at Margie's and Paul's we got the whole basement to ourselves-very nice.  So our first 1/2 day we just spent time catching up.  For dinner the rest of the family came.  Tony's younger Uncle Wayne , his wife Chelle and their two kids Molly and Bobby.  Tony's uncle Ted, his wife Sue and their four kids-Alex, the twins and Danielle.  Tony's uncle Paul and his girlfriend Trina.  We had some yummy soup and an apple crisp grandma made. Day two we went to a few crafts stores.  Tony's mom has recently taken up quilting.  She is awesome at it so we had to find some Scandinavian fabric.  Uftda! The money she spent there.  I thought we were going to have to stage an intervention.  In her defense-the quilts she creates are priceless.  That night we had dinner with ALL the family and then we headed to a bar to watch Ted and Wayne play a wicked game of darts.  It was fun.  After the game Tony and I played.  I hope I didn't ruin Ted's because I was awful. Sorry Sue for having to be on my team.  

Friday was all about the reception.  We took it easy that day because we knew it was going to be a long fun night.  Margie was so kind to book us a room at the Raddison.  The Raddison is where the reception was being held.  Our room was beautiful-contemporary-just my style.  We lounged around in our room and headed down to the party.  The theme was Hawaiian (they got married in Hawaii the week before).  They decorated the tables so neat.  They had some tables with the vases filled fish and seashells.  The others were filled with drenched Hawaiian flowers.  B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!  Dinner was delicious as we ate we got to see the video of the ceremony in Hawaii and a slide show of the couple from childhood to adulthood.  After dinner came the dancing.  Ted-Tony's uncle was the DJ!  Let me just say.  PARTY TIME!  Paisley-well Paisley is a spaz to begin with, but put her on the dance floor and she is a complete maniac.  She had the best time.  She experienced her first dance with a boy (her cousin), she got to dance the electric slide, the Cha Cha, the chicken dance-she even managed to throw in her robot dance.  I loved watching her.  Do you know that little crazy girl even caught the bouquet.  Luckily she traded it to Auntie Nicole for a few seashell and chocolates.  Amber looked beautiful-she is tiny and tan-can't get any better than that.  Eric was very handsome of course.  We had a great time.  Paisley and I headed in a little earlier than the rest.  We were exhausted and went to sleep very happy.  We are so happy to be part of such a great time.

OK-This is turning out to be really long so I will make the remainder a the trip short and sweet.  Saturday we went to Great Grandma and Grandpa LeMier.  We watched a little college football and took a walk.  It was freezing so the walk didn't last long.  That night Nicole and I cooked dinner.  It was a disaster.  I was so embarrassed.  I have learned my lesson-don't cook anything that I am not an expert at for a large number of people.  The end:)  Sunday we drove out to Oakes where Glenn's farm is.  It is about a 2 hour drive from Fargo.  Very pretty drive.  Uncle Glenn's farm is amazing.  He has mini-horses, cow, elk, donkey and even a goat to keep out the coyotes.  Paisley got to see a 30 minute old baby calf.  She also got to drive in the tractor to feed the cows.  It was a fun time.  I especially liked taking the photos of the elk for my dad and Ty to see.  Monday we went Sheels the worlds largest Sporting Store.  It has a Ferris wheel and even wax molds of the former presidents it was a really neat store.  We also went to the mall (yes I know all malls are the same, but I have to see every one of them to believe it).  Lastly we went to the Hjemkomst Center it is a76-foot exact replica of a Viking ship.  It was so interesting to see and learn about this guy who followed his dream.  At the Hjemkomst Center they also had a Hopperstad Stave Church Replica.  It is an "all" wood church.  It was beautiful and very humbling at the same time.  I loved it.  That night we had our last dinner with the family.  Gooey Buns-a very yummy dinner that Paisley helped make. We got to eat leftover wedding cake and play "Catch-a-phrase" it was a blast.  After all the fun we had to say our goodbye to most of the family.  We really enjoyed spending time with all of them.  A little after everyone left we got to hang out with the twins (Amber and Ryan) at TGIF.  We laughed alot and played some games.  It was fun to spend some time with them they made Tony and I feel old they are so young (we miss those days).  Then came Tuesday-our day to leave.  It was the coldest day of the trip.  I have no idea what the temperature was, but it hurt it was so cold.  It was sad that we had to leave.  Even though we were excited to see our Arizona family we were sad to leave our North Dakota family.  We had the best time and really enjoyed spending time with each and everyone in the family.  Once we got in the airport Paisley was devastated.  She lost it on the plane.  She was already missing Margie.  

Thank you to everyone in North Dakota for being so welcoming.  Margie-thank you for EVERYTHING!  You took such great care of us-We cannot express how much fun we had.  Paisley loves you so much.  She continues to talk about you daily.  Thank you to my mom for helping us get ready and be prepared for the cold.  We love you.  Thank you grandma Teele for taking us everywhere the day before and letting us sleep in your comfortable bed.  We had a blast.  Love you all.