Our View

The Bismarck skyline from our yard.



Some of our neighbors - which the kids have rode their bikes around going door to door meeting neighbors and looking for kids. They have made many new friends already!!

These are some pictures from the fog rolling in on Saturday morning. It was really neat to watch as it rolled from the outskirts of town over Bismarck.

FYI . . . that tall building in the background there is the North Dakota state capital building. It is 19 stories (minus the 13th floor) and is the tallest building in the WHOLE state of North Dakota.

Fog covered Bismarck . . . you can still see the tip of the capital building.

The Place we call ‘Home’

Well, we were very fortunate to find a place to rent, and especially this place. We never saw the house until the night we arrived. We had no idea what it looked like on the outside or really on the inside. We had seen a few pictures, but our first true view was the night we arrived. We were excited when we saw the house. It was well kept on the outside and the inside was clean and updated.

All we knew before we arrived was the fact that it was a 3 bedroom with a walkout basement. We were also told there was only one bathroom – which caused much anxiety. Well, when we arrived, Jay & the kids took a quick tour of the house and I didn't make it past the kitchen. So after about 30 minutes, Jay asked if I had seen the rest of the house. "No," I said and he told me to check it out.

The kids lead the way.

"This is my room," said Zack.

Mackenzie showed me her room and the hall bathroom.

"Here's your room," said Mackenzie as Zack kicks open a door within the room . . . "AND here is your bathroom!" he said with a big grin.

I was speechless, just momentarily. "A bathroom . . . my bathroom?" Then within the borders of my room, I did the bathroom dance, twirling around in circles singing 'I got a bathroom, I got a bathroom!!' in the middle of the room. I was so excited. No one seemed to know there was/is a bathroom in the master bedroom. Too bad there wasn't a fourth bedroom hiding somewhere too.

Anyway, we have gotten pretty settled. Here is a picture tour of our new home . . .

This is the infamous master bath; I forgot to take a picture of the hall bath which is decorated in Coca-Cola.

Zack's room . . .

Mackenzie's room . . .

Cassie has set up her room in the corner of the basement that will eventually be her room.

We have worked very hard to get things into place. It's hard to believe our stuff arrived only 11 days ago.

Our field . . . room to roam

Cassie riding her bike around our field.

The house we have rented, sits on 6.3 acres. The majority of the acres are fenced pastures for roaming horses, which we don’t have, but Cassie would love to have.

Our first night here, one of the neighbors came up to introduce himself and ask if he could cut the field and bail it for his horses. Well, what are we going to use it for? Of course, he can cut it and use it.

So, we got to watch him . . .

Cut it,

Rake it,

And bail it.

There’s something about just being able to watch out the kitchen window to see the tractor

Or seeing it drive down your driveway.

He even offered to fill the pasture with horses (up to three) if we didn’t have plans for it. Cassie lit up. We agreed he was welcome to use the pasture and he said he would bring up a few that are easy going. So we’ll see and we’ll let you know if they come.

Arrival & Unloading

We arrived in Bismarck, ND on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009. We were welcomed at our new home by members from our new home church, Peace Lutheran. They had been doing some last minute cleaning and had lasagna in the oven for us to have our first meal in the house. They were very welcoming. We spent the first two nights in the new house sleeping on the floor and finally the moving trailers arrived on Thursday, Sept. 17^th.

Arrangements were made for the trailers to be delivered early on the 17^th. Well, the first one arrived around 9:30 a.m., BUT it was still locked!! As many of you know we used ABF for our move. Well, we locked the trailers (using their attached padlock) once we were done loading them and then they drove them from Ohio to North Dakota. Evidently, ABF does not come into ND so they have a contract with a trucking company in Fargo. So, ABF delivers the trailers to Fargo and then the other company transports them all over the state. When they arrive in Fargo, ABF is supposed to unlock their lock and then they seal the truck with a removable seal to be removed at the site delivery. Well, the truck arrived and ABF did not unlock their padlock. Just our luck.

After about an hour, the trucking company got permission from ABF to remove the lock with whatever measures needed. So, a gentleman from the office (which happened to have one in Bismarck) came up to the house and brought bolt cutters. Of course, that didn't work. Luckily he was thinking ahead and also brought a grinder – so they grinded the lock off.

YEAH!! The truck was finally unlocked. At that point, there were three guys that had been waiting to help unload, but just not yet. Of course, there had to be another obstacle. Well, when we were done loading the trucks, a bulk-head was put into place to hopefully keep the load from shifting.

When Jay opened the truck, it was apparent that the bulk-head was not fully stabilized when it was installed. It had come free in one corner and a portion of the load had shifted and was resting on the bulk-head, which made it difficult to get the bulk-head to release. So, Jay and Pastor Alan worked at it for a while. Cassie and I were inside and we heard a crashing sound.

Sure enough, a portion of the stuff on the truck came tumbling out. Cassie and I were like "that didn't sound good." I took a quick look outside and then returned to the inside of the house. There were a few things right off the bat that I know got broke, but a lot of the stuff that fell was our seasonal décor things for Fall/Halloween and Christmas. So, we really won't know for sure what all broke until we decorate.

Jay got some battle wounds from the shifting bulk-head.

We got the trailers unloaded in three days with the help of several from the church. We are very grateful to all their help and the great food they brought over the first few nights.

We're here . . .

We are here, but we do not have internet at home. So I thought I would just post a few pictures and when we figure out how to access the internet in the country I'll update more. Or I'll have to be more prepared when I come to the library to post.

The sunset right from my driveway.

Our house.

The sunrise from my back deck.

Our first trash pile.

The kids helping the trash man this morning.

Our journey so far . . .

As you can see from the pictures, we were packed like sardines!! We got the second trailer packed and thought we had the van pretty well packed, but then we started (trying) to pack the last minute things into both our vehicles and realized we did not have enough room. So, we repacked the van and put things on the trailer that we had hoped to take with us - things that would keep us busy or entertain us at the house till the trailers arrived.

Around 10:20 a.m. on Fri., Sept. 11th we decided it was time to head out and run the last errands we had to run before we got on the road. We finally got on to I-70 West at 12:18 p.m., eighteen minutes late according to my schedule. With all the stops for people and dog, it took us three hours and 20 minutes to travel 200 miles at 72+ mph (depending on what state). So, I was thinking we had at least another 3 1/2 hours to go before we got to our first destination in Davenport, IA.

I tell you what I can not read the new AAA TripTik because we actually were traveling 500 miles that first day and not 400 which I had planned on. So, needless to say we did not arrive to our hotel till after 9:00 p.m. central time. So we spent almost ten hours on the road the first day. It was a long day for me and Jay considering we had been up since 6:00 a.m. trying to get the rest of the stuff loaded on the trailer.

At least we got to sleep in, or at least I got to try to, at the hotel and we got to my parents' house in Iowa a lot earlier than I had anticipated - like 3 hours earlier!! So, we got to spend more time with family and the kids were excited to get here. We sat around and had pizza & much needed beer and watched the Ohio State game - I know not the ending we wanted either, but I believe they played a good game!!

Today has been nice and relaxing. Jay, Zack, my dad, and my sister's beau are out playing golf. I just got back to the house to rest my back while my mom, my sister, Cassie and Mackenzie go to the dollar movie and see "Up!". Then tonight we are having a bonfire and cooking hot dogs. We have all the fixin's for Chicago dogs, southern dogs, and what ever you want on your dog. YUM!

The kids are excited to be with their grandparents, aunts, and uncle. I don't think we have really had time to think about leaving our friends and family back home. So, we aren't quite sad, yet - I'm sure that will set in when we leave here and arrive in North Dakota.

When we left . . .

When we left, we piled as much stuff in the car was we could. And the kids thought they had to bring a lot of stuff to keep them occupied and they had limited space for themselves and their stuff . . .











We made it fit and still had room for our puppy!!

We are resting in Iowa

We have made it to Iowa to my parents' home. We are enjoying our visit with family. I have pictures to share of the travel so far, but I will have to share them at a later time.

So far so good - no major problems, just long drives. We'll be leaving here in a couple of days and heading to our new home in North Dakota. Right now we are nomads traveling in a caravan (a Dodge Grand Caravan - LOL) to our destination or just in limbo.

Jay's Ordination

It's official, Jay is now Pastor Jay. Last night's ordination service was a nice service. I just wanted to share some pictures, and I'll share more about the service when I have time . . .



The sanctuary before . . .













Laying of hands . . .





Presentation of the stole . . .





the blessing . . .



Examination of congregation and presenting of Pastor Jay Jackson, Jr.



Pastor Melanie Haack (Jay's aunt), Pastor Jay Jackson, and Bishop Callon Holloway.