Bye Minot!!

Our last day is Friday..snif...snif...

We've had a wonderful 5 years here. (March 21st, will be 5 years exactly) We've made wonderful friends that have supported us through Travis' crazy work schedule, home improvements, child birth/raising, and hectic church callings. We are grateful for our church, Air Force, MOPS, and Girl Scout friends. Thank you everyone for making Minot a great place to live. I wish I could name you one by one and write what made you so special to us. We believe you know who you are.

We were blessed to come to Minot with a handful of people that we knew from Travis' training class in CA, some of them even members of the church. It is amazing how the the congregation took us in and made us feel like family. We could call on them for anything. Many of them became our greatest friends. It is wonderful to know that the church is true wherever you go and that it teaches the same doctrine and principals worldwide. No matter where we go we find comfort in the fact that we can always find a LDS church. We are grateful to have the gospel in our lives. We are excited for a new ward and sad to leave our old ward. Minot 1st: You'll always have a special place in our hearts. Thank you for everything!!!

While in Minot we've experienced:

The Weather:
Crazy freezing temperatures: -40F without windchill
Windchill (which we didn't know what that was before)
A lot of snow
Insanely hot summer days

A Home:
Our first purchased home
Added a garage and deck to it, vinyl sided, finished hardwood floor, added laminate flooring,
updated one half bathroom to a full, painted lots, made and fixed lots of holes, and put in raised
flower beds.
Made a lovely, non-productive garden!

Family:
Added three kids!! And a Chinchilla and Beta fish.
The Orange Tree that didn't survive...it was like family!!
A Second Wife - Just kidding, Kelly (and Pat)! However, they really are like family.

Community:
Girl Scouts
MOPS
Starbase / introducing to Celestia to schools
Black belt in Hapkido for Travis
Worked for Minot's New Neighbors
Sold Creative Memories
Went to all the great things around here: Zoo, State Fair, Host Fest, Arts and Crafts Fair,
Christmas Train, kiddie walks downtown, parades, MSU outdoor theater, WP Opera, Mystery
Dinner Theaters, Bishop Ryan Carnival, Rodeo, saw Bill Cosby, etc...

Church:
Primary teachers
Clerk
YW Councilor
YW President
Assistant Stake Camp director
Cub Scout Den Leader
Lots of missionary dinners and discussions
Helped convert our neighbor

Travels:
To CO for Travis' eye surgery (no more glasses!!)
Winnipeg CANADA
Peace Gardens
Lots of MAF sites, even went in the capsule (well, not that exciting for Travis)
Mt. Rushmore
Medora to see the famous play
Bismarck
Williston
Many other small towns near by
Minneapolis for Star Trek convention and Mall of America!!
To CA and OR on plane and back home on train, twice
Rugby, geographical center of North America

Visitors or people that stayed with us:
Moon Family
Elsmore Family
Travis' brother's in-laws and family
Kanae - our Japanese student from California...twice!!
Yaya, Papa, Grammy, Grandpa and Emily
Kyle and Monica
Aunt Donna and Denay's cousin Aaron
That guy that Trouble thew up on at the airport

Thank you Minot!! Its been fabulous!!