day 4: gator & mom time

mom & i loaded the car after a traditional sunday morning sautner breakfast (complete with delicious, juicy deer sausage) and traveled to bismarck.  i decided to go down to visit talia and mom decided to do some shopping adventures.

it was surreal seeing some of the swimmers -- almost like a "one year later" special on tv.  i knew that kids can grow fast, but holy cow!  i was met with girls screaming my name down the hallway, which made the whole trip worth it!  talia & i got all caught up and made a pact to keep in contact once-a-week, and i met up with a handful of other coaches -- including one that i didn't even know was coaching!  britt j. was a girl that we went to high school with, and was the key player the night that andrew & i began seeing eachother!  so, i was a surprise for both of us :)

it was on-and-off snowing & was around 14 degrees all day.  not bad!  as i promised, here are some photos of the new house.  i didn't remember until we got done with dinner, so i'll have a take-2 tomorrow during the day.  news on the street is that there are going to be some different guys in the house doing work, so i'll need a reason to be the crazy person around the house taking pictures.  ha!

stu-pot doing magic.

old house # was 1309, so this is kinda weird.    i approve of the classic black, metal mailbox.  classy move sautners, classy move.

it was an absolutely peaceful, clear, beautiful nd night.

 one thing that was impressive to both kate & i was how many of the boxes and randomness is still out in the open!  their basement isn't finished, so they have an excuse, but it's SO unlike them to not have things exactly in their designated place!

evidence:

very last picture of the night is a glance at stu's thumb troubles.  backstory: dad was gripping a 2x4 on a table saw in the newly-built living room of the new house, when the blade came down and snapped his thumb.  at first, the doctor just said it was a deep cut and gave him antibiotics.  2 weeks later (after helping me put together our grill in ca mind you), he went in for a second opinion and they told him that he had a fracture and damaged tendons.  surgery, pins, pin & stitches removal, and healing, he still has a swelling problem.  it used to be swollen across the whole hand, but it's calmed down.  here's a visual for you:

i thought my fingers were sausages after surgery.  i couldn't even compete!

day 3: plane stank & new house jitters

Because I don't have my computer with me at the moment and I'm on the iPad, no photos. No bueno. I'm a fool for photo updates. Tomorrow I'll take some snapshots of the snowy backyard outside my parents new house and get back with my wanna-be hobby.

Most people that read this know that the Minot Sautners built a new residence. It's coincidently right across the valley from the in-laws. So fun! The new house is full of new colors on the wall, seeing my parent's items scattered throughout the garage and living space, shiny appliances, stools to put together, furniture that sat in the same place for the last 15 years moved into an unfamiliar positions, a dream kitchen, and a vibe that is all Ione & Stu.

Anyways, I left Andrew to do some skiing business for the weekend and headed off to ND for the week. No worries, there's no trouble in paradise. He'll be joining me at the end of the week! I haven't heard from him on how his day went. I feel like such an old fart saying this, but in the relm of skiing, I consider no news is good news. Agree?

Steelers game is on, so I'd better go -- the "click" noise is on, oops!

Look forward to some new house snapshots for day 4.

day 2: second picture upload

this photo session came from my second trip to pick up my camera in sacramento.  okay, so that's not the only reason i went down.  i had to take advantage of the fact that it would be the onur's last few days in their sacramento home before their big move to d.c. the following week.

of course, as a blue aura, i cried and blubbered like a baby.  jess has seen this time and time again since i was 4.  so, it was no surprise to her that i started hours before i was planning on leaving.  (when i was younger, it would start days before she would depart.)  some of the tear jerkers: fudgesicle bathtime, discussing how we've never lived this close, identifying i have crying issues, reading "5 monkey's jumping on the bed" to the girls before bedtime, giving hugs and kisses for bedtime, hugging my sister and bro-in-law, & driving away for the last time...

(i don't think it needs to be said, but my aura is glowing as i write.  ugh.)

anyways, here are a few quick shots of the day trip:

getting creative juices flowing...

look at that marker fly!  the finished product was a masterpiece full of purple & black -- a. was a fan.

wouldn't be true arts & crafts without some ella pie silly.

at least this time there were no pipecleaners covering the floor. 

better believe esen and i were enjoying the heavenly treats right along side them!

look at that skill!  (i'm talking about the strategic covering of "parts," but go sophia!)

best. invention. ever.

gearing up & picking her book-of-choice.

i realize that the next handful of pictures may not mean squat to some, but i find the next few shots sum-up some of the aspects of the onur's sacramento home.  sure i was there only about 10 times, and i'm sure the onurs wouldn't agree on my chosen items/areas, but i didn't want to look like a crazy person wandering around taking pictures of their home!  if you've ever witnessed a bathtime, stayed overnight, or been the chosen person to sit next to them at dinner, hopefully some of these will ring a bell.

(i love the pillows protecting the girls from danger.  this was also andrew's chosen place for a nap each time.)

suzy q.

love you onurs!  i hope we get the opportunity to live this close to you in the next few decades.  see you soon!

day 1: 7 days of updates begins

yes, that's correct.  i've dedicated the next 7 days to another mrs. e. who shined some light on the fact that it's been 12 days since my last post.  even though my camera has been in sacramento since christmas, i won't use it as an easy excuse.  was that just considered using it?  oops.

here's a photo breakdown of the 12 hours of christmas until the camera decided it had enough. 

classic kid task: sorting out the presents

discussing the order of who should go first

a moment of pause before going into a present coma

santa + discussion about nd snow

in the midst of the action (notice a baby pomp on her back)

i realize that this is a poor picture, but we got the girls these "glasses" straws -- only esen was brave enough to put the contraption on his face.

can you find the missing andrew?  (& again, notice the baby pomp)

muslim santa

watching the grinch -- apparently this continued for the next 4 weeks.

a nifty gift from us.  they were a hit!  oh container store, until next year.

a christmas walk with baby pomps in tow

a lovely christmas miracle finding



touch, touch, touch.




she liked him!



another container store gem.



making hand friends.



art project hour:

- insert incredibly cute caption here -

treats for santa & the reindeer

sophia is finally at a stage where she can appreciate the wonder that is waldo.  love.

i dub her a waldo genius.

i would like to say it was one of the best christmas days i've had & it places in the top 3.  my number 1 christmas day would have to be when we were expecting to get a package from jess, and she had called to ask if we had recieved it.  (keep in mind it was the mid-90's)  kate and i were given the task of checking the front porch -- where jess was waiting in-the-flesh.  best christmas present ever.

we're here!

happy new year!

yeah, haven't forgotten about you!  i have all these amazing photos from christmas with the onurs, however i forgot my camera there!  all that means is that i won't be able to share the magic with you until mid-january, and i get to go up north one last time before they move. 

we haven't been up to much now that i think about it.  i'm still working my handful of jobs, with an addition of taking over the swim club this month -- yay!  i have a half marathon coming up at the end of march, so i'm working on getting in shape for that and not getting sick in the process.  (already failed on that one & it took a whole week out of the training process.)  andrew is having his first ski weekend of the season.  him and 5 other guys rented a cabin for the next few months near heavenly, so he is living the dream for the time being.  his first quarter ended a couple days ago, and i found out just how stressed andrew can really get!  conni (ceo's wife) warned me, but i never thought it was possible -- until now.  anyways, i am incredibly proud of his persistence through it all (for what it's worth) and i think he should be impressed with himself  :)

currently i'm working on sorting out my new years resolutions and wondering just how motivated i will be this year.  stay tuned for the results on that!