Welcome to Minnesota

We left on Labor day from Martin's Cove in hopes of seeing Mt. Rushmore and Matney one last time.  But our start was too late and we had 13 hours to go so we drove all day and got into our hotel in Maple Grove about 1 AM.  Because of Randy's surgery and other events we were unable to secure a home before leaving Indy, so we stayed in an extended stay type of a hotel in hopes of finding a place soon. Randy had to be up early and at his new job that next morning and so we sent him off with his very own first day picture, lol.

 Over the next 3 weeks, we searched everywhere for a rental.  We thought we wanted to stay somewhat near Randy's office so he wouldn't have to commute that far, but we also knew with this new position there would be a lot of travel, so being near the airport was also an option.  When we couldn't find a place up on the Northside, so we expanded our search to all over the Minneapolis area and found a home in Lakeville in a little bit of disarray from previous tenants that the landlord said he'd work on while we were living here.  It was big enough and for a great price, considering the area, and since we had been struggling to find a place we jumped at the chance and moved in as soon as possible.  We had been living in a 2 bedroom hotel for too long and we were "all done" living that way.  Plus the kids had been out of school long enough and they were getting a little stir crazy.  We tried to get out of the hotel as much as possible, but with Randy working and being new to the area it  was hard to explore with 6 kids. We did go to the Mall of America which had been a dream of mine since I was teenager.  Now we live 20 minutes away!!!  This place everything imaginable, even roller coasters and other rides.  The kids really like the Peeps store and of course the Lego store.

 Being out of our ordinary routine was hard for Kaders.  Living in a hotel, not having his normal bedtime routine made it hard for naps as well as bedtime.  But he would eventually crash somewhere.

 We also heard about the Como Zoo which is a free zoo in Minneapolis.  It was small but had some really cool animals.

So far we really like it here.  There is a lot to explore and so many lakes.  I feel like I'm living Up North all of the time.  Now if we could just afford to buy a lake house, I would be in heaven!!!

Goodbye Indy!!! Oh and My Birthday

The moment has come to say goodbye...Again!!! This seems to be the norm for us right now.  To think this won't happen again is silly, but for now we'll hope for the best.  We had to say goodbye to so many great people and I didn't get very many shots of these awesome people but we will never forget them.  This is Cameron Bell.  Randy met him shortly after starting at Eli Lilly.  Randy trained him to help him learn how to manage more effectively.  These two quickly became more than coworkers, brothers is more like it.  They are so much alike and we loved having Cameron around.  Him and his wife, Sara, were married shortly after we moved to Indy and Cameron asked Randy to be in his wedding.  They had their little girl Charlie the next spring and we've really felt a connection with these guys.  We hope to keep in touch with them in the future.

The packers came on the 1st and had us packed by late afternoon.  We slept in our house that night and sent the kids to school on the 2nd to keep them busy while the movers were loading the truck.  I shipped the littles off to friends homes to keep them occupied and not underfoot. The movers left about 7 and Randy and I spent the rest of the evening cleaning.  Luckily all we had to do were the  downstairs floors since we had been cleaning while they were loading.  Our Durtschi friends offered their parents home to crash at for the night before we headed out the next morning.  Alesha said they are use to company and would love to have us stay there instead of getting a hotel.  We were very grateful for that, especially since it meant that we could hang out with them for just a little longer.  When Randy and arrived to their house, the kids were running around like crazy people and having a grand ol time.  It was hard to make everyone go to bed knowing we wouldn't see them again.

Malia driving Logan crazy, lol.

 Luke being...Luke!

 Masie saying bye to Yukie, I mean Luke.

 So we all went to bed very late with the intention of getting up early and heading out. The only problem was getting us out of the house early is really hard and the Durtschi's decided to come one more time before seminary to say bye...again.  Kenz is really going to miss this guy!

 They brought Bry and Skye to say their goodbyes.  Luke is a big dork sometimes, haha!

 Can ya tell.

 Great bunch of kids

 Masie's bud Skye

 The kids slowly woke up and joined in on the goodbyes.

 And then the kids took showers, cuz I wasn't about to sit in the car for 12+ hours with this stinky bunch.  That gave us enough time for the younger Durtschi crew to get ready for school and come say their goodbyes.

 And of course my goodbye's with this girl!  Man I'm going to miss our walk/talks.  I can talk to this girl for hours and it feel like only moments. 

 Since our goodbyes took so long, we stayed long enough to see Grandma Pat (she's a nurse that works the night shift).  She is an amazing woman who will help anyone, anytime.  Her selfless service is inspiring.  She loved these kids and I'm glad she got to see them one more time.

 Then we stuffed ourselves one more time into the van...

 and took more pictures, haha!  Love her!

 Love them!!!  Thanks for all you did for our family in the short time we were there Durtschi's/Bland's.  Thanks for making us feel like part of your family and teaching us so much.  Till we see each other again...Love You!

 Then it was off to Martin's Cove to see lots of family and for an epic baptism.  The car ride went well, and when it didn't, this is what would happen.

Oh and btw, we left on my birthday.  This is how we celebrated.  At least I got my Culver's

1st-First Day of School

So the next few posts are going to be out of order and for very good reason.  We had a very exciting end of summer and this was just a small piece of it, so I wanted to get this post out of the way.  We found out around the time that school was starting that Randy had been offered a promotion in Minneapolis, Minnesota that would start as soon as he could.  The only problem, Randy recently started having gallbladder attacks and the Dr. found a pretty large impassible stone in his gallbladder so he needed to get it removed soon.  This meant we were going to have to delay going to Minneapolis till he recovered.  School started on July 29th and we wanted to try to keep as much normalcy as possible till we were able to move.  Knowing that school wasn't going to start in Minneapolis till the end of August-early September depending on where we found a home, we decided it would be best just to have them start in Indy so they weren't bored while everyone else was in school. So with that, here is their 1st-First Day of School 2015!

Morgan the big 7th grader.  It was hard to imagine her going to middles school, and now we are in the middle of it. 

And just like that...we have a high schooler.  Not sure how I feel about this.  

Malia started 3rd grade

And Micah in 5th.  The big man on campus!

As much as I struggled with many things in Indy, I was grateful for the opportunity to live there, even it was only for 15 months.