We have a bit of catching up to do...

Uffda, it has been too long, again. Well, don't worry, I can get you up to speed quite quickly because I have been HORRIBLE at taking pictures this past year. (It's one of my New Year's Resolutions...take more pictures.) We left off in July, so we'll start up mid-August. :)

In August we were blessed with a fine crew of painters to help us paint our horrific "Peppermint Paddy House" something a little more pleasant. My Uncle Paul was the leader of the pack and kept us encouraged and going strong all day (we painted the whole house twice in 6 hours!!). It is a day I will always remember, as my Uncle Paul passed away this past November. Oh how we miss him even now.

This past fall I student taught in 3rd grade (above) for 10 weeks and kindergarten (below) for 7 weeks. It was the best student teaching experience I think I could have ever had. I loved the students and my unbelievably amazing cooperating teachers--thank you for everything Betty and Marilyn!!
On December 15, 2011 I became a college graduate! My very supportive husband, parents, and parent-in-laws were all there to cheer me on. :)
In November my cousins Mark and Liz and their girls, Kajsa and Greta, came for our 2nd Annual Christmas baking. Liz and I baked up a storm while Tom, Mark and the girls were busy with games and exploring Warren. :)

We managed to get Christmas picture, barely.

On March 9, 2012 we became the VERY proud Aunt and Uncle to Silas Aaron Espe. My brother Aaron and his wife Heidi had a beautiful baby boy who we fell in love with instantly. Tom and I were able to be with them over Easter and meet Silas for the first time. The time went way too fast, but we were so glad we were able to get some good holding/snuggling time in with Silas, and just be able to hang out with Aaron and Heidi. (We are secretly arranging jobs for them in Warren, we know they'll be thrilled to move here. Just kidding, but I wish.)
The proud Aunt Greta and Uncle Tom. :)
Aren't his overalls the cutest?!?

He is the sweetest little man!

On April 11th, Tom and his dad started planting their wheat. Tom was truly in his glory when he was finally able to use the LONG awaited new air seeder. This is a pretty fancy deal. If you'd like to see it for yourself we would LOVE to have visitors!

I got to the check the air seeder out for myself when bringing Tom his supper. (Auto steer allows for us to take pictures while driving the tractor.) :)

Camp

The first weekend of August we had our Espe Reunion at Bluewater. We were able to see the majority of my cousins and their kids and all of my aunts and uncles. The weather wasn't perfect but it was perfect for visiting!

I forgot my camera but I got this picture from my dad. We were excited to see Kajsa and Greta after moving from Moorhead where we saw them on a weekly basis; I think they were excited to see us too. :)

The Lake

We've been lucky enough to spend two weekends at the lake in Bemidji this summer. It's always a relaxing and refreshing time. (Above: my nephew Ezra enjoying his popsickle Below: Merle and Deb-Tom's parents-watching the 4th of July boat parade)
Tom driving the boat :)
This is my sister-in-law, Kari.
My good friend, Leah, came with us to the lake for the 4th of July weekend. It was so great to have her there and I just loved getting to spend time with her.
Going for a ride in the jeep
Tom and I took Jorie and Ezra for a paddle boat ride...they did a pretty good job of sitting still, too!

In The Summer Time We...Take Trips!

Hello patient blog readers. I know it has been a looooonnggg time, so I'm going to bring you up to speed right now. So, strap on your seat belts 'cause here we go!

June seemed to fly by as Tom was busy planting and spraying while I stayed busy at the coffee shop. In July I was able to take a week off and my mom and I took a trip to Bozeman, Montana to visit Brock and Amber and their family! It was so good to finally be able to see in person where they are and to just spend time with them. We enjoyed every minute of our time with them.
They had awesome bike/walking paths throughout their neighborhood that we took a few walks on. The weather was perfect!
Brock and Amber took us out for sushi one night...we weren't quite sure of how we would like it, but it ended up being pretty good! We had to take a picture to prove it to Dad and Tom. I think they were pretty impressed. ;)
One evening we went on a hike up to a BEAUTIFUL waterfall! We took quite a few pictures in that area, trying to capture the beauty and bring it back to Warren. :) (Don't get me wrong, I appreciate Warren's beauty, as well...just a little bit different than Montana.)



I think I might frame this picture and put it in my house! Thanks Brock, Amber, Madison, Isaac, Hannah, and Audrey for a wonderful trip! We hope to make it an annual event!

Little By Little

Little by little we are working on our new home! It has been fun to see the changes take place, and we can't wait to see the finished product. We got a lot done this past weekend and it felt wonderful. We have about one-fourth left of the floor to put in in the living room and then we have the kitchen to do. We forgot our camera this weekend, but Kari let us borrow her video camera, so we have a little video for you!

We're Home Owners!

Well our big news of the month is...we're home owners! Last Friday we closed on our first home and we are thrilled! I had promised some pictures, so here they are. It was built in the 70s and hasn't had a lot of updating since then. We are planning to repaint pretty much everything. :) We already tore out the carpet in the living room and are going to start painting this weekend.

I'll start with pictures of the kitchen...this is what you see when you walk into the kitchen from the garage entry....when you look to the left-sink and oven


There's a nice built-in desk just too.


Living room/Hallway...what you see when you look into the living room from the kitchenFront entry door is over there in the right corner. I really like the built-in book shelves!If you were to look left when coming out of the kitchen it goes into the hallway.
Hallway. First door on right is the bathroom. First door on left is smallest bedroom (will be our office). Second door on left is our bedroom and door at end of hall is guest bedroom (come visit us!) :)

Bathroom & Bedrooms...
Do you love the peach sink as much as we do? ;) We hope to update that some day, but it's not at the top of our priority list.
It has a matching peach tub, too! Ha.
Smallest bedroom/office
Our bedroom
Guest Bedroom

I should have taken a picture of the closets--they are very nice and spacious and have some nice built-in shelves too! Thanks for sharing the excitement of our new home!