What's New?

What's new around here besides the new year? I'm glad you asked.
After we got back to North Dakota from our Utah adventure, we needed some food. I went to the local grocery store only to find that it had taken on a new identity. Our beloved Dan's had turned into something called Econoofoods. I think the store is supposed to be called Econofoods, but there is an orange in the logo that looks like an "o" so we are sticking with the Econoofoods version.

Anyway, the community seems none too pleased with this change and not just because the store has a lame name and logo. Their prices are expensive, their sales not so great and they don't make the same fabulous dressings and chicken that Dan's was famous for. Trading a locally-owned store for a big chain? Boo. The most depressing part is that our only other grocery choice is Super Walmart. *sigh* I am hoping that next year when I report what's new, I'll be telling you about the awesome new Costco they just built! (If there are any Costco execs reading this, I promise if you come to Dickinson we will keep you in business. We will probably be able to singlehandedly fund your store once our boys are teenagers.)

Moving on, of course the New Year brings resolutions and new ideas. The boys and I had a meeting about what kinds of things they want to do and learn this year and how we could make our family even stronger this year. What problems need to be solved?
The boys had a lot of ideas, some of them good and some of them, well, special. All of the boys agreed that there is too much fighting among the boys in our house but no one had any ideas about how to decrease the conflicts. David John, however also presented another serious problem. "It's a problem when people put their hands in the toilet," he said. "Hmm, I replied, what can we do about that problem?" "Umm, probably not put our hands in the toilet?" "Yep, good idea."
Here are some of the other ideas our boys had about what they want to do in 2014:
Eat ice cream
Learn about monstrous animals
Climb the walls and the ceiling like a spider
Color big gigantic pictures
Do handstands and gymnastics tricks
Learn about Jesus and Heavenly Father
Climb a mountain
Learn how to play Lego Lord of the Rings
Drink
Hang upside-down from the ceiling
Roller skate
Learn about skunks, elephants, teddy bears and zombies
"Thief the fruit snacks dead" (this one is Benjamin's goal- he loves to steal and rapidly consume fruit snacks)
Clean up stuff
Build buildings
Learn about pigs
I tried to take all the ideas very seriously. It was hard to keep a straight face.

Also new this year was the extremely cold weather. At least it was new to us and even native North Dakotans say this has been an exceptionally cold winter. Last Sunday, we experienced first hand wind-chills ranging from -50 to -60 degrees. Our boys cried just walking from the church to our car. The most disconcerting thing about temperatures that cold is that there are places on Mars that are warmer. Remember when I said that Earth being better than Mars wasn't hard? Maybe I was wrong. When the boys got in the van and we shut the door they were very concerned that it was so cold that they could still see their "dragon breath".

On Friday, something else new happened. Our street got plowed! That's the first time this has happened! I think we lost a good 6 inches of elevation at least. Black top was never such a beautiful sight.

David John has newly decided that he likes dogs. He was always fearful before, but over the Christmas break he bonded with the Flinders' dog Cai. We found him sitting on the rug one afternoon happily petting Cai. He said, "Mom, Cai is a good dog. He doesn't scratch, he doesn't bite, he doesn't eat........ people." Oh, good. I am so glad that Cai is not a man-eater.

Last, but not least, Marc got a new calling yesterday. Our ward was so big that they had to split it into two and Marc is now the Elder's Quorum President in the Dickinson 1st Ward. Adding these responsibilities to his already busy schedule will be a challenge, but we have faith that the Lord will help our family cope with this big job. Happy New Year to all our dear family and friends.