We've been in Dickinson a little over a week and a half. It feels like we've been here much longer than that though.
Some pictures of our first two weeks:
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| Swimming in the Hotel Pool |
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| Saige in goggles |
As I was walking to the grocery store the first day we got here, I met a couple who had just moved here the same day and that have 7 kids. The husband, James, also works at Conoco Phillips, so I asked Dave to look for him at training since Dave and James were starting on the same day. The guys found each other easily during orientation, and our family and theirs became fast friends. We had them over to our hotel to go swimming a few times, and even ate Easter Dinner with them. They have unfortunately gone to training in Colorado for 3 months, but we hope to have them over for dinner when they come back to North Dakota.
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| Letters to classmates and friends |
Before the girls were back in school, we spent an afternoon writing letter to friends and classmates. Julia is such a perfectionist, that it took us a while to get a letter written to her class and a friend. But, we finally got it!
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| Sweet Sleepers |
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| Sweet sleeping babe |
Sleeping in a hotel gives Dave and I the opportunity to see our daughters sleep. It is so sweet! And, now we know that one of the girls grinds her teeth for a long time, the other girl grinds her teeth in short clicking like sounds, and the baby laughs and cries in her sleep. It's been an interesting experience.
But despite a slightly less amount of sleep, we have been able to go on some pretty wonderful adventures. Last weekend we visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We had such a wonderful and exhausting day!
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| A Herd of Buffalos |
We saw several herds of buffalo. We counted that we saw about 100 buffalo in the few short hours we were at the park last weekend. It was so invigorating!
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| Can you See the Baby? |
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| Looking for the Baby Buffalo |
It's a little windier in North Dakota...
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| Buffalo Right By the Van |
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| Girls on the Hilltop |
We let the girls get out, and we went on a short climb/hike.
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| This View from our Short Hike |
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| Another View...See the Van? |
It was unbelievably windy up there. But, it was so great! We can't wait to go back to the park and hike to the petrified forest!
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| Wild horses! |
We also saw prairie dogs, turkeys, birds and cows that day. We look forward to going back to see more wildlife.
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| Theodore Roosevelt's Summer Cabin |
The girls loved learning about Theodore Roosevelt and all the wildlife, and so did Dave and I. We plan to camp and horse back ride at the park in the summer. The small town near the park, Medora, also has a musical that runs for about a month in the summer, that we can't wait to see.
We are loving life in North Dakota! So far, our first impressions of North Dakota have been great. We will see how we feel when next winter hits. :)
Thanks for reading,
Amber
