Well, as of this week we are officially ND residents. We have a PO Box (33, Casselton, ND 58012), and are getting all mail sent there. We are living at Amy's parents farm (thanks Rob and Jen), and I start in the Fargo office on Monday, August 31st. The house moved along a bit this week with the framing starting on Thursday. I was clamoring for a crew of 12, but we settled for a crew of 2, who are apparently very efficient. The framing has started, but it's just off the foundation so far, so no new pictures accompany this post.
The kids have really taken to their new school, teachers, and classmates and it seems like they were custom made for Central Cass. It's been nice to be able to bop over to relatives' places and visit and play cards. Grace took Grandpa Harold to the brink in a game of 31 today, but alas, she was foiled by his 92 years of experience. We are patiently waiting for a Red BAron pizza to cook at my parents house while they are at Mert Palmer's marriage reception. Then it's off to the farm for a low key evening.
There are still lots of decisions to be made on the details of the house, but Amy is an old hand at that now and gets to make pretty much all of them. She has a flair for design, but still pretends to let Jonathan have some input, so she knows what she's doing. Jonathan will commute to Fargo from the farm and will officially lead the Fargo team on Monday. Let's hope they look to him as a resource that will help grow this region for Marco.
More to come as the house progresses.......

Here's a shot of the kids in me in our basement. They have the basement all poured and this week the framing starts. We were originally concerned about our lot size, but it looks like we'll have plenty of backyard for football, kickball, and baseball. We close on our Sartell house on Tuesday the 25th and Jonathan will stay in St. Cloud at a friend's house this week and work in St. Cloud. Amy will head back to Rob and Jen's on Monday night and be with Grace and Owen. Jonathan will be back in ND for good on Friday. There should be some good progress to show at the end of this week.

OK, this is the maiden voyage of our blog for our move to Casselton, ND. We made the decision to move back home in May of '09 and have been busy with all the details that go with uprooting your life and transplanting yourself and your family back home. It's been an extremely cool experience as you get the chance to reflect on what's important in your life and how important relationships are to you. While we will always appreciate our life in St. Cloud, we know that moving home is going to be great. We'll miss all of the friends we've come to know and enjoy throughout the 13 years in St. Cloud, but know that with today's technology and a commitment to staying connected, we'll be able to at least communicate with those we've grown to love. Our kids seem genuinely excited to move to Casselton so they can be close to all of their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It will be a great place for them to grow up. And our parents are thrilled to be able to be a part of their everyday life.

Our house is now under construction and Jonathan starts his job in Fargo in September. It will be a transition for a few months as his company wraps up their fiscal year in October. After that, the job role will officially change to be more ND and Western MN focused. The crew at Marco has been incredibly accommodating and even sent us off in style with a going away party on the 12th.

We're now ready to begin this next stage of our life. Here are some photos of the 'in progress' house. Not much yet, but it will be moving along pretty quickly from here.

Jonathan