There's No Place Like Home

Hello All - Just wanted to post a quick update on what we are all up to these days...the truth is....NOT MUCH!! :) This whole month is going to fly by since I will be spending at least 2 nights away from home each week.
The first week of the month I had training in Jamestown for my new job at ND Farmers Union. I am the next Outreach Staff employee for the counties of Barnes, Dickey, LaMoure and Stutsman. I am not entirely sure what I will be doing yet, but my understanding is that I will be assisting these counties with their member activities and be a liaison between them and the state staff. I think it will be challenging but interesting.
Last week I went to Bismarck for meetings and that helped put some of the pieces together. Hayden has been enjoying time with Grandma and Grandpa Enger and with his friends at daycare since I have been away.
This week I am going on my annual scrapbooking retreat in Brainerd, MN. I am really looking forward to this trip. I always have such a great time and usually get lots of scrapbooking done.
Next week my dad is having surgery on his neck in the cities and I am going to go with he and my mom to keep them company and help out as much as I can. His surgery is Tuesday, so if you have an extra moment to say a prayer for him, it would be appreciated. As far as I know it is not a serious surgery but prayers never hurt! :) He has had problems with his neck/back and found out that he has some discs that just aren't right. He met with his surgeon a couple weeks ago and he said that after he is healed and ready to go he will only loose 4% of motion which the dr. didn't even know if he would notice. So we were all VERY happy that he won't have any trouble golfing! :)
The following week just might include a trip to St. James, MN to meet the newest member of the Bishoff family. My sister is due to have her baby in the next couple weeks and we are anxious to meet him/her. I will have TONS of pictures to share when that event happens.
Although it is nice to be away, meet new people and spend time with friends and family it is always nice to be home. I am looking forward to February and March slowing down! But now that I said that they will be busy also! :)
Enjoy your week, everyone!

2009 Looking Back & New Years

I don't generally like to sound depressing when it comes to blogging but when looking back at 2009, I'd have to say it wasn't one of the best years in history or even my life. Don't get me wrong, many wonderful things happened - I enjoyed many wonderful days with Hayden, we went to the lake, we got to celebrate Hayden's 1st birthday, we enjoyed trips to the farm, saw a lot of friends and family, etc, etc, etc.....but I am sort of glad that the year is over and that 2010 is here...I'm looking for a fresh start.
In early 2009 I lost my job and have been struggling since that time as to what I want to do with my life in terms of a careers (or job might be a better word!) I never thought I would want to be a stay-at-home mom because I didn't know if I would be very good at it. But loosing my job made me believe that if that was what I wanted to do I could and would truly enjoy it. However at this point financially it doesn't make sense. Although there are many jobs out there that financially don't make sense to do now that we do have a child. So we definitely had to do some figuring out. In September I started working for Farmers Union Insurance doing marketing part-time. I have really enjoyed that and look forward to the new challenges this coming year. Through this job I have gained another part-time job with ND Farmers Union and will start this coming week. I will begin training in Jamestown and am excited to see what it all entails. The #1 reason for taking both of these jobs was the flexibility they offer. I will have more to report when I know a little bit more about it.
The other thing that happened this year that I have spoken about on this blog is the loss of my grandmother. Her death has been very difficult for me. Some days I miss her so much and wish I could just pick up the phone to ask her a question about a recipe or get in the car and sit next to her and chat about life. Not many people get to know their grandparents very well...but I did and I am so grateful that I was able to and I am also so glad that my children will have their grandparents close by and will be able to know them well.
But now it is 2010 and I have a feeling a lot of great things will happen...I am trying to be positive. So I want to wish you a Happy New Year and I pray that each and every one of us has many blessings to look back on at the end of this year.

On to fun things.....This New Year's Eve we decided to host a party. We had such a great time. We started out the night by going out to eat and then everyone came back to our house. We gabbed, played games and laughed until 3am. I had such a great time. Here are a few pictures from the evening.

Christmas Recap....

Westin, Charlie and Hayden @ Enger Christmas

John and Hayden on Christmas Eve

John and Hayden's matching jammies -Hayden and Jason playing in his new tent

Presents with Grandpa Terry - Hugs for Grandma Mary

Wagon from Grandpa & Grandma Enger

Sledding and making snowmen at the farm

What at Christmas 2009 was for all of us. Between the snow storm and time with family it was, well......amazing! I think we were one of many that had their Christmas plans ruined by the huge storm that decided to drop inches and inches of snow on us along with high winds to make traveling nearly impossible. We were to host Christmas Eve at our house with my family and then head to the farm on Christmas morning to be with Jason's family. We ended up going to Forman on Christmas Eve and we weren't able to leave until Saturday morning. That afternoon we were able to head to the farm for the rest of the weekend.
Even though our plans didn't turn out like we would have hoped we had a great time with all of our family. We were thoroughly spoiled. Hayden got so many fun new toys that he can't make up his mind when he goes down to his play room to play. Too many options! :) He even got a sled from his Great-Grandma Loretta and we took him out on Sunday morning. He loved it. We got to get close to the cows and play around in the snow.
It was a great long weekend and we definitely felt blessed to be with both of our families.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Here is our 2009 Christmas Card and letter. I hope you all are enjoying this Christmas season. It seems like this year has gone extremely fast. I can't believe we are only a few weeks away from Christmas. Merry Christmas and a Happy 2010 from the Engers!!!

Greetings Family and Friends –

It has been hard for me to sit down and write a Christmas letter this year because I feel like we don’t have much to talk about. There hasn’t been too many exciting things happening to us lately, so I guess we can consider that a good thing. So I hope I don’t bore you too much with our lives. They aren’t overly exciting, but they are ours. This year, I decided to do something a little different. Rather than brag about how wonderful we are and how happy we are J I thought I would update you on each of our 2009 likes, interests and dislikes.

Hayden –

* Likes – chocolate milk, C (Lucy), my B (blankie), playing outside on my new swing set, swimming at the lake or the pool, going for boat rides, playing with my friends - Rodney, Ryan and Jack, going to Ann’s for daycare, eating anything sweet, reading books, the Wiggles, Elmo, going to the lake, celebrating my 1^st birthday with all of my family, having sleepovers at Grandma and Grandpa Engers and Grandma and Grandpa Bishoffs, playing with my cousin John, that I will have a new cousin in Feb. 2010, (Emily and Scott are expecting #2) saying NO, going to the farm, being 19 months old and going to the park.

* Dislikes – giving up my bottle and pacifier, mac-n-cheese, having my diaper changed, being in time-out, having to get shots, teething, when my daddy leaves for work in the morning, and picking up my toys.

Jason –

* Likes – booking an April 2010 trip to Las Vegas with Betsy and our friends (no kids!!), the lake, golfing, going home for deer hunting, helping with harvest, fishing, and my job at Bremer Bank.

* Dislikes – having to leave Hayden when I go to work, having a cool summer and no spring, and the flooding in Lisbon this spring.

Betsy –

* Likes – being able to be at home with Hayden more, Twilight Series, going on 2 scrapbooking retreats, ladies day at the golf course, attending my 5 year class reunion at Concordia, going to the lake, my new part-time job for a local insurance agent, living so close to our family that we get to see them often, and that our parents are always so willing to help out.

* Dislikes – being laid off from my job at Hospice in February, having to put Hayden in time-out, Hayden growing up too fast, and my grandma Dorothy passing away this summer.

Lucy –

* Likes – sleeping, being outside, going to the farm, going for walks, getting treats, Jason, and being at the lake.

* Dislikes – getting hit by Hayden, going to the vet, getting my hair cut, and my new spray collar for when I bark.

We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2010.

All of God’s Blessings from Jason, Betsy, Hayden and Lucy

Giving Thanks - Family and Friends

This weekend Hayden and I got together with 3 of my girlfriends from Wyndmere and their kids. I met these girls in high school but didn't really start hanging out with them until right around when we graduated (which will be 10 years this year!!!). I don't get to see them as often as I would like but it seems like when we get together we can pick up right where we left off the last time. In my mind, they are the definition of true friends. I know that even if I don't talk to them for weeks or months or see them even if it is a year I can count on them and know they would do anything for me. And I really hope that they know I would do the same for them. I am thankful for these 3 girls and the 10 years of memories we have together. I look forward to making memories with these girls and their families for the next 50. Love you girls! :)


Back (Betsy and Julie)
Front (Alissa and Mandy)

We tried to get a picture of the 4 kids together...it is very difficult to get 4 babies 2 and under to cooperate all at the same time.
(L-R Cooper, Chloe, Hayden and Jaylin)

Hayden has become a climber...well...not really become, he has been one for a long time...But not it is ALL the time. He is ALWAYS on top of something...his toy box, couch, crawling into his high chair and now he crawls onto the dining room table.

This picture was taken last Thanksgiving...it is of my Grandma Dyste and 10 of her 17 great-grandchildren. It was her last Thanksgiving. I have really been missing her lately and I know that this Thanksgiving and Christmas will be difficult without her. I know many of you reading this have loved ones that you will be missing this time of year as well. I hope you will find comfort in the memories you had with them.

Can you believe it is already Thanksgiving this week? I can't!!! We have many things to be thankful for this year...our health, our friends and our family. We are truly blessed. Happy Thanksgiving to each and everyone of you. We hope that you have many things to be thankful for as well.

Lots to Update...Shoes, Scrappin and Mail Men OH MY!

I haven't taken the time to upload pictures from my camera lately...so there is lots to update on. We have been busy busy busy....Hayden is growing like a week and is learning new things every day. He now has learned where his belly button, nose, hair and feet are...he also can hold his finger up to his mouth and go "ssshhh" (he learned if from the Wiggles!!) and he and daddy survived 2 weekends in a row without mommy.

Hayden LOVES shoes...he goes in search of shoes and loves to put them on and tries to wear them around the house. He does have big feet (8 1/2 extra-wide) but not quite big enough for ours.

We went down to St. James a few weeks ago and got to see Emily, Scott and John. My sister called me the day after we left and she said that John woke up the next morning and asked "Where's Bumpa (Grandma), Where's Cheese (Jas), Where's Hayday (Hayden)" But not auntie or grandma! :( I love that he calls Jason, Cheese! At first we didn't know who he was talking about and then Jason walked in the door and he pointed at him and said "Cheese!!!" It's just too funny!

One of my weekends away was going to Detroit Lakes scrapbooking for the weekend. I had such a great time! We left on Friday morning and came back Sunday afternoon. I got a lot done and got to know some fun ladies even better. We laughed, shared stories, drank, ate and ate and scrapbooked all weekend long. I am going to another one in January and I am already looking forward to it.

We went outside the other night to take some pictures for our Christmas card....
The pictures that made the cut will have to be a surprise!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! Hayden's 2nd Halloween was a ton of fun!! He and Lucy dressed up as Mail carriers. Some of you may not know, but both of my parents are mail carriers and I saw a mail man costume for dogs and thought, oh I have to get that...well, Hayden is not very fond of big costumes with hats or anything like that at this stage of his life, so I was online looking for a costume and came across a little mail man costume and thought he would probably wear it since it is really only clothes that he shouldn't have a problem wearing. He was quite the trooper. We went to a few houses and for only going to a few he got a TON of candy. Our friends the Olson's stopped by and of course we had to get some pictures with them. Superman (Rodney), Big Buck (Ryan) and Monkey (Jack) are Hayden's best buds.

Concordia Homecoming

Concordia Homecoming was this past weekend and it just happened to be my 5 year reunion! WOW! Time has flown! I had a great time with friends and classmates. On Friday I met up with friends and we went out to eat and caught up on what was going on and laughed about memories. On Saturday we went to our class breakfast at Concordia and met up with other '04 Cobbers. It was great to see so many familiar faces. We also took a quick tour around the campus. They have made a lot of changes including a new student center that is so awesome. We were all wishing it was there when we were there. That night we met up with more classmates for a social and then went to Mick's Office. The Cobber tradition is still strong today. I even ran into my cousin Clare, who is also a Cobber graduate.


'04 Graduates - Anna, Betsy and Erin at the parade


Erin, Betsy, Anna and CJ

@ Mick's with Clare