We have been officially tagged as Mississippians!!

Lexi and I had an eye opening experience this morning. We unfortunately encountered "Black Ice". We are officially calling it "Invisible Ice". There is no black about it because it looks like nothing is there. Well, we crossed the street to her school and on the side walk we went. After about ten steps it happened! Lexi went down and I tried to save her but in a blink of an eye I saw my feet in the air. Yes, we ate it. But I must say, it was hilarious and I was so tickled that we were the ones that looked like Bambi on a frozen pond. Our episode did not go unnoticed. The principal was outside helping with the kids and saw everything. She came up to us and I could read it all over her face. Out of all the people there, we the Mississippians were the ones to go down. Maybe they will put some salt down for us tomorrow, but who knows. I do know that from now on I will be walking around outside in Minnesota a little differently now!

In the 30's....Cold????

Yea!!!! We broke freezing today!!! Snow melted alot and slushy it was. I went to pick Lexi up at school today and everyone either had no jacket or a wind breaker on. I, on the other hand, had me and Drake bundled up in heavy jackets, hats, gloves, and boots. We must have look crazy to everyone but we were warm. I take that back. They looked crazy wearing no jacket when the weather is in the 30's!!! Hello people....30's are still cold.

Our week in Minnesota!! 2/16/09-2/22/09

This week has been one busy and out of the ordinary week for us Southerners in Minnesota. Shea started his new job with Federated Insurance on Monday and absolutely loves it. He is so excited that he gets his own cubical and laptop computer. Everyone is so nice there. On Wednesday, Lexi started her new school at Lincoln Elementary and her teacher is Ms. Fukushima. Yall don't laugh now that is really her name. Lexi already has a best friend that she talks about constantly. And of course, it snowed for Lexi's first day of school. We got about 3-4 inches of snow and we all felt like kids on Christmas morning. And yes, we were the only ones out playing it and the only ones that built a snowman. That Mississippi Family!! That we are!! Then on Friday, a what we call blizzard came. It snowed another 6-8 inches. Let me remind you that snow does not melt by the next day. So right now we have quite a bit of snow on the ground. We also went to Lexi's school Friday night and played Bingo put on by the PTO. Lexi and Drake won and they got a free book from the Book Fair. That was so much fun!!! Saturday, we had a few of Shea's co-workers over for a cook-out and met alot of their wives. They were all so sweet and we all had a blast!! And finally today, we went to a new church and liked it alot. The kids both sat through big church and did wonderful. After church, we went to CABELA'S. It was so neat and huge. It is like a mall for men, but I must admit that I was very impressed. Well, that sums up our week and we miss all of our family and friends back home. We can't wait to get a little warmth back into our blood, but until then we send hugs and kisses to all.

The morning of our first snow 2/18/09

Drake's first real snow angel!!

Lexi's first day of school.

Drake and I playing in the "NEW" snow. It snowed about 3-4 inches that day.

Preparing to build a snowman.

A look down our street.

This snowman took 2 hours to build. New snow is very hard to form into anything!

The house across the street. There was alot of snow.

The fattest squirrel I have ever seen.

It snowed again starting Friday afternoon. 2/20/09. We got around 6-8 inches through Sat.

Proud of it!!

We were FREEZING our tails off.

I think we are the only ones in Minnesota.

Drake riding his bike. He has slowly caught on and has had a few wipe outs.

Lexi shoveling. She was also tasting it. YUCK!!

Drake's monster truck got snowed in.

Snow on our mailbox and it was even under the eaves.

Our snowman has slowly become buried.

My footprint on our front porch and you can't even see the concrete.

Another look down our street with 6-8 inches of snow plus old snow.

Our bush covered in snow.

The Honda

What your feet look like when you walk in it.

A look down our rear driveway. We now know what the sticks with red tops are for. To know where the heck to drive!!

We have icicles hanging off our car.

Had to take a picture of the guy across the street snow plowing. I wish I had one!

Our rail on our front porch.

Frosty!!

This is how deep we have to shovel.

On Sat. Shea hung his babies on the wall.

Cabela's from the interstate.

The Huge bucks in the front.

Pics of inside

I'm Cold!!!

Yep! Just checked the weather and it is 1:19pm and feels like 0 degrees outside. BBBRRRR!!!

We are finally here!!! Minnesota!!!

Well, we are finally in Minnesota and have been here about a week. We have yet to get used to the cold and what seems like 20 minutes to get ready to just walk out the door. We had to buy a coat, glove, and hat rack for by the door for there is no running outside to the car without outerwear on. Here are a few pics of our trip up to Owatonna.

Drake and Shea picking up the Penske truck in Jackson. Drake calls it the "Big Wheeler"

Lexi coloring pictures that she had lined up on the window as she got done. They both were wonderful riders the whole way. My little troopers!!

When we got to Cedar Rapids, Iowa we saw snow banks (dirty snow banks). But it was snow to us so we had to get a picture. And off to bed for us....we were exhausted!!!

The next morning, we ate a yummy breakfast and off we were again.

But not before we spotted an even bigger snow bank!

Of course, for Drake we had to make a stop on the side of the road and before we took off I snapped a pic of them all piled up in the "Big Wheeler".

At the gas station getting a snack.

This was one of the neatest things that I have ever seen. It is the windmills for electricity and we probably went through about 100 of them.

We finally got here and the kids dove right into the snow. Northerners call it "old' snow because it has been on the ground since November. They had a thaw about 3 weeks ago and alot of it melted so you could see grass. But to us, it was the most snow we had seen in a long time and it doesn't go away by noon the next day.

Drake making a snow angel. Didn't work to well because it wasn't fresh snow.

We had to go and buy snow boots, of course, and they love them.

Playing in the front yard.