At the end of December, I finally finished my sentence at the apartment complex. We moved full-time into our trailer that had no running water (including no way to flush the toilet). To accompany that bit of good luck our microwave broke and our vacuum cleaner stopped working. Thankfully, we live right down the street from a gas station whose facilities we were able to use for a few days until Aaron and his dad got our water pipes fixed (incidentally, gas stations make a wonderful Christmas dinner if you are trying to carpet a trailer so you can move in by the end of the month. That is, if you don’t mind hot dogs.). Fortunately Aaron’s parents were there as we were making the transition from apartment to trailer. They helped us with everything from scrubbing the apartment to replacing water pipes and installing a garbage disposal (They also bought me the most fantastic and huge microwave, cooked meals for us, and kept Christian from eating the wood paneling in the hallway while we finished up the apartment duties). It sure is nice not to have to clean up after other people now.

The middle of January Aaron started looking for a new job after it became apparent that his job would no longer be able to meet our needs. By the end of January he had two job offers—one in Grand Forks (that’s an hour commute), and one from home (that’s a very short commute). Obviously, with gas prices being unpredictable as they are, he chose the short commute. Plus he likes working in his pajamas.

The beginning of February we added Eva to our family; she was born with beautiful, sable hair and fine features. Of course, most shelties are. She was five years old when we got her; she had been a show dog, and was being retired by her breeder. She is great with Christian—some day we hope he’ll be great with her too. For now, we have to make sure he doesn’t yank too hard on her ears or pull her down the hallway by her facial hair.

On the 27th, we added Abigail Elise (Abby) to our family. She arrived late (as girls often do)—just over two weeks late in fact. We were beginning to think I would have to escort her to college if she didn’t decide to show up soon. She was nine pounds two ounces, born after nine and a half hours of labor, and she has a head full of dark hair, which makes perfect sense considering both of her parents were blonde as babies. I was very excited to be able to have a natural birth; something I wouldn’t have been able to have at the hospital. Eva mistakenly thinks she has had a puppy (it was the easiest labor she ever went through). She won’t leave Abby’s side, and shows great concern every time she cries—which she quickly remedies by licking her to death.

Well, chaos is calling, so I’d best get back to it before I recover my sanity.