Victoria Rose

Last night at 10:13 p.m. We became an aunt/uncle to the sweetest little girl. Victoria Rose Atkinson (I know, the name is gorgeous) was welcomed into the world. We still can't believe that Shawn and Krystal have a kid. I know that all babies are cute, but knowing that this little one is my niece makes it so different and wonderful. We are so excited that the first little Atkinson grandchild is here. We love her so much. Congratulations Shawn and Krystal.

To my mother in Law

While my Mother and Father in law were here helping us with our move, my mother in law was in search of the best ice cream in Minneapolis. We went to a couple of places that she had heard about and the verdict was...so so. The ice cream was pretty good but overpriced and in tiny portions. Justin and I came to the conclusion that we were spoiled in cache valley in the dairy department. We lived in an agricultural town with fresh dairy products in abundance. You can't beat Aggie ice cream, Charlie's, or LeBeaus fabulous homemade ice cream in huge portions at great prices.....or can you? We found Sebastian Joe's Ice cream or as I like to call it, "Heaven on Earth". We both had the "Pavaratti" which is banana ice cream with caramel and chocolate chips and it really was some of the best ice cream I have ever had! We also tried the Raspberry chocolate chip which was heavenly and the Chocolate coyote which was chocolate with cinnamon and cayenne pepper. It had a really spicy after taste and was crazy but pretty good. All in all it was a great find and we are sorry that you missed it mom and dad, but hey,more reasons to come and see us again real soon!

Minnesota

We are finally here in Minnesota and here is the week in review

MONDAY- The boys hookup up the car and trailer in the morning while I finished cleaning. We left Logan at 11 in the a.m and drove for 24 hours straight. And when I say we, I mean mostly my father in law Brad and Justin drove for a couple hours too. Lots of gas stations and junk food!
TUESDAY- We arrived in Minnesota and checked into our apartment that afternoon. We unloaded everything we brought and we all just about died from the humidity. We took turns taking showers in our shower-curtainless shower and then took off for the mall of america, which was awesome.

Dad Mom and Justin at the Mall of America


WEDNESDAY- This was our first really busy day. We went sight seeing around the city and saw some really cool old houses and went to the St. Paul Cathedral and then we found some good/pricey ice cream that my mother in law heard about. Then Justin and I went to a reception for the incoming MHA students are the University. There was an open bar, it was quite awesome! We met a few couples that are in our ward. Then we went to the Spaghetti factory for an amazing dinner and we also tried to unpack and furniture shop. Whew!




THURSDAY- Ma and Pa Atkinson left us in the big city to head back to Utah and Justin had an orientation at the University most of the day so I stayed home and unpacked the house. Then we went to Ikea to get some things for our house and also to Wal-Mart. Its amazing how fast things like garbage cans and condiments add up!
FRIDAY- We spent the whole morning shopping for furniture. We needed a bed, couches a tv stand and a t.v. It was so tiring and difficult. We had never had to buy furniture before and we are both so indecisive. Lets just say we didn't actually purchase a single thing! Then that night we got together with 7 other couples from the ward and had some food and played a game and got to know eachother.
SATURDAY-We went back out and finally bought some furniture. We bought everything we needed and it was so fun! We got an awesome new tv that we are really excited about and then we got together with some ward couple to go to the Minnesota State Fair. I am going to do another post about this.

SUNDAY- We went to our new ward for the first time. It is a good sized family ward and we are really excited to get to know everyone!
Well that was our first week here in Minnesota!

Melissa and Justin's Wedding

On August 15th Justin and Melissa were married in the Logan Temple. It was so wonderful to be able to see them sealed in the temple and to celebrate their marriage and to get "new guy" (aka Justin) as a member of the family. We love them both so much and we are so excited for them! The reception was gorgeous and Melissa was a seriously beautiful bride! It was a perfect day but seeing them leave at the end of the night for their honeymoon was really hard since we moved and we wont get to see them until Christmas. Another thing, my mom and Julie came up that day and came to the reception with us! Julie will be going to BYU this fall so they came to see us for a couple days before we move!

Just Married!

The siblings at the temple

The "New and Improved" Atkinson family.

Julie, My mom, and uncle Don at the beautiful reception.

Wedding Dinner

On Thursday August 14th we went to Justin and Melissa's wedding dinner. It was at the Iron gate grill in Logan and it was so beautiful! The food was delicious and it was great to spend the night with family and friends before their big day! My Justin and I had a lot of fun playing with the little cousins. Kade has learned to stick his tongue out at people and he loves it! It is too cute!

Windrivers

Me, my dad, my brothers and my uncle Josh recently took a backpacking trip to the Wind Rivers in Wyoming. Packing a 40-lb pack a couple thousand feet uphill may not sound like very much fun, but the amazing views at the top are worth every step. We camped at a few lakes, including Diamond, Big Sandy, and Black Joe Lake. We spent a lot of time fishing and went on a couple of day hikes. The highlight of the trip was a grueling day hike to Jackass pass (we soon discovered that the name describes anyone who thinks they're up for the challenge) which overlooks the Cirque of the Towers, a semicircle of enormous granite peaks that make for a breathtaking view. Overall, the trip was a success considering that the fishing was great, the mosquitoes weren't as bad as we expected, we didn't have any run-ins with bears (unlike the last trip).

Melissa's Endowment

Melissa(Justin's little sister) took out her endowment at the Logan temple on Sat August 12th. It was wonderful to go through the temple as a family. After the temple we had an awesome dinner at the Sizzler. Woo Hoo!

Krystal's Baby Shower

Our sister in law Krystal is due in September with our very first niece. She had a baby shower here in logan on Sat the 9th. Lets just say there was a LOT of pink. There will be no doubt that its a girl with all the adorable frilly little things she got! It was a lot of fun, and it is making me very excited for that little girl to arrive!

Welcome Home Casey

On Feb 29th, Justin's little brother Casey returned from his mission in Poland. It has been fun having him home and getting to know him better.