P.S. Billings Temple with Terri Jo

This is just a BONUS (or P.S.) for our Fargo blog.
A few month back, Terri Jo and I discussed her going to the Temple to receive her endowment.  She started taking the Temple Prep Class and I was hoping she would go before I moved so I could join her. Because of certain circumstances, that didn't happen. But I was surprised when she texted me this week and told me she was going through the Billings, MT Temple on Friday morning.
It worked out that we were able to make it to Billings by Thursday night so that I could join her and her mom Friday morning for a session. It was way special and I'm so glad I was able to be there with them. You're an awesome example to your family, Terri. Sure luv ya and will miss your dearly! Be strong and stay true.

While the ladies were at the Temple, the dads ate breakfast at the hotel and took the kids to the swim park. They had a blast! Then they all joined us at the Temple for pictures.
We also got to go out to eat together afterwards before we hit the road. Unfortunately, it started downpouring as we came out of lunch. We had to make a run for it to our cars so our goodbye was quick. But it was really great we got to spend a little time with them. Thanks guys! We'll miss you. Come visit sometime.

OK...
Now it's really farewell until we meet again! LOL (That means you have to come visit us at our new Venue;o)

Goodbye to Fargo

So here I am at the end of this Fargo Blog. And even though you might not believe it--- I am at a loss for words. LOL What do you say to a place that changed your life forever?????? 

I guess you say... 

Goodbye to North Dakota: Our Road Trip to the Border

The Last couple days of Fargo have already become a blur but just to finish out the record...

We spent out last evening with the Larsen Family. Well- at least the kids did. Brett and I spent our evening and night into the wee hours cleaning out the remainder of stuff in our home and getting it all loaded in the cars. Then we sneaked in to catch a few hours of sleep in the Larsen's basement. 

They spoiled us with breakfast and goodbyes. Thanks guys for being there our last day! We love you guys and will miss you! We hope this will be a see ya later. ;)

We grabbed all our stuff and headed back to the house to grab the food out of the fridge and pick up the truck and trailer. Our dear neighbors, the Rays and the Alms came out and hung out as long as they could with us before we drove away. It was harder than I thought to leave them. And their tears and sad waves goodbye were hard to see. We will miss our neighbors for sure. We were really lucky to live next to such great people!

We left Fargo WAY later than expected- but that's par for course, I guess. 

On our road trip, we said goodbye to the Flat Landscape and the hay bales:

 We said goodbye to the Sunflowers:

 We made a stop or two for a potty break and to fix some bad noise in the truck (Dumb vehicles!):

And all this while going 55 miles an hour to pull that big honkin' trailer! Let's just say... it was a very, very, very long day!

But eventually, we reached the border. Brett knew I would want to stop so, we pulled over. The kids straddled the state line and waved goodbye to our dear North Dakota.

And there you have it-- our time in North Dakota has come to an end. Goodbye! So long! Farewell!
Of course ......







That won't end the Seamons Partay! It just means the venue will change. You can always join us in our new Adventures. Hope to see you there!!!

Goodbye to Friends

The hardest part of leaving Fargo will be saying goodbye to friends. Actually getting to the point we would finally move took FOREVER but the time of leaving our Fargo family came way TOO FAST!!!! We have made the BEST friends in our time in the Dakotas. Seriously!.... Where did all these amazing people come from? Over the last couple weeks, we were able to spend time with a lot of our friends. We will ever be grateful for our friendships and will miss them dearly. In a "semi-particular, only makes sense to me" order, here are a few of dearest friends that we will miss:

Goodbye to our Ward Family!

Brotherson Family

including Ellen

Quilting with Brooke and playing with Cook Boys

Dishers

Gills

Larsens

Robinsons

Stephens

Zollingers

Goodbye to our Community Friends!

Zumba Crew- Brett came with me a couple times so he counts! LOL

Card from Brett's YMCA friends

Katelyn Anderson- LiveStrong Mentor

Our Friends at State Bank & Trust Bank

Goodbye to Work Friends!

Note from Brett's co-workers

Goodbye to our Neighbors!

Next door Neighbors- The Rays- Dan, Val, Andrew & Emily

The Alms- represented by darling pictures of the neighborhood girl posse'

Goodbye to Things

Along with the people, there are THINGS that were also hard to say goodbye to.

Our PLAY SET has been a part of Victoria & Glory's lives as long as they've been alive. It's here they ate their first rocks, got hit by their first swing (it only takes once and they learn, right?), and learned how to pump on a swing. It's was Brett first project to expand a swing set and his first attempt at trying to kill our children by putting a zipline on it. (Which, by the way turned out to be the kids favorite part of our yard!... Dad's always know how to make life fun! LOL) It was the first hanging place for Brett's hammock and many hours were spent talking, lounging and chillin' in it. Yes--Many fun memories have been made shared here. Goodbye, dear Play set!

Our TRAMPOLINE... it always reminded me of our dear friends, the Tautfest Family cuz they gave us a stealer deal on it when they left Fargo. (I still miss them) It has been a place for exercise, fun, bonked heads, hurt backs, sprained ankles, fun photo ops, neighborhood kid gathering, hours stitching up the net (the night before my mastectomy- oh the joys of a Mother's work that's never done! LOL) and tons of fun! We will miss you dear Trampoline!

Then of course there is our HOME! It wasn't a house- it was part of our family- it was our home. We loved it! Sometimes we got frustrated with it. Sometimes we even cursed it. We nursed it back to health when it was ill. We shared with it our secrets. We strengthened it and made it better. Here is where we we grew, we struggled, we cried, we fought disease, we conquered, we laughed, we loved! It's true that material things come and material things go and in the end it's really the people that matter BUT saying goodbye is still hard. Goodbye to our dear home. May the new family LOVE you as we did!
Our Upstairs:

Our Basement:

Last goodbye to our Sold Home:

Sea of Monsters

***Title refers to the movie not the group of friends ....I think. LOL***

Liberty has been looking forward to the new Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters movie for a long time. She wanted to be able to get a big group together for opening night. With us moving tomorrow- it didn't look like it would be possible. But we wanted her to be able to say goodbye to friends so we fit it into the schedule. We had to do a daytime showing but so glad we did it. She called a group of friends and we all met for the show. Then I took them all to a Church Youth activity afterwards. Liberty LOVED it!!!!! Partly because she loved the movie but more because she was so excited that a big group of her friends made it. She must be my daughter! LOL Sure luv ya, Sis. Glad it turned out like you wanted it to! XOXO

Last Fargo Playgroup

We got to spend a little extra time with our Fargo friends at the Park today. We will miss you guys!

17th Anniversary

I can't believe it's been 17 years since Brett and I got married! Holy cow! Where does the time go? That means we're having LOTS OF FUN, right? LOL 

It was a little bit of poor timing when it came to moving this week but we wanted to make sure we celebrated. Back when I finished up my Cancer treatments, we had visited Texas Roadhouse to celebrate. It turns out that we met the Owner and she ended up giving us a gift certificate for Brett & I to come back sometime on the house. How nice is that?

Well--- since there is only 1 Texas Roadhouse in Montana and it's NOT in Helena, we figured this would be the perfect place to celebrate our Anniversary and one of our last nights in Fargo. Turned out, we were right!

First- we ran into a friend and the Sister Missionaries there. It was fun to say hi and goodbye to them. 

Next, you'll never believe who was our server. HOLA! ..........That's right- the same guy from last time. I believe his name was William. And he totally remembered us. He chatted and visited like we were old friends. We told him we were celebrating our Anniversary and also saying goodbye. He was so sad after we told him we were moving. He even had the Manager come over and meet us. He seriously almost cried by the end of the evening. Too funny! He gave us an extra baked Sweet Potato for the road. Because we got the dinners for free, we tipped HUGE. Which I'm pretty sure- made William's day. And I'm pretty sure he wanted to hug us goodbye but he settled for puppy-dog eyes, a pouty bottom lip and a wave. LOL
What a fun way to spend our Anniversary and say goodbye to a little corner of Fargo.

Honey- Thanks for an awesome 17 years. You are more amazing every year. Love you! XOXO

Home Repairs for Someone Else to Enjoy

Just because this is a funny memory- I wanted to document it. 

Our home sold really fast. Unfortunately, we learned a lot about preparing/selling a home- after the fact. One thing is-- "home repairs for someone else to enjoy" suck!! 

There were a few things we fixed up just to sell or HAD to fix for the new owners. Dumb that we didn't do those things for us to enjoy. Not that it will change what we do in the future (because let's face it- who does?) but it's a good threat to oneself to say "So help me- I'll never do that again!" LOL 

One project was a patch of drywall that had got wet and was falling apart in the upstairs bathroom. It's been like that for the last year or so and we just never got around to it. We even put it on the market without doing it because we knew eventually we would get around to it. Let's just say- DUMB on our part.

Once the offer was in- it became part of the contract that we would fix it with the "drywall that is water resistant".  Well, we did. Brett, Justice and I fixed it, kilz-ed it, spackled it and painted it. The whole wall looked awesome! 

Unfortunately, then the inspector had to come out twice and he wanted receipts and proof of the special drywall and to see the inside of my beating heart. O.K. not really that last part but it started to get a little ridiculous! Our Realtor was willing to help us out and have a repairman friend come look at it. He came and said he couldn't prove we used the special drywall unless he ripped part of it up. What???? Are you kidding me? So dumb!!! BUT then I remembered that I had taken a picture [Who knew- Shay taking pictures of random stuff? LOL] of Justice helping Dad with the wall. I pulled it up off the computer and he said that's exactly what we needed. AWESOME! Look at me! See.... it pays sometime to be a narcotic, memory documenting, picture taker. LOL I saved the day!!

Thunder Road

We wanted to make sure we did a few things the kids wanted to do in Fargo before we leave forever. So tonight we took them to Thunder Road. We had a great time! We rode go-karts, did laser tag [which by the way- EVERYONE loved! Even Glory did an awesome job. However, for the record- Mom totally kicked butt in the score. Wahoo!], and played mini golf. What a fun night and a good break from all the packing. ;)

BYU-I Dance Alliance

The BYU-Idaho Dance Alliance was performing at NDSU tonight. Our Ward was invited so we took the family in the midst of the move to check it out. It was really awesome! It was a little long for the little kids but the dances were way fun. Out in the lobby they had replicas of all these different masterpieces. The dancers performed a dance that represented each one of them. So neat! And all the kids LOVED meeting the dancers afterwards. What a fun night!

Stuffing Our Life into a Truck

Moving ourselves has been a little tricky. No one to tell us WHAT to do, WHEN to do it or even HOW to do it. Tricky and a bit stressful. How do you get 6 people and 17 years of accumulated treasures 800 miles across the country? And pay for it yourself, by the way!
We finally decided that we would rent a 28 foot ABF truck to get our stuff to Montana. Basically, they drop off the empty truck, leave it for 3 days for you to load all your crap inside, they pick it up and then deliver it to your new address within a week. Oh and did I mention they charge you an arm and a leg and your unborn child? LOL We weren't sure everything would fit but without the option for a trial run, we braved it.
On Wednesday, July 31st, the ABF man dropped off this massive truck in our driveway.

We've been packing and dejunking for weeks so hopefully it could go smoothly. On Thursday and Saturday, some of our awesome men friends came by to help us stuff the truck with most of our belongings. They were AMAZING! I got teased a lot about how 3 or 4 feet were just my craft room but hey!-- What can I say? I'm a hoarder! LOL But seriously- We can never express how grateful we are for their help. Heaven sent! As we got close to the end it got harder to figure out where things should go so we thanked them for their time and called it a night. Stuffing your life into a truck is exhausting!!!

The last three feet were the hardest. On Sunday after Church (the ox in the mire situation), Brett and I did some rearranging and extra shoving. We managed to fit a lot of little stuff in all the nook and crannies. We had to leave some things behind but nothing we can't replace or live without. We FILLED that 28 feet completely full! Holy Moly! We filled it so full that they had to send a separate  truck to pick up the ramp. Officially.... we have way too much stuff!

Early Monday morning, August 5th, the man came back to pick up the truck and drove away. It was surreal to watch someone drive away with most of your life's belongings. ...Goodbye stuff! Hope to see you on the other side. ;)

Remember the "No one to tell us WHAT to do, WHEN to do it or even HOW to do it" part of this adventure- well unfortunately that got the best of us. We had throw around several ideas on how to get both vehicles, all the bikes, Brett's 2 go-Karts, 6 people and all our leftover stuff to Montana. But actually doing something about it got pushed on the back burner. That is until ...August 6th (Tuesday) [2 days before we moved- BTW], Brett finally worked something out for a man from Alexandria, MN to sell us an enclosed utility trailer. The man charged us a little extra and brought it into town for us. It's a beauty but not what we thought would be in the budget. Dang! I've never seen so many hundreds in my life!!! Moving is EXPENSIVE, people! We DID however, fit in both Go-Karts, all the bikes, a bunch of tools and leftover stuff in it. We can tow it behind the Suburban which we will fill to the brim with stuff and a couple family members. The rest will be loaded into the mini van with anyone else that's coming. Then we'll be off! Freaky! Can't believe it's really happening. Are we ready for this?????

Spa Day

... courtesy of my best friends.
For my birthday, a bunch of my girlfriends gave me a gift certificate for a Spa Day.  I actually think they were hoping that I would go get my hair styled. ;) Thanks a lot, friends for trying to subtly persuade me to rid myself of my Bobby Brady look. LOL
I wanted to take advantage of their generosity before we left Fargo so I set up an appointment to spoil myself during our move. It was AWESOME!
I had a amazing massage. My 1st facial. And then a pedicure. How awesome is that? Exactly what I needed in the midst of our crazy transition.
Thanks to my dear friends that spoiled me for my birthday. I have the BEST friends ever!

Justice Football Camp

Since we missed the chance to get Justice into football this year- we signed him up for a week long Football Camp put on by the YMCA. He enjoyed it, I think. Good job, Buddy!

Last TKD

Tonight was Justice's last TaeKwonDo at Northwest Martial Arts in Fargo. It's been fun to get him involved. He loved it! So sad to leave it.

Last Fargo GNO

My bestie girlfriends took me out for one last Fargo GNO tonight. We all went to Perkins to hang out. Elisa had all the ladies write down memories they had of me. My job was to guess who the memory was with. It was lots of fun! Thanks so much to all my lady friends in Fargo- for the amazing fun, memories and luv we've shared. I will miss you terribly!