Easter Weekend in Atlanta

In our excitement over being in Atlanta last weekend, I completely neglected the traditional Easter photos. (I think we were pushing our luck asking the Easter Bunny to find us as it was) Besides, you can't take Easter pictures without everyone, and since we left Susannah and Reed with kind friends (who are no doubt ready for us to leave after) the weekend, we can forgive ourselves, right?

The kids were very impressed with the cool trains from the terminal to the rental car facility. They were also very impressed it was 76 degrees and GREEN.

And while I don't have photos, Olivia was completely sold on the place once she had her first taste of Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets. Her love only increased for Georgia as we passed one on practically every corner. That girl is easy to please.

Next stop was the open house for the Atlanta Temple. A definite highlight of our trip. You can watch about it here. I can't describe how touching it was to be in the temple with my children. Just lovely.

Of course any stay in a hotel requires a dip in the pool, even if it is 11:00 o'clock at night and you were all up at 5:00 am for a flight. (And for mom who didn't get to bed 'til 1:30 the night before because the baby had an ear infection) The Easter Bunny will totally be able to be awake and able to wait for you all to fall asleep before leaving the loot.

Dad's new office! Bonus is that it's part of the distribution center, so bringing home frozen confections will be much easier than it is now. The kids can also gear up and see the ginormous freezer kept at -20f anytime they choose. In case we get to missing Minnesota winters.

The highlight for me of course, was having a perfectly legitimate excuse to eat at our favorite family restaurant (Maggiano's ) for Easter Dinner. We told the waitress we had to move from Minnesota because they closed the one in Minneapolis. (Atlanta has three :)

Of course there was more to love than Chick-fil-a, Maggiano's and Easter Candy. (What more could you need though, really?)

We met some very nice people, went to church, and even got the kids fantasizing abut a gorgeous SEVEN bedroom home we looked at. (Not in the area I think we'll end up, but it got them excited) Jared and I will head back soon for the heavy lifting of house hunting.

Did I mention it was WARM and GREEN? *sigh*

(34 today. fyi)

In the meantime, I'm busy, busy, busy, making our house here irresistible.

(more on that later)

I'll try to keep you posted.

Georgia on my mind

Our Minnesota House

(uh...NOT in Winter)

I was planning on doing a nice long post on my (OLDER) friends 40th birthday, but things took a crazy turn when I got home.

Jared had a "surprise" meeting on Tuesday letting him know his position was being "eliminated" company wide. *gulp*

BUT, the great news is he was offered a promotion in Atlanta, Georgia, starting in June.

*gulp* We feel very, very, blessed that we have such a great opportunity, especially in this economy.

I should have seen this coming since I've been going on and on about how much we love Minnesota (despite the crappy weather) and how we hope to stay for a good long time. I guess when I joked we needed to move because the kids were getting midwest accents the Lord agreed.

And while there are many wonderful things here, bundling up my kids in their snow gear in APRIL and putting on a pot of chili to warm our bones TONIGHT WHEN IT SNOWS, are not on the "miss about Minnesota" list.

Besides, I think having my kids learn to say "Yes, ma'am" and "Yessir" will be positively adorable.