The Buchanans in Minnesota

My sister, Taylor, keeps bugging me to blog more about our family and what we're doing, especially because we're so far away from everyone else now. So I finally decided to relent and make a separate blog just for family and friends (it will likely be private eventually, so you'll need to request an invite - that way, we don't have to worry so much about creepers). To start out, I thought I'd go back in time a little bit to get everyone up to speed.

In 1982, a baby was born...just kidding. I'll only go back to April.

The last day of my internship

The past two years in business school were a blast, and I was sad to see them go so quickly. But it was time to move on and start earning money rather than just spending it. Last September, I accepted a job offer with Cummins Power Generation in Minneapolis. We spent last summer with the company there and really enjoyed it, so we decided to brave the winters for the super nice people and beautiful summers (we'll see how we feel in a couple months).

Me and my baby girl at graduation

I graduated in April with my Masters in Business Administration, and found that life did not slow down once the craziness of school had ended. The following week was the five-year anniversary of our wedding. We dropped off the kiddo at Grandma's and took a TWO-day vacation to Park City. Two days! That's an eternity in baby time. We stayed at a nice resort, swam in the pool, rented a movie, went and saw a movie, and ate out a lot (including our traditional McDonald's breakfast). It was a nice break.

Right after that, I flew to Minneapolis to search for a home (Kristen was too pregnant to come with me). I visited about a dozen places over the course of two days, took copious notes, photos, and videos, and talked with Kristen several times a day about what I had found. In the end, we decided on a beautiful three-bedroom townhome in Blaine (northeast of Minneapolis).

Felicity's baby blessing

Just one week after getting back from Minnesota, Felicity Rose was born! She was the most perfect little angel, and has been the easiest-going baby ever. It's certainly been an adjustment having two kids, but we love it at the same time. After Felicity was born, we only had two more weeks to get ready for the move. We managed to figure out the townhome contract, arrange everything with the moving company, pack what we needed for the move (before the movers arrived with our stuff), and even have the baby blessing. It was certainly a busy time. We also made sure we had time to see friends and do all the things we wanted to do in Utah before we left.

On Monday, June 2, the movers packed up all our worldly things. On Tuesday, Sean (my brother-on-law) and I left for Minnesota. Kristen and the girls stayed behind with family to make sure all our belongings were loaded onto the moving truck and that the house was clean. Kristen, the girls, and Kristen's mom (Sandy) planned to fly out Wednesday and arrive just after Sean and me.

The movers

Sean and I arrived Wednesday afternoon, only to find out the girls would not be arriving that night as planned, as their flight had been canceled. Luckily, they at least received travel vouchers for their trouble. With nothing else to do in an empty house, Sean and I ate at a restaurant, went to see a movie, and just hung out. The girls arrived on Thursday, and our stuff arrived on Saturday. We didn't really have to lift a finger beyond telling them where to put everything. That is how I ALWAYS want to move from here on out.

I flew to Indiana two days later for a week-long work orientation. That was the big reason for having Sandy there - to help with the kids while I was gone that first week. After she left the following week, we started to settle into a routine and figure everything out in this new place.

We're attending the Blaine Ward for church, and it is the friendliest ward I've ever been in. I had no fewer than eight people introduce themselves to me the first day we were there, and it just got better from there. We've been invited over to people's homes for dinner, to friendly gatherings, for ward socials (okay, so everyone is invited to those), to watch BYU football games... We also have "besties" in the ward (as a girl in the Sunday School class we subbed for calls us). We have some friends who are right about our age who have a little girl who's one. We've done a lot with them, and kind of latched on to them. We've had them over a bunch and vice versa, and have even traded babysitting. It's been great making good friends so quickly.

Our booth at the RV show in Hershey, PA

Work has been good too. I'm slowly but surely learning everything I need to learn about power generators, recreational vehicles, and all things mechanical (engines, diesel fuel, brakes, etc.). I am the marketing manager for power generators in the RV segment. You probably don't realize it, but just about every motorhome you see driving down the road has a power generator in it. I am in charge of marketing those generators. As a result, I've also been attending RV rallies and trade shows. It's hard being away from my girls, but it's given me the opportunity to meet our customers in person and get a better understanding of how our products work and of their applications. I really like that aspect of the job.

Scarlett's party - those are our "besties," Emily and Bryce

Scarlett is now three. I had a long RV show to attend that started on her birthday, so we did a birthday celebration the week before. We call her our little three-nager. She's so smart and talkative, but is a little bit sassy too. She's also super squeaky, especially when she gets excited, cementing the nickname she's had since she was born: "Squeaker." We're taking lots of videos and pictures of her to document for the future. She is a sweetheart and gets really excited when I come home from work.

But as I mentioned, she's also three, so she can have her difficult moments: tantrums and the like. However, she's been doing much better now than she was even a month ago. We (especially Kristen, since she's at home with the girls all day) were at our collective wit's end with trying to reach her, and had to draw a hard line in the sand as far as following the rules goes. We started the zero tolerance method (no more "counting to three") when she breaks what she knows are well-established rules. We try to stay emotionless and set a timer, so she knows exactly how long she has to stay in timeout (she knows once the timer goes off and she calms down, she can come out of timeout). She is also trying to kick naps, so we've been going to bed earlier. But as a result, she's more obedient, throws fewer tantrums, and most importantly, she's HAPPIER! She used to be grumpy and unhappy a lot, but she's been doing much better. And that makes everyone in the house (including Felicity, who cries when Scarlett does) happier, especially mom and dad, who are able to have fewer emotional breakdowns.

There have certainly been some growing pains, but we really like Minnesota. More importantly, we're gaining a better understanding of what it means to be a family.