Christmas came early!

We have the best friends in the whole world... they came to Alaska in the middle of winter to visit us!! We can't think of a better Christmas present than this.

Let the fun begin!

He's back!

After a four year break, the man is back in action. Hikers - worry no more because if you get lost, there are some amazing and talented men who are going to help find you... my hubby included.

Alaska Mountain Rescue Group

White

Who knew that the lack of all other colors could be so utterly beautiful...

Warning: Proud Mom Bragging...

I've got really great kids. I just want it out in the open in case Santa is watching...

Book Worm

As if I needed any further evidence that my daughter is a reader, Sierra just finished the 25 book club for her class. That means she had to read 25 books in different categories and write a brief synopsis of each book. This project was suppose to take the entire year. Sierra did it in a couple of months. Not only that, but she read some pretty heavy duty books (such as Little Women!) No one in the entire history of her class has completed this project so quickly.

Yes, I'm bragging. And I will not apologize for doing so. :)

Soccer Mania

This guy loves soccer. He gets out there and runs non-stop. He is a magnet to the ball. It was so much fun watching him these past couple of months. And it's so amazing to me that they have year-round soccer in Alaska! There is this huge indoor dome which contains 3 or 4 soccer fields.

But now he's ready for something new. He says he wants to do karate. Heaven help me.

Jazzy

Skyla has got a very sparkly personality and just shines anyway, but put her on a stage and watch out! Not only does she have stage presence, but she's got some moves! David and I attended her very first jazz concert today and WOW! It was so much fun watching her! She really was amazing and didn't stop smiling the entire time.

Caring Counts

Even though Skyla has just known her classmates for three months, and even though she tends to be on the quiet side (until you get to know her!), her classmates decided she is the most caring person in her class! She came home with a certificate and a big smile from school.

I'm proud of good grades and dance concerts, but this warms my soul. I'm so glad her classmates recognize the qualities I see in my sweet little girl.

Skipping 5

Karsten is 5. What a milestone birthday! Yet he wanted to skip it. About a month ago I told him his best friend Owen was coming to visit after his birthday. Karsten couldn't wait so he decided to just skip his birthday. He would NOT let me have a party for him. I finally convinced him that we could do a party with just the family and that way he could still get cake and presents. And we had to throw in Chuck E. Cheese. He reluctantly agreed to let us celebrate his 5th year of life.

Karsten is really into jets this year. No surprise since 4 of his 5 birthday themes have been around things with large engines. So far we've done trains, cars, garbage trucks, and now jets. We did have a small reprieve from big engine objects last year when he had a Superman birthday. His day started with breakfast in bed (5 crepes) and ended with all this loot. Not bad for skipping 5!

Sugar Cookies

Seven girls, 3 pounds of powdered sugar, 4 colors of frosting, with lots of giggles and this is the result. As well as some darling cookies.

Snow Dog

Many people have wondered how Aspen is handling the transition from being a California dog to becoming an Alaska dog...
She loves it! Especially sledding where she thinks it's a personal invitation to race! We, however, are in constant fear that she's going to be trampled by a moose (she's been charged by only one so far...), eaten by a bear (there's a black bear in the neighborhood), or lured away by all the amazing smells in the trees and forests and get lost.






But so far she's fine. And she really loves her new companion. I mean REALLY loves. Bordering on obsession.

Turkey Day

The food was fabulous. The company was fascinating. We started at 3:30 and before we knew it, it was 9pm! That couldn't have anything to do with the hot tubing, sledding, pool, ping pong, and great conversations, could it? Of course I didn't get pictures. That's what happens when my stomach takes over. Thank you Maisey's for hosting this wonderful dinner!

And thanks Mother Nature for the fresh layer of snow that we just couldn't resist this morning!
Here's our special family vegetarian (and sugar-free) dinner the night before Thanksgiving. A possible new tradition? We actually eat vegetarian quite a bit, but it was a nice focus before gorging on meat the next day. :) Karsten has become an anti-vegetarian. Today when he saw the turkey and ham he started chanting "Meat! Meat! Meat!" This accompanied with him grabbing big packs of steaks at the grocery store begging for me to buy them tells me we're not meeting some of his carnivore needs.

O kansha shimasu

I'm thankful I get to see my husband more these days.

I'm thankful for the breath-taking views I see daily.

I'm thankful for new friends.

I'm thankful for old friends.

I'm thankful my kids are still little.

I'm thankful for cancer research.

I'm thankful for traditions.

I'm thankful for books.

I'm thankful for air miles I get just for spending money.

I'm thankful for good teachers.

I'm thankful for tender moments.

I'm thankful for money.

I'm thankful for preschool art.

I'm thankful for a morning where I can sit and ponder what I'm thankful for.

I'm thankful for differing views.

I'm thankful to be able to stay home.

I'm thankful for things that are hilarious and make me laugh like "The Office, and this article http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1794889

I'm thankful my mom taught me to see the positive things in life.

I'm thankful for my little family of 5 and for my growing up family of 5 and for my big family of 29 (soon to be 32!) and that includes great grandma.

4:09 Sunset

Out Front

Here's what we use our driveway for...
And our street isn't too bad either!

We've been busy...

Finding place to live
Finding new dining room table
Finding new couch
Taking driver's license test
Smog check on vehicle
Finding new preschool
Immunizations for new school
Getting car registered
New library card
New dentist
New doctor
Finding new couch downstairs
Starting new job
Setting up TV
Putting together new desk
Putting together computer
Hanging curtains
Finding bus stop
Purchasing winter gear for kids
Purchasing ice skates
Finding incredible deal on raft
Finding incredible deal on canoe
Selling house in California
Hanging pictures
Purchasing lawn mower
Signing up for new health insurance

BUT
I think we're finally settled!

Our House

Our street in the fall






Girls' room
Downstairs
Living / Dining room
Play room


The funny thing is I started this post over a month ago! I guess we weren't quite settled. And notice no pictures of the kitchen. I'm a little bitter about the old school (and not in a good way) kitchen. Especially remembering our toil and labor remodeling our kitchen in CA. But this is just a rental which has turned out to be a wonderful thing. We have a problem, we call someone else and it's fixed immediately. I may get used to this!

Tooth Trauma

I have an intense fear of dentists. Maybe that's because when I was little, every single time I went to the dentist I had a cavity. Well, I could hide from the dentist no more as there are eight dentists and one endodentist in our new ward. So we went. And while my kids had ZERO cavities, I had to have a root canal. The terror! So I was sent to the endodentist from my ward. I asked them to just put me out but they wouldn't. And the special gas cost $100! So it was just me in my proper frame of mind and my ipod to deal with this awful situation. Well, my mouth was numb and dentist came in ready to roll so I hurried and turned on my music. It wasn't loud enough so I quickly tried to turn it up, however when I touched it, it changed my playlist. And it was changed to James Taylor who I do not even like. The drilling had started so I couldn't look at my ipod to change it back. Trying to be positive I thought maybe this would be good since I don't know his songs and I can really focus on listening to the words to take my mind off the horrible drilling that was presently happening. So I focused on those songs with everything I had. And my breathing as I was terrified. About 1/2 hour into this drilling, I realized that I wasn't listening to James Taylor's songs, I was listening to one song. Over and over. And it had taken me a half hour to figure that out. Fire and Rain. Over and over. For an hour. Fire and Rain.

What did happen to Suzanne? Now that's what I really want to know...

And a special after note - the endodentist did such a great job that I did not need the pain medication he prescribed AND I was even able to eat dinner a few hours after my procedure. So much for my "root canal diet." But I lived to tell the tale. I lived!

School parking lot

This is the girls' school parking lot... Notice any cars? Nothing but big SUVs in this town! With dirty windshields. Mine being the dirtiest. Maybe you didn't notice my car now that it has ALASKA plates!

Knock Knock

Who's there?There's a special kind of pumpkin recycling here in Alaska...

The details

It's all about the small stuff, so here are the things I don't want to forget about this Halloween -

Karsten - As soon as we started talking about Halloween, he knew he wanted to be a bear. But not a cute bear. A scary bear so he could scare his Dad. He was thrilled when his costume came while I was cursing since I ordered it too small. Since when does my 4 year old wear a size 6-7?! On Halloween, Karsten would not pose for a single picture. I finally had to threaten that he wouldn't be able to go trick or treating unless I got a picture. Grrrr.....

Skyla - She wanted to be an old fashioned teacher which I have no idea what she would dress like but I think she just wanted to wear glasses, because apparantly all old-fashioned teachers wore glasses. Luckily I found this beautiful costume on sale at Target and thus she happily becamse a 1774 Colonial girl - just like her American Girl doll. She looked so beautiful!

Sierra - I love that this girl can dress up for under $5. Even though her and one of her best friends from California live thousands of miles away, they dressed up together as "crazy old ladies." Sierra's costume was so great that a few of the women in our ward, after seeing Sierra at a primary carnival, copied her idea and they were crazy old ladies for a party. Of course I didn't get a picture. Grrrr...

Which leads me to my next tangent - Halloween pictures. What can be a more picturesque time than Halloween, right? I can NEVER seem to get good pictures at Halloween. Here are some of the key pictures I missed:

Me and David dressed up in our favorite - Princess Leia and Han Solo
Sierra and the other crazy old ladies in our ward
I really wanted a picture of my Karsten bear walking through our trees
Our fun, scary dinner - Halloween Haystacks, boogers on a stick, and eyeball eggs and our fun friends that dared join us.

Here's what I loved:Checking out the stash as soon as we got home - so much joy at their hard earned candy!
Mine and Karsten's ghosts
An extra hour of sleep!
The candy trading - Suckers were the top commodity.
Karsten trying to warm up his pumpkin after it froze outside.










I LOVED having Halloween on a Saturday. I think Halloween needs to be on Saturday every year.