Our cute little elf...

On the last day of school before the break, Alex's class had a small Christmas play in their classroom. Entitled "Bob Humbug" it was a really cute production. She played one of the elves in the workshop and she and the others did a great job. Here's one of the songs they sang:

Kyle turns 12!

Kyle had a blast bowling last week, even though it was only with a couple of his friends (one of the hazards of having a birthday during Christmas break, sorry Kyle) He's getting so big, it's hard to believe he was my baby boy. Other than his dog, Lucy, Kyle got a Star Wars blanket from Mom, his sisters gave him the new Dark Knight movie, and his Dad gave him a cool Nerf dart gun. Oh, and he got a new Nintendo DS, to replace his damaged one he got last year. Hopefully this one can withstand pre-teen boys!! All in all, I think he really enjoyed his birthday. Sorry for the sideways view, I keep forgetting that when I'm recording a video on my camera, I can't turn it for a portrait view, lol!

I'm baaaack...

FINALLY! I have an internet connection again!! After almost a month of spotty to no service, we finally have service on the other computers in the house. Something was up with the wireless router and the signal that was NOT being broadcast, but Tim got it going again today-not without demanding some form of "payment" I might add;)

Today is Kyle's 12th birthday and I'm just waiting for him to get home from school to actually be able to wish him a Happy Birthday. I can't believe my baby boy is twelve years old! Just seems like yesterday when we brought him home from the hospital in Montana and it was so cold we put his bassinet next to the wood stove so he'd stay warm. My time does fly...

Well, now that I have a connection again, I'll be able to post some photos from his birthday and his Neon Bowling party on Friday night. BRB...

Meet Lucy...

the newest member of our family. We finally decided we could handle the responsibility of having a dog and for Kyle's 12th birthday (a bit early) we went to the local animal shelter to find one that would fit our family. She's a 3 yr old German Shepherd/Rottweiler cross and has a really sweet disposition. She knows how to come, sit, lay down, and shake. The kids have been really great about feeding and walking her and today she went to the groomer to get rid of that "pound puppy" smell. The only member of the family that's not too sure about her is CC Kitty, but hopefully she'll come to love Lucy as much as the rest of us!

Happy Thanksgiving to all...

Just popping in quickly, as I'm not sure how long my connection will last since we have a damaged router.

While we're all busy stuffing our bellies with the wonderful goodies, I wanted to let you all know how truly thankful I am for each and every one of you. Even though we're separated by many miles, you are all in my thoughts every day. Hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving.

Gobble Gobble!!

Girls night out...

Friday night, moms have dads and babysitters lined up, and the premier of Twilight is tonight. Can't wait, myself and 4 friends are going out to dinner and the movie tonight. It should be a fun night. Then tomorrow, the same friends are getting together tomorrow to do some holiday crafting and eating. We might even head to a couple of local craft shows and get some more Christmas shopping done.

So how much is a gallon of gas gonna cost me?

Here I am, all excited that gas FINALLY went down to below $3 a gallon last week (it's actually just dropped to $2.84 a gallon today) and my husband tells me that when they left Montana last Saturday, gas was $1.99 a gallon!! What's with that? I mean, come on, the gas is actually coming from our own state, albeit not refined, and we're paying 33% more than in Montana!?! Not too sure on that little factoid, but something seems wrong to me. Maybe next year we'll see it below $2 again.

It's taken me this long to catch up...

with everything since my FABULOUS week in the warm weather. I'm currently working on an album of all the photos I took while on the cruise ship, in the Bahamas and in Florida/Downtown Disney. I took over 200 photos, and I'm still waiting for a few more from the other ladies that went with us, but I thought I'd post a few of my favorites here.



I got home just in time for the premier of High School Musical 3 and since Alex made Honor Roll last quarter, she was able to go with her school to a special showing. That night was also Halloween and it was another cold one. I stayed home to hand out candy this year, while Tim took the girls around the neighborhood. They didn't stay out too long, but hauled in enough candy to put them into a sugar coma. Sara was a little mod, 60's girl, Kyle was a Clone Trooper, and Alex was, of course, Gabriella (of High School Musical fame) complete with long, dark hair. They had a lot of fun.



This week, Kyle and Tim headed to Montana to do some hunting with the Weisenburger's. We can't wait to see all the meat they bring back with them. It will be nice to have a freezer full of deer burger again!

Heading for sunny weather...

In about 15 minutes, Tim will drive me to the airport where I'll catch my flight to Florida!! I get into Orlando at about 7:30 am tomorrow and I'll wait to meet up with my mom, my aunt, and the other 4 ladies we're cruising with. Our ship leaves port on Sunday, so I'll have a little bit of time to settle in to the warmer weather before we hit the ocean. I hope to be able to upload some photos to the blog while on board, but you'll just have to stay tuned for that. Catch you later...

So sorry...

I've been horrible about posting lately. I guess I'll have to catch up in one big swoop. So here goes...

First off, Sara's been taking a beginner's gymnastics class and just loving it. She's been learning how to do a handstand, cartwheel, and going on the bars and the balance beam. It's only once a week and for an hour, but I think we finally found HER activity. I've taken some pretty bad photos of her, but here's some to give you an idea.



And Kyle, Alex and Tim are doing karate two times a week, but I haven't made it there to take photos of them yet. They all love it and want to go more than that, but the rest of life gets in the way, so they'll have to live with twice a week for now. I'll try and get down to the dojo after my upcoming trip and take some photos to post.

Other than that, I've been taking a digital photography class and doing my "lessons" or "challenges" and liking it quite a bit. It's given me a better understanding of what I can do with my camera, and also a better appreciation for what my camera does on its own when it's set to Auto mode. I've got a Depth of Field challenge to complete this weekend and then I have two more classes to attend. The first challenge was about exposures and reading and setting my f-stop, shutter speed, and ISO. Here's the results of a side shoot I did using the principles from the challenge.



Basically it's taking photos in a range from overexposed to underexposed and seeing with your eyes and computer what your camera does, how the light affects the exposure, and what YOU want out of an exposure. We actually took two sets of photos, one with a gray card and one without, using the same human subject (in my case, Tim). I have to say, my camera does a pretty good job of reading the environment it's in without me having to make any adjustments. Now, when there's snow on the ground, the light is low, and it's 20 below zero, I may have to adjust a bit, just as any other photographer would to get an exposure that isn't too light, too dark, or too blue from the changes. Time will tell, I suppose. For now I'm enjoying learning about my camera and it's capabilities.

And other than that, fall is passing quickly and winter is approaching rapidly. We had 2-3 inches of snow in Wasilla the other morning, but barely any here in Palmer. It's gone now, but the temps are much cooler. Low 30's at night, high 30's during the day, though today it's 48 and WINDY!! Yes, the much hated winter winds are back. UGH! I can't tell you how much I detest the wind! Leaves have blown far, far away, as have my leftover yard decor (flags and such) in the past 24 hours, and we're back to the howling nights where I sleep with my earplugs. Enough said.

Next Friday I'm off to sunny Florida and boarding my cruise ship on Sunday morning, though, and I'm sooo looking forward to it. I will have LOADS of photos to share upon my return, but I will try to post at least once more before I take off. Ta ta for now...

Alex turns 8 years old...

It's only been a week since her birthday, but I guess I've gotten behind a bit on my postings. And what a week it's been. I started a digital photography class, Kyle, Alex and Tim started Karate, and Sara has started gymnastics. Tim also had a trip to Olympia in the mix, and we have been playing with our new Wii purchase. All kinds of stuff going on! But, on to Alex's 8th birthday...

I've been trying to do a better job of not overdoing the whole birthday thing. Instead I've been putting the energy into cake making and this time I had sooo much fun! I actually tried using fondant and it turned out amazing. Alex LOVED her cake! Just an at-home party with a bunch of her girlfriends. In fact, Tim and Kyle were even gone on a Boy Scout camping trip. She had a The Dog theme (you know, the close up, big dog nose pictures?) and we did lots of fun stuff with it. We had Dig In The Dirt milkshakes, made dog collars out of Fruit by the Foot roll-ups and Necco wafers as dog tags, and had a dog bone pinata. Then she had a sleep-over with her friends and Sara. It was a lot of fun, and only a little bit insane with all those pre-teen girls in the house, lol! The best part was her reaction to the gift that Tim and I gave her, an American Girl doll named Ivy. Check out the video for yourself:

Technology is amazing, isn't it?

So today I'm looking at some of my favorite sites and I click on a couple of links to view some stuff. I came across this link to a site that lets you post a play list of songs on your own site. Hence the music you now hear when you get to my blog. I just type in any song I want, and I can link it to my very own play list and play it here. Who would've thought it possible, say even 5 years ago?! Anyway, just wanted to pass it along in case anyone out there reading this has the urge to do the same...just scroll down to the bottom of my page and check it out for yourself.

May I have the envelope, please?

So I entered my Great Aunt Betty's Cheesecake recipe into the Great Alaska Cheesecake Co.'s contest at the fair this year. I did, however, make a slight alteration. I added some of my mother-in-law's Huckleberry Sauce to the top of it. Boy, did it look amazing! It was really hard to take the whole thing to the fairgrounds and give it to them to eat. After all the judges had checked out the nine entries in the contest, they tallied all the results and announced the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. And I won 3rd place! I received a beautiful ribbon and a $25 prize for my efforts. First place was an AMAZING Coconut Key Lime concoction that was TO DIE FOR! And second place went to a lady who made a Spicy Smoked Salmon cheesecake. It sounds weird, but it actually was quite good...as an APPETIZER! Anyway, I am quite happy with my 3rd place finish. Now to plan what I'm entering in next year...

Alaska State Fair...

We went to the second-to-last day of the fair this year, just too much else going on to go any earlier. The weather wasn't all that great, in fact, it was downright COLD! But we stayed pretty warm by looking at all the displays of quilts and photos, eating yummy food like burritos and cream puffs, and riding the rides like the Hurricane, Gravitron, and the good old-fashioned Carousel. The kids even played the balloon dart game and won some little stuffed animals. We also checked out all the animals and the enormous vegetables. Before we knew it, it was 6 pm and we had to head home to grab my entry for the cheesecake contest. I brought Alex back with me, so she could get her face painted by her Girl Scout Troop Leader who worked one of the booths. Alex and I practically RAN to get it into the Hoskins Bldg in time for the judging, and we got there with a few minutes to spare. We got to watch while the judges did there thing and then they tallied all the results. Stay tuned for the results...

Doing our fall chores...

We were going to spend this past weekend camping for only the second time this year, but duty called and we decided we needed to get a few fall chores finished up before the weather changes. To what, different than the cool and rainy weather we've been having, I don't know, but we had to get 'em done. So we got all the supplies to stain the back deck and front porch, and we hoped for at least dry weather on Saturday. Well, it couldn't have been a nicer day (made me wish we HAD gone camping). It was sunny and warm, and we got the decks all cleared and washed, ready for staining. I did most of that work, while Tim vacuumed and cleaned out the rigs, and then washed and polished them. So, we have freshly stained decks, and clean & shiny vehicles, all ready for fall and winter weather. All in all, it was a productive day.

Last week the kids went back to school. The earliest day yet, they've gone back. And now I have three kids in three different schools. Kyle started middle school this year at Palmer Junior Middle School (or PJMS), Alex started the third grade at Sherrod Elementary (3rd - 5th grade), and Sara started first grade at Swanson (K - 2nd grade). With Sara I don't have too many worries, but with Alex and Kyle, it makes it all the more real that they are growing up soooo fast. My mother-in-law always told us that before we know it, they'll all be in school and we'll have gotten past all the baby/toddler stuff and we'll start realizing that we actually have less time until they're grown and out of the house than it's been since they were born. It's not that I didn't believe her, it's just that the hard truth of that hasn't hit me until now. They're turning into such wonderful PEOPLE, and I just hope that we've done and will do the best things for them.

Garage sale finds...

So there was a garage sale in the neighborhood last week and I couldn't pass up a couple of neat finds. One was an old wooden chair and the other was this handmade wooden tool box. It's just so authentic & rustic looking. I ended up removing the THREE layers of material covering the seat of the chair, sawing a hole in the center of the wooden seat base, dry-brushing the entire thing with white paint, and putting a potted plant in it. It's now part of my front porch decor. As for the tool box, I haven't come up with anything yet, but I'm still in love with it!

Stoned squirrel incident...

So we had this incident next door today... a small red squirrel was eating some of the poisonous red mushrooms that were growing in my neighbors front flower bed. At first it was kind of cute, she was taking pictures and the squirrel kept coming back for more chunks, and then hauling them up the tree to stash in it's nest. All of a sudden it started acting really crazy and running all around the grass where we were standing. We decided that the squirrel was having some hallucinogenic reaction to the mushrooms and was posing a threat to the little one's playing outside. Being the good boys that they are, Tracy's son, Hunter, and Kyle got their air-soft guns out and we had them "put it down." It took a bit, and finally Kyle had to get his Red Ryder to finish it off, but we put the poor thing out of it's shroom-y drug- induced misery. All's well that ends well, as they say. And we can all sleep better knowing the thing won't be getting into our garages and causing havoc.

Six Chicks Fish

So we had our all girl's fishing trip to Seward this weekend and we had a blast! Carri, Shonda, Trina, Jessica (all from THD), Colleen (formerly of THD), and I headed south on Friday morning with positive thoughts, coolers full of beer, Hard Mike's, and tons of food. With the weather being iffy and none of us having fished out of Seward before, we were a little unsure. But the weather was not too bad when we woke up Saturday morning and it was even better out on the water. Our charter, secured from The Fish House in Seward, left at 7 am and it exceeded our expectations. It truly was an "all girl fishing trip" with a woman captain and a boat to ourselves. She took us out a couple of hours and set anchor to start fishing. Before all of us even had our hooks baited and in the water, we were catching fish! In fact, the only time you could take a break was to actually take your line out of the water!. We limited out on Halibut, plus caught our limit of Yellow-Eyed Rockfish, and even caught a bunch of Ling Cod. I caught the first of those, and it was massive! It ended up being 38 lbs!! We probably threw more Halibut back than we ended up with, so it was an awesome experience. We already have plans in the works for next July. Watch out Seward, here comes the Home Depot chicks!!

Back to life, back to reality....

So 3/5 of the family is back from Montana. Tim came home on Saturday, and Kyle & I flew back on Monday. The girls will be home Sunday. Lucky them, they get another week of sunshine while the rest of us get water-logged and pruney from all the rain. We're hoping the weather changes for Pam and Trace and their friends coming up here in a couple of weeks. Rain, rain, go away!!

Oh well, we had a wonderful time. It was perfect weather, low to mid 80's, sitting on the dock, swimming, fishing, tubing, knee-boarding (and yes, even I got on the knee-board this year!). Kyle has been dubbed Bubber the Butcher, of fish that is. He caught a bunch of perch, a silver salmon, and even speared a pike! Huckleberries were just getting ripe, so we all had a little taste of those yummy little berries. I promised Syl I'd trade her Alaska blueberries for some Montana Huckleberries later this month. Maybe it'll stop raining long enough for us to go up and get some next month!!

Anyway, here's a look at some of the 233 photos I took last week. I even have some video of Sara getting her first try at water-skiing with Daddy, but I'll save that for another day. Enjoy!

Just call me Mrs. Fix It...

So one of the things moms are always doing is telling their kids to "Shut the door!" or "Don't slam the door!" and I am NO exception. With all the kids and their friends around all summer, I say it at least 10 times a day. The door into the garage is a fire door to prevent the spread of fire and it has a spring door hinge, but the spring part got broken and lost, so the door won't close itself the way it's designed. And with the front door always open on the summer weather, we have a screen door to keep out the mosquitoes and flies, but the door closer doesn't hold the door back anymore, so I bought a new one and it actually slows down the door so it doesn't slam anymore! So from now on you can just call me Mrs. Fix It. Now let's see...what else needs a little maintenance around here?

And they're off...

The photo's a bit fuzzy, but Thursday night/Friday morning Tim and the girls flew out to Montana. It's sure been a quiet week so far. And the weather is back to being cool and rainy, so it's even more quiet outside. I've only got three more days of work this week, and then I'll be heading down to the warm (I've been hearing it's in the 90's!) weather. I'm not sure I'll be able to adjust to having hot and dry weather, but I'm sure willing to try! I can't wait to get out of jeans and sweatshirts and put on a tank top and some shorts. Hopefully I don't blind everyone with my white, Alaskan legs.

Other than working and doing some stuff around the house while it's empty, I got together with all the girls (Melissa, Kari, Tammy, Kari's sil Kris, Tracy, Denise and her mom, MarthaAnn, and Trish) to scrap and eat lots of wonderful snacks and drinks. Everyone was here for about 5 hours and then Kari and I continued Saturday night and part of Sunday. I actually got a fair amount done for hosting it here.

Monday I went and got a long overdue pedicure on my dry, calloused feet. I actually can stand to go barefoot now. I've got to try and do it a bit more often than once every 6 months!

Tomorrow I have a chiropractor appt with a massage beforehand. I think I'll probably just come home and ice down, take some ibuprofen and sleep about 10 hours. I can't believe how much pain comes from something that should be so relaxing. It just goes to show how physical my job is and how much it is reflected in my neck and back. Even my pecs are sore after I get done with everything.

Thursday I plan to clean the living room carpet, finish my hair color process (Kari's going to help me highlight it) and pack up to leave on Saturday morning. That way I have Friday after work to just relax (hopefully it will get nicer by the weekend) or mow the lawn if the weather clears up.
So, it's a quiet week, but definitely busy! I probably won't get a chance to post again until I get back from Montana, but I'm sure I'll have lots of photos to share.

70 degree weather

What a gorgeous day we had yesterday! I had Wednesday off (because of the 4th of July holiday) so Kari and I planned to take the girls, plus their friend, Ashlyn, to the movie, but since the one we wanted to see was only playing in Anchorage, we decided to head to McDonald's for lunch and then to Wonderland Park for the afternoon. We could not have asked for better weather - sunny & 72 degrees, slight breeze, just wonderful.



After that, we came home and girls all ran through the sprinkler for a bit and then lay their towels out in the sun. Alex got ready for her last soccer game and she & I went over the the Sherrod Soccer Complex for it. It was the first time all season that it hasn't been freezing with the wind blowing. She did really well this season, though I think we need to work on her endurance a bit!



When we got home, I made the girls (and Ashlyn, who spent the night) their favorite, Cheesy Noodles for dinner and ended a great day.

Today it's cold & cloudy again, but Tim and the girls are leaving tonight for Montana, so they'll be in the heat and sunshine soon. I'll just have to wait another week before I get to enjoy some more summer!

Summer Fun

So we're finally getting some nice weather, though it's only supposed to last through Wednesday, and we decided it was time to enjoy it. We ate dinner outside on the deck, then Tim started up the fire pit and we roasted marshmallows and made S'mores. Alex was so happy, she had to do a little dance :)

Tomorrow is supposed to be even better, and I actually have the day off. Kari and I plan to take the girls to see the new American Girl movie, then we'll have the afternoon to enjoy the sunshine again.

Thursday night I'm taking Tim and the girls to the airport for their trip to Montana and then I'm a free woman for a week. So far the only plans I have are to enjoy the fireworks with the Ahumada's on Friday night and on Saturday we're having a big Scrapping/Tastefully Simple party all afternoon at our house. Hopefully I'll get a bunch of pages scrapped and back into a groove again. I also need to back up all my photos for safe-keeping. Other than that, I just plan to take it easy, visit my friends, eat when and what I want, and not feel guilty for any of it! And the following Saturday, I'll leave for my "vacation" to Montana, where I'll join up with Tim, Kyle and the girls.

My little corner of paradise...

Today's one of those days that makes you love Alaska. The sun is shining, but it's not too hot, the bugs are at a minimum, and the wind isn't blowing. So how come it's Monday? Oh well, at least I can enjoy the afternoon and evening hours out here. Off to read my book for a while...

The Thunderbirds

So we went to the Arctic Thunder Air Show yesterday and it was amazing! We got down there about 1 o'clock and watched the planes do their tricks, but the real action started when the Thunderbirds came out to perform. I tried to take a bunch of pictures, and some of them turned out pretty good, but it's hard to capture the action in a photo, so I took some video, as well. Here's one from when they took off, you are listening to the lead pilot talk to the audience and his crew right before take-off.

A Beginning Post and the view from Matanuska Peak Trail

I'm starting this blog to share some of the beautiful places and the people we know up here in Alaska. I truly believe that everyone should visit this wonderful state at some point in their life. It's called The Last Frontier for a reason and there's no way to really know it unless you see and experience it for yourself. And while I know we'll eventually return to the lower 48, for now we are enjoying the experience. This summer marks our third year up here and we have yet to experience a great many of the wonderful places here. Along the way, our family has met some wonderful people, our "family" away from family and home. I hope to share the place and the people, as well as keep a record of ourselves to remember the adventures in Alaska.