Yellow with Orange Stripe Belt Testing...

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Summer is HERE!

Saw my first dragonfly last week and we here in Alaska know what that means...summer is finally here and the mosquitoes will soon be gone. Hurray for summer! Hurray for dragonflies! Hurray for no more mosquitoes!

It's the little things...

like a new, complete set of silver ware! I finally got tired of only having 3 small forks and not many more small spoons in the silverware drawer, so we went and got a service for 12 of new silverware. I may have gone a bit overboard, though, and I may not use the last set. It's just nice to see it all nestled neatly in their homes...

Mosquito Magnet...

Almost everyone knows how bad the mosquitoes are up here, and since Spring has sprung, they're coming out if full force again. This year we finally got a deal on a Mosquito Magnet that we couldn't resist. I hooked it up on Friday night and here are the results of the last few days...
Kinda gross, I know, but at least the little blood suckers aren't out buzzing around and biting the kids while they play in the yard. It's definitely going to make a big improvement around the house until the Dragonflies hatch some time later in June. Funny things we Alaskans find amusing!

2008 Girls Cruise

Click here to view this photo book larger

Splish Splash...

The girls are taking swim lessons offered through the school and our local pool. It's twice a week for four weeks and they are having a great time. Alex has had one round of lessons before, but this is Sara's first time, so it was a bit surprising that they ended up in the same level 2 group. So far they've been working on jumping into the deep water and swimming the crawl or back stroke. I get to ride the bus over from the school as the volunteer "parent chaperone." Not too bad if you like riding school buses with 35 just-let-out-of-school children, lol! Here's a video of the two of them showing their stuff.

American Idol Behind the Scenes

This is just plain wrong...

So this past weekend the temps were in the high 30's, the snow was melting, the birds were chirping, you get the picture. Just enough to make us all think that the corner had been turned and we could finally look forward to Spring. Maybe we'd get a snow shower or two, but for the most part, the cold weather was gone.



So how come I'm shoveling snow again and the temps are back in the low teens at night and barely warming up to 32 degrees? It's just plain wrong and I'm tired of it. Easter is a week away and the kids want to hunt for Easter eggs OUTSIDE, not in the house. Can't Winter just let go and let Spring have it's turn?

She just keeps going, and going, and going...

Kinda like the Energizer Bunny, Mt. Redoubt doesn't wanna quit. So far flights into and out of Anchorage have been mostly cancelled. FedEx hasn't been coming in, as well as a lot of flights coming down from the slope. Our friends, Jim and Melissa, are suffering from that. Jim was supposed to fly back yesterday, but that flight, as well as today's, was cancelled. He's scheduled another flight for tomorrow, and Tim is scheduled to fly out to Montana on Sunday morning, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that the mountain settles down a bit. We haven't really seen any ash up here, though the Anchorage area is supposed to be seeing a bit. It did snow most of the morning and early afternoon, and ash could have been mixed with it, but it's hard to tell if it's ash or just the muck from Spring break-up. If she goes again, I'm going to try my hand at a little ashfall collection with some help from the AVO guys. Here's a few neat photos that were taken yesterday. I'm sure we'll see some more from this mornings blast, too.

Thar she blows...

At about 10:30 pm last night, Mt Redoubt began to erupt. So far there have only been about 6 minor eruptions spewing mainly ash. With the winds they way they are, we haven't seen any ash up here and the skies have been mostly clear and sunny. Further south, however, is where the ash has been heading. As of 4:35 Alaska DST the Alaska Volcano Observatory has stated that "The eruption of Redoubt volcano continues and the color code and volcano alert level remains at RED/WARNING. Seismic activity remains elevated, but has declined slightly over the past several hours. The activity consists mostly of volcanic tremor with some discrete events.

AVO has received no new reports of ash emission since early this morning. The ashfall advisory has expired. "

These are some photos taken by the webcams in the area.


And here's a link to the Alaska Volcano Observatory's website. Check it out...

It's all in a name...

At 11:38 am this morning, Lance Mackey won his THIRD CONSECUTIVE Iditarod race! It's amazing! At the time of this posting, the next place finisher left Safety, 22 miles from the finish line in Nome, at 4 pm. Not only did he finish almost 6 hours in front of the next place finisher, but he did it with 15 of his 16 dogs. He also happened to make a wrong turn on Day 7 and lost 2 hours back-tracking and getting back on course. It was thought that two other racers had a chance back on Day 6, but here in Alaska, we know, "it ain't over 'til it's over!" Congratulations, Lance Mackey, what an inspirational and amazing team and athlete! Hey, isn't there another amazing athlete named Lance?


Just a side note, our "home town girl" is currently in 44th place, leaving Unalkleet at 1:13 pm today. Right there with her is this years probable Rookie of the Year winner, Karin Hendrickson. We're still rooting them both on!! Also, at this time, 10 mushers have scratched, including another Seeley Lake resident running his first race. Rob Loveman is probably the only nuclear physicist. Check out all the action on the ADN website.

2009 Iditarod Restart

This year we decided to join some of my friends from work for the re-start. The best part was that it wasn't with all the crowds down in Willow, it was just a bit further up the trail off one of the many lakes up there. (It's off the Deshka Landing road) Though there were quite a few more people up there this year as compared to last year (according to my friends) we had a nice open spot right on the trail. The dogs and sleds were literally right in front of us and we could have touched them if we wanted to. This year's race ended up with 67 teams, though the bibs read team 2 - 68 because the number 1 bib is symbolic of the "ghost racer," the original Iditarod Trail runner. The first racer starts coming out of the restart in Willow at about 2 pm and each team goes after in 2 minute increments. By the time they got to us, probably under 5 miles away, some of the teams were right together. The most teams we saw bunched up were three, but I'm sure that will change further on down the trail. If you're looking for more information on this amazing event, you can check it out on the Official Iditarod Homepage and keep up with the racers here I took over 200 photos of them, and a few videos that I plan to post on the Anchorage Daily News site for photos and video, where you can see the posts that lots of other people have posted, as well. Right now we're rooting for Lance Mackey to win his third consecutive Iditarod. And of course, we're rooting for our "home town" girl, Cindy Gallea, to make a good showing in this year's race. Mostly we're hoping everyone comes through the race without any major injuries to racers or the dogs. It really is one of the most grueling sporting events there is. They don't call it the Last Great Race for nothing!!

Home Town Girl...

Every year we've been up here and watched the Iditarod, we've always supported our "home town" girl, Cindy Gallea from Seeley Lake, MT. It's neat to have a personal connection with one of the racers, especially for the kids. Cindy's just one of the racers we're rooting for, but we wanted to share her with everyone, so here's a video of her passing us on the trail. Go Cindy!!

Last But Not Least...

For a final look at the 2009 Iditarod Restart, I thought I'd give you a "dogs eye view" of the last team to head out. Listen to those harnesses jingle and the runners slide on the snow...

Elementary music programs are beautiful...

The week before last the girls both had music programs. Alex had hers first on Thursday night. The theme was "Weather the Weather" and she did a great job with all the songs. Her classes song was "Let the Storm Begin" and here's her performance.



Sara's was the next day at school and the theme was Animal Songs. They also did a Heel & Toe Polka that was sooo cute. But here's her class singing "Pop, Goes the Weasel".

Freezin' for a Reason...

I can't really think of any words to describe it,
so I'll just let you watch...

Winter Waxwings

I've been waiting for the return of the Bohemian Waxwings. They always come back around this time of year and feed from the bushes in the yard. I was ready, this time, with my camera. These are just a handful of the photos I took, but enough to let you enjoy these beautiful birds. Another sign that Spring isn't THAT far away after all.

Call me crazy...

But this will be me next Saturday! I'm finally doing it! After two years of wanting to, I found an opportunity to try something not many sane people do. Living in Alaska is such an unique experience and I wanted to do something that I wouldn't necessarily have the opportunity to do anywhere else. I'm doing the POLAR PLUNGE! Next Saturday, Feb 21st I will don my costume and jump feet first into a newly cut hole in the ice of Finger Lake. It is for charity and I could say that is my motivating factor, but it's not. That's just a side benefit. If you want to check out the event details, you can check them out at the MatSu Polar Plunge website. And while you're there, why not pledge a donation to my account. The proceeds benefit MatSu Special Olympics, The Children's Place (not the clothing store), MatSu United Way, Wasilla Senior Center, and the Wasilla Rotary. It's going to be amazing, and yes, a bit crazy, but altogether fun! Don't forget to pledge and stay tuned for photos and video from the event...

Testing for Yellow belts...

Last weeks Kyle and Alex were able to test for their first new belt since starting Karate in September. They practiced their combinations, katas and basic moves and we memorized the first 9 student rules (Thanks, Tracy, for the suggestion to associate the rule number with something they could remember "two - shoe"). The testing went really well and, of course, I captured it all on my camera for posterity's sake. Enjoy my newly discovered digital toy - Smilebox.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Don't you just love those 12 am ER visits?

So after we all went to bed Monday night, I was awakened by the sounds of Kyle crying. I went to check on him and he says his stomach hurt. I calmed him down a little bit and went back to bed to sleep. About 15 minutes later he wakes me up again, but this time he is almost screaming that "it hurts". So I do the mom thing and ask him if it's hungry hurt, if he has to go to the bathroom, check his forhead and press on his belly (thinking possible appendix issue), etc. Finally, after about 45 min I call Tim (who's in CA this week - it's always when he's on a trip) and ask him what he thinks I should do. He says what I'm thinking, head to the ER. I wake up the girls and get them in coats and boots and they head to the car. I literally have to carry Kyle to the car 'cause he can't walk and as I'm getting my stuff to go he opens his car door and throws up! So the girls are sleepy and scared and I'm trying to get a towell and a puke bowl and off we head at 12:30 in the morning. We get there and I carry him in to the waiting area, sign in and wait. Luckily not too long, the nurse calls us back and I carry him in to have his vitals taken and then they get a gurney to wheel him to the room. He gets an xray, has blood drawn, gives a urine sample and we wait. Meanwhile they give him an anti-spasm medication in the IV and he takes a couple of super tylenol. He's still in pain and we're just waiting. The girls are tired and it's supposed to be another hour until we get lab results back so I called my AWESOME friend, Kelly to take the girls to her house so they can get some sleep. No sooner than that, the doc comes back and says it's not his appendix, not kidney stones, but there is a LOT of air in his colon. He says it's probably IBS or spastic colon. Not much to do but wait it out, maybe give him a mild narcotic to relax him and let him go to sleep and hopefully it'll be better in the morning. So they do that and we have to wait about a half hour to see if he's responding and not having any reaction, etc. Meanwhile, Kelly shows up and I ask her to wait to see if we can leave or if Kyle will need to stay longer. Finally the doc says he can go home, but we need to moniter him for 8-12 hours to be sure it's not something more serious. Kyle is about asleep and relaxing from the medication so we all leave, carrying Kyle to the car, of course, and get home about 3:30 am and everyone gets back to bed. I wait and call in to work that I won't be in and we all sleep in til 9 am. Phew, what a night/morning! He's fine now, we're $600 more broke, and we have to change his diet. No carbonation or caffeine, more fiber, less fat, lots of fruits and veggies, but not the gas producing kind, etc. Luckily there hasn't been a re-occurance, hopefully there won't be.

I'll be so glad when Tim gets home from his trip.

Thought I'd share some video...

This may or may not work, but I'm trying to link to some video of the "river" we had yesterday. Click here to see the back yard and here to see the front yard. Then you can click here to see what it looks like today.

Talk about a climate change...

So the last couple of weeks were REALLY cold, I mean it was -23 degrees about a week ago. Then this week it warmed up, over 70 degrees warmer! Yesterday it was 49 degrees above. Needless to say, that does a lot to the snow laying around here. It melts, though with permafrost going down about 4 ft, there is absolutely no where for the water to go except over. So here's a couple of shots of our back yard yesterday afternoon and this morning. It's still in the 40's but we're supposed to get back into the 30's later this weekend and next week. Maybe we'll actually get some snow with that...

Should old acquaintence be forgot...

Has another year ended? Seems like only yesterday we were taking down the stockings and packing up the tree from Christmas 2007. Here it is, January 2, 2009 and we've received the annual tax packet from accountant, information on filing for our 2009 PFD's, the tree is still being lit up in the evenings, and the stockings are still hung by the chimney with care (though St. Nick is on vacation in the Bahamas - where I wish we were!)

If you haven't noticed, the weather up here has been frightful, frightfully cold that is. So far we've seen a low of -20 degrees and a high of -6 degrees. Today it warmed up to a sunny -10 degrees. Yikes! I love winter and snow, but this cold is getting really old!!

The kids are having one last sleepover night before school starts back up on Monday. Thank goodness, with the wind and now the cold, it's been an indoor Winter break and everyone has cabin fever. Hopefully it warms up a bit next week and is warmer for the Iditarod events that are coming up soon.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season and that their New Year's was a little less eventful than ours. We slid off the road into a ditch New Year's Eve, luckily the only damage was a broken stem valve and a flat tire. I told Tim that was his "one" for the year. Way to start it off right, right?