Friends in all spaces and far away places

A.K.A My new desktop background

Here's a picture of Tim and Kent, a friend from Germany. I could be wrong, but I believe they last saw each other in Afghanistan.

Tim is well. He's offically in the place he will be for the next year. We don't have an offical address yet, but if your interested in knowing just email me.

Got any halibut recipes?

Tim had this whole week off. The end is very near and everybody had block leave. (If you aren't following, email me. We'll talk.) So, while we've been busy wrapping up a few last minute details and honey-do's, we've also made sure to have fun too.

Tim took a charter boat out of Seward on Wednesday with a friend from work. After a long day of fishing Tim helped reel in a 276 pound Halibut! While he didn't get to lay ultimate claim to the big one, he still came home with 50 POUNDS of Halibut!!!

Here's a few pics of his conquest.

Following the tourist

If there is anything we have learned in our world travels, it's this: when all else fails, follow the tourist, they seem to know where they are going.

This is especially true with wildlife here in Alaska. No matter how long people have lived here, they will pull over and stop to observe any creature that is in sight.

As we were headed to catch the train the other day, the traffic came to a stand still. And that's when I hollered, "start looking!" Sure enough there was a giant pod of Beluga whales swimming down the Turnagain Arm. Everyone one was so in awe that we were all silent and you could hear them "pppshhhhh" as they came to the surface. However, no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't get a picture of their white backs. Here's a picture anyway. It was only last night that I realized how beautiful the water and mountains were behing them.

I Found my thrill....

on Blueberry Hill....

We found a TON of blueberries last year on a ski slope, so we couldn't let the rest of town rob us of the yummy memories. And just in case we forgot who provided all that natural goodness, He put a beautiful, perfect rainbow behind the mountain-just to remind us!

Alaska Railroad Riders!!!

We finally did it yesterday. We took our train boy on his first offical train ride. We caught the train at Portage (the glacier for those that have been here) and rode into the mountains. The journey was absolutely beautiful. We sat in a dome topped train that allowed us a great view all around and a sweet park ranger that just ended up hanging out with us answering every single question LeighAnne could fire at her. Oh, and there were only 9 of us on the whole train. If we saw something we wanted to look at longer, they radioed the driver, and we would stop. A few times we even backed up to look at things.

Jamison was in hog heaven and could care less about all the glaciers and creatures we saw. He loved standing between the cars and watching the engine do it's thing. He just talked and talked to the conductor. The only time he was uncomfortable was when he got to take pictures with the conductor right on the engine. He wasn't real thrilled about the loud noise.

Overall, it was a precious memory and the best way to spend a Labor Day.

Termination Dust

'Round here we call that first dusting of snow on the mountain tops termination dust-meaning ofcourse, summer has been terminated.

Last year it hit September 1st. I was OK with that. It was, after all, September. And it didn't snow until Thanksgiving. Sooo, imagine how unhappy I am that the "dust" hit August 11th this year!

But, no matter what this winter may bring, there is something so beautiful about that first sprinkle of snow on those mountain tops. It's like God dusted them with powdered sugar.

The Deck

If you recall, we moved in last year and set to work on putting in the yard. This year, Tim's goal was to get a deck put in. I have to tell you, I'm always impressed by my husband's ability to get jobs done-but this time he outdid himself. It's a great deck!


Now, here's my favorite view of the deck!!!!

It's OK Sloane...

I felt the same way when I met your Davis side of the family. Don't worry. They grow on you.




Introducing Sloane Renata

Born 01 August, 2006 at 1:25 in the afternoon

Weight: 8lbs., 1 oz
Length: 21 inches

If you wanna see more pictures, just click on the Paige's Page link to the right.

Welcome to the world little one. I can't wait to meet you.

What cha know!?!?! Here's another blackmail photo

Just "waterin' the trees". If you can't tell, we are in the beginning stages of potty training. So far, gigantic "YEAH!!!!"'s and clapping seem to be all the motivation Jamison needs. Now, the next step is to get him to go....hhhmmmm....more than just pee-pee in the potty chair. THAT will earn him a new Thomas Train.

Photos to blackmail our sons with

Here's one of Jamison and Jeanne's baby boy Hayden. This one is quite tame. I'm saving the "non-ballon" pictures for the day they come home with mohawks. Then I'll blow up those pictures and plaster them all over the town-until the mohawk is gone.

Happy 4th of July!

We went last night to the local celebration and fireworks. The fireworks don't start until midnight because of the extended daylight. Here's a quick picture for you to get an idea of the light around here. We had a wonderful time and we all didn't get into bed until after 1:00 in the morning. I'm telling you, the light here is just crazy. I was wearing sunglasses after 10:30!

Boogie Boardin'

Us girls spent an afternoon at the beach with some boogie boards trying to conquer the Pacific Ocean. By far, LeighAnne was the winner. At one point she told me-her frustrated moma to "just be ONE with the waves" Honestly, another week in California and she'd been voting Democrat and living in trees!!!

Dona...you just travel AGAIN across the world with 3 kids...what are you going to do next?

I'M GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!!

Do you know the way to San Clemente?

So, the kiddos and I got on a plane at 0240 Sunday morning (yes, that's 2:40 IN THE MORNING for you non-military) for beautiful, sunny warm California. My wonderful, bestest, favoritist, beautifulist friend-from-Germany Jeanne picked us up in Los Angeles and drove us to her parents beach house in San Clemente (famous for Richard Nixon's R&R's) To say it is paradise isn't even close. Crashing waves, beautiful fragrant flowers, sea lions on the rocks in the water, and young Marines running shirtless on the beach (oops, didn't mean that!) I'm still not sure I want to go to Disneyland.

Tim is joinging us first thing in the AM on Friday and we check into our Disney hotel later that evening. But in the meantime, here's a picture of the kids on the deck of the house.

Train Boy

Our train boy finally got to stand next to a moving real life train. Tim had last Friday off and Jamison personally requested to go see "big trains" so we went. He took the whole thing so seriously that I don't have one picture of him smiling...he was overwhelmed and so sweet.

Here's a picture with his newest obsession....the CABOOSE!











And here he's getting ready to fuss at Kenai for walking on the tracks. He has a train movie that warns of the dangers of playing on railroad tracks, and my newest and youngest safety officer had to work hard to keep Kenai in check.

Is this the face of summertime or what?

For those of you that remember...

the picture seen around the world...

Here's the updated version...

Poor Doug

He didn't know how deep his was getting into it all when he flew his toddler and pregnant wife to visit 1 rowdy dog, 1 naughty toddler, 2 whiny girls, a (slightly) grumpy sis-in-law and an over worked brother in law.

Dumb Dog

So, it's warming up and staying daylight pretty late now, but it's still Alaska, so no green lawns and only the pussy willows are blooming. However, the ground is nice and dry now after all the snow has melted and the rivers and creeks are breaking up. I took the dog and kids to a park last weekend. Being a boy, the first thing Jamison wanted to do was throw rocks in the creek...being diligent sisters, the girls stood right beside him and made sure he was OK...being a dumb a$$ water dog, Kenai hopped over the ice chunks and played in the water. It was a misty cloudy day...there is NO WAY she was cooling off from too much sun on her black coat...

Airborne Humvee

Here's a picture Tim took of a humvee exiting their C-17. The picture is on the front page of the post newspaper. And a quick clarification, the other airborne pic down below was NOT taken by Tim.

More moose on the loose

OK, I guess if I confess that I went out to dinner and a movie with my neighbor (whose husband is on a ship in the middle of the south seas) the very night Jamison got terribly sick, I might not convince you all that it's all "woe is me" all day long. But, I'm willing to sacrifice your pity so I can show you what we encountered on the way home.

On Northern Lights Blvd...a 4 lane busy road we came to a stop to allow 2 moose to cross the street and then head down the other side with traffic. The pictures aren't that clear, but you get the idea!

E is for Easter and.....

Emergency Room.

Yep, that sinus infection kept us up all night long and prompted a trip to the ER instead of a photo op in the parking lot of church. Here's what Jamison thought of the Easter Bunny's special delivery. And the ER trip got him a breathing treatment and some meds to try and clear his lungs. So far, so good.

How to tell when Daddy is gone

Match the illness to the above creatures:

A. Sinus Infection
B. Recent Head Trauma
C. Ear/eye infection

Never fails!!!

The muse is loose

Yep, he's gone again. Jumped into Donnelly Training Area yesterday. I haven't talked to him, but he sent these pics this morning. I'm guessing he used his new camera!

No, really, it's not April Fools

OK, for those of you that actually still come and see if I actually posted anything new, try not to have a heart attack.

I guess my problem has been that my muse has been gone more than home, so without inspiration I lack motivation.

None the less, it's 45 degrees here today and we are slowly starting to see the ground. There is still 2 inches of packed snow/ice on my driveway, but I have hope by this time next week I will have been able to chip through it all.

The sun is a wonderful old friend that has come to join us again. By 6:00 AM the sky is starting to glow and we all are usually out of bed before 7:00...even during Spring Break over a week ago. We also had a suprise visitor a couple of days into the break-look below for the picture. I should add that the girls Spring Break started off with atleast 6 inches of fresh snow but most was gone by the end of the week.

As I said before, Tim is just a novelty around here lately. Looks like it will continue that way until May. We had our 10 year anniversary this week and it was a biggy for me because I got 2 phone calls AND an email!!!! I also went and bought myself an anniversary IPOD, so when you combine that with a new house, new car and new couch, I'm coming out on the good side of it all.

Jamison gets to go to a birthday party this afternoon. This is his second big boy party in the last month. He's very excited.

The girls got their report cards this week and I'm so proud of them. They have really improved since the first report cards came out. Not that those were bad, I just knew they could have done so much better-and now they've proved it. I'm proud of their efforts, improvements and accomplishments. They even managed not to kill each other during spring break.

Alright, no April Fools here...you actually got an update...and I promise to be better-muse or no.

Don't even get me started

Have you all seen anything about this?


David MacAnally/Eyewitness News

Kokomo, February 27 - For the family who lives in a modest home in Kokomo, the fatal Iraq attack came last week.

Then the attack at home followed.

Vandals defaced the home of Sgt. Rickey Jones' family. Eggs were thrown and flags were stolen. Sgt. Jones, a Kokomo High School graduate, was one four soldier's with the 101st killed west of Baghdad last week.

So who, one week before his burial in his hometown, would vandalize a fallen hero's house?

Neighbor Robyn Ousley is at a loss to explain. "I have no idea, somebody pretty, pretty awful."

Another friend, Bill Swaggerty, says there is more than vandalism for the family to deal with. They're calling here and saying, 'I'm glad your son is dead' and it's wrong."

The family's neighbors have closed ranks, bringing food and flying flags at half-staff. All are signs of respect for Sgt. Jones...

If I were anywhere near Indiana, I would be in Kokomo with a gun right now. Honestly, this is beyond wrong.



A great military blogger expands a little more at BlackFive so check out what he has to say.

If you are as outraged as me, here's a way to positively focus your energy...write to the family

Kokomo High School
2501 S. Berkley Road
Kokomo, IN 46902

My New Hero

You have got to read this. Go on, do it.

Fur Rondy (Part Two)

This morning we headed out on a balmy 40 degree Sunday to ride with some sled dogs. The Chugach Express took over a baseball diamond near down town and brought dozens of sled dogs for rides. The dogs were all chained up to the ball diamond fence anxiously waiting their chance to pull. Anxiously, but not patiently. They would sit almost silently when the "musher" was standing around, but once he looked their way, it was almost as if they thought the loudest barker would get to pull. And then, once he started, all those remaining on the sidelines barked the pulling team on. It was so fun and facinating to watch.




After a little dog sledding, we headed down the road to the snow sculptures. This is where I have to agree with the crazy Alaskans...it was a little too warm for the festivities. The sculptures that people had worked soo hard on were melting. The really detailed ones had nearly melted away. Here's a few shots of some bigger ones. The girls are in front of Little Miss Muffet and Jamison is in front of a triceratops.

Fur Rondy (Part One)

Last night kicked off the celebration Fur Rondy...a build up for the Iditarod. This morning we headed out to catch the parade and play on the ice sculptures. I was pleasantly suprised at how low key and not crowded the events were. Don't get me wrong, there were lots of people...just not millions of people. We left the house at 9:45 to see the 11:00 parade. We parked with in blocks of the parade in a parking garage that charged us $2 for the WHOLE DAY and found a great place to stand and watch. When the parade started, there wasn't a huge mass of people pushing us forward...people stood and chatted with each other and kids ran into the street to get the candy thrown from the floats.

The big news has been the weather. Everybody seems to be disappointed that it is so warm. They are honestly acting like it's 110 degrees at the Texas state fair. By the way, the high was supposed to be 33 degrees. None the less, after experiencing Thunder Over Louisville and Northern Virginia, I wasn't looking forward to dealing with the crowds, but this was so pleasant that I can't wait to head into town tomorrow and see what else there is to see.

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

Kenai is back in the arms of the one she loves the most


Well, I guess I was initially trying not to announce to the world that Tim was in Fairbanks, but that didn't seem to work out. None the less, he got home safe and sound Friday night. And with freezing rain-no jumping. As a matter of fact, me and Jamison were the only ones doing the daredevil stuff. We got to slide down our hill in MY NEW CAR!!! on our way to pick up the girls from school. 3 complete spins in the Pilot was enough for any Moma to want to hang it up for the week. However an hour of an uninterrupted hot bath on Saturday washed away any accumulated stress and I'm a happy wife and Moma ready to face the Artic world-ice and snow and all!

I'm also excited it say that coming this next weekend, the "build up" for the Iditarod starts, so hopefully I'll have lots of new and interesting things and pictures to post. Let's face it, January was a little dry. I'm excited to get out and do some of the fun activities. So stay tuned.

Tell me something I don't already know

So, it's a slow week in the Davis household. Except for getting locked out while Jamison was locked in-thank god for good neighbors.

Here's something if your looking for entertainment. However, I'm sure, like me, you won't be suprized by the results.

Your Career Type: Artistic

You are expressive, original, and independent. Your talents lie in your artistic abilities: creative writing, drama, crafts, music, or art. You would make an excellent: Actor - Art Teacher - Book Editor Clothes Designer - Comedian - Composer Dancer - DJ - Graphic Designer Illustrator - Musician - Sculptor The worst career options for your are conventional careers, like bank teller or secretary.

What's Your Ideal Career?

I took these pictures

I took these pictures tonight to remember...

...that no matter how many pieces of cheese you eat while dinner is in the oven...






...no matter how much your helpfulness backfires...









...no matter how many expensive winter gloves you lose...







...you are my sweet sweet babies, and I am so blessed by God to have you in my life everyday.

Introducing one cool new blogger

Here's a cool new up and coming blogger to look out for. Stay tuned for more cool new bloggers.

My new favorite

Artic Eyes

Tim called last night and told me he had been pulled over by the military police. While he was running. Because it was too cold. His thermometer in the office read -40, but with the wind chill it was -51. I guess this is too cold even for the Army. I wonder what the Marines standard for too cold is? Probably 31 degrees.

Anyhow, if you want to know what Tim is up to in technical terms, head over here and read away. But if you just want to see, scroll down...

Finally...

Just when I was running out of things to blog about, this little gem was announced to the rest of the world. Can't wait 'til August!

Dad

I keep forgetting to tell you...guess where we ate a huge, but delicious breakfast one morning.

A favor...

SarahBeth is sick. Nothing to be alarmed about, just a good old cold/fever. She started showing signs of getting sick Sunday night when she kept complaining she was so cold. This is a child who would sleep in a sleeveless satiny short nightgown, with no socks, in January, at -20 degrees if I let her.

Monday morning she got up and got ready and only complained of being cold. She said she wasn't sick, so I sent her to school. After school I picked the girls up and we headed to WalMart to pick up a few things. LeighAnne tells me about her day, but SarahBeth rides silently. When we got to Walmart, she wanted to ride in the cart-Jamison didn't, so I let her. The whole time she is sitting like a zombie, and I can see her temp. rising in her face, but she is still swearing she's not sick. We are in there about 30 minutes and she only moved once to take off her coat and put her gloves on either side of her.

As we leave, she slowly pulls on her coat and starts searching for gloves. Her brand new, just bought 2 days ago gloves. The child sat in that shopping cart for 30 minutes, without moving and still managed to lose her gloves! This winter I have bought at least 9 pairs of gloves, and only 2 remain-and that's because I bought them 2 days ago and the girls haven't discovered them yet.

So here's where the favor comes in...as things start going on clearance would you all be willing to pick up a few pairs here and there? Now I'm talking big time clearance when you can find them for like a dollar or two. Also, I have to be a little picky. The thin little cotton ones won't cut it around here. I'm looking for the thicker ones usually with Thinsulate in them. Color doesn't matter. Of course, if your worried, they have pink and purple coats this year and some I already got on clearance for next year. Size wise, LeighAnne and I pretty much wear the same size gloves...SB can wear slightly smaller ones, but adult size works for her too. (I know because she's lost my gloves also).

So there you go, next thing you know I'll have a link to Amazon.com for my anniversary registery! (Hey, not a bad idea...)I'm kidding Mom. None the less, thank you.

Frozen Fighters

Here's the guys of 1/40th Cav jumping in -30 degrees. Tim was part of the early group into Fairbanks last week, so he didn't get to jump, instead, he got to stand out in the field and watch for a couple hours. Wow, how fun!

OK...brrrrr.....

Yesterday Tim went on a "conversion run". Maybe you didn't know this (I didn't) but at -41 degrees, Fahrenheit and Celsius converge. Don't believe me, try this. Tim said you just got colder faster. He also said being outside is like being somewhere where the chemical fumes are so strong you feel like you can't get your breath.
That's a picture from my backyard
We've been at -15 to -20 here in the Eagle River Valley and I know what Tim means in a 20 degree warmer way. I ran outside earlier to move the truck and had to stop before I "plugged" the truck in to warm my hands. We are talking 30-60 seconds of time. (And no gloves)

I have to say, I have ALOT lately been feeling the old timer syndrome. How can I possibly have been married nearly 10 years...out of high school-well, more than that...I have a 9 year old...I've given birth 3 times...3! But, more than all that, lately I've had the absolutely overwhelming feeling of oh my gosh, wait-OH MY GOD, I live in Alaska. ALASKA!!!

But next month begins the build up to the Iditarod. They call it the Fur Rondy (Rondevous?) and I'm guessing it's a Derby Festival of sorts. Then they run the Iditarod the first Saturday in March...next is Easter...then a little Derby Party in AK (the first Saturday in May!) and then before you know it, the weather is warmer, the snow is gone and the sun is my constant companion.

So here's to end of January-see you next year!