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!

Intelligent Design

I stay away from politics on my blog. For one, none of you all are here for that reason...secondly, I don't want strangers coming on here and making rude comments. But I came across this letter to the editor titled 'A vaild scientific theory'and just had to share. Obviously a brilliant person wrote this...probably passed on some pretty intelligent genes in his lifetime.

Lonely little dog

So, for those of you in the know...the HIGH today in Fairbanks will be -12 degrees and somebody is feeling so terribly sad!

The reason I blog

I responded to the question "Why do you blog?" today. And I have to tell you and show you.

1. I'm miserable at following thru. I have a letter/check for someone sitting in front of me right now that has been sitting here since stamps were 37 cents (damn 2 cents)

2. I never manage to take a picture, develop the picture and send the picture in the same year. I have undeveloped film from LA's kindergarten field trip.

3. I don't write thank you cards. When we moved here, I came across undelivered thank you cards from my WEDDING (also see #1)

4. I lose phone numbers all the time (right Kristen?)

5. I can start a blog entry, walk away and the computer will save it for me. Handwritten letters get lost in the piles of paper.

I could go on and on. but, but, but moments like this...moments where you feel so blessed to be able to raise a child and watch them grow...moments that you can't wait to tell/share with everyone...blogging for me are for these moments...



Jamison started sleeping in his new big boy train bed this week. I can hear him playing after I put him down, but if he doesn't cry, I don't bother him. Here's what I found after the noise died down. He carefully lined those trains up into the grooves of that bed and fell asleep playing trains.

This is my train boy. The boy who won't say "Go Cats"(just training for Uncle Doug's visit) instead he says "no, Go Trains"...who thinks potty training just sounds wrong...and will tell any and everyone who will listen that he sleeps in a choo-choo bed.

This is why I blog. I hope you enjoy these moments as much as I do.

Jack Frost

The temps have been staying below 20 degrees for awhile now. I've notice when they do, frost starts to accumulate on anything not moving. It's sort of the mushrooms of the north...except they won't get you high...or so I've been told... Here's couple of pictures. One is obviously of my house numbers, the other is a post on my front porch. The extra thick layer you see swooping across the top is a little Halloween fake spider web that wouldn't come off.

except for one...

Brandon came last week for a class and a bit of a visit...we were all excited to see him-except for Kenai...Uncle Brandon said he was stinky so...

Brandon and Snowzilla

Oh and did I mention...???

LeighAnne got her some glasses. They are reading glasses, so she only wears them while reading, but she likes them so much that I often have to remind her to take them off. During her appointment, I also had an exam and the Dr. told us our eyes were identical...I ,however, didn't get a prescrip. I could if I wanted, but she said it was so slight that I don't need to bother. (did I say LA had been having headaches?)

Ok, so back to 2005

Looking through my December pictures, I realized I left out a few events, so let's go back-shall we?

LeighAnne had her school choir concert the same night as one of the balls (formal events) on post. When I realized the conflict, I called Tim and told him to take me off the RSVP list, and (I never do this) I gently reminded him that this time next year he probably won't be here to see LA's concerts. So, he too came off the list.

That night was crazy. It had been exceptionally warm and most of the roads had started to thaw. However, by the time we got in the car a nasty wind was blowing and everything was a solid sheet of ice. When we were leaving, there was a blown over trash can in our way, so I got out to move it. When I hit the driveway, I literally slid all the way down. I then waved to let Tim know to just drive down and pick me up. I watched the cars wheels stop rolling, but the car kept going!!! Tim gave a warning honk to make sure I was out of the way. As we slid down our neighborhood to the school I wondered how many people would actually show up to the concert.

Now, you all know I've been to a few choir concerts in my life, but I have to say I was initially turned off by the casualness of the event. No trees, lights...the kids were in blue jeans and their choir shirts. But I was impressed with the energy of the music teacher-and the energy he pulled from the 165 students.


Here's a picture of LeighAnne. Notice how she's not facing the same way as the rest of the group? That's because she's singing to Jamison. It absolutely killed me that she wasn't watching the conductor. I could hardly relax during the first couple of songs. But Tim gave me the evil eye and mouthed the words "she's nine!" so I settled down and enjoyed the moment. And I was glad I did-she made this Moma proud.

Just for Brandon

This is a great place for anyone to visit...but I'm posting it just for Brandon.

The Day Tim Forgot

Here's a nice picture of the girls right after they finished their first ski lessons. There's a slope on Elmendorf Air Force Base (more like a big hill) and the girls went with Tim on a quiet Thursday evening for lessons. Tim got some snowboard "refresher" lessons at the same time. Tim however, remembers none of this.

Meanwhile, Mom and I (and Jamison) stay home and get momma ready to fly out that evening. I convince mom to leave early so we can try and catch the girls skiing. As we pull up into the parking lot and start looking for the girls, we see someone wipe out big time...

I get out of the car and walk around the lodge just in time to find the girls finishing up their lesson and Tim standing talking to the girls instructor. After the instructor leaves, I ask Tim if he would like for me to take the girls with me to the airport so he can do a few runs and he replies, "I just hit my head really hard"...after I quiz him a little more, he admits he shouldn't drive home. "OK" I say, "you turn in your equipment and the girls equipment and I'll meet you at the car" 10 minutes later-no Tim. I go back and find him in the same spot(with 2 bored and confused girls lying at his feet)all still in their equipment. OOOOkkkkkkkkkay

Long story short, take mom to airport, come home and call angelic babysitter and head to the ER. Tim's short term memory was shot and I endured(poor me)the same questions over and over and over again. For example, Tim bought new boots earlier that day, but didn't remember it, so I had to reassured him every 30-90 seconds that those were, in fact, his boots. While we were in the ER he asked me so many times "where are the kids?" That the nurse asked me if I was going to be alright taking care of him. He also kept asking if he just woke up from a long nap and I assured him, it wasn't just a nightmare-he was in fact married with 3 kids. I found it a little sad that one of his biggest concerns was if he was on leave and did he have to be into work soon. But, I should also say, he asked a million times if the girls were OK-and kept checking to make sure we hadn't left them at the slopes.

He got a CT a was given an "all clear" of sorts. No crazy stuff for 6 weeks. And he's less than thrilled that he paid for lessons that he doesn't remember. But all 'n all, I thank God he was OK. And that's how we ended 2005.

...and Momma saw some Moose

OK, youmay not see them...squint your eyes and focus on the 2 black things in the background...now you too have seen you some Moose.

We caught a glimpse of 5-yes 5! of them in a greenbelt right off a very busy 4 lane road. 'Round here, the best way to find wildlife is to pull over whenever you see a bunch of other cars pulled over. While you do run the risk of finding yourself in the middle of a drug bust, chances are good that you'll find some kind of interesting mammal instead. (Not that drug bust wouldn't have it's own kind of interesting mammals involved) None the less, it was nice to finally show off a little Alaskan flair to a visitor.

Whittier

We went to Whittier while Momma was here. We went once while Tim's parents were in town so we knew what to expect. I guess this time we went for the novelty of riding thru the 2 1/2 mile tunnel-Jamison loves tunnels. The one way tunnel is also shared with a train, so the tunnel runs on a 15 minute schedule of in and out times.
The town itself is basically a parking lot with the exception of a few old military buildings. One tall former Army tower houses 80%-90% of the 184 population. From what I've been reading, it also has a church, grocery and medical facilities in the one tower. Surrounded mountians on 3ish sides, it's the only port near Anchorage and leads into the Prince William Sound. It's quaint to say the least, but fascinating too. Can you imagine living in a town where EVERYBODY lives in the same BUILDING! Anyway, it's something you have to see to grasp, but once you see it-that's all there is.

Thar' she blows

My girl Augustine didn't let me down. I've been waiting for her to go for awhile, and with 180 miles separating us, I know we aren't in immediate danger. But it is just enough excitement to have the school district to call me with an automated message updating me on school volcano policy. How cool!

I've been following all the volcanoes via the Alaska Volcano Observatory and just happened to check in this morning around 9:00 when the site went a little crazy and locked up on me...after refreshing it, I was surprised to see Augustine updated to a RED. I was so excited to share the news, but would you believe there wasn't a soul was home to talk to!


Anyway, the ash is blowing west, so we are OK for now. I have to admit I don't want the ash to come this way-doesn't sound like alot of fun...but I'll keep you updated on any more excitement.

Lions and Tigers and Bears

Oh My!!!

Nana and Snowzilla

Ice Fishing

Wow, I'm just now realizing how terribly busy my December was. Sooo...SarahBeth's class had a field trip to Jewel Lake where the Alaska Fish and Game hosted an ice fishing thing, as mentioned in this here article.

I figured this was my one and only chance to ice fish, so I drove SarahBeth, 2 other classmates and Jamison to a beautiful frozen lake in the middle of town. There were about 20-30 holes in the ice and each kid got a pole. The adults were in charge of baiting the hook with tiny "salad" shrimp and then the kids lowered the line. For whatever "magical fishing" reason, some kids caught multiple fish, but most caught none. What was amusing was watching the "non-catchers" flock to other holes based on the "catchers" telling them how many fish they caught in their holes. No amount of explaination could get the kids to understand that all the holes lead to the same lake..the same body of water...the same fish supply.

Mary-Kate, Ashley and SarahBeth...

...Olsen. SarahBeth loves to hang out in her jammies. She has a special twist to her lounge wear a la MaryKate and Ashley Olsen.

Snowzilla

The Anchorage Daily News had this article on Monday and then a new one today. After reading the article on Monday, I loaded everyone up in the car for a surprise visit to the 16 foot snowman.

It's really cool-for lack of better words, but my favorite part of the whole thing is not the snowman, it's the decor surrounding the snowman. This guy isn't one bit worried about a sad melting snowman littering his lawn this summer (yeah, it'll probably be there that long) The snowman's yard is comparable to any yard one might find deep in the hills of Kentucky or Virginia (or the Northern Neck). However, this is in the heart of Anchorage, just down the street from a mall. Snowzilla is just one of many many ornaments in the yard on this quiet neighborhood street. Yes, that's the guys house behind the truck and tree. I'm sure the neighbors are thrilled.

Eagle River Tree Lighting Cermony

So, way back earlier this month, LeighAnne's choir sang at the Tree lighting ceremony. Tim was out in the field so I loaded up everybody, including Kenai and headed out. (I also had the fore site to borrow a sled made with a back support for little ones.) There was a ton of snow on the ground and it was contining to snow.

We were lucky to find good parking, but we still had to hurry and finish wrapping up in our coats (and gloves and hats and boots and hand-warmers and snow pants...) With all the layers, it was a little hard for Jamsion to bend at the waist and sit comfortably in the sled, but he managed. The dog was beside herself to be out and about and allowed to socialize, so I put the sled rope and dog leash in the same hand and let Kenai do the work. Everything was OK until we hit the "spectator area". To my suprise, under all the new fallen snow was an ICE RINK!!! We were expected to stand on a concealed ice rink and watch the festivities...remember, I had a grumpy 2 year old in a small sled and a wild puppy attached to it. It was sooo much work just remaining vertical that I was exhausted afterwards, but we all stayed until the very end, after everyone else had left and played under the town Christmas tree sliding across the ice rink with the snow falling all around us. It was two hours well spent.

What Tim wants for Christmas

and he got it!!!

Another blog to check out

(or should I call it Amazing Ramblings and Run-on Sentences)

So I was checking out some of the Alaska Bloggers and found a fellow Anchoragian...Anchorager...Anchoraganee...he works on Fort Richardson and has really captured some of the feel of things around here. He has some of the very same pictures that I have tried to (un)successfully capture. Check it out. Not just this once, but every once-n-awhile and see what he's got.

As a continued sell...we have had this crazy thaw the last week and a lot of the snow has disappeared. Wait, let me back track and tell you about the road maintenance here.

The snow falls...and falls...and falls...everybody has killer SUV's with killer tires to get them thru the falling snow without batting an eyelash. Seems to me, no matter how much snow is falling, the city keeps going. But the snow removal-the same kind of trucks you see in KY, VA, shoot, even Germany-those big trucks you see sitting on the side of the highway just waiting for the first snowflake...well they come out a day or so later. Later, after we have all driven on it over and over and packed it down to a nice thick layer of ???. It's really not that scary to drive on...it's like nothing you've really driven on before. But you learn, and you adjust and you take your time changing lanes because each lane has formed its own groove so you have to thunk-thunk your way between. The main highways get almost cleared completly, but neighborhood roads hardly at all. And they don't use salt. They use gravel. I don't know about you all but I recall most idiot teenagers flipped their cars on gravel roads...so tell me how gravel and snow and ice mix?!?!?!

Now the thaw. The main road get scrapped and scrapped (is that scrape or scrap?-you know what I mean)and have come out with nearly dry roads. The side roads however, not so good. With 3 inches of snow/ice on roads that don't ever get direct sunlight (a whole other post)nothing short of a ton of SALT will clear it. So the temps melt all the nice easy going grooves we've all worked to hard to create and leaves us with a literal ice rink in the mornings. I can go to the "access road" in front of my house and count the layers of gravel suspended in the ice. All I can say is, it's crazy...just put a little salt down...the enviroment and the eagles be damnmed, I have a new Pilot that I don't want dented!!!!!

Anyway, the gigantic tractor machines that they use to "scrape" the ice off are incredible steel monsters that look like some farmers science experiment. The dog goes bezerk when they (rarely) pass by and even my "guk" boy gets a little freaked out, which all brings me back to my fellow Alaskan Blogger who captured the monsters, along with so much of the beauty that surrounds me everyday. It's pleasant to look at...and since I seem to be lacking in the picture department lately...

On the subject of video clips

Have you seen this commercial?

Come on, watch it real quick...I'll wait...


Ok, is it just me or doesn't it bring an incredibly large boo-hoo to your throat? Or maybe it is the darkness getting to me, or just plain old home sickness? None the less, I know a little/big brown haired girl that is getting an extra long hug from me today (and a red head and a blonde boy too!)

Birthday Boy

I feel a little bad not posting Jamison's birthday pictures earlier. I guess part of the problem is the party was more eat cake real quick and open presents kind of party.

We got an ice cream cake and put it on the front porch after the party. Best thing about being somewhere cold is your fridge space really expands during the winter. However, yesterday it warmed up into the 40's(!!!) and Jamison and I were forced to eat chocolate mint and red velvet ice cream cake for lunch.

Well, I guess I should say, Jamison had cake for lunch. Look and see.

Now that you've watched, I need feedback. Does the video come out OK? Does it take forever to load? Do you even bother to check them out? The idea of sharing little clip like this are great, but if it doesn't work well, then I'll either find another image hosting service or just not bother. Post on the comments or let me know.

Rumbling in his Sleeping Bag

The weekend before Thanksgiving Tim and his fellow soldiers had to prove they had absorbed all the knowledge bestowed upon them by cold weather instructors. "Prove" by sleeping out in the open in 20 degree weather all night. According to Tim, they road marched out to the firing ranges...did a little training and then bedded down where ever. Tim told me he was warm enough and his poncho (small thin blanket) draped over two trees provided enough shelter to keep the freezing rain and snow out of his face. He said his biggest concern was some Moose (yes, it should be capitialized) might tromp over him while he slept. Gee, I said, didn't you sleep close enough to other people that a Moose wouldn't mistakenly tromp over a pile of bodies. Nope...these men, in honor of the we're straight-see the chair between us code, sleep several dozens of yards apart. Idiots.

Now, to the rumbling...it was not of Tim's own doing when he felt a rumbling in his sleeping bag that cold Friday night. He felt an earthquake...about a 4.0. Now for my couple of CA friends, I know that's not much...but where I come from, that's pretty cool. Not everyday ya feel an earthquake. Or so I thought. If you notice, I have convienently provided a link to Alaska Earthquakes in the sidebar. Alaska is like Santa's belly at a comedy club (shook when he laughed like...OK, bad, I know) The Cook Inlet is where we are and we seem to be a shakin' and a shimmin' all the time.

Time for another installment of...

Only in Alaska

5 years ago I was listening to 99.7 on the radio on my way to Nuremberg to do a little Christmas shopping, keeping my ears peeled for the words Autobahn drei und neunzig to make sure there wasn't a stau I should be aware of.

3 years ago, I was listening to Christmas music on Lite 104.5 and wondering if Shelbyville Road mall traffic (who puts 2 malls less than a mile from each other?)was backing up.

2 years ago I was heading one last time into Elizabethtown listening to Quicksie 98.5 trying to finish any final Santa shopping before a new little creature consumed all my energy.

1 year ago I was heading to Mecca (Potomac Mills) listening to a litany of traffic reports...all of which made translating German seem easy...to try and decipher if I-95 was backed up to Woodbridge.

Today...today, today, today...I was driving into Anchorage for a little Christmas shopping (are you seeing a pattern) when the DJ advised us all to avoid Northern Lights Blvd. and UAA Dr.(University of Alaska, Anchorage) Why? Why should the city avoid a very busy road during rush hour? Because, stupid, there is a TransAm off the road and two Moose have decided to bed down and watch the tow truck excitement from the median. Ofcourse!

Showing Off

It's been awhile so I though you might need some recent pictures of the kids. While the girls were dressed up to go to The Nutcracker with Popa, I thought I might get a Christmas Card worthy picture...yeah right!

The Darkness

Everyone wants to know about the short days here. We are now at 6 hours of day light and by Sunday I expect it will be less than 6 hours. At one point we were losing nearly 6 minutes of light a day, but it has now slowed to 3-4 minutes a day. I have to say, over all it hasn't been too bad yet. In the mornings we are busy getting ready for school and by the time I drive the girls to school, there is enough light peaking out from behind the mountians and bouncing off the snow that its quite bright, but I still need my headlights. Here's a picture I took today at 9:15 a.m. There's a bit of cloud/fog coverage so it's a little "blue-er" than normal, but you get the idea.




Now I have to admitt, the early evenings are starting to get to me. Two days ago I left the kids with my dad and ran down to the store for bread. As I was heading home, I felt awful for staying at the grocery for so long...it was getting so dark...I must have been in there nearly an hour. Nope-only 20 minutes. At 4:30 I felt like I should be washing the dinner dishes and getting the kids ready for bed. So, I pulled over in my neighborhood and took a picture.



The snow makes everything so bright during the day and when the moon is full it's unbelievably bright. So again, it's not as bad as I expected...I know I have 3 more weeks of light loss and I am looking forward to gaining momentum the other way come December 22!

How Popa spent his Thanksgiving

Here's a picture of Dad shoveling (one "l" or two?..too lazy to spell check!) the snow for the 3rd time on Thanksgiving Day...I believe he shovelled(again 1 or 2?) one more time before the guest showed up.

Kenai was his constant companion. She even got his hat off his bed today (Friday) so they could take a walk.

We had 12 people all together. Three guys Tim works with and their wives...but no kids. LeighAnne asked that I make sure next year to have more kids come too.

PETA would be proud

Found this article in The Alaska Star, a local paper for Eagle River. I won't even bother expanding......this is the best!

Ha, Ha, H-ha, Ha

It's currently 43 degrees in Anchorage, Alaska. What, pray tell is the temp where you are?

(OK, I know you'll still be the winner in the end, but give me this moment!)

Only in Alaska

Our new church is a great place. We are still trying to find our niche, but it offers so much to its congregation and the community. Like this section here...I pulled it off of the web site. See if you can find the uniquely Alaskan service they provide to the community.


CARE MINISTRIES

These are a few of the various ways to care for people within the church.

Care Meals: Help meet a tangible need by periodically providing meals
during the various transitional seasons of life.

Hospital Visitation: Visit with people in the hospital to encourage,
support, and care for them and their families in a time of physical, emotional
and spiritual need.

Military Deployment Ministry: Help support and honor our military
members and their families by prayer, fellowship, and providing for basic
needs, especially when a spouse is deployed to another part of the world.

Moose Kill Ministry: Help salvage and distribute meat from moose
road-kills. Harvested meat is given to families in need. This is a unique
ministry with several ways you can serve such as a dispatching the team,
harvesting the moose meat, and processing and distributing the meat.

Encouragers: Help provide a safe place for struggling people in our
community to seek help in a counseling situation. Receive training and
mentoring in guiding people towards wholeness in Christ.



Uuummm, yeaaah, can you guess which one is at the top of my "no thanks" list.

from Leigh Anne

Hi! Sleding was a lot of fun! We only sled down the driveway. Haley, Sarah beth, and I stood up, and used sticks to have fun. We,or Haley and I,sill sat down. Jamison wasn't so sure about it. One reason, he hates hats. But we all, including daddy had fun in the end.

SNOW!

Well, the first real snow fell today. The other stuff we've had has been so little that it just blew off the roads and never amounted to much. As I write this, the girls are still outside sledding.




Jamison, however, was not as thrilled. His mittens were a little big and he didn't understand how to put is thumb over...his boots were also too big, he had on more layers than he could handle and to top it all off, he was forced to wear a hat!








But these two girls were in Alaskan paradise.

EDITED:Candy please moma

If you haven't seen this yet, its darling. But if you caught it earlier before I changed the format, then it's still the same video; it's just not clogging up the blog.

(P.S. a little blog knowledge-click on the highlighted words to get you to a new page or picture.)

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Halloween?

Crazy Hair Day

For those of you that remember the Stafford Crazy Hair Day, I learned my lesson and the red in the girl's hair was just this gel stuff that came right out. No left over hot pink tinted hair here! (Although SB did try and convice me to do it again)

While on the subject of siblings...

This article was in the paper last month, but I've just found the time to copy it. The baby bear's moma was killed by some fool that gut shot her and left her to suffer for at least 2 days before she died. They found the shooter and he's in jail now. However, the babes have become the sweethearts of the Kenai Penisula and while Alaskans respect the all important food chain boundaries, they (and us all) have come to love the young bears and their antics.

Russian River orphans stick together
Healthy female grizzly helps injured male find food

By DOUG O'HARRA
Anchorage Daily News

Published: September 23, 2005
Last Modified: September 23, 2005 at 08:41 AM



Ever since their mother was gut-shot and killed during the midsummer climax of Russian River fishing, a female bear cub has stayed by her wounded sibling, sometimes allowing the male with a gimpy leg to eat fish she has hauled ashore.


The male cub was shot in the leg the same weekend its mother died, perhaps in the same incident. Since then, the two half-grown orphan bears have remained at the river to feed on salmon. But it hasn't been easy.

The male bear limps and swims slower. Snatching fish appears to be more difficult.

But to the amazement of tourists and bear-savvy locals, the female bear seems willing to share the salmon wealth.

"I've observed her kind of sticking close to him and it seems like she's helping him fend for food," said Cooper Landing fly-fishing guide Stacy Corbin, who saw the two bears recently during a driftboat trip.

"She came out and got a fish, and pulled it back, and then she let the other one eat," he said.

The fate of the crippled bear -- along with the cinnamon-colored female and a third cub that has disappeared -- weighs on the minds of many Cooper Landing residents. Even as birches go yellow and the last sockeye spawners rot in the shallows, people say they're still angry over the shooting of the well-known sow.

"Every day I have more than one customer who comes in the store and says that he's worried about that bear," said Glenda Mitchell, who owns the Cooper Landing Grocery and Hardware store with her husband. "I don't see how he can defend himself from another bear with that leg. And I'm concerned that he can feed himself."

The sow's killing and its aftermath is only the latest major conflict between people and bears on the Russian, maybe the state's most intense and popular salmon fishing stream. A young man was severely mauled two years ago, and anglers have been asked to stop leaving the remains of filleted fish, backpacks and new catches within reach of foraging bears.

"Unless something changes up there, it's going to be the same story year after year," said Jeff Selinger, area wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. "If you put thousands of people ... in close proximity with brown bears in essentially an unsupervised area and have a food source available for those bears, bears are going to die and people are going to get hurt."

So far this year, 17 brown bears have been reported killed by people on the Kenai Peninsula, including at least seven sows of breeding age, Selinger said. Brown bears are considered a "species of concern" on the Peninsula with questions about their conservation and population still unanswered.

Selinger said he plans to meet with federal land managers this fall to talk over ways to reduce conflict at the Russian. One idea might require fishermen to grind up the carcasses left after filleting their catch, Selinger said. A goal is to stop people from dumping so much easy-to-get food in the river during fishing season.

This week, fishing has slowed dramatically, but a few anglers still drift the river and cast into riffles. There were rumors that the cubs had recently ripped into rafts parked on shore, though other reports blamed a lone adult bear for the damage.

On Wednesday, several people watched the cubs eating grotty old spawners and behaving themselves.

The bear family had been a remarkable sight for at least two seasons, often delighting anglers with their bold tolerance of people. But the cubs also occasionally misbehaved, according to some observers, raiding backpacks and stealing fish from people.

Corbin, who said he never saw the bears act aggressively toward people, said his clients loved to watch them.

"It was like, 'God, I just hope that those bears don't come across the wrong person.' It's almost like you knew (something bad) was going to happen."

The sow was discovered dead in the forest from at least two bullet wounds during the first week of August. The three nearby cubs were agitated, and one was limping.

A 26-year-old Anchorage man was later accused of shooting the mother on July 31 with a Chinese-made assault rifle and leaving the area without reporting what happened to authorities, as is required.

Last month, Michael Oswalt pleaded not guilty in Anchorage District Court to six misdemeanors, including shooting a brown bear in a closed season, failing to salvage the hide and skull, and recklessly endangering people on the river. His trial is set for Nov. 14, according to the district attorney's office in Anchorage.

Within several weeks of the shooting, the boldest and smallest cub disappeared from the river, fate unknown, Selinger said. But the other two, a male and female, remained, with the male continuing to limp as they foraged for salmon.

Selinger and three state biologists darted the male in late August with a tranquilizer so they could examine its condition. Even as the male went down, the female cub stayed close and ended up darted as well.

The female bear was in good shape. The skinnier male bear had been shot in the joint of its left front leg, Selinger said. The wound was healed over and didn't appear infected. The biologist worked the limb closely to check for a fracture or grating noise. It appeared stiff, he said, but sound.

Selinger said they decided the two cubs had a good chance of making it if left alone on the river.

"That bear will always have a limp, but bears survive that way," he said. "If it can gather enough food and avoid being killed by other bears and stay out of trouble with humans, that bear has a good chance of surviving."

The Baby

The baby was worried about making the blog during his visit...so...

Happy Late Birthday!

Exactly one month late, LeighAnne celebrated her 9th birthday with a costume party.

*Please spare me any fire hazard or hair in the cake lectures. Scroll down 2 entries to see what other health code violations the cake suffered that evening.

The Birthday Gang

We had a few more show up after this picture, but getting the whole gaggle of 'em to stand still for this picture was hard enough.

We had 3 witches and 2 vampire queens. Jamison and one of our neighbor boys went as impossible toddlers...meaning they refused to wear their costumes. Jamison was in a darling little pumpkin sweatsuit when he saw his train shirt and it was all over then.

Uncle Brandon was a real champ and played "bouncer" at the door. He also managed to rally the troops into a game of "frog, frog, toad" (duck, duck, goose) and get a few ghost stories in before present time. Honestly, the whole event would have been a little too hairy without him.



At LeighAnne's insistance we invited all ages. It was important to her that siblings be invited. During the party they became known as the "babies" and were allowed to do just about anything they wanted. They were allowed to leave the garage area and come "help" me in the kitchen. They also got extra candy and a quiet place to play when things were a little loud and crazy. Yes, they were extra work, but tell me this face isn't worth it!

Bad Dog!!

After the party we took a little girl home and left Uncle Brandon in charge of walking Kenai. He told us she wasn't happy to be outside and just wanted to get home...can you guess why? She was atleast kind enough to take a bite out of the opposite side.