MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas, from all of us! Jared, Hillary, Nathan and Joshua

Christmas Traditions

One of our Christmas traditions is to make a candy house. I told Nathan he will never be too old to do this. He was a good sport and put on a smile and helped. It is fun to see how every year they get better and better.

Snow Fun

The boys spend a lot of time outside, in the dark, playing in the snow. Nathan built a snow cave today and Joshua was having fun climbing on the ice hills with Spencer.

A new hobbie?

One of my friends here in Alaska is blessed with two great qualities: one, she has a great talent of knitting and two she has the patience of Job. She is trying to teach me how and I am trying to learn. I am attempting to make a dish rag here.... We shall see if I succeed!

Honor Roll

Nathan and some of his friends were honored at an "Honor's Breakfast" for making straight A's. The principal told them that he will take all students who make straight A's for 7th and 8th grade out to eat at a nice restaurant. Looks like Nate has something to work for. We are so proud of him!

Christmas Parties

Some of the Dental Spouses got together for a Christmas Party at Glacier Brewhouse. It was a lot of fun, with yummy food (I had Fettucini Jambalaya and Alaskan Seafood Chowder), and great "Alaska" themed gifts. I got a beautiful Christmas tree ornament made out of a leaf.

We went to Sourdough Mining Company for Jared's work Christmas Party. It was great "yummy" barbecue! The boys were excited that they got to go too!

Inca Reed Boat

Joshua had another Social Studies project he had to do for school. He had to do an artifact project and chose to make an Inca Reed Boat. He did a great job and as you can tell was SO proud!

Massive Storm

Last weekend we had massive wind storm. The temperatures warmed up, which was nice, but with it came wind (100+ MPH) and rain (which caused a lot of icy roads). Church was cancelled, we lost 2 big trees in the backyard, and a lot of shingles off the roof. Jared spent his Sunday cutting trees. Luckily they blew down away from the house onto the neighbors fence, and luckily Jared got them off the fence before it broke. If you look close at the pictures, you can see that half the tree is on the other side of the fence. Glad that storm is over. Now we just need some snow to cover up the yuck out side.

BEAUTY at its best!

A gorgeous Alaskan winter evening...

Snow Machining

Our neighbor down the street was out snow machining (that's what they call snowmobiling up here in Alaska) and stopped and asked the boys if they wanted to go. They had a blast, and Nathan thought he was pretty cool driving by himself. Thanks Todd!

Sweet Josh

I got all the boxes out from under the stairs to decorate for Christmas, and Joshua took advantage of the empty space. He had a hut built before I had even started. I love his sweet innocence....I know it won't last much longer, but I can always hope!

Thanksgiving

We have lots to be thankful for, and new friends are on that list! Moving to a new city, and not knowing a lot of people, we were just planning on having Thanksgiving by ourselves, however some friends from our church invited us, and some others over for dinner. It was a great Thanksgiving Feast, with everything and more. It was nice, because I only had to make the stuffing, potatoes, and a pie. It was fun getting to visit with the other families (Teeples, Moncur's and the Keller's), and the boys had an awesome time with the other kids (all similar ages). We came home happy and full!

Saturday FUN

It was too COLD for me, but they had fun!

What did you do on 11-11-11?

We had a "Nacho Party"! What is a Nacho Party? Well, I thought the same thing when Jared came home from a Scouting activity and said that the men had planned a "Nacho Party". So this is how it went... everyone brought stuff for Nachos, we ate and ate and ate, visited, laughed (the men watching Nacho Libre and the woman telling funny dating stories). It was a great night with great friends!

Are you JEALOUS yet?

This was the view as Josh walked out the door at 8:30 this morning for school......

Winter is here to stay!

It is a WINTER WONDERLAND....when it isn't snowing! Today was COLD, but SUNNY! I am happy!

And Josh is happy too!

Snow fun????

It happened...we got snow! I knew it would happen, but I had hoped it would wait a little longer. The first storm wasn't super big, so we didn't get a lot, but it was enough for Josh to try out snowboarding. We have an empty lot across the street and some high school boys were over there snowboarding. Josh went over and they let him use one of their boards. He had so much fun and actually did really well.

Our second storm was a lot bigger....(in Hillary's mind) and we got more snow. Josh was very anxious to get out and shovel, so to work he went. I am sure his excitement won't last all year, but I will take advantage of it while it does.
And now it is snowing again.....tell me "Why did we want to move to Alaska?" It is going to take a few more storms before I feel comfortable!

Halloween Festival

The Youth in our ward, put on a Halloween Carnival, for the primary aged kids. Joshua dressed up as Harry Potter, and his good friend, Kaulani, showed up as the same thing. Must be popular this year. Josh had a great night.

Nathan doing his thing......"Trick or Treat" game!

Can you say CrAzY!!!!

Nathan and his scout group went camping last weekend. It is really starting to get COLD here in Alaska, and the snow is covering the mountains......so "Why go camping on a mountain top with no trees or wood for shelter or fire (hence the name Baldy)?" The answer I got was, "because we want to!" Nathan said he stayed warm, but Jared said he was cold. What troopers!

Power Line Trail

This is why you need to come to Alaska........

We went hiking this past Saturday with some great friends. I had mentioned that I hadn't seen a moose yet, so they took us on this trail in hopes of changing that. Not only did we see BEAUTIFUL scenery, but we also saw 8 huge bull moose. It was a great hike. A little cold, but so worth it.

New Coldland

Joshua had an assignment in school called "Mystery Nation." He had to create an imaginary country and make a map and post cards to go along with it. He had a great time working on this project with a little help from Mom. His nation was called NEW COLDLAND. He got really creative with the names of the cities and mountains, like: Penguinville, Ice Pole and Mount Winterest. No cars on his island, you travel by snow machines (what they call snow mobiles here in Alaska) and skis. He even created a penguin airshow! He did a great job.

I love this kid.....

Joshua has enough time every morning before school to get his reading done. The other morning he was complaining that it was too hot. I told him to quit complaining and figure something out. I then found him here.....

FALL decor

I LOVE to decorate for Christmas, but have nothing for Fall/Halloween.....so I got creative today (all ideas stolen from friends).

Hiking

Last Friday night we took the kids (and Pete) on a hike. This is the great thing about Alaska. We can leave when Jared gets home from work, drive 5 minutes, and have a great hike in the outdoors. It was gorgeous....perfect weather, beautiful scenery, and great company. Of course, I was the only one who got cold enough to wear a sweatshirt....the boys are too tough! It was a great night.

Views from the top of Baldy:

Alpenglow:

FALL is here

This is the view from the front of our house. Aren't the colors gorgeous. We only get yellows and golds here in Alaska.

Labor Day Adventure

Joshua had been begging Jared to take him hiking, so on Labor Day, he caved. Neither he nor Nathan wanted to go. It was cold, wet, and rainy, but Josh wouldn't give up. They went, not really prepared for what was in store. First it was really rainy up on top, and they got soaked. It was really cold, and they were freezing. They lost the dog, which turned the hike into an all day affair. Finally they decided to go back to the truck and hope Pete would find them. When they got back, they called me and asked me to bring them hot chocolate and dinner. When I got there, Pete was still nowhere to be seen. They ate and then I decided that I would take the boys home and Jared would wait until dark looking for Pete. Josh was in tears thinking that we had lost him. Jared was MAD! I was REALLY MAD! Just as I was getting ready to leave, Nathan yells, "there's Pete" and that stupid dog started running toward us. He was cold, wet, hungry and had sore feet. He never would have made it through the night. I think Jared has learned his lesson and will #1 never go on another hike so ill prepared, and #2 is buying a GPS for the dog!

LAST Days of Summer

The boys are trying to make the best of the last few days of semi-warm, semi-sunny weather. They love to ride bikes, and have made a course in the empty lot across the street. We hope nobody decides to build there. Joshua's new favorite thing to do is climb trees, barefoot!

First Day of School

First day of school in Alaska and the boys were excited, mainly that they got to wear "real" clothes and not uniforms! Nathan started 7th grade and Joshua started 4th.