2009, Here we come!

The summer of 2008 wasn't the best thing in the world but it could have been a ton worse. My sister in law, was on bed rest in a hospital for a month during her pregnancy.... everything turned out great and I have another nephew, Hank. Gavin broke his femur while on vacation in Washington and had to be in a full body cast. The third thing, my dad broke his ankle and his tibia while at work and is out of commission for probably three months. So, the three bad things have struck, and I am ready for the new year. (Hopefully, not as eventful... just a big move!)


Gavin first week in his body cast after his femur break.


My dad recovering. Happy New Year Dad!

The talking helmets

Gavin was a storm trooper. He likes his helmet but likes Connor's much much more.


Connor is Optimus Prime! With his cool helmet, he actually sounds 100% like Optimus Prime too.

Gingerbread House

Ron's mom sent the boys a gingerbread house kit. This is what it is supposed to look like when you are all done. We will have to see what ours looks like tomorrow when we are done. WISH US LUCK! It may become a new family tradition for us too!

Picture Gavin took

Gavin, three years old, loves taking pictures of us around the house. I actually thought he did pretty good on these pictures. He even was telling me to say "Smile" and "Cheese."


Silly close up!

Gourd Snowmen

This blog goes out to my mom. She had this great idea for my students to paint gourds and make them look like snowmen. They came out awesome and everyone that saw them while visiting my classroom was very curious to know what they were. So, besides teaching the kids, I guess the adults learned something new too.

Who's looking at you? LOL

Snowmen gourd made my class this past week.

"Winter Wonderland"

One of the many beautiful sites we saw yesterday when we were searching for the right Christmas tree.


Another beautiful winter picture

Oh, Christmas Tree

Connor and Gavin helped us with the choice of the tree. (Good picture, except my eyes are closed)


This year was my year to cut the tree down. It took only about 3 minutes and it was down. (Probably because the tree was frozen and a small trunk.)

Pulling the tree to the four wheeler.

My Little Angels

Today while playing in the snow, we got some amazing pictures of the boys making snow angels. Can you see it in the picture?

Dog Mushing

I wasn't able to pull my camera out in time for the picture with all the dogs and part of the sled but this is actually the dad mushing his dog. The other is the six year old that has started mushing a two dog team.

icicles

Last week we had a warm spell come through and ended up with icicles that were at least 4-5 feet long. Sure made sure I broke them before I walked out the door.

Having fun on a cold day... inside

Connor and Gavin have made a slide in the house using the total gym. They push the seat all the way up and then continually slide down. Thought that they were having so much fun laughing, I would get a picture of them.

Playing out in the snow

These pictures were about a month ago, walking to the post office. The boys decided to play hit the can with their sticks and just have some good old fun.

Doly varden

After ice fishing for a few minutes, a doly varden was caught. This is a pretty neat looking fish with it pink dots. Since it was caught in fresh water, the name is Doly Varden. But if the fish came from the ocean, it would be called an Arctic Char. Any questions??

A FULL FOUR WHEELER!

I know you can't see everyone on the four wheeler, but there is a total of 9 on it. 3 adults and 6 kids. It was an extremely full ride.

Halloween Costumes

Connor and Gavin had a ball getting to choose their costumes and then also wear them. Gavin is so small and didn't have the choices like Connor did. All we could find for Gavin was small, cute, and cuddly. Gavin wanted something a little scary so as you can see, he was a big and mean tiger. Connor took a long time deciding what to be. He finally decided on the jungle fury power ranger. They both had a great time walking around trick or treating.

Final product--- Jack-o-lanterns

As you can see, even in the Alaskan Bush, we carve pumpkins. We put a lot of thought into the designs and faces since they cost so much. Each of these pumpkins were around 25 dollars each for a medium pumpkin. But the tradition and family time easily takes over the total cost. The first pumpkin is Gavin's "Stitch" pumpkin. Connor's was "Pokemon." Ron's was the pirate skull. Mine was the hairy spider. Hope you enjoy!

Gutting the pumpkin

Connor, Gavin, and Ron had a great time getting slimed while pulling out all the seeds and pulp of the pumpkins.

Ice Fishing

Yesterday after school, Ron, Connor, Gavin, and I went ice fishing with some people from the village. I didn't have any luck but everyone else caught grayling. Gavin caught one fish and was done. He would come and fish with me to try to show me how it was supposed to be done. Connor caught a couple and Ron caught one. Not too bad for about an hour of fishing. We all had fun and got out of the house while it was cold. I am sure, that we will have more ice fishing adventures as soon as it gets colder again.

Connor's Birthday

Well Connor just had his sixth birthday last week. He chose Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle as his theme. The cake he wanted was the easiest and fastest cake I have ever made for him. It was simple but really a neat looking cake. I quickly made up a face for "Pin the Mask" on the Turtle. The kids that came, had a great time with Connor. Connor and Gavin both had a great time with them too. Since then, some of the kids have come over to play with Connor. Man, my son is growing up so fast.

Snow

During the first week of October, we had plenty of snow for snowball fights, snow mobiling, and enough to stay on the ground. We all took a drive down to the river and had a ball in it. The only bad thing is that we will probably have an extremely long and cold winter.

Ron's hunting trip

Back in September, Ron and a friend went moose hunting. As you can see, it was a successful hunting trip for him. I am grateful, food for the freezer. It was a nice sized moose, young still and smaller than most but perfect for the tenderness. (For those of you that don't know... the older the animal, the tougher the meat)

Where do I start?

This summer was a long summer for myself and the boys. We went to the beach and saw pelicans at a lighthouse, walked in the sand, went swimming, saw kites that were bigger than our house, and rode on a couple of carnival rides. We went for walks and car rides and saw cows, hawks, osprey, horse, sheep, goats, and many other animals. We went to the zoo, and were part of the animal entourage. We went to the local fair and became spiderman and the horse lover. We were part of an almost exploding car because some fireworks misfired. Connor became a flying fish and the local pool. We laughed so many times and cried a few times when Gavin broke his leg. But all in all, we had the best summer with all the good things and a couple of not so good things. We would never trade anything for the time that we spend with our family and friends!