Our winter view

When it is calm, clear, and quiet, here is the view that we enjoy off of our back porch. It is really nice to be able to look out and see something really pretty off of the back side of our house since the front side is the school and playground.

New winter coat

My best friend has been asking to see my new coat that I got for Christmas. Well here it is! I sure enjoy it. It is much more stylish than my big down winter coat with a wolf ruff on it that I have had for eight years. I feel so much cuter in this one!

New Year's Day sunset

The sunset says it all!

Smart Cycle

Connor and Gavin love riding their new smart cycle education and exercising bike they got for Christmas. They learn shapes, letters, numbers, and that reinforces what we are teaching them at home. They have a ball riding the bike. I think we have already gone through close to a dozen D batteries on it but they are totally worth it!

Christmas morning

Christmas morning was a wonderful morning for Connor and Gavin. When they had gone to bed on Christmas eve, they left out Christmas cookies and milk for Santa. We had not put any presents out because our house is way too small for them. When the boys woke up on Christmas morning, they were shocked to find a room full of presents. They had a great time opening presents from all of our family.

We found it!

This small spruce tree didn't take Ron but 4 or 5 swipes with his hand saw before it fell. I sure miss the beautiful noble fir trees back home but at least my mom still sends me some boughs every year so I can smell and cherish the beauty from the Pacific Northwest.

Connor and Gavin were our small lumberjacks!

Who's driving?

Connor and Gavin love going outside for snow machine and four wheeler rides. We were out scouting for our Christmas tree and Gavin and Connor tried tricking us saying that they were going to drive. *Giggle, Giggle*

Santa Claus

Connor and Gavin were able to sit on our Yupik Santa after our annual school Christmas program. They were so excited to see him there and also receive a Christmas Tree Sucker.

First snow in early November

This November, we had a small amount of snow. I got this picture when they were having fun going riding in the snow.

In the snow

Connor and Gavin sure love to go play outside in the snow. Thank goodness the weather changed last night. It has been averaging around 32-35 degrees and the snow we had melted, it rained, it was just not a good cold start for freeze up. Hopefully things will get cold and freeze up.
Anyways, here are the boys playing out again in their new snowsuits. What great smiles!

Halloween pumpkins

This year, we actually got four pumpkins because I went to a conference in Dillingham that sold pumpkins. The lowest price I could find was 99 cents per pound. Anyways, the boys had a great time drawing on the pumpkins while money was designing them. Then Ron opened up them up and had the boys help get everything out of the pumpkins. It was a great night and a lot of fun by all of us.
Hope you enjoy the pumpkins that we made!

Halloween

Halloween was so much fun this year. Connor was a skywalker and Gavin was a devil. They had a great time out and about, getting candy. Thank goodness it is only once a year!

These pictures were taken right outside of our house while the boys were playing, "KING OF THE MOUNTAIN." What fun it is to be a kid with them.

Playing in the snow!

This was the first major batch of snow we have had that has stayed. Yesterday, we took the boys out for a ride on the snow machine and on the four wheeler. I didn't realize that we were out for so long. But it was a lot of fun. The boys had fun making snow angels and also playing on top of the snow man's head and the small snow hill. They are so cute!

Connor's 5th Birthday

Connor turned 5 this past week and had a ball at his party! While I was decorating his cake, he couldn't stay away from it. He just wanted to watch me and was so excited. We invited a small batch of the kids his age around the village and they talked about "Connor's Party" for days. This was the first big party Connor has had with friends here. I am so glad that it was one that he will always remember!

Playing Out

Connor and Gavin have been enjoying the nice weather when we get it. It has been a long fall already with all of the rain. Every chance we get, we get them outside for some nice fresh air, rock throwing, and just plain fun.

King of his castle

This summer, Connor and Gavin got to play at the beautiful playground at my old school. There was the castle, tug boat, eagle's nest, climbing wall, tons of slides, swings, and just great entertainment for them. I sure wish that they had something like that way up here in the village.

Looking at their catch

Connor and Gavin were fortunate enough to have a beautiful butterfly given to them by one of the neighbors this summer. The only thing they had to do was let it go so that it could live. It was so beautiful! They had a ball watching it get used to its surroundings before flying away.

Beautiful Rainbow

The other day, we had the biggest rainstorm that has hit this area in over 20 years. It was so neat because there was actually a small flash flood that happened on the streets and ground. You could see the sun moving closer to us and this rainbow was beautiful. The following day, we had another rainstorm that produced the entire rainbow. It was too big to get it in one frame so I am working on putting three pictures of it together so you can see the entire rainbow.

Swimming down the river within arms reach of your boat.

Summer fun and swimming are a huge part of our village. The only thing that I can say, is crazy! The water was around 55 degrees and it was around 90 degrees out. I could only make myself get knee deep unlike Ron and Connor and all of the kids here.