Sunset

December 31, 2011
3:00 pmAs of December 21 we are finally on the gaining end of daylight. 4 minutes a day doesn't seem like much but believe me it makes a HUGE difference. Before break the sun was down by the time I went out for afternoon duty at 3:30. Now when I head out the sun is still just above the horizon. Its AMAZING! Spring is on its way. Something I have to keep reminding myself of while its -30 outside. This picture was taken by my mother-in-law, who LOVES sunsets, during her visit.

Boots

Four pairs of boots lined up on the stairs waiting for someplace to go.

We are in that season where shoes are indoor shoes and boots get worn every day. I can't remember the last time I saw my kids in any shoes other than boots. I don't even know for sure where Jason's shoes are, his backpack maybe. I was coming up the stairs when I noticed how fun our boots looked, sitting on the stairs, in order from largest to smallest. A winter portrait of a family.

If its spring

Then mother nature has lost her freaking mind!

Seriously!

If you live anywhere remotely close to me then you know exactly what I'm talking about.

We've had sun, rain, hail, thunder, lightening, wind, and snow all in the same day. I'm so not kidding.

Remember this post where we went puddle jumping. Well about a week later we went back to the same field, but do you know what we did this time? We went sledding. That's right, sledding.

Sunday morning we woke up to this...
Never mind going to church. By the time we dug out and showered after digging out we would get there just in time to come home again. So when Jason went down for a morning nap Jonathan, Dan and I got bundled up and headed out side to dig out. But we only have one shovel so really Dan dug out and Jonathan and I played. We decided to make a snow man. So Jonathan got his bucket and started bring me snow, ya know in case I didn't already have enough.
He had so much fun filling the bucket and dumping it out again. And of course he didn't help me build "his" snow man at all.Jonathan and "his" snow girl. He decided after seeing the finished product that it was much too small to be a snow man so it must be a snow girl. He wanted me to give it one of Jason's pacifiers and call it a snow baby but I drew the line there. Snow girl was just fine with me.

While my mom was here we got a sled on clearance. We didn't have one and you can never find one when the first snow falls. I didn't really plan on using it this year but since we had snow I figured why not?

Do you have any idea how heavy an almost 4-year-old is to pull for a quarter mile in a sled? Yeah I didn't either until I did it. Wow that was a serious work out.
He had so much fun riding along in his sled while we made our way down to the field. I didn't tell him we were going sledding because I didn't want to deal with the disappointment if hill wasn't big enough. Fortunately the hill was the perfect size for him and he made several runs down the hill, and I pulled his heavy little rear back up the hill several times. I also made one run down the hill. I hadn't been sledding in forever and I had a great time. Next winter we'll find a bigger hill and take Daddy and Jason.
Doesn't he just look like he's having a fantastic time? I was glad when he decided he was cold and wanted to go home. I was exhausted! When we got home Jason was awake and even though I desperately wanted to crash on the couch I decided he should get to have some fun in the snow too. I'm so glad I took him outside. He had a great time crawling around in the snow and exploring.
Look at that happy face! Look at how much he has grown up since this post. I can't believe he's going to be one this month!
Dan pulled Jonathan and Jason around the corner and back in the sled before we all headed inside.

I love the snow but spring can come any time now! Seriously!

Beautiful Alaska

I absolutely LOVE Alaska. I don't think I can express in words exactly how I feel about Alaska. I know that sounds strange but its true. I grew up there and I know that experience has had a profound effect on who I am today. Alaska is one of those places you either love or hate, there really is no in between. I have said many times that Alaska is a part of me and each time I visit I leave a little bit of myself there. I long to move back and have just about turned Dan to my side. We'll see what happens and what God has to say about that a little later, ya know when I'm closer to being done with school.

I thought I would share a little bit of what is so beautiful about Alaska with all of you who have never been there. I know at least one of my readers has been there because I went to high school with her, Hi Kacey.


You don't see this just anywhere. This picture was taken in a neighborhood in downtown Fairbanks. This moose was happily munching on some trees and was totally oblivious to our presence.


My husband took this picture of the Northern Lights. It was a bitter cold, clear night but the lights were beautiful. The picture really doesn't do the beauty justice.


Heading up to my parents house on the back roads. Absolutely beautiful!


Sunset at about 2:30 pm. Yes it gets dark early there and there is very little sunlight in the winter but that was how I grew up so it really doesn't bother me.


Downtown Fairbanks along the Chena River. Part of the river is thawed because it is down stream from the steam plant. I think it was about -35° that day.


Also downtown Fairbanks, taken the same day as the previous picture. I love the way the snow and ice is covering this tree.



Both of these photos are of Mt. McKinley. They were taken from the plane as we were flying out of Fairbanks.


Cook Inlet flying into Anchorage.


Cook Inlet iced over as we were flying out of Anchorage.

I'm headed back up to Alaska for about 3 weeks in July and August so I'll post some summer pictures of Alaska then. I've never been anyplace that is quite as beautiful as the Last Frontier.

Necessity

Necessity, who is the mother of invention.

Plato, The Republic
Greek author & philosopher in Athens (427 BC - 347 BC)

Yesterday my necessity was staying home. I didn't want to go out and brave the roads. Don't get me wrong I'm 100% Alaska girl and snow on the roads doesn't really scare me a bit. That said I didn't want to be out on the roads when I knew the plows would be working frantically to clear the snow so life can go on. So in desperation I dug through my empty pantry and near empty freezer and here is what I came up with.

1lb ground beef
1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 6 oz can of tomato paste
1 cup elbow macaroni
Cheese

Preheat the oven to 350° and spray and 8X8 baking dish with nonstick spray.
Brown the meat and cook the noodles. Combine beef, noodles, tomatoes, and tomato paste.
Put mixture in baking dish and cover with grated cheese to taste.
Bake for 30 minutes.

The results were fantastic. It was a little bit like Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni but without all the preservatives. And it was really fast and simple. I did forget to season the mixture so it was a little bland but I think you could season it any way you wanted to. I think this will quickly become a staple in our house and replace the Hamburger Helper!

Today life is back to normal. It warmed up last night and the snow is melting, maybe a little too quickly. Makes me glad our house is a little higher than the ones around us. School is in session and my house is empty. I think I'm going to enjoy this a little before I finish my grocery list and head out.

Snow Day

I don't start school again until January 14 but today was supposed to be Dan's 1st day back to work and Jonathan's 1st day back at preschool. However, the snow had different plans. Dan got the call at 6:30 this morning that today was a snow day and there would be no school. So we climbed back into bed and cuddled for hours. It was wonderful!

But we just got home from 2 weeks vacation. Care to guess how much food we have in our house... ummm yeah... I'm going to have to brave the weather and head to the store today or we are going to be very hungry!

Snow Everywhere

I love the snow but it needs to stop now! We are supposed to fly to Alaska on Christmas Day and I don't want our trip to end up canceled. That being said Jonathan is enjoying the snow. On Sunday we bundled him up because he was literally starting to climb the walls and needed to get outside and run and play. Dan and Jonathan headed out in the iced over snow to take the sled out for a walk. They tried to sled in the yard but they keep sinking in so Dan took him to the end of the road and back. They had fun.





Jason and I stayed inside and stayed warm. A good time was had by all.