AJ's first Christmas

We had a blast for Christmas. We were invited to a Christmas Eve get-together at a friend's house. There was lots of people way to much food. It was perfect. AJ got to flirt with his girl-friend Betsy, (he had to show her the cool bell he snatched from the Christmas tree)

Randy got to wear is Carhart overalls without my protest, and I got to relax. The kids acted out the nativity. AJ was a lamb...I was happy that he wore his ears as long as he did.

We played a game with "Too-ta-doos". Our host's version of the white elephant game. It was really fun because none of us knew what was in the wrapping paper. We cleaned house. I got a match car motorcycle...that the boys wanted bad so I traded them. AJ opened a match box Scrambler...his uncle Cory would be so proud.

We spent Christmas morning hoping AJ would get into the wrapping paper but he had his own ideas on what was fun. Randy was excited to get the band hero game and controllers...AJ loved to drum sticks. He smacked them together like he was getting the band ready to rock and roll.

We spent the evening with with friends with another huge dinner. We had a blast! Bring on the New Year!

AJ and Santa

So AJ met is first Santa on Saturday. I got one picture before he started to cry and Randy had to help him get away from the scary white-haired man dressed in red. AJ's reward for his trip to the famous lap was a small bag of candy. He latched on to the candy cane. It's amazing how much red-colored drool can be produced with the wrapper still on the candy cane! At least he got some enjoyment from something that was red and white that day. Randy and I got a good laugh both situations. Santa Claus is coming to town... Santa Claus is coming...to town!

Merry Christmas

Just getting in the spirit of the holidays. The tree is lit, the house is warm, and winter is in the air. The new year will be here before we know it.

Welcome Winter

This was my sun rise this morning (8:45 am). We had a good freeze last night. The sheets of ice on the lake were a beautiful sight. After living in sunny SoCal all that I can say is bring on winter...I have missed it.
Most people would say that I am crazy for thinking like that. But I LOVE changes in weather. I appreciate the following season more by having the current one.
Sorry Jeri...you HAVE to have the snow or else how can you water ski in the summer? In San Diego there is 365 days of summer (that means that I had about 1275 days of summer)...it gets old...so bring on the snow.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Randy suggested that AJ be the Sorcerer's Apprentice for Halloween. So I made AJ's Halloween costume about a month ago. Then Randy comes home Thursday night and says, "I have an idea"... when he makes a comment like that you need to brace yourself for what ever follows. Well his idea was that if AJ was the Sorcerer's Apprentice then he needed to be the Sorcerer. Phew! That could be fun...but the night before the Halloween party? Well I spent all day Friday sewing something together. I wanted to buy or make a long-white-flowing beard and some long hair...good thing we didn't or Randy would have cooked at the church. Turned out alright and we had fun.

AJ is 6 months old!!!

It's amazing how fast time flies. I can't believe that AJ is so big. He is eating mostly solid foods, sits up without support, and I am guessing that he will skip crawling and go straight to walking. My freind Amy took some pictures of him for me. She is trying to get into photograpy and if you want to see some of her stuff go to http://www.3inspiringsons.blogspot.com/.

These were some of my favorites-

I can drive stick too

We took a drive out the road the other day. When we stopped for lunch AJ decided it was his turn to drive

Why we don't have a Chihuahua problem...

The rail is the same in both pictures...

Any questions???

Fishing

AJ and I went fishing this weekend with our friend Kent who was leaving to go back to BYU. Randy would have been with us if he hadn't been in Alabama for a class.

As it turns out salmon are a lot smaller than I expected them to be. I suppose it comes from hearing fish stories about the monsters that you catch in Alaska that I presumed that salmon would be huge. I was trying to catch a silver and was unsuccessful. But I did catch a pink...or should I say that I snagged a pink and had to let it go. I enjoyed myself anyway. It's amazing how fast time passes when you are not watching the clock.

We were fishing on the Buskin River. The grass was high and big clouds that blocked out the sun every once in a while. The fresh salmon were jumping up and down the river as those who had made their once in a life-time trek floated out to sea. I hadn't been fishing more than twenty minutes when I snagged my pink. I made sure that my friend took a picture in case that was the only one to find my line. Good thing I did.

As the water level began to rise we decided that we should find another spot to fish so we moved to the mouth of the river. It was beautiful to watch to bodies of water meet each other. The mighty ocean with the waves crashing down devouring the peaceful flowing river current. The contrast was amazing. It was an afternoon well spent.

Now that's something you don't see every day!!!

It was about noon, I was minding my own business, I was taking out the trash when I looked out the sliding glass window toward the lake. Expecting to see the usual ducks, trees, water, and cloudy sky...I had to do a double take. WOW!! NO WAY!!!

Lets just say that our neigbor forgot to set the park brake and the Beamer mosied on down the hill and came to a mucky stop in the lake. The car wasn't freed from it's watery resting place until after two when the tow truck pulled it out.

The Jeep is tall now

I've learned the down side to lifting the Jeep.
The stock 32's look like little wimpy tires.
The 35's Alyssa and I want won't fit on the stock rims
Therefore new rims are required

(J)ust
(E)mpty
(E)very
(P)ocket

Man going broke can be exciting

The fun begins...

TERAFLEX 3" Lift arrived today...
Pics will follow as Alyssa gets them

Day 1...

That's big as me Dad... can I play with it??

Completed the Rear lift installation today. Getting into the front seat is easy. Alyssa needs a step for the back seat

Day 2...

All Done :)

I have to jump to get in now. Kodi is happy she's half tigger. AJ is the only one who still gets in with ease.

Who Are You??

Too cute not to post it

AJ- you don't act like the boy who lives in the mirror...

Kodi- You don't play like the puppy who lives in the mirror...

Got Mud????

Friday night Randy and I decided to head out for the night. We went out to dinner at Henry's and then took a drive out to White Sands Beach. It was still pretty early so Randy suggested that we go check out the view from the top of Pillar Mountain. They recently installed some of those wind energy wind mills up there. Very impressive I must say. The view is spectacular. From the top of Pillar you can see the base, the town, the fishing boats going out to sea, and lots of inlets along the shoreline...you have to see it for yourself!

Well on the way down the mountain we were enticed into the great mud puddles off the main road. We were having fun splashing, slipping and sliding. We got back on the main road when we came upon another path leading to what looked like a lot of fun and we couldn't resist. The brown mucky water called to us like and amusement park. We laughed, splashed and spun the tires causing a fountain of mud. Yet the jeep just stayed right where it was as more mud flew and the tires sunk deeper into the muddy abyss. Laughing I got out of the jeep, kicked off the flip-flops, rolled up the pant legs and tried to push the jeep out of it's hole. When we were sure that the jeep wasn't going anywhere Randy called our friend Kent so they could go and get our truck to pull the jeep out.

AJ and I stayed in the jeep. The forrest is beautiful. The sun was moving lower on the horizon illuminating the tops of the giant pine trees. The moss was wet and lush. I jumped a mile as a bird flew past the window. I didn't think that a bird could scare me like that. Thought it would be a bear or something like that. I was relived when I could hear our truck reving as it made it's way up the road.

Randy hooked the truck to the jeep and started to pull. His balding tread quickly filled with mud and slid into a lovely mud hole. About midnight it was really getting dark so we called it a night. Randy, Kent, AJ and I made the hike back to the house. I was walking down the trail when my feet slid and I landed on my backside. I immediatley started laughing..."nothing like falling on your behind to brighten you day!!!"

We made it back to the house about 1:30 in the morning, got AJ back to sleep by 2 and then by 4 Randy's cell phone started ringing. It was work saying that he needed to come in for a SAR (Search and Rescue) case. Knowing that both of our vehicles were resting peacefully up the mountain the only option was for Randy to take the Harley...which by the way as a battery that is crapping out. Luckily it actually started on the first try. Randy was out of commission for 12 more hours. That left me and Kent to get the vehicles unstuck. Thankfully Tony came to our rescue. He lifted 3 come-alongs from the high school welding shop and so that we were able to get the vehicles out. Kent and Tony are my car heros for our wild-muddy weekend!

Kodi's New Friends

Unfortunately there are no pictures for this :'(
I was playing with Kodi on the dock behind the house.
Alyssa was playing with AJ in the living room (thus we have no pictures)
While Kodi was swimming after her toy, she caught the attention of some critters playing down the shore from us. They decided to come see what she was playing with. She got back out of the water just before they got down to us. Before I could throw the toy again she had jumped into the water... Nose to nose with 4 otters about 4 feet from the dock. When she realized they swim better than she does she decided to try to get them to play on the grass instead. They declined and swam away before Alyssa could get down with the camera. She did get to see the wake they made though.

4th of July

Our Fourth of July weekend started off by a whole bunch of Eagles sailing around the lake. It was so fun watching them swoop, glide and land. It felt rather patriotic having them kick of the the Fourth of July weekend. Randy loaded us up with fireworks, we packed up the camping gear and headed to Roslyn Beach.

AJ didn't seem to mind the loud fireworks. He fell asleep while Randy was lighting them off. Kodi on the other hand took off running terrified. She ran into someone else's tent and woke up their baby. We couldn't say sorry enough.

Typical Randy..."What??? Can't you see I'm playing with things that go BOOM???"

Our Trip

Mom and Randy's cousin Loren took the ride with us from SLC to Bellingham. We had to take Randy---fuming, because he hates site seeing---to take in some of the sites in Portland. The temple was beautiful...What else should you expect? We had fun walking up and down the river.

We were able to visit with Jessica and the girls while we were in Washington. Randy's brother came home after we had gone to bed and left before we got up the next morning. We were happy that we got to see them. Rex and Jessica are expecting a baby about February. Congrats guys!

This is the ferry that we took out of Washington to Juneau. It is called the Columbia. Randy says that the ferrys are like mini cruise ships. I could not complain about our accomidations.

People are allowed to pitch their tents on the deck of the ferry. So that they don't have to rent a state room. I am so happy that we had a WARM room, soft bed and a shower!!!

This is a Canadian lighthouse. I always picture lightouses as having a huge light tower but this is not so -- the errector set tower on the right is the light tower. I suppose a honking huge light is not needed as long as the boats pass safely around the bends in the watery roads.

We had a day to kill in Juneau. So we driving around and stubled accross the entrance to the Mendinhal Glacier. It was a great view and a lot warmer that I thought it would be. The shades of blue and green are awesome.This was the Kennicott. We hopped aboard in Juneau and rode it to Kodiak. I liked this leg the most because the views were prettier when we stopped and we got to see WHALES!!! Well evidence of them anyway. I was always seeing bits and pieces or taking the picture at the wrong time. Cheniga Bay was the best, there were two orcas playing. I caught the tail of one splashing in the water and they were both spouting near the cliffs.
This video is the welcoming committee for Kodiak. We were driving past and the Eagle didn't seem to care that we were there. I have never seen as many bald eagles as I have here in Kodiak.

Howdy from Alaska!!!

Thought I'd let everyone know that we have made it here safely. We are all unpacked and happy to be here. Just have to let Jeri know that I have not forgotten about posting. I promised at least once a week. We are so happy to have a place to call our own again! So I thought that I would start off---catching-up--with pictures of our new home. We are living in town...not at the base. There is no way we would have quite as good a view or the space if we had gone into military housing.

If you ever wondered what people were talking about when they refer to the long days in Alaska...well...this picture of the lake was taken at almost midnight without any type of flash. It is amazing. The lake is Mission Lake and if you can see the snow capped peaks...those are in the ocean. Off to the rigtht, out of the picture is Mission Beach. When I was up here visiting Randy we were scuba diving there. I asked the guys if they had ever heard of whales being in the bay and they said no...the front page of the news paper the next day showed a picture of two Orcas in the very bay that we were diving in. Glad as a diver you don't look like a giant seal or anything.

All around the house there are tree carvings. We have an orca, a bald eagle, two bear cubs, a howling wolf, and some type of an imp. Randy says that it looks like Gismo from Gremlins. Sometimes I think that it looks like Dobby from Harry Potter...or at least a chubby cousin.

From the deck we can see the fishing boats, the ferry, and sea planes. We have ducks, geese, and bald eagles that hang out around the lake. Every once in a while a someone will row out into the lake. Kodi loves taking a swim in the water.

We are living in a tsunami zone so every Wednesday at two o'clock we hear the tsunami alarm test. Every place has its own hazards.

Life is great. When we got off the ferry I asked Randy if he felt like he was coming home and he said that he was. I have felt more at home here than I ever did in San Diego. A.J. and I take walks up and down Spruce Cape or Mission Beach. It is so nice to get out, look at the ocean, the rough pine strewn streets, breath the fresh air and stretch.

HOT!!! HOT!!! HOT!!!

It has been about 100 degrees the last three days. I am not even exaggerating. The sun has been beating down on us. I think California is just reminding me why I am so excited to move to a cooler climate. All of my beautiful flowers have been torched! Good thing we only have another week here in the oven.

AJ has had a rough time sleeping through the heat wave. He's been sweating and sleeping very lightly so he has been kind of unhappy. But Randy found a way to beat the heat for him by taking him swimming in the cool bath tub. He was so happy kicking and splashing. After his time in the pool AJ had a nice nap and his hair got spiked.
"I don't know how to put this but...I am kind of a big deal."

Meet A.J.

For those of you who haven't read everyone else's posts...AJ was born on April 2, he was 21 inches long and weighed in at 8 pounds/15 ounces. He is amazing. Born with a full head of hair and side burns. Giggle Giggle, what baby has burns? He is healthy and happy. We couldn't be happier than being his parents!

AJ is here

Now there is an update to let everyone know. I'll let Alyssa put pictures up after she approves them.

On the Green

Tuesday I spent the afternoon with Randy while he played 18 holes. I have to say that I really enjoyed myself. The afternoon was sunny at about 75 degrees and the canyon breeze was nice and cool.

As I cruised along in the golf cart I got to see Randy having a blast, a coyote run across the green, a doe prance across the green, squirrels playing in the bushes, and ducks swimming in the pond. It was peaceful and quiet. I think everyone needs to spend some time relaxing. It makes you appreciate everything so much more.

As a side note...off-roading in a golf cart is not an effective way to encourage a baby to come into the world faster!