Enjoying the season of winter

As the months have passed, it has gotten nice and cold and winter has settled in. I'm taking in the sun as much as I can for as short of a time as it is out. However, along with winter come all the wonderful activities outside that are right out our back door.

Iceskating has become the popular activity for us this year. I'm amazed at how fast my children are all getting and how hard I have to work to keep up! It is such an awesome feeling to be out on the ice, that in less than 5 months will be a body of water. This year we have had the opportunity to skate on the lake, and out further than last year. As great of a feeling it is to be out on the ice, I can't help but wonder if I would find that one crack that just didn't freeze up all the way. But knowing that is foolishness, we tread on and head out into the vast open ice to enjoy the beauty and fun of skating.

The kids skating on the bay.

Skating on the lake, with a great sunset backdrop.

This was a time when I got to skate across the lake, a long trek.

Last spring Carlon bought the kids and I a pair of cross country skis, so we were very anxious to get snow this winter and break them in. We have had ample opportunity to use them this year and it has been so much fun. The other day, I was able to ski to pick the kids up from school, and ski home with them. It took us a lot longer, due to the tempting hills to play on and ski down, but was completely worth it.

Skiing home from school.

Having fun on skis.

As cold, dark and hard as winter can be, I feel so privileged to be in a place where so much awaits for me to do. All I have to do is take that first step out the door and I can have a variety of adventures. I feel truly blessed.

The Big Hike

This summer I had an awesome opportunity to go on what is nicknamed, "The Death March". It's a 2 day hiking adventure covering 40+ miles, no trail, no tent, light backpack(not even deodorant..."it weighs too much") and lots of determination! It is led by a man who knows this area like the back of his hand and we are his little ducklings who rely on his navigation to get to our destination.

We left early in the morning, loaded up on a float plane, and headed out to be dropped off in, what felt like, the middle of nowhere. The plane ride took longer than expected due to cloudy weather and because of the weather we had to quickly change plans and get dropped off at a different location than the original plan. Once we landed, we ended up waiting the weather out until after noon before heading out. Thankfully there was a tiny little cabin we could take shelter in until the rain let up. Then, we headed out. Our new plan was very close to the original plan but we ended up cutting off a lot of the miles due to our new drop off location.

It was a great hike. The first day was pretty gray and cloudy, but it didn't hinder us one bit. We trekked along until around 8 pm. After quickly changing into dry socks, I set up my sleeping bag and bivy sack(wind, rain, bug protector that slips right over the sleeping bag) and hoped for some much needed rest. It didn't come, but I was thankful not to get eaten by mosquitoes or bears!

The second day we got up and headed out around 5 am. It was a cold and rainy morning. Not the best start after having had no sleep. After hiking for about 4 hours, we had to stop due to weather. We were completely fogged in. Our leader couldn't gather his bearings because the landscape was covered. So, we sat for what seemed like hours (40 minutes or so), and waited for the fog to lift. It was VERY cold, we changed out of wet socks, and even pulled out sleeping bags as we waited. We finally headed out even though the fog was still there. After hiking for awhile my toes were finally starting to thaw out and even the fog began to lift a little. I distinctly remember praying and asking the Lord to bring the sun. Literally moments later, we saw a huge peak before us, with the lower portions enveloped in fog and the sun illuminating the top. It was a pretty surreal moment!

As the day progressed we had the opportunity to trek over any and every kind of terrain. We hiked on tundra, rocks, gravel, dirt, mossy marshy stuff, mountainous ground, high and low, through creeks, over snow, through trees, over brush and the list goes on! We saw a fox, several ptarmigan, and even a bear and her 2 little cubs! The weather continued to cooperate and what was once a gloomy morning turned into an absolutely gorgeous afternoon!

We finally made it to our final destination at about 5pm. The sun had come out in full force and we were soaking it in! Despite our fatigue, we looked back at what we had just accomplished and felt it was well worth it. Our final destination was called Twin Lakes, and it took my breath away!

So, into the plane we climbed, sweaty, smelly and exhausted to head home. Upon arriving I was instructed to take a bath and then was treated to a steak dinner complete with fresh rhubarb pie. Life doesn't get any better than this!!

View The Hike in a larger map

The start of the hike, Snipe Lake.

Heading out in the rain.

Me and my girlfriends...we were "the young ones".

The rest of the group.

Takin' a rest.

A nice view.

A nice way to end day 1.

This is where we slept. Getting ready to start day 2.

The fog.

Seeing the hope...that beautiful peak.

Looking down at the Kijik river in the great valley.

Another view of the river.

A good rest stop.

Our first glimpse of the final destination.

There are bears somewhere in this picture...can you find them?

Should we really go down this way??

Yes, I think so.

Walking on the snow toward Twin Lakes!

Beautiful Twin Lakes.

Getting ready to head home!

Jalapeno Bagels

It is summer and although school is out, we continue to work on some of the things the kids have learned so that all is not lost. In the mornings, we often have a time set aside, where the kids read or work on some math or write. It's a nice way to keep the boredom syndrome from hitting our household.

Malea was reading a story from her book entitled, Jalapeno Bagels. It's a cute little story about a little boy whose parents own a bakery and he is asked to bring something to school for International Day. He struggles trying to find the perfect thing, since his mom is Mexican and dad is Jewish. So, he settles on Jalapeno Bagels, so that it can represent all of who he is.

After reading the story, which also had recipes at the end, Malea was determined to try to make them! So, after looking over the recipe and deciding whether or not this was even possible with my limited cooking abilities, we decided to give it a try. So, the kids and I worked together and made the bagels. It was so much fun and the kids were a big help! After they were done we enjoyed them with LOTS of cream cheese (to help with the hot spice!). They were very good, but we decided that next time we would leave the jalapenos out!

James the Cat

Although there are five members of this family, we often think of it as six. We have a big, fat, orange cat that is our sixth member. He is a lazy, old, cat, that constantly hacks up hair balls, leaves his fur anywhere he lays (which is EVERYWHERE), and occasionally scratches on the furniture. Despite that, he receives more love than a cat should really get! He purrs continuously and will become your best friend if you just pet him once. He is laid back and puts up with all the chaos and craziness that is often in this house. We often find him snuggled up to his boy in bed at night or sleeping with the girls (if he can get through the mess) in their room. He's withstood all three of our kids' toddler years, moving from house to house, flying in an airplane to AK, going from being an outdoor cat to an indoor cat (course, that was a pretty easy adjustment for him, I think) and dealing with other previous pets. He's quite the cat.

People ask to see him, because they don't believe his size, and immediately they are in shock as to how big he really is. But, then he jumps up on their lap and starts purring and they are hooked, loving the cat right back.What's amazing to watch is the love my children have for him. They all adore him, and he loves them right back. We never have to ask more than once for someone to feed him or give him water, they are all anxious to take care of him. My son can't hardly fall asleep without the cat in his bed at night. The girls love on him(sometimes a little too much), dress him up, sing to him and play with him regularly. I recently found my youngest daughter snuggled up to him. She was using him for a pillow. He didn't mind one bit. In fact, I think he loved it! He leaned in to her and just purred away. So sweet.

Now, I am not a cat person. Never have been. I'm more of a dog person. However, I do believe James has softened me to cats and how loving they really are. Although, I don't love cats, I do love James. I often don't admit it,(otherwise I might get stuck changing the litter box) but, he really is a part of our family. Amazing how pets can do that.

So we will continue to vacuum the shed fur, buy large amounts of cat food (did I mention, he's a big cat?), put up with meowing in the middle of the night, and love on him and care for him. After all, he's family, and that's what family is for.

Just a Good Day!

The sun was shining, it was gorgeous out and we took advantage. We had a fun filled day in the sun, hanging out with friends, playing and just relaxing. Later that afternoon, Carlon took the girls for a ride in the airplane. It was the first time this year. The girls said they saw dozens and dozens of swans. It was a nice little "get away" for them. Meanwhile, Coleson and I took a walk on the beach, where we discussed deep meaningful things, like, which is more fun, hiking or biking, or things like how dirt and dust are two different things (according to Coleson). We watched the seagulls dive for food and enjoyed talking and walking together enjoying the beauty around us. As we were walking, we got to watch the girls and Papa fly by us and land. We finished the night off with some yummy pizza and cuddling! I'd say, all in all it was a good day, no, make that a GREAT day!!

A Poem

PTA
By Coleson's 2nd Grade group

PTA is fine
There are lots of pine.
We see mountains high
and we have a beautiful sky.
You can only come by plane,
we are like a tropical island, how insane.
It is cold all year long,
But in Alaska that's not wrong.

Date Night

Carlon and I have tried to set aside one day of the week as our "date night". This usually happens on Wed. nights, while the kids are at AWANA. So, we have a whole hour and a half to ourselves. Since we have no movie theaters, or restaurants, or malls to shop, or any sort of date-type place to go, we have to be creative. Sometimes being creative means sitting on the couch and playing the wii together, or eating dinner separately from the kids.This last week we sent the kids out the door and decided to go for a hike for our date. It was the first time Carlon had gotten the chance to hike to the falls this winter. Although the trail was quite snowpacked and uneven, we eventually made it. It was, of course, beautiful and breath taking to see the falls. We quickly came down the trail (slid down in some areas), just in time to pick the kids up from church. It was a fun filled evening for all! The worst part was trying to keep up with the kids that night, they had much energy and we had none.