December Doings

As can be expected, December was full and busy...but I loved it. I wondered to myself many times how larger families fit everything into December. We had so much going on with just two children. How would we do it with 3 or even more? We had recitals and parties and preschool and more. Robert, my bah humbug husband, swears he hates this time of year for this very reason, but I know he secretly loves it as much as I do. Here are some pix of a few of our gatherings.



We were invited to a gingerbread house decorating party. Hannah informed me on the way there that we would probably be making "real" gingerbread houses and not the graham cracker ones I made last year! I smugly took this picture.



I can't do a Christmas without making "real" gingerbread men. I had pre-school this month and did a gingerbread theme. We had a blast comparing different gingerbread stories, making and decorating gingerbread cookies, going on a gingerbread hunt and making gingerbread ornaments.



The second graders at Hannah's school put on a wonderful Christmas play (yes you heard me right..a Christmas play in public school..oh my!) It was so good. Hannah was cast as Comet and gave a stellar performance. This is a picture of her with her teacher the night of the performance. Sadly, her teacher is leaving for a job with the school district and Hannah will have a new teacher in January.




The girls had two Sunshine concerts this month. They both did great. Winnie wowed the audience with her very loud performance of "Peppermint Ears". Sooo cute.






Rudolph and friend visited Hannah's school for a winter bazaar. I think I was more excited then the girls to pet the reindeer.








We took Hannah out of school one day to go with the DeKay family to cut a Chirstmas tree. It was so festive. I felt like we were strait out of some Hallmark movie. Our family ended up felling a 3o foot tree of which we took the middle 12 feet to put in our living room. It looked so happy there. Now it is dead and waiting to be removed.

Another happening of note was Hannah's violing recital---she gave a wonderful performace of Minuet 3 and Up on the rooftop. She is so awesome.

Twilight Premiere

I have yet to see Twilight...no I was not in -line at midnight last night. I will have to wait until tomorrow evening to go and see it. But, I have it on good authority that is an excellent movie!
My Brother and his family all live in Phoenix and were invited to the friends and family premiere. It was a black tie event as you can see. Here is a picture of my brother and his family with Stefani Meyer and her husband, Pancho. In case you are wondering how they were invited to such a top-secret special showing--- well they were in the same ward with the Meyers for several years. Wow. I can't wait. They said it was awesome.



Aren't they a gorgeous family?



Yes Laura--I am jealous!

Hey Everyone...I'm a Gourmet!

I belong to a gourmet cooking group, led by my very talented mother-in-law. We make the coolest things. We meet up at Beverly's house the 2nd Thursday of each month for some great instruction and food. This month we focused on appetizers for holiday parties.




Chicken Felafel with Tabbouli Cones and
Prosciuto with Melon



Beef Rolls


Seared Tuna with Lime Leaf and Peanuts



Herbed Cheese with Pears Pine nuts and Honey




Fresh Summer Rolls with Shrimp

What Time Is It?

Hi Everyone! I took this picture yesterday of a beautiful Alaskan sunset. The question is can you guess what time it is? Give it a shot!

Happy Halloween

Becca and Shawn stopped by to trick-or-treat. They looked so awesome. They were our oldest trick-or-treaters by far.


I took the girls Trick-or-Treating last night and it was 17 degrees out! Don't they look cute in their snow suits--I mean costumes! If you look really hard you can see Winnie's vampire cape and Hannah's cat ears!

When we discovered a few weeks ago that school was out on Halloween we decided to throw a Halloween party for 19 of our closest friends! (Yes you read correctly 19 children!) We decided to have a morning party which included a lunch before the sugar high began. We played lots of games and had a spooky lunch of Witches's Blood and Bones, fingers, eyeballs and mummies--and veggies and fruit of course.

Boys and Their Toys

I have to post this picture from a few months ago. If you have ever wondered what Robert likes to do in his free time the answer is--dig in the dirt! His dad has a backhoe and a loader on his property and chances are that you will find Robert in one or the other at any given time while we are there. He is just like a little boy with big toys to play with.

Happy Birthday Winnie

My baby is now four! Winnie is such a precious part of our lives. She brings so much to our family. She has the most energy out of all of us and I will never know what will come out of her mouth next--a burp or a giggle!

For her birthday we gave her the doll house I had when I was a little girl. I set it all up while she was sleeping the night before. When she came upstairs on her birthday she said "Oh momma where did you get that? I have always wanted one of those!" Let me add that she has never mentioned wanting a doll house before! That's just how she is. Everything is always what she has always wanted. So special.

We decided to have a small family party for her--ha! We ended up with 25 guests! Mostly family. Winnie wanted a doll cake and I managed to pull one together even though it meant ripping Barbie's legs off! (She's all back together now:) Actually it ended up very cute and wasn't terribly hard to create. We also set up the chocolate fountain which is always a hit--mmmmmm.

Winnie I love you! I look forward to another wonderful year with you.

October Favorites

Here it is another month of favorites. Where to begin....


1.) Winnie's Birthday--October 27th. She is such a cute girl. October just wouldn't be the same without Winnie's Birthday. She is in such a cute stage right now. I loved age 3 and age four is looking so bright. She says the cutest things and is so complimentary. Today she came up to me and said "mommy your hair is so cute today!" I wish I could freeze time right now and keep her here forever.

2.) Anything pumpkin. I love pumpkin. I look forward to this time of year because I love pumpkin cookies, pie, ice cream, soup, bread. You name it and I love it. I miss Louisville so much because I am craving Greater's pumpkin ice cream or better yet a pumpkin pie blizzard from DQ. Recipes anyone?

3.) General Conference. Another absolute favorite. Twice a year I am treated to food for the soul. I am always so inspired and uplifted that weekend. I love our Prophet, President Monson. Every time I see him I am moved and encouraged to be better. What a genuine, inspiring man. I must also add that I love watching conference on the big screen in my pj's at Robert's parents home! Thanks DeKays!

4.) Along the same lines as number 3 ---the primary program. Call it my 8 years serving in primary or my emotional heritage, but I am moved to tears every year! Yes, Robert and I are primary teachers---again. We do love it though-- hey as long as I am not the president I am happy! I love watching my girls singing and feeling the spirit. My favorite part is watching them fake like they don't have their parts memorized so they came get the leader to whisper in their ears--geez. Well at least I know we practiced.

5.)Snow! Yes October means snow in Alaska--and hey that's OK. It snowed on October 3rd this year. There is always something magical about the first snow of the year even if it does come way too early. I love the white fluffy stuff falling. It is so pleasant.

6.) Our wood stove. Our new house has a great wood stove which we use to heat our house. (No not all houses are heated by wood stoves in Alaska:) I love ours though. I am so warm! It get the house so toasty warm. The only drawback is that now I freeze everywhere I go because our house is usually between 70-75 during the day. My parents keep there house at 65 and I have to wear my coat there! We have had fun collecting wood for it. People call up when they have a tree come down or if they want to get rid of their wood. Robert has developed a wood obsession--always after more wood. He is quite the stud at chopping wood. I could sit and watch him for hours.

Sleeping Beauties

This is a picture of my two sweethearts doing what they love best. Winnie in fact climbed up on Robert after he went to sleep. He didn't even notice! How can men do this?

Thunderbird Falls

We enjoyed our fall this year---it lasted almost the whole month of September! The leaves were absolutely gorgeous. It was just breathtaking to look out our front windows. One of the things we did to take advantage of the beauty was hiking. One FHE we hiked up to Thunderbird Falls. It was a great little hike. I must say that Hannah and Winnie were a little disappointed by the falls. They were a little small in comparison to some ones we have seen in the past. They had a great time anyways.

September Favorites

My friend/cousin of sorts posts a list of her "favorites" each month. I have really enjoyed reading these posts so I have decided to implement/borrow her idea for my blog. I hope you enjoy!

1.) Our New House. We are so excited to have bought our very first home this month. We love it so much. It is hard to find the perfect house, but this one is close. My favorite parts include my walk-in closet, big front windows, spacious kitchen and prime location in a cul-de-sac. I am certain different aspects of the house will be future "favorites". I am so happy an pleased to be living in my own home that I love.

2.) Premiere of "The Office". OK I became seriously hooked on this witty, hilarious show this spring. I had avoided watching it because I thought it would be ridiculously dumb. I am not into stupid humor. The Office is awesome! Robert started having"Office" meetings at school over his lunch hour this spring. It would drive me crazy because I couldn't get a hold of him. When he answered the phone he would talk in hushed tones and I would hear bursts of laughter in the background. Yes. The entirety of the ortho residents were watching "The Office"! Well to make a long story short Robert forced me to watch a couple of season 4 episodes and I was hooked. Thank goodness my friend Ashley owned the first three seasons. I watched them all in about a month. Needless to say we eagerly awaited the premiere this month and were not disappointed.

3.) Time Out for Women in Anchorage. I love this respite from my daily cares. This is my third time attending and I was not disappointed. My first time was in Nashville with my mom, aunt, and sister-in-law. The second in Phoenix with mom and sister-in-law. This time we were so glad that Time Out actually came to Alaska! I went with my mom. It was awesome as usual. We got to hear from Hilary Weeks, Sheri Dew, Emily Watts, Merilee Boyack, S. Michael Wilcox, Ardeth Kapp and several others. I came away feeling inspired and rested. Thank you Desseret Book!

4.) Fall! I somehow convinced myself while I lived in Kentucky that Alaska didn't have a wonderful fall. Well I was proved wrong. September brought a gorgeous fall here in the great state of Alaska. I was amazed by the smell and beauty of it. Yes that's right...I love the smell of fall! It may be short and it may be chilly, but it is wonderful!

5.) Sarah Palin. I must say that I am awfully proud to have our Governor become the republican Vice Presidential nominee. We have all thought Sarah was awesome all along and now she is proving just how awesome she is. I must include that I happen to think that John McCain is pretty awesome as well.

I am having a hard time limiting my favorites. Look for more in the future and enjoy.

Pickle Post

I am constantly amazed by the things the my children say to me. I got a big kick the other day when Hannah came up to me and said, "Mom, I am in a real pickle!" She was amazed that I knew what that expression meant. She was just trying it out because she had learned it that day in school. Even days later I can't keep from smiling when I think about it!

Home Sweet Home

Our new home!



Winnie standing in the circle.



I can't believe it! Robert and I are buying our first home. It is just perfect for us---big garage for him, walk-in closet for me! After six weeks of looking, someone came into Roberts office who was getting ready to put their house on the market. We went and looked that night--and knew immediately that it was the house for us!

It may not be Huber's but.....

Last weekend we decided to get out of the house. We ended up taking a trip to Girdwood to a wild strawberry patch Robert discovered years ago while working for the Alaska Railroad. These are absolutely the sweetest strawberries ever! The only problem is that they are very small. We ate a ton and had a fabulous time.




The DeKays in a patch of Fireweed.

Nana's Bathtub

One of the great things about living at nana and papa's house is their great big bathtub! The girls love taking huge bubble baths --and I mean huge! I couldn't resist joining them one evening. Those bubbles looked so inviting.


Hannah gets lost in the bubbles! She is our jet's lady--she loves making bubbles.



Winnie and I chill'n in the tub. We had a hard time taking the picture because Winnie kept getting lost in the bubbles!

Pandora

My husband introduced me to this site a while a go and I love it! It is a site that plays music that you love. You just enter a song or artist that you like and then the station creates a playlist for you based on the style of music. It is the greatest. You just have to try it out and let me know what you think! www.pandora.com

Big Fish.....Little FIsherwoman

Winnifred redeemed herself this week by "helping" grandpa catch a really big red salmon. My parents took the girls down to their property on the Kenai river for a couple of days of fishing and playing. I got some rest and the girls had a blast.

Alaska Botanical Garden

My brother, Mitch, and his family came to Alaska for my dad's 60th birthday celebration. While they were here we enjoyed seeing some sites. One of the places we went was the Alaska Botanical Garden. It is very near my parent's house and really nice. It is so interesting to see what kinds of flowers grow well here. I will be spending some time there planning my own garden.
This is Rebekah, mom and I.
Me and my girls.

Big fisherwoman......little fish

The first thing Hannah wanted to do when we got to Alaska was go fishing. So grandpa immediately took her. Sadly she did not catch a fish on that trip, but guess who did!? Winnie caught her very first fish! Yes fish are usually a bit bigger in Alaska.

Bear

Yes. We truly are in Alaska. Believe it or not these photos were taken today outside our front door! We are staying at Robert's parent's house which is rather high up on a mountain, so they do have the occasional bear visit. This is the closest I have ever been to a brown bear though. He was not afraid of us at all and didn't even flinch at the dog barking wildly at him. Winnie kept telling me "he is a nice bear". I told her "No he is not a nice bear, bears like to eat little girls". The last thing I need is for her to go out and try to pet the "nice bear"!