Sum It All Up

It's hard to believe, but we are heading into our last full week in Alaska.  In 11 days, we will be boarding a plane for a LONG flight back to SC.  As I am trying to get my mind prepared to begin packing, I wanted to take some time to "sum up" our trip.  Here are some random thoughts that I have going through my mind...
All 4 children LOVED their first plane ride...they like flying A LOT more than their mother!  During the first couple of weeks here, we enjoyed snowtubing at Elmendorf  Air  Force Base in Anchorage, and we enjoyed a day of  snowmachining with the family.  Chrissie had a great time watching Jeff  ROLL  (instead of ski) down the slopes, while Ben and Reagan looked like pros.  Joshua didn't go that time, but is going this weekend for the first time.  We each  had a good time spending Christmas and welcoming in 2011 in Alaska.  After 2 weeks, Jeff had a safe trip home, went back to work, and we got back to our school work.  Joshua has almost completed the eighth grade here, Ben-6th, and Reagan-3rd...Am I really going to have a high schooler next year???  We have been to a hockey game, seen the Northern Lights, walked on frozen lakes below a glacier, watched the Iditarod, vitited Whittier (and had a lot of fun driving through the one lane tunnel...on train tracks to get there.  The color of the water was beautiful, but the town was CLOSED for the winter.  We have watched a foot of snow  fall and  later,  had a lot of fun riding  South to see the breakup. We've seen moose, bald eagles, magpies, and mountain sheep.  Andrew's favorite was the porcupine at the preserve we visited.  We've enjoyed going and playing at AT&T Sports Center and swimming at the Alaska Club.  One of our favorite memories at AT&T will always be meeting Sarah Palin!  We didn't enjoy the five hour/30 mile tip back from Willow, but we did enjoy seeing Mount McKinnley.  The boys have enjoyed participating in Troop 300...they've gone rock climbing and attended a Merit Badge Weekend.  Reagan has enjoyed going to cheerleading with Ansley...those 2 girls GO from the time they get up until they go to bed at night.  They are really going to miss each other!  Andrew has enjoyed riding his tricycle, which he has learned to peddle since Christmas.  Time for a "big boy" bike when we get home!  We enjoyed eating at Tailgaiters and Piccolinos...didn't like the mexican here (just cannot touch LaHa!).  One big change since we've been here...when we arrived in December, the sun was up from about 10 until 3:30 each day.  Now we have about 12 hours of daylight ...from about 7:30-7.  We've survived many days of 50-70 mph winds,  the flu, negative temps (the lowest being  -11), and a Tsunami warning that we didn't know about until it was almost over.  We're still looking forward to another day trip...not sure where yet, and one more outing with Scouts before we go home.  Alaska has been a great adventure.  I think that it has taught us some things and has drawn our family closer togeher.  I must say  that  if  I ever come back, it will be in the summer, because there is so much more to see and do.  We are excited to be heading back to SC and getting back to "normal", but I know that  Alaska will always hold a special place in my heart!  Please pray that we will all be WELL, and that we have a safe trip home on the 23/24.

We Finally met Sarah Palin!

Everynight, Monday through Friday since we've been in Alaska, we have gone to AT&T Sports Center.  The older kids enjoy their gym class, Andrew enjoys playing in the nursery, and I walk on the track.  The track is upstairs looking down onto the basketball courts, so I can see everything going on below.  When I was walking last night, Ben came running up beside me and said "SHE'S here".  The fact that we go everyday left me asking "WHO"?  He said Sarah Palin.  He walked me over to look down and there she was, watching her daughter's basketball game.  By the time Ben went back down to ask her if we could get a picture with her after the game (we didn't want to keep her from watching her child's game), the game was over and she was gone.  My sister and I went to look for her and found her leaving.  I asked her would she wait while I got the kids and she did.  She was so sweet to wait on me and it really meant a lot to all of us.  On a different note, the boys enjoyed a Merit Badge Lock In this past weekend and earned a couple of badges.  Troop 300 has been wonderful to the boys!  This weekend, we are going to see the Iditarod begin and we are taking the kids skiing.  Today, is March 1...22 days and we will be SC bound!  For those of you wondering...Alaska is a great place, but our family loves South Carolina!  I've had a lot of people want to know if we are moving here.  The answer is no.  As a matter of fact, this summer we will be moving back to Greenwood because our house has not sold.  Don't know what God has planned for us, but I do know that He has everything under control!!  Hoping to do a little more sight seeing over the next few weeks, so stay tuned as we wind down our time in AK.

The REAL life

Well, it's been a while since I've written.  We finally settled into the REAL life of school!  Yes, we brought the kids' school books with us and they are actually having to do it.  I must say, even as the teacher that what we've been doing lately is kind of boring to write about.  The boys went indoor rock climbing with scouts a couple of weeks ago and had fun with that.  We have started seeing a lot of cars and trucks with sleds on them training for the Iditarod. We are very excited about seeing that on March 5.  To be honest, if you ever want to travel to Alaska, the winter is not the time to do it.  There's really not a lot going on  up here right now.  I must say, though, that the snow-capped mountains with the pink sunset on them were beautiful last night!  We ARE hoping to fit in a ferry ride before coming home and would like to make a trip to Fairbanks, but we'll see.  We are making plans to come home on March 23.  It's about 3 weeks earlier than we had planned, but the boys have decided that they don't want to miss their annual Cooper River Bridge Run, which is on April 2.  So, when we get home...Charleston, here we come!  I do want to share something with you that really touched my heart and made me think.  Yesterday morning, we went to Church On The Rock, the church we've been attending since we've been here.  As we turned onto the road that the church is on, I noticed 2 hitchhikers.  What made them stand out to me was that one of the men was sitting down with a cane in his hand.  We went through the entire church service and at the end as everyone was going up to take communion, I looked over and there the two men were!  They were sitting with a member of the church.  Obviously, she saw them and invited them to church.  I couldn't help but think to myself "WOW!  How many people would do that?  Would I have stopped and picked up a complete stranger in my hometown?  Probably not!  As I've said before, people hitchhike here all of the time.  A lot of times people come here for an adventure and that's how they get around...the generosity of others.  It's not foreign to the ones who live here to see these people.  I've seen it almost everyday since I've been here...we even picked "Bear" up that time and give him a ride, but it is a scary thing to do.  That just impressed me and made me think about how often we refuse to step out of our comfort zone to help others and show them the love of Christ.  Something that I think ALL of us should consider.  I would love to hear your thoughts.  Better get school started!

It's SNOWING...finally

This morning we finally woke up to snow.  I guess that it has snowed about 3 inches so far and we are supposed to get more over the next few days.  This weekend will mark a month that we've been here and this is the first real snowfall that we've seen.  The other snow we saw was beautiful, but it only lasted about 30 minutes.  We are going to try and take advantage of it this weekend and take the kids snowskiing.  I'm going to just watch for 2 reasons...1)  I don't want to break anything and 2)  I certainly do not want to look as foolish as my husband did coming down the hill!  HAHA!!  Joshua did not want to go last time and he regreted it, so he is going to try it this time.  On a different note...I was driving home from Anchorage by myself the other day.  The car was quiet and I was literally surrounded by the mountains.  It is just a beauty that you could never explain and one that pictures could never do justice to.  As cars flew by me, I was reminded of how we take for granted the beauty that God has blessed us with in His creation.  I also became fully aware of WHY people love Alaska so much.  One thing that we've noticed since being here is that the people are a lot more laid back.  As a whole, they don't seem to care what you drive or wear and we have found everyone to be extremely friendly.  The people of AK like to "play"and enjoy the outdoors...all you have to do is look around at all of the trucks pulling snowmachines.  I do miss SC, though!  I also miss Jeff and been very much reminded that he is my best friend...has been since we were 17 years old.  Moving on...  today is Ansley's 8th birthday, so we will be celebrating with her today.  I think that they are going snow tubing again for her party.  The kids loved snowtubing!  Well, gotta go play in the snow.  Hope that everyone is doing well at home.

WIND....

Not much to talk about here in Alaska this week.  We are in our third day of WIND...75 mile wind gusts to be exact.  It is terrible when it's windy here in "the valley".  Wasilla is a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains.  When the wind gets caught up in those mountains, however, it is terrible.  Joshua and I went to Wal Mart last night.  We could feel the car rocking all the way there and back.  It was even scary at times!   At Wal Mart, buggies were rolling everywhere and people were chasing their goods as they were blown all over the parking lot...not fun!  The boys DID have a good time at Scouts on Monday.  They are looking forward to starting on a "climbing" patch this month and going indoor rock climbing with the troop.  The leaders were very welcoming to us.  Reagan is going to do a cheer and tumble class with Ansley while she's here...they were excited when they got home...tumbling everywhere and yelling to the top of their lungs.  Anyone who knows Reagan, knows that she is...well...LOUD!  They are all at the Alaska Club right now swimming...indoors, of course.  I stayed here to put Andrew to bed.  We are all missing Jeff, but looking forward to the wind going away so that we can do somemore sight seeing.  Hoping the kids can go snow skiing again on Sunday.  Hating that Jeff will miss it this time.  I know how much he loved it...NOT!  Still no snowfall, but glad that our friends and family in SC were able to see some.  The pictures looked very pretty.  Until I write again, take care!

Ben's Birthday

Yesterday (7th), Ben celebrated his 12th birthday.  Last Wednesday, everyone went to Chuck E Cheese before we took Jeff to the airport.  Jeff wanted to do something special with all of the kids before he went home.  Because of that, we didn't do anything special last night for Ben.  This morning we got up and took all of the kids snowdog sledding.  They thought that was cool, because it is something that not many people can say they have ever done before.  It was COLD today...still no snowfall.  We also watched people ice fish on the lake for a few minutes.  After that, I took the kids to see Yogi Bear.  That was a really cute movie.  We all enjoyed it!  Ben has been wanting to go to Outback for a long time, so that's how we ended the day.  I cannot believe that we have had him for 12 years.  We love him very much and are proud that he is our son.  The boys will be attending Scouts for the first time on Monday night.  Other than that and school, there's not a lot scheduled for next week.  Things will be slowing down some and will pick back up in a few weeks.  Hope that everyone enjoys the BIG SNOW coming to SC!!

Sunday Jan. 2, 2011

We had a good first Sunday of the New Year.  We went to church at "Church on the Rock" this morning.  The people were friendly, the sermon was good, and all of the kids enjoyed it, so that will be where we attend while we are in AK.  After church, we went to lunch at a very good Italian restaurant.  THEN, came the important stuff (haha)...we went looking for the Palin house...and we found it!  Jeff took some pics. and when we ran out of batteries on the camera, we went to buy some more.  As we were turning back onto her road, we saw Todd Palin turning down the drive in front of us.  We barely missed seeing him.  They live down a long drive with a gate, so we didn't have an opportunity to see anyone else.  I know that the kids and I will see them at the Iron Dog and Iditerod, but I was hoping that Jeff would be able to meet them.  Oh well, it was still fun.  After that, we road into Anchorage and spent a couple of hours snow tubing at the Air Force Base.  It was a lot of fun...even with the FOX standing above us watching.  Andrew LOVED it, too.  He is such a little daredevil.  We started out sledding with him, but that hill was beside some woods.  He didn't like that, because he said "The bears will hear me, they will stop sleeping, and they will come out of the woods".  Something to think about!  When we got home, my mom had made a moose roast.  It was good.  All of the kids liked it, but Andrew LOVED it.  He has enjoyed everything we've done and has been soooo good.   They all love it here, but I know that it hasn't been nearly as cold as it could be.  It's worked out good for us, because we've been able to do a lot without freezing or having trouble getting places.  I just have to wonder, is this the calm before the storm??  Guess we'll see.  I'm not looking forward to Jeff leaving today, but I know that the kids are going to continue to get experiences that they could never get at home.  We are looking forward to Scouts starting next Monday night.  I hope that they meet many new friends and have a lot of fun.  Everyone help take care of Jeff when he gets back to SC!  Have a great Monday.