And You Think Your Cold!

For those of you that can't read it the sign says -62. It's been an extremely cold winter for us here in Alaska. They say it's supposed to break soon, which here's hoping, but we are still in it for the long run. Winter doesn't normally break into spring until around mid May. However the upside is what Alaska is known for, Land of the Midnight Sun. 24 hours of sunlight for 4 months. So for those of us stuck in our houses until we absolutely have to go out into the frigid cold, we make the best of it and come up with games and activities to keep the kids busy. At least until it's -10, then we don our winter gear and play outside for half an hour or until they complain of being cold, we come in play some more games in front of the fire and sip our hot cocoa. It makes for some wonderful memories, though sometimes I feel like climbing the walls. It's been an amazing experience for our family. I don't think that I could ask for anything better. (OK so maybe a little warmer weather would be nice) LOL!!

Trip to Santa's House!

When we woke up this morning we told the girls that we were going to see Santa Claus and that they would get there picture taken with him. Of course the two eldest were excited. So here are the pictures of our long awaited trip to see Santa. We waited in line for about an hour..... we were going to let the kids play at the ice park, but when we stepped outside it was -20. So the plan is that tomorrow we are going to the ICE park because it's supposed to be positive degrees. They make slides and sculptures out of ice. We didn't get a chance to go last year so I figured we would do it as a family this year. Well here are the pictures of Santa and the girls. Stay tuned for the pictures from the ice park.

Diaper "Cake"

My old neighbor from base is having a baby shower on the 29 of November. I wanted to do something different instead of the regular baby shower gift. So I did some research on the internet and found diaper cakes are the new big thing. When I looked to see how much it would cost to buy one I was blown away at the prices that they charge, so me being me, I decided to make one and I was surprised to find that I could make one at half the price they sale for. It wasn't to difficult and I thought it turned out pretty cute. It consists of rolling diapers and wrapping them with a rubberband. Then you layer them like a cake. You can cover them with blankets, towels, birpcloths, or just wrap with ribbon. Then you "decorate" the cake with anything baby. (passies, toys, hairclips) I thought mine turned out pretty cute and thought I would share the photos. If anyone wants directions on how to make one just let me know and I can tell you how.

Front of the "cake"

Back of the "cake"

Right side of the "cake"

Left side of the "cake"

Halloween

I can't believe the time has come that the holidays are right around the corner. The girls had a blast trick-or-treating. Here are some pictures before we went out. Liberty was a princess (no suprises there what 4 year old girl doesn't want to be a princess), Lily was a Pumpkin Fairy (and a very cute one at that), and Cheyenne was a little lamb (the expressions on her face are priceless).

Time Flies

Wow! I woke up this morning and what did I find? SNOW!!! We had a few inches of snow fall last night. I can't believe that it is already winter. The girls were excited to play in what little snow we had while I chopped wood and stacked it. We didn't stay out to long because the temps were way to cold to be out for too long. We didn't hit 40 degrees today and night lows tonight are supposed to be around 25 degrees. We will definately have snow sticking around by Halloween. I have been really bad about updating my blog lately, but I hope that I will be better at sitting down and sharing some news. We got the girl's pictures taken and I thought that they turned out pretty darn cute. I can't believe how big they have gotten and that Cheyenne will be 8 months old in a week. How time does fly.













Liberty celebrated her 4th birthday on the 6th of Sept. She was sooo excited. She asked for a Ladybug cake, so I did my best to satisfy her wants. Here are some pictures of her birthday cake.











We went to Achorage for a road trip to drop my really great friend off at the airport so that she could go home and enjoy her family for two weeks. We went to the zoo and they had what they called "The Imaginarium". It is an area where preschoolers and toddlers can go to learn science. It was a lot of fun and the girls had a blast.





And last but not least....... We bought a Berniese Mountain Dog. My mom called me crazy, but he has turned out to be one of the BEST dogs that we have had. Extremely smart for a puppy he is very mellow, and a little bit lazy. Phillip decided to name him "Ruger". He will get to be about 130 pounds, but they were bred in Switzerland to pull carts up the mountains, herd the sheep to and from eating grounds either by themselves or with a small child from the family, and to be a guard dog for the family farm. The girls absolutely LOVE him and he isn't rowdy around them, so I think it will be a perfect match for our family. Here is a picture of the newest member of our family he is 11 weeks old and already 40 lbs.

Cheyenne

I posted a few pictures of the older girls, but Cheyenne doesn't really like to have her picture taken. Today she decided to coporate with me for at least one good shot. So here is the most recent picture of the baby.

Outside Play

The girls really haven't been able to play outside this summer because of our rainy weather. So it decided to let the sun come out from behind the rain clouds so I decided to let the girls play in the backyard. While the girls were playing I decided to snap a few pictures.