Signs of Fall

The air is crisp and smells wonderful! I am surrounded by mostly yellow trees and red bushes, my garden is almost completely harvested and my yard needs raking. All things considered, I do believe it's FALL!

I have adjusted rather well to a house that sits at 65 degrees all day. If it's too cold in the morning I just bake some more zucchini bread. It warms the body and the senses. However, that being said, I finally broke down and had a fire. So cozy and inviting!

Every morning Elizabeth runs across the street to the neighbors to hitch a ride to school. As she's running down the path Henry yells "Bye Elizabeth!" She yells back "Best friends, right?!" Henry responds "yes, I Love you!" And she yells back again that she loves him. It's wonderful!

Leaf piles

Fall isn't complete without them

Some people complain because Alaska doesn't have the "fall" colors that other states boast. And while that may be true I believe that we do get the brilliant reds and oranges and yellows on the ground, not in the trees. So watch your step or you'll miss AK's beautiful fall colors.

Another sign of fall around here, our dear pet Squeaky the Squirrel, who lives in this tree, spent the summer and into fall collecting food from us, food from the trash, and an assortment of yard variety mushrooms. He's been fun to watch, and I do love his abode.

I LOVE Fall in AK!

Grandparents!!!

So here are some pics from our surprise weekend. It was awesome! Elizabeth cried when I told her it was time for Grandpa and Annie to go. Remedy: "tomorrow is school." No more tears only cheers! Instead of being sad about them leaving she said to me, "It's okay, they had to go back to their mission." She is so proud of her Grandparents being missionaries. We Love you and Miss you two already!

On Friday we played hookie, well Elizabeth did. I had to FORCE her to stay home. She was really upset about missing school and perhaps I should have let her go, however, we only had two days with Grandpa and Granny Annie so I made her sacrifice a little.

Beginning to prefer the back side of the camera. Was NOT excited about getting his picture taken.

Showing off for the grandparents. I am sure she loves wearing headbands!

Mostly we talked, played games and enjoyed family time. Really I should have more pictures of the entire weekend, however, I'm really good at forgetting my camera. Most of these pictures are candid snaps from our family photographer: Henry.

Surprise Visit!!

We had such a fun weekend! My Brother and his wife were sealed to their baby girl and my Mom and Dad received special permission to be here. The kids were sooooo excited!

Lovable, Huggable, squeezable kids!

Almost 5 months old! I can not help but smile! She has so much joy to give, what a blessing she is to our family.

This one just got his tonsils out on Wednesday. The Doctor and Anesthesiologist called them "impressive." His adenoids were almost completely blocking the back of his nasal cavity and his tonsils were "kissing," a technical term.
The recommended recovery says for the first day, Liquids. What did Henry want everything! He got popsicles but was really ready to eat. He's been hungry every five minutes since he got his tonsils out. I am pretty sure they were hindering his ability to swallow. He usually doesn't eat very much at all... not anymore, I can't seem to feed him fast enough.
They call in a few prescriptions for you before hand, some Tylenol with codeine and antibiotics. First of all Tylenol and codeine don't do anything to him, he's a little too used to the hard stuff! And secondly it burns his throat so he always says, "Mom my throat hurts I need some medicine, the pink one." (Pink one being antibiotics) What a crazy life he leads!
We have success! We had his tonsils removed because he was having issues snoring and not breathing at night. Wednesday night he slept with out snoring but woke up a few times needing some pain meds. Thursday night he slept wonderfully! I am pretty sure those dark circles under his eyes are going to disappear quickly. And he may start to gain a lot of weight at the rate he's eating! All good things.


While Elizabeth is in school these days Henry impatiently waits for her to come home. It has been an adjustment for him, which has lead him to strongly desire Lydia's mobility and greater qualities as a playmate. When E IS home, they play and play and play!




I just LOVE them!!

Birthday & Parade All in One Day!

Since Elizabeth's birthday fell on a Monday this year, I decided to celebrate it on the following Saturday. And because it was such a big year, 5 and starting school, I thought I would throw her a big birthday party with friends, cake, games and such. As it turns out I am NOT a birthday party expert, I am on the opposite end of the spectrum. I am truly impressed by my neighbor and her ability to throw multiple parties (some including 30 children) and have them turn out wonderfully! So while it was fun, it may be a while before I throw her another party, unless I solicit some help the next go round.

On top of a birthday party, we had the Alaska State Fair parade in the morning on Saturday. Such fun! I truly believed there would be multiple melt downs by the end of the day, however, my dear Elizabeth just had a wonderful day!

Brad & Madilyn! I can't get enough of her, she's too cute for words!!!

Getting extra time with Auntie Stephanie. I can't believe how fast this little red head is growing! She brings me such joy... even during moments of pure frustration with my other kids, all I have to do is look at her and she warms my heart.


Place candy here...(he was so adorable everyone gave him extra!)

Then seal it off so no one can snatch my candy...

Okay too long of a break in the parade, whats in here anyways...

It was LOTS of fun! I love parades not only for the goodies, but for the time we have to spend with family! I love this tradition and I hope it never stops!!!

Okay here are some birthday pics.

We began with coloring and painting some wooden dolls

Then we had games outside, it was cold so we didn't stay outside long. And the games weren't very successful... but they seemed to have fun. (Most of them were more interested in the wood pile, climbing it, and the tire swing in the woods)

Then after some "cake walk/prize walk" we ate cake and opened presents.

I love how excited everyone gets and their great desire to help in the present opening phase.
She went through everything so fast I wasn't sure what she got or where it came from.. well not so true, but she did love all her gifts and was sooo excited!

And here are some finished products (wooden dolls decorated at the beginning) Those girls are so cute!!

S0 next time I'll solicit more help and I'll definitely have a larger house, or location where everyone can run around like wild Indians! When the next one will occur... I don't know.. give me a few years to recoup from this one.