Guess who is who?
The dog ate my gingerbread house
Murphy dog probably developed his fondness for sweets grazing on Alaskan blueberries
Bran, Grandma Kris, Sawyer and Caleb doing gingerbread houses
We did gingerbread houses this year. The boys love to do them and this year we had Grandma Kris to help! Yes, we brought in 'a ringer'. For weeks Caleb would see a food item or candy and ask if he could put it on his creation. He was a little obsessed by it (...wonder where he gets that from). I think Sawyer was more interested in eating his, although he was getting pretty bossy with Grandma when she would put the frosting in the wrong spot...."Not there Grandma, right here (and it would be a millimeter off from where she put it). He is a detail guy. Kris and I did a Christmas castle. Hopefully you can see these photos as they are copies from the newspaper, I'll try to post better ones.So anyway the real kicker of the story is that Murphy ate Sawyer's roof off his house. No joke. We had tucked the houses out of the way (or so we thought) in the laundry room and the night before Branden noticed that Sawyer house was half-gone. There was not a single crumb! It was as if someone or something had vacuumed up after themselves....it took us a minute or two before we realized what had happened. Of course Murphy was acting very sheepish. He probably ingested 10 lbs. of candy, royal frosting, gingerbread, etc. We had no time to bake a new roof so we just took it as is w/ a picture explaining what happened. It was a good thing that Murphy didn't touch our castle because I might have taken him to the shelter.
This isn't the first time Murphy has been linked to sweet-eating crimes. In 2006 when we were staying at Kris's house. She was making a wedding cake for Jill (her niece) and 3 or 4 tiers of it went missing. Again, not a single crumb was left but Murphy, Smokey & Gizzy were the only plausible explanations. B and I were doubtful when it happened that Murphy acted alone but we are now believers.
And just the other day, my friend brought over a tub of homemade Alaskan blueberry ice cream, which I put on the back porch (nature's freezer). The next day the lid was off and there was a strange sheen to it and a big, smooth crater out of the center. If you notice the top picture, Murphy has a big tongue.
Ode to Tchaikovsky
Violet, Ronin, Caleb & Stella at the Nutcracker.
FYI. I thought this was interesting...
Caleb's favorite part was the battle scene when the Mouse King gets killed. There was lots
of action, swords, loud noises, etc. Except he wanted it to be a Rat King and not a mouse king
because he loves mice.
The Arabian dance is my favorite, I love the swarthiness of the oboe.
I get a little choked up when I hear it for some reason. Actually, seeing
the Nutcracker makes me a little sentimental. It reminds me of Christmas
in Boise, going to see at the Morrison Center, dressing up, drinking
hot chocolate during the intermission and my mom wildly, air-directing
the Nutcracker March to a pretend orchestra...ah, the memories.
Choo-Choo
One of our favorite things to do is go to Pioneer Park & the Train Museum which is a minute from our house. They put the trains away for the winter but every December they bring one out and we go for a ride...no matter the temperature. This year we lucked out as it was slightly zero. So we all huddled in and sat under blankets. The trains are open air and the air is bitingly cold. out eyes were watering. Branden & I kept looking at each other, both thinking but not saying aloud.... why do we do this? It is too cold for open-air train rides! After the ride we eat terrible, store-bought, hydrogenated-laden sugar cookies and drink hot chocolate and sit on Santa's lap. A few years ago we all sat on his lap and that is the picture they use to advertise the event. There is one of Sawyer at 9 months, agog at Santa almost on the verge of bursting into tears. In the summer time we hear the train whistles everyday. "Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance, everybody thinks it is true".........(name that song?) So we feel connected to the trains I guess. Anyway, I digress.......As soon as Caleb got with ear shot of Santa, he started rattling off all the gifts he wanted (like Ralphy in the Christmas Story). Sawyer was more amused by 'the Grinch' roasting chestnuts on a BBQ outside the museum.
on the new deck
pickin' blueberries
fair time & giant cabbagges
kisses
first day of school
raspberry picking with Auntie
Bridger baby
the boys and sunflowersI am a slacker, big time slacker. However, I do have several excuses as to why I am so lame but I will spare you the details......
Summer came and went, we had a glorious summer. It was hot and dry, Branden was busy and we picked lots of berries. We had a visit from my mom and Amie, both of which were wonderful.
We are having an extended fall at the moment. Three weeks ago it looked like winter was here to but the weather turned and there is no snow, leaves are on the trees and our grass is even a vibrant green. The tramp is still up for Pete's sake and it is October 8th! This time last year the tramp was a distant memory. At the moment Dennis and Diana are here for a visit and the boys are loving it. Caleb has a special bond with his "Daddy Grandpa" and I there will be lots of tears when they go. Diana is wishing for snow for her photography shoot and I am sure she will jinx us with it. No, no snow.
The boys are both in preschool. Caleb loves it and Sawyer likes it when he gets there, but it takes a fair amount of coaxing and bribing to get him out of the house. When we ask what they learned at school, they reply "everything, I learned everything today".
Bridger baby is a little butterball. He is fat and happy, sleeping through the night and is in that really cute cooing, laughing stage (where it makes you want have another baby stage). I just want to squeeze him (not too hard of course).
Bran built a deck of the front of the house, a shed out back, got a moose and is now taking some time off.
Life is good.......and we feel blessed
Bridger baby!!
Hard to believe that it is already August. Bridger Joseph was born June 25 at 10:46 pm. It was a beautiful Thursday evening. Bran got home from a fire around 5, we went to dinner at 6 and my water broke at 6:30 (that was loads of fun in a skirt, let me tell ya). Everything went smoothly with the c-section, although the recovery was rough. Thank goodness my mom came up for a few weeks to make the transition. I don't know if I could have done it with out her. Thank you mom!
8 more days left
11 more week left, maybe. I lost my mucous plug on Wednesday
(that was lots of fun). Then I was having contractions for 5
hours on Friday and thought for sure we were going to the
hospital but then they suddenly stopped. All weekend I was
having cramping and weird tinges of pain. Bran was on first
load and went out on 2 fire jumps (which ended up being false
alarms) so I literally just layed on my couch for 3 days, chugging
water, trying to keep that baby inside. I thought for sure I would
go into labor without Bran around.
Well crisis averted, Bran is back and we'll see what Dr. Hess says.
I have an appt. this morning.
B's diaper bag
Bran made this diaper bag for me for Mother's Day. It is so
cool, ergonomically friendly and matches my BOB stroller
(since I am so in to matching these days). He designed it
from the Diaper Dude bags but this one is way better.
What a seamster.
Back in Fairbanks
Well we made it back home to Fairbanks in one piece. We have been home for a month now. It was a bit of a shock to the system as there was 5 ft. of snow and everything was in boxes. Kind of hard to get back in the swing of things after being gone so long. It was really good to be reunited with Murphy, we all missed him. Caleb & Sawyer were thrilled to be back in the snow and to have their toys (it was like Christmas around here). Bran had a week off and then started work jumping. He actually jumped a fire last night on Afognak Island which is just north of Kodiak Island. I imagine he is elated as he is in grizzly bear country...although I don't think he has is 44 with him. He was the first jumper out the door for the 2009 season.
Our drive up north was lovely. We had beautiful weather, no car problems, and zero vomiting incidences from the boys. It took us 12 days to do it. I picked up Bran in Reno and then we meandered up the Pacific Coast Highway thru northern Cal & the entire Oregon coast. It was awesome. We stayed with the Andersen's in Silverdale and got to see the newest cousin, Jedi. We saw Larissa in Seattle and then caught the ferry in Bellingham. The ferry ride was very interesting to say the least and I am glad it was only 3 days. Then a 2 day drive from Haines to good ol' Fairbanks.
And now here I sit contemplating my navel....(I actually don't know what that really implies but my mom always used to say it) and how overrated waistlines are. Baby boy # 3 arrives in 7 weeks and I have not done a thing to prepare for it....no meals frozen, no clothes bought, no sitter arranged, nada, zero, zilch. I am scheduled for a c-section on June 30th at 8 am (assuming that all holds steady). Still have not decided on a name yet.
Jeffrey David Mann
Branden's stepdad passed away on February 27th from a
rare form of ocular melanoma. It was only 3 weeks from
the time he was diagnosed until he passed, leaving us all
in shock. Bran was able to be with him, along with the rest
of Jeff's kids and wife, when he went and I am so glad for
that. I only wish that I had more time on this Earth to get
to know Jeff. We miss him
Ode to Branden..... my sweetie
No this isn't MY sweetie (although he is a sweetie). This is Bran's brother, Jeffrey
with his blacktail deer.
Bran with his beloved 9.5 Kodiak Bear
Branden was lucky enough to draw a tag for Raspberry Island (part of the Kodiak Archipeligo) this past October. The success rate for a fall bear hunt is like 20-30% so he was wary that he would be coming home with a "rug".
This has been a dream of his for a long time and he was so thrilled when he found out he was going. He called his dad, telling him that this was the greatest day of his life and for him to guess what the news was? In which his father started dolling out the congratulations on expecting a new baby (a sign of things to come). Bran replied "no even better...I drew a tag for Kodiak".
Actually both our names were on the tag and I was suppose to be his "hunting partner". Alas, this was a short-lived endeavor. After watching a hunting video in which a big, beautiful bear gets taken down and me wincing and recoiling from watching it, Bran quickly changed partners. Plus, not to mention I am a terrible shot, I would crap my pants at seeing a 10' bear and I don't believe in trophy hunting....if you can't eat it, what is that point... but I digress from B's story.
Anyway, he got his bear and if you want all the specifics you will have to talk to him. I must say that I was very happy for him and hearing the elation in his voice as he recalled the details was worth it for me.
Zion National Park
Caleb took the 2 pics above. He is really into taking pictures these days "all by himself"
We went to Zion N.P. for the weekend. Zion is one of my favorite places.
It was the off-season so we hardly saw another person. We hiked the Watchman Trail although
we didn't make it to the top (thanks a lot Caleb & Sawyer). We also went to the wildlife museum (which Grandpa Jack strongly recommend..thank you G-pa). They have quit a collection of animals that are neatly displayed and it is free. The boys really liked it especially the Alaskan display.
Sawyer had a birthday on March 3rd. Hard to believe that he is 3 years old. We had a party at the park with his cousins. We had family pictures too. Sawyer was singing Happy Birthday really loud to himself. He had been rehearsing it for a couple of days. "Daddy" grandpa & grandma bought him a sleeping bag which he absolutely loves (this is an understatement as we can hardly get him out of it) who would have thought that it would provide so much entertainment. Now we have to get Caleb one.
Bob & Mary Lou
Bob and Mary Lou Mathison were passing thru town and we met them for lunch. They are our neighbors in Fairbanks (the ones with the perfect yard that the boys tear thru). The boys adore them and they are kind of our pseudo grandparents. This past summer Caleb was always peeking over the fence talking to Bob or asking what Bob was doing and if we could go see him and on and on. One morning I sent him to get the paper and he continued his trek next door. It was like 6:30 am and he was going for a visit. Bob always gives them little treats so I am pretty sure that had something to do with it. It was so good to see some Fairbanks folks. Anyway we just love Bob & Mary Lou.
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