I love Alaska...most of the time.

I can't help but be in awe when I see things like this on my drive home from Anchorage. I took these pics on a straight-away on the Turn Again Arm on Dec. 31st. If I had been able I would have taken the pic about 1-2 miles earlier, but I wasn't in a good place to take it. I wish I could have captured the way the sun was reflecting off the snow on the tops of those mountains, and the way the cloud layer just beneath the reflecting light contrasted so starkly with that light. It was breath taking.

This is on my drive home. This is on the main road...ok the only road leaving Anchorage to the south. :) It's seriously amazing sometimes...most of the time.

It's moments like this I do love living in Alaska...even in the winter time. :)

Tyler Siaki Tuia...Or...Little "T"

Our friends Kaye & Jared was scheduled to have their baby by c-section on Tuesday, Dec. 29th. So, I drove to Anchorage on Monday evening to stay with their 2 1/2 year old daughter Malia while they were in the hospital. I thought it would be easier for Malia if she could sleep in her own bed and just have some sort of consistency while her parents were gone. Shayne had a crazy week of basketball and work so wasn't going to be home too much anyway. So, The Bug and I hung out at the Tuia's for about four days, and we had fun.

Anyway...Tyler Siaki Tuia was born on Dec. 29th around noon. He was 7lbs 2 0z and 20 1/2 inches long. He looks just like his big sister, but with dark hair and darker skin. He actually looks like he has some Samoan in him...unlike Malia who is so light haired and complected. :) I took a pic of a newborn Malia into the hospital to compare the two of them...and they seriously look so much alike. He really is so cute. And...he has been such a good little boy for Kaye.

Malia was a very good girl for me while I stayed. She had a pretty bad cold, but slept through every night and was a good little helper with The Bug. Kaye had mentioned she wanted this cute little shirt for her when she met her little brother, so I went and got one and had it wrapped up for her so she would feel special too. She LOVED it! It was so cute. :)

I ended up driving back to Soldotna on the 31st. Kaye and Jared were being released that afternoon, and I had to get back of the New Year's Eve party at the Swanson's...I was in charge of most of the appetizers.

So...we are so glad Little T is here and he's happy and healthy.

Basketball Junkie

Do you know which gym on the Kenai Peninsula I like the best so far? That would be Kenai Central High School. Do you know why I like it? Because it has a nice space behind the top bench for The Bug to walk around in, play with his toys in, eat snacks in, and just chill in. :) The rest of the gyms don't have this space, so I spend most of the game making sure he doesn't topple down the bleachers. Why don't I just stay on the bottom benches thus assuring he doesn't topple down, you may ask? Because, at the bottom I have to constantly make sure he's not running out onto the court to get the basketball he sees the boys playing with.

You know you've been to too many gyms for basketball games when you have a "game" diaper bag full of toys and snacks for the gym...and you know which gym is the best for toddlers.

This child is a basketball junkie. He can spot a basketball across the gym and demand to go and get it. He can spot a basketball painted on the gym wall and want to go and get it. He can spot a basketball ANYWHERE and unless distracted by something will demand in no uncertain terms that we will be going down to get it. :)

I can't figure out why this child is such a basketball junkie. It couldn't be the plethora of college basketball games his dad watches on tv (and he actually loves to watch as well) could it? Or the numerous balls we have at our house? Or the basketball hoop he and his dad love to play with? Or the high school basketball boys that bring him basketballs to play with him?

What could it be?

I can't figure it out!

Post Christmas Games

The day after Christmas this year, Shayne and I decided to go out on a date to a movie. Karen and Greg Jones and family watched The Bug while we were gone. We love the Jones family! We initially wanted to see Avatar, but it was sold out. So we watched Blind Side instead. Such a good movie!!

After the movie we had been invited over to the Pugh's for games. They are the family we've had Thanksgiving with for the past two years. Shayne works with Jeanette. They are a great family. They have three grown daughters, and they were all home for Christmas. We ended up playing Apples to Apples, which was hilarious. The Bug just kind of toddled around and found all the non-childproof things in their home. :) After a bit he found their dog, Chloe's, bed and just chilled on it while eating a piece of bread. He's used to chillin' on dog beds...the only soft spot on the floor in our house. :)

Mandy decided to save him from the dog bed and picked him up. He doesn't normally do this well with people he's unfamiliar with, but I guess Mandy just had the touch...or the cushion! :) He seriously just laid there like that on her chest for about 5 minutes. It was hilarious! We were all laughing, as was Mandy. It was pretty entertaining. :)

I took a pic of everyone there...on the right side was Mandy, Shayne and Jess. On the left was Moe (he's the son-in-law and his real name is Chris), Dan, and Chris (the wife of Chris...hence the nickname Moe), and Jeanette.

We had a great time! Can't wait to play again next year!!

To Infinity and Beyond!!

Ok...so there are two very different pics here, but it's saving me from having to do two different posts. :)

The first pic is of the cute little nativity set I made for The Bug. It's just wood blocks with a nativity sticker set I got from Kaye. It's so nice, b/c I can show him and teach him about the Nativity, but he can still play with them too. I love them! Perfect for kids.

The next two pics are of the pj's my mom, his Nana Price, got him for Christmas. They are Toy Story pj's, and they are so cute. Not only is this a cute pic of his pj's, it's a picture of his new found favorite past time...when he happens upon a rare pen/pencil left out. He's discovered that those "things" write! Amazing! Fun for him...not so fun for me. So, I've now purchased some washable crayons. Now, when he happens to find a pen and is trying to write on stuff, I switch it for a much more colorful (therefore enticing) crayon, and supply him with some paper to write on.

Oh the joys of parenting.

I love it!!

Christmas Hockey

Our friends the Swanson's built a new house this year on a lake. So...they decided to start a new Christmas tradition. We play hockey! It was sooo much fun!

Our group consisted of the Swanson's, Hanson's, William's, Darcy's brother-in-law Rizz, and her dad. They cleared some snow off the ice on the lake, and we just played in shoes. It was so warm...almost 40 degrees...that after running around a bit you were too warm for even a sweatshirt. Hence...people playing in short-sleeves. See...it's not always cold in Alaska! Just dark...notice in the first pic where the sun is...and it's about 2pm.

I pulled The Bug down in a sled, which he wasn't too sure about. But, he did love watching the hockey. Haylee Swanson didn't play, but took pics. The William's baby was just too cute sitting in his car seat all bundled up. Both Shayne & I got to play while Haylee watched The Bug for a bit. Ya...I body checked Shayne, but couldn't quite get him into the snow, and don't worry, he tried to get me as well. Aaron Swanson and Miles Hansen both play hockey so I'm sure it was entertaining for them to watch the rest of us play...or attempt to play. :)

We seriously had so much fun! We've decided it's definitely a new Christmas tradition.

Christmas 2009

This was the first Christmas Santa Claus really came to visit our house. Shayne & I had way too much fun helping Santa out. The Bug really was a good boy this year, so Santa was very good to him. :)

I made our stockings...and that was an adventure in and of itself. I actually did quite a bit of sewing this Christmas, and I'm so grateful to Grandma Gerth for the sewing machine she gave me earlier in the summer. I tried to embroider our names on the tops, but was having some technical difficulties, but needed to get them done, so I did with some decorative stitching instead. Each one got a little better, so by the time I got to the Bugs...they weren't too bad. :) Shayne picked out most of the fleece...including mine, gotta love girl monkey's!! Why go normal and all traditional when you have Shayne in the house who likes to go against the grain a bit. Thank you Kaye for the board and vinyl lettering to hang them on. :)

Anyway...

The Bug finally got up around 9:30. Santa had wrapped most of his presents, but had left his CAT dump truck with some Hot Wheels cars in the back for him to see. He didn't notice them at first, but as soon as I pointed them out to him, he was quick to slide down the stairs to get to them. He immediately pulled out the Hot Wheels and started driving them on the ground making his little car noises. :) Too cute!

We let him play with those for a bit, then got his Stocking down so he could see the farm animals in it that went with the Barn he got as well. He played with those animals and his barn for quite awhile. Loved them!

Before we opened any presents, Shayne read the account of Jesus' birth in Luke 2. This was tradition in Shayne's family, and I'm so glad he has brought it into ours. I know it's so important to truly remember the reason for all the celebration. It was nice to just sit and contemplate for a few moments, on a morning/day that otherwise is crazy. Thank you Shayne for remembering what really is important.

After reading from the Bible, Shayne got a gift for The Bug. He was a little slow to recognize what we were doing, but if you ripped a little bit from the gift and he could see what was underneath, he was all about ripping of the paper. Most of the time he was just all about ripping the paper...forgot about the gift hiding underneath. :)

The Bug got all kinds of fun gifts. He received his very own stick horse...shortened so nicely by his Nana Price so he could ride it. ;) She and Papa Price also sent him the coolest wooden train. He thought it was so cool! You can see how much he loves it in the pics. After he played with it for awhile, we decided to put it away until he's a little older and can appreciate it and play with it a little better. He also got a very soft stuffed bear from his Great Grammy Gerth. He immediately took it from his dad, started carrying it around, put it down and then began to lay his head on it, b/c it was so soft. How cute is that?! :) He also got other gifts like books, some clothes (Carhart overalls...yeah!!), and more cars. He loves cars. So...Santa was very generous with The Bug this year...he really was such a good boy. :)

I surprised Shayne with a new Simms G4 Pro Wading jacket. He's had his other one for about 8 years, so was definitely due for a new one. He loved it! I knew he would. Shayne got me a new camera. I actually got it back in October, and have been using it, but we both agreed it would be my Christmas present. It's a Nikon D3000 and we got it in a package deal with two lenses, memory card and bag. It's a pretty sweet deal. I love it! He also got me a pair of real sheep skin slippers, which I wear all the time! I have such a good husband.

For breakfast we had Danish hotcakes, which comes from my family. Then we went over to the Swanson's and played a game of hockey on their lake with a bunch of other families. I'll put up a separate post for that. Later I fixed up our Christmas dinner...with Shayne's help of course. We had Cornish hens, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, corn, sweet potato casserole, and rolls. For desert we had pumpkin cheesecake or custard pie. It was delish!

I can't even tell you how wonderful our Christmas was this year. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to just be with my own little family. Shayne is my best friend, so there's no one else I would rather hang out with. And...who doesn't love their first born?! Watching The Bug be excited over wrapping paper and lights and bows was too much fun. I can't wait until next year when he "gets" it even more.

So that was our wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Eve

In 5 years of marriage, Shayne & I have only been able to celebrate the first Christmas we had together. Since then, either Shayne has been working, or I've been in Idaho for either a wedding or stuck b/c of weather. So...we decided that this year we would celebrate it with just our little family. We had invites from a couple of families, and we were grateful for those invites. However, we knew we needed to start our own traditions, and just wanted to spend time together as a family. We had such a great time.

Christmas Eve I got a few appetizers for our dinner. We had summer sausage with crackers and cheese, and then a crab and shrimp tray. We've done this in the past for New Year's Eve, so decided to use it for our Christmas Eve tradition instead. Lachlan sampled everything and actually liked it all...even the crab and shrimp. :)

He finally discovered the cute little nativity set I made for him that night as well. I had put it up by the TV a few days before, but he hadn't noticed them. But...he has now. He thought the little blocks were pretty cool.

After we put him to bed, Shayne & I stayed up waiting for Santa Claus. I forced Shayne to watch "White Christmas"...and I think he enjoyed it. I love that movie...probably one of my favorite Christmas movies. After the movie, Santa came and we went to bed.

It was so nice being able to spend time with just our little family. Even though I enjoyed spending time with our families last year, and I'm grateful I was stuck in Idaho and not in a Seattle Airport...I love being with my own family the best.

Magic Moment's Christmas

So, the same place that took The Bug's Halloween photos also did a photo shoot with Santa Claus, so we took him over for a pic.

He was NOT a fan of Santa Claus. He definitely wouldn't sit on his lap, so I tried to hold him while sitting next to Santa. Shayne and the photographer were not successful in getting a smile out of him while I was holding him. So then Shayne took him and sat next to Santa. The Bug was still not wanting anything to do with the big guy with the funky beard, but I did a much better job at distracting him and getting a semi-smile out of him. Now keep in mind, this smile lasted about a millisecond, but the photographer just happened to get it.

So, that's why it's just The Bug & hid dad in the Christmas pic...mom was behind the camera making sure we got a smile. I actually would have been fine with a pic of him screaming...it's just that stage and it's not a big deal to me. But...the smile is pretty cute.

We'll see how he does next year. Should be interesting...to say the least.