Ultimate Wii

We don't particularly like the extended hours of darkness during the Alaskan winters, but we have found a few ways to enjoy it. Last night we hooked the wii up to the projector for the first time. We have the perfect white wall in our loft. Giant wii fun and some dancing too.

Angel

Visited some friends on Sunday. They have a new puppy named Angel.

Christmas Concert

One of the items on our Anchorage list was something dressy for the boys to wear to their school Christmas Concert. I spotted these sweaters and was pleasantly suprised when both the boys liked them as well. They tried them on and commented how soft and cozy they were. When it came time for the Christmas Concert, I was scheduled to work nights. I laid out their outfits and went off to work wishing Tad and the boys well. Upon getting dressed for the evening, the boys determined there was a problem with the sweaters...they were too long. Note - they had tried them on several times since purchasing them and this was never a problem before! Tim solved the problem by tucking in his sweater and Alex decided on the the upfold option. NICE

Rejected Christmas Card Photos

Usually by the end of the year, we have a few favorite photos to choose from for our holiday greeting cards. This year, there wasn't any stand out photo. Tad's assignment during the 4 day Thanksgiving break was to take THE photo. These are some of the rejected photos.

Cross Country Skis

We have had a crazy few weeks. I have quite a few pictures to post but was warned against creating blog vomit by expert blogger AlaskaMassey. The plan is to catch you all up in bits and pieces. Check back the next few days for more photos. The craziness started the weekend before Thanksgiving with a whirlwind trip to Anchorage. We had a list a mile long: car repairs, xmas shopping, ski shopping and groceries. It was a successful trip. The air bag trouble light is no longer flashing at us and we found used skis for the whole family. Tim is really enjoying skiing. These pictures were taken in our driveway.

My Best Friend...No, My Best Friend

Tim and Alex have found yet another thing to compete over...Lucy's affection. We have had Lucy since Tim was about 18 months old. Lately, for some reason, it has become a competition to see who Lucy likes best. Tad and I have benefited some as they both want to feed and water and be the one to let her in and out of the house. I am trying to figure out a way to spin mopping the kitchen as a way of winning Lucy's undying love.

Stuff

We are a family that Wii's. We have had a lot of fun playing wii. It was getting a little out of hand though. We took a lengthy summer hiatus, but with the purchase of mario kart a few weeks ago, we are back in the game. Alex is at the wheel in the first two pictures. Notice the rearrangement of the chairs in the second picture. They have been placed a few feet in front of the tv. I'm sure it is just a ploy for a bigger tv, so I haven't even complained, yet. The last picture is my Christmas Cactus. We bought it at a nursery on clearance a couple years ago. It looked so sickly last year, I was very close to tossing it. I'm not sure what made it decide to bloom this year, but it looked so nice, I took a picture.

Halloween

Alex decided to be a viking at school and a pirate for trick or treating. Tim was a clone trooper. I missed out on all the excitement as I was working. Tad did all the dressing up and trick or treating and picture taking. I got home in time for a showing of "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3D. We had some friends join us for the movie. Unfortunately for the kids, there were three science teachers present. The added commentary we provided took all the fun right out of that movie. They paid us back after the movie when we had to deal with them crashing from their sugar highs. Halloween fun!

No Comment

We would rather not discuss the latest developments...

Basketball Game

Tim had a basketball game last night. I thought it would be a good opportunity to practice taking some action shots. I had a plan - different settings I was going to try, different lenses... Tim also gave me plenty of opportunies to shoot him scoring. Here's a little sampling of the pictures.

We both missed this shot



Someone from the other team blocked my shot, but not Tim's








Another crummy picture, but I think the green team's coach is thinking, "not this kid again."




Tim had a great arc on this shot. Too bad I missed it.






What's my strategy for taking pictures at Friday's game? I'm handing the camera to Tad.


Oh, I've been asked by a few runners what my time was on the 1/2 marathon. I really had no idea what kind of pace I had been running while training. My main goal was to stay running, no walking. I never timed myself because I didn't want to be discouraged. I would have guessed I was running between 11 and 12 minute miles. I ended up running around 10:20 miles on race day. I was a little surprised. If you want to know my exact time, I edited the 1/2 marathon post. If you click on the words "1/2 marathon" in the text, it should take you to the Peninsula Clarion where you can read the fine print to see my time.

1/2 Marathon

Way back in July, I downloaded a novice training schedule for a 1/2 marathon. Race day was Sunday. I had my own little cheering section that appeared on the course every few miles. You can see in the picture how excited they were about it. Tad found a culvert and creek for them to play in along the way. I couldn't have asked for better weather. Very good day, but glad it is over.

A Look Back at Summer

I thought I would practice my blogging skills by posting some pictures from this summer (I'm working on resizing the photos so they are easier to view). The first 2 are from our vacation to Maine. The last 2 are from a hike we did in Girdwood over Labor Day weekend. The highlight of the hike was a hand tram across a creek gorge.

Weekend at Engineer Lake Cabin

We spent Friday and Saturday night at the Engineer Lake Public Use Cabin. I think Lucy had the most fun. We could not keep her out of the lake. It was extremely windy and that did keep us out of the lake. Spent time gathering wood and cutting it up for the wood stove. Couldn't keep Tim away from the bow saw after that. Lots of card playing, cocoa and good conversation.
Alex on Lucy out in the lake, "Is Lucy dog paddling?" Tad, "She is now, but earlier she was practicing her butterfly."