Photo Update

Since it would take too long to update everything that's happened in the last few months, I figured I'd do a photo update again. Sometimes those are more fun anyway.


My parents came to visit in October. We got to visit the Conservation Center, a place for injured and orphaned wildlife.

 I told my dad that was the border between Alaska and Canada. He believed me for a minute.

Most of our conversations seem to be about this topic.

 Halloween--Our puppy, monster and dragon. Good thing they had warm costumes 

because it snowed like crazy on us!

Jonathan enjoyed the haul.

 And so did Ethan.

 

 Anthony thought his car could handle the snow on the back of base. Two hours and a ride home from the police taught him otherwise. Then another two hours of digging the car out. Fun times.

Jon's first Thanksgiving!

 

 They love the turkey legs.

 First birthday

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

We took a trip home to Indiana in December:

We laughed so hard at how intently Ethan was studying the products in the Sky Mall magazine. I'm surprised I didn't find a charge on my credit card and have something show up in the mail.

 Downtown Indianapolis

 Digging for artifacts at the Children's Museum

 Our deep sea diver

 At least Jonathan was happy to see Santa. Will refused to sit, which is why
he doesn't have a picture.

 But he did enjoy fishing.

We also loved visiting the zoo:

Ethan decided the bats were cute.

Last time, Will was terrified of the sharks. This time we had to drag him away.

 Ethan's space shuttle birthday cake

 3 years old!

 My porcupines

 Our superhero

 First day of Sunbeams

CTR 4 & Sunbeam--when did they get so big?

 The snow in January. Just the beginning.

 Helping us put together the new bunk bed.

 They have all been obsessed with the washer. This is Jon a few months ago.

This is Will when we first moved here.

And this is Ethan about a year later.

 The snow in February

 The boys think it's great fun to sled down the stairs into the basement. But they also decided to have their friends, Kooper and Conner, push them, even though the twins weigh so much less.

  Helping Daddy work on the car.

After three years, we finally got to see the Northern Lights. Amazing!

We even got to see purple!

  At the end, it looked like it was coming down on us from above. So cool!

  Jon sporting his cute jeans cloth diaper.

 Ethan brought up their play grill and said he was cooking chicken. I loved that 

he put his socks on his hands as oven mitts.

 Anthony's re-enlistment ceremony. Another 4 years!

 Moose in the backyard!

 My cute baby

And my messy baby.

Last week, we visited the Imaginarium at the Anchorage museum. Fabulous time. Okay, it's no Indianapolis Children's Museum, but they do a great job. The kids love all the rooms: the bubble that you can stand inside, the fun water area, the wax volcano, the sea urchins, starfish and snapping turtle, the bottle you can fill with water and air and shoot off in a tube, and so many other things. I asked Will what his favorite thing was--the hermit crab puppet. He's easy to please. I went to ask Ethan what his favorite was, and I found he and Jonathan had dumped our emergency kit out, and Jon was testing the waterproof capability of our matches by sucking on them, while Ethan was trying to light them. And you wonder why I never have time to update this? He said his favorite was the bubble area. My favorite part was the couple we met who was visiting with their granddaughter. Will was being a T-Rex and roared at the girl so loudly that she started crying, but after apologizing, they became quick friends. We talked to the couple for quite awhile, and by the end, they offered us a free weekend at their rental condo in Girdwood! Totally unexpected. It was so nice of them, and I almost cried. That's exactly the kind of person I want to be! (Not the condo-owning kind necessarily, but the doing kind deeds for strangers kind.)

Jonathan loves the large water area.

 

I guess that's where we're at now. We'll be in Alaska for another year and a half, so we're busy planning lots of fun trips to make the most of our time. Anybody want to visit? :)