The time has come ...

I was looking for a photo to share today and found that I've cleaned up my computer a bit too much in the past few days. I'll have to dig a little deeper. This was taken last April 21st. Not far off ... in fact, this past week there has been no blanket needed out there. Beautiful!!!

It looks like the temps this year on par with last year. Jari was sweating out on the porch the other day and actually had to take down some of the plastic. This past winter we made a "wind break" out there. We covered the west wall with plastic to cut down the wind. It made it easier to grill outside all winter long with no wind in the way.

The past 2 days have been absolutely divine!! Yesterday I heard grumbles of "is there any place around here that is not HOT?!" Our living area windows all face sunshine. Good thing for cross breezes. If we're having issues at 60ish degrees outdoors .... come summer we'll be camped in the basement.

Cukes, pepper and tomato plants have taken over the kitchen table. Hoping to move them, as well as all the lobelia, to other containers on Saturday. It's still too cold outside at night (the days aren't all warm either) to move to the greenhouse and I refuse to heat it. We'll find places with sunshine ... somewhere where kids don't close the blinds on me and stunt the poor tomatoes. Green onions are growing out in the greenhouse. Apparently they wintered well. I didn't know they would start growing again. Minus any attention or water. They certainly are!

Off to work and a very busy day. Have a good one!

We started our Monday morning

with a trip to this kind of office.

Hmmm.

It was looking sort of like a science lab ....

then again, maybe the hardware store?

Oh! No! We remember what this place is all about. That nasty thing. Must be a doctor's office!

We visited with the ONLY pediatric orthopedic surgeon in the state of Alaska. He did a great job of explaining. Based on research this and based on research that .... in the end, Anna's growth plates are nearly closed and she's done growing. We're going to keep an eye on her back and see that she doesn't start having a major change with the scoliosis. Other than that ... another xray in a year. Then there was that other recommendation. Core strengthening. I think that is the same thing the chiropractor suggested to me many times over. Exercise? You have got to be kidding me. We'll see how that goes. Fun to spend the day with Anna Banana ... even if it did include a trip to town.

I learned something today. My Tahoe gets over 77 miles to the gallon going down the Eagle River Hill. It did that more than several times in different places. Almost pays for a trip to Kohl's in itself .. ya think?

Off to the evening's activity. I have probably told you before, but I thoroughly enjoy the band concerts. They are downright good. You can certainly tell when an instructor expects much of the students. They shone. All of them.

This was a new one. I've never seen steel drums before. Tia wanted to join and had wanted to take the trip to Trinidad to explore the origins of the steel drum. I kind of said, "yeah, sure". I thought Trinidad was somewhere like Fairbanks. Hmph! Trinidad is in Spain. Um. I don't think so. Anyway, the music is phenomenal. They are all made of 55 gallon drums. Quite neat. I think I want one ... but I'd probably need many. Then I'd run out of room and then I'd have to build another room onto the house ... may as well get that baby grand piano while I'm it. A serious case of "If you Give a Moose a Muffin" going on here.

I should have moved my buns down the row to the right. I did not see my daughter play at all. She's somewhere behind the girl in red. I spied her feet once in a while. :)

This piece was the final one for the 7th and 8th grade bands. "Farewell Symphony: 4th Movt" by Franz Joseph Hayden. Section by section as the piece neared the end, they got up and left. At the end there was only one flutist and one clarinet player left ....

the rest were at the back of the gym. Great job kids!! (That would be Tia strolling along there with the white top.)

Off to 8th grade band next year ... and now she wants to add trumpet and trombone to her musical skills. I said yes. As long as the school has extra instruments. I'm done renting ... last flute is almost paid for. No More. Done. Finito. Complete.

Do you s'pose she'll have to practice at home? 

Wonder if that doctor has another set of these somewhere.

I'm telling you ... this weather here is crazy.

I've been hiding for a while. Will life EVER slow down?! I doubt it. If I'm absent on here, send me some little thoughts that say "take a slow, deep breath" ... it usally means life is going at mach speed.

Thursday we had snow again. April 22nd to be exact. Not unexpected. Kind of fun (don't tell anyone I said that) to have an Ansel Adams world for a day. It was gone the next day. Jari was grilling when I came home. The grill is on the screened porch for the winter and will move outside shortly. Burgers and dogs. Yum!

And just because I love snowy trees ....

and because Tia is enamored of snowboards on tramps .... we enjoyed the day of it. It was nearly gone by nightfall. Definately gone on Friday.

Friday evening we had HAPs over here. Houseful of young folks with energy! Good time playing Apples to Apples (I watched) and teaching others to play Monopoly Deal.

Saturday I was On Call. Was really hoping to work. Maybe I was too choosy. Would have liked about 4 hours of work ... not 12. Didn't get any. What I got was time. 

**  Time to get graduation announcements printed and Alyx got them all into envelopes.

** Time to get some laundry done.

** Time to rake part of the yard. (Kind of forgot what a blister feels like!)

** Time to actually get a Sunday School lesson done on a Saturday!

The sun was absolutely radiant on Saturday!! The guys were out working the yard. We're all fans of quick naps around here. I prefer something a wee bit cushier than this 4-wheeler ... but whatever works!

I don't know that Fred slept all that well sitting upright. :)

I worked outside and finally had to shed a layer. The rest of the household was out in sweatshirts. I got down to a tank top and believe it or not .... got some sun!!

Just so we really appreciate the days of beautiful sunshine ... yesterday was cloudy with a titch of wind. Maybe next week.

Monday today again.

Anna & I are off to Anchorage to see the ONLY pediatric orthopedic surgeon in the state of Alaska. Will see what he says about her scoliosis.

Alyx is off to enjoy Senior Skip Day. This befuddles me just a bit. I signed a permission slip for her to skip. They actually board a school bus and head down to Anchorage to H2Oasis to swim for the day. Get their yearbooks this morning before they hit the bus. She's going to have a blast!

Tia's last concert of the year is this evening. Going to be a good one. From what I understand ... I might want to bring along a pair of ear plugs. Must, must, must ... remember the camera.

Last evening I stayed "in"

and actually made it outside for a few minutes.

I didn't last long on the tramp.

Just a few minutes.

I was pretty thrilled with the whole thing tho'.

Jumped without a Depend on ... and didn't need a cast or anything when I was done!

This one was out there for about half an hour making that snowboard do fun things.

She didn't get this piece of her personality from me.

Nope.

This piece is her dad ... completely!

It has been a busy week around here. We got to meet Darrell and Mavis Simonson this past week. We've joined the Young Living Essential Oils organization and are in the process of learning how to use them to enhance our lives and our health. We have much to learn! I sort of feel like I'm sitting in my college chemistry class on the first day. Monday evening we had a meeting over at our house and were able to meet some wonderful people.

Tuesday evening we followed it up with some Rain Drop treatment teaching and treatments. Great stuff ... can't wait to learn more!

This evening I'm On Call and probably working. That really is a good thing. I keep shopping airlines for Anna's tickets and don't like what I'm finding. They aren't anything worse than ordinary. I just don't like them. Work, work work to play, play, play. Keep working and maybe I'll make it to Minnesota in August myself.

Friday evening HAPs over here and then On Call all day Saturday again. Saturday call is a great thing. Don't dare start too big a project in case you get called in. Scrapbooking and things like that end up being the order of the day. :)

I turned off comment moderation on the blog. Awhile back there was a comment that I didn't think was appropriate and so I started checking them first.

I'll try it again and see if we have good luck this time.

Miss Kenna

decided to try a little acrobatic motion last night. This little love is such a princess. She has the cutest smile EVER, chatters nonstop ... and gives massive amounts of hugs. So, last night she managed to unlock a window, push out a screen and careen two stories down to sort of face and belly plant on concrete. The poor siblings who were jumping on the tramp down there got the shock of their lives. I think she rode the two stories on angel wings. Maybe two grandpas helped carry her down to the ground. She's fine. A fractured jaw, but otherwise fine.

I ran up to see her for a few minutes this morning and she put out her arms, gave me a hug and said, "yaui?" I texted him. Kenna wants to see you. Room 225. We are so thankful that she is fine. So thankful that everything turned out well. Such a scary day for all of her family. Tonight she is home ... tucked in her own bed.

Thank you, God.

We could almost taste it today ....

the sun was warm.

The barbeque grill was busy.

The steak ... well, I moved on to the bratwurst instead.

Summertime barbeques have started.

Thanks to the folks who hosted today.

Was fun!!

The weekend in review ... without photos.

Friday evening I came home from work dog tired. Don't know what is up with that, but it certainly is lately. Nice nap and then an evening of shampooing carpet. Aaah. Felt wonderful to get that done. The main living area is done. Needs a redo sometime real soon, but for now I'm happy.

Anna S. came over and spent the entire weekend. Fun for the girls.

Saturday a trip to the chiropractor and a massage. I still hurt from the massage. One probably shouldn't wait an entire year between visits, hey?

Girls to a photo session at Walgreens.

Alyx went to prom ... all gussied up and dressed to slay.

Jari and I went and watched the boys play hockey for a little bit.  

Haven't gone to watch for a long time ... they've not been playing much either.

Today a marvelous day of bbq and visiting with the breeze blowing and the sun shining. Can't beat it!

Happy Tax Day .... yesterday

Our world was again covered with snow ... and oh so beautiful.

I acutally snagged the camera on the way to work and drove to work with it pressed to my eye.

Almost.

How does one resist?

We didn't have a regretful tax day, but many did.
Instead, I watched the sun lighting the parking lot at work and the night's snow quickly melting.
The beauty of white moved the browns of spring by the end of the day.

Now I sort of need to head back here ....

see you around the bend!

The National Weather Service

didn't get the message.

It is April.

Yesterday was April 14th ... to be exact ... and it snowed ALL DAY long.

We all know this is not unexpected.

We're just in "dreaming of summer" mode. Big time.

By the time I got home from work a bit before 5 pm yesterday, it was starting to stick.

In places where climbing pea vines ought to be thinking about sticking ... not clumps of snow.

The rail was starting to build up ...

The rake. Oh my goodness. The poor rake. It must be just totally confused. It has been doing some work on dirt. It really doesn't know what to do with snow.

And this guy? He's not really ready for iced over roads either. He doesn't run around with studs on his tires. (Neither does anyone else in this house, but that's another story.)

I did the usual. Made dinner. Picked up a few things. Whatever it is that I do on a daily basis after a day at work passing out narcotic pain medications and making follow up appointments. Then off to my music duty at Wednesday evening Bible Class. It just amazes me that our world has turned so light so fast. I probably won't quit being amazed. I grabbed the camera and headed outside at 9:30 pm. I have a problem with a blue hue in my photos and as much as Frans tried to teach me white balancing ... I'm just dibble in that department. So I played with the color, took out the blue. I did not play with the lighting in this picture. This is a true light picture at 9:30 pm. Don't you just love it?! We certainly do.

Welcoming lights from inside the house. It isn't THAT light out at that time of the evening. :)

... and inside the house is the most amazing quilt ever. Anna has been spending time at Ambers doing some sewing. They make the funnest bags and aprons ever. Anna also makes some absolutely beautiful quilts. The top of this one is done and it is a bit larger than she anticipated. Now to pick up some batting, backing and start pinning it all together.

After seeing this one ... I came up with a plan. :) Mom's plans and ideas. They sort of make everyone shudder when I have one ... and with good reason. I made Anna a deal. I'll quilt this one and she can sew me several quilt tops that I've been wanting. All blocks or stripes ... one in bright colors and another in earthy tones. Let's see if she takes me up on it. This quilting project right here, hand done of course, is going to take more than just a few audio books!

A restful weekend in Seward

We left Saturday morning and were back in time for Sunday School on Sunday. Had plenty of time for relaxation and enjoying the sights and smells of Seward.

On the way we saw an eagle perched up on the power pole. Wonder what kind of smaller critter he has found for dinner!

The pass still has plenty of snow (with more falling on Sunday) but the roads were beautiful ... as was the scenery.

Jari had never been down to Lowell Point. What fun to introduce him to places I've been with the kids. Some day I'd love to go down to this side of Seward and rent a cabin to do some reading and sea kayaking.

This otter was fun to watch. I don't think I've ever seen one in someplace other than captivity. At one point, watching from the hotel window, it looked like he was waving to us. Not sure I want to get real close tho'. His teeth didn't look nearly as friendly as his wave.

Boats. So many boats. Jari and I enjoy walking the marina and seeing the sights. Boats for sale ... big time dreaming. This one made me itch to start refinishing the side of it.

Blayde didn't come with us, but the other 4 did. Where on earth has time gone?! Seward, before the crowds of summer, is a favorite place of ours. Alyx took the weekend off work to be able to go. Next year we'll have to do it a little earlier in the season. The parking lots had a few too many cars in them.

No trip to Seward is complete without a trip to Subway. The weather was not warm. Not even close to warm. The picnic moved itself to a heated truck rather quickly.

The Hillukkas joined us on this trip. Much time was spent at the hotel's swimming pool. A novelty for sure. It is the only time of the year when we're likely to see a chlorinated swimming pool. It is probably the only weekend of the year that we'll stay in a hotel (unless we're traveling outside) and not in our camper. After much swimming, some sightseeing, some magazine reading, some Settlers and Monopoly Deal ... Sunday dawned with the need to head for home. A stop at Safeway gave the guys some visiting time while we ran in the for other "gotta have" of the weekend.

Thank goodness for bladders that are a bit more mature these days! We did have to make one stop before we hit the restrooms at the pass.

The skies didn't look very friendly. It just amazes me how nature colors itself black and white. I see Ansel Adams (who for years was my favorite ever!) in every turn all winter long.

The Pass had so much snow we were wishing we had sleds along. Some snow gear would have been in order as well. Something other than swimsuits and flip flops.

So we dream of taking the campers, generators, snow machines, snow boards and sleds .... and heading out again. The kids would do it next weekend if they could. We'll aim for next winter instead.

Reality beckoned quickly. And here it is already Tuesday morning.

The air smelled like rain as I was leaving work yesterday. Had to take a great big whif. Haven't smelled that in many months. We've had a few drips of rain, a few sprinkles of light snow. The weather doesn't seem to understand that I have crops growing inside. They are ready for summer!!