Sarah's new dress

Isn't she cute! Sarah got a new dress.

Snow

So, I laughed really hard when I read Betsy's post about the snow day. Snow day, what is that? The new teacher I work with was really surprised when the principal told her not to expect any snow days. I think since Shane has worked for the district, we have had 2.5 days. One was a late start day. It has to be really bad to have a snow day. We are more likely to have ice days. I dread the days when we have ice skating rinks everywhere! It becomes bumper cars on the road. We had about one foot of snow come down the night before school on Monday. We just make sure the kids have all of their snow gear with them. I have to say how nice it is to have our own yard to play in! Even ESPN likes to play in the snow. We have a huge pile of snow in the cul de sac. One day we will go out and play on it. Do you remember King of the Hill!

A boy and his cat...

Scotty and his cat. ESPN follows the kids everywhere.

This poor cat is dragged everywhere but truly loved and adored!

Santa and Reindeer

Now, here is an excited boy!

Shane could hardly contain his excitement waiting for Santa.

Shane, Santa is always watching you!

The day after Thanksgiving, we went down town to the tree lighting ceremony. We waited to see Santa pull up with his reindeer. We got to pet the reindeer. Santa's crew is incredible soft. Unfortunately, we didn't get to talk to Santa. The line was too long and slow!

Van vs. Caribou

Story time...
So, I have often believed that my promptings come through my feelings. I also have issues with driving in the snow especially at night. Well, Shane wanted to dive North to help process some meat. He wanted to leave Friday night after the school carnival. The kids wanted to go too. The original plan was I was going to stay home and he would take the kids in the car. Well, I felt sick to my stomach. Shane was trying to make me go. I hate the drive with a passion. It is six hours of torture for me. It is not an easy road to travel especially in the winter. It is only neat when the northern lights are out- rare occasion when the sky is clear. Anyway, as I was trying my best to control my stomach, Shane finally asked if I would be willing to go if we slept for a few hours. I immediately felt a little better. We would be taking the van. Well, we over slept by an hour. We finally hit the road and forgot something. We looped back, now hour and a half behind. The weather and the road sucked! I was worried about one big hill 2.5 hours into the trip. We made it. Not 5 minutes later, where we normally pull over to sleep when we are tired (where all the snow machiners play) Shane slowed down due to the caribou sign. What sign? I only see moose signs up here. Anyway, Shane yelled hold on... I looked up to caribou in the road. In my infinite wisdom, I threw a blanket up to cover the kids and me from glass. Bam... I don't really remember the impact. I remember the horror of realization...why did the caribou not go through the windshield? Holy Crap! I immediately started to freak out. Shane got out to look at the van. We flagged down a truck. We both turned around. We found the crash site. (Today in church we talked about taking care of God's animals. This was not one of those moments. However, we did feed some families though.) Anyway, we hit 3. We killed a family. Two big ones, and one little one. Not a good moment for me. The biggest one, which Shane said was the female (again, not a good thing to know) was fighting for her life. The man in the truck got his gun out and came over. Immediate freak out! I yelled for the kids to cover their ears and close their eyes. I covered them up with a blanket. I should have followed my own advise. Stupid, stupid, stupid... I watched as the man shot the caribou three times. Each time, it yelled and kicked its feet. It was kicking the van. He finally pulled the caribou over to the side snow bank. I lost it! That was worse than hitting them. As I cried, reality really hit. Two families could have been lost that night. If the car had been driven, I would have lost my family. I prayed and prayed and prayed. Thank you for our lives! I am so sorry for the caribou. It was hard to explain to Sarah why mom was losing it! Damage: two broken mirrors, lost head light, damaged frame, 3 caribou. We reported it in the next town. On the bright side, families would be fed. We also found out, earlier in the night, a fatal crash happened in the same spot...hence, another opportunity to have lost my family. I am thankful for promptings! My husband is learning to trust my feelings. I know how much he hates to when it comes to traveling. Oh, and for those of you who wonder why we didn't put a caribou in the back of the van, it is against the law. We got pulled over a few miles later. I am glad we didn't put one in the van. It is amazing to look at the van. It doesn't look like we hit three caribou at the same time. The van is considered total. We are now looking for a new vehicle.

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween!

Of course, our real trick or treating was done at the church house for trunk-or-treat. We only had two wards there. It was very small this year. It was also so cold. First time in years there was no snow on the ground.

We went to Trick or Treat town so we could wear our costumes inside. I had two super kids... Superman & Supergirl.

Carving pumpkins... it was so gooey!

My little monster!

Civilization!

Whoo Hoo! We got a Target in Alaska! We are also getting a Kohls! Now if we could get a Shopko and some good food places, it may not be so bad to live here. Oh, I would like Disney on Ice... Is that too much to ask for?

Playing in the Leaves

We had leaves for about two weeks before the snow came! It was so nice to have our own leaves to play in! Both Scott and Sarah helped rake leaves.

Family pictures

It is time for a new family picture. The lighting wasn't bad. The tree colors were awesome! We used the timer on the camera, therefore, Shane or I had to run for it after we pushed the button. There is no perfect picture by my expectations. Some of the pictures weren't bad. We really had to bribe Scott to get him to hold still. Let me know which one you think is best.

I sacrificed myself for this picture. A few minutes before, I slipped on some you know what (my biggest pet peeve of dog owners!) and twisted my left ankle and my left knee landed on a rock. My knee is so sore. I can't go up and down the stairs or sit for long periods of time. Most of all, I can't kneel. This week at work will be really hard! Scott took this picture for us. He pushed the button and I cropped it.

Sarah Skating!

Sarah got invited to to rollerskating with her friends. She has never been skating before except on ice skates. She is normally really well patted with ice skating. She was really frustrated for a while at first. Then she was able to calm down and enjoy herself. Right before we left, she really had a hard time due to being tired. Her friends were faster than her and really didn't want to skate with her. The soundtrack reminded me of skating when I was younger.

For her first time, she did really well!

Sarah used the wall for support. We finally moved her out to the middle of the rink.

She skated better out there!

Sarah's friend was just too fast for her.

Her friend finally slowed down enough to skate with her.

Sarah and her friends. So happy!