Alaska Top 13

As we get closer to moving (2 weeks 'til the movers come, 3 weeks 'til we leave) Matt and I seem to have frequent discussions on what we love about living in Alaska and what we'll miss when we're gone. So, we have come up with our top 13 favorite things (couldn't narrow it down to just 10) about living here, and in no particular order, here they are:

13. Great views of the stars - not too many street lights to interfere up here!
12. Crazy street names! I think my favorite is: "Go Thatta Way" in Moose Creek.
11. Watching the northern lights - I know of a couple really great places to watch them, if anyone wants to know.
10. 24 hours (basically) of daylight in the summer -LOVE that!
9. Throwing boiling water into -40 degree air and watching it vaporize instantly. The first year Matt tried this he took a pot of boiling water outside and tried to flip the water out and up. Unfortunalty, the handle somehow caught on his coat sleeve and he ended up dumping the entire pot on his head! Luckily, in that short instance between leaving the pot boiling and landing on his head, most of it had vaporized and the water that hadn't was only luke warm. -40 is cool! (pun intended.)
8. Moose making frequent visits to our backyard (we even had one sleep under our bedroom window one night!)
7. Making up your own parking places in the winter.
6. Dipnetting! (Thank you Crandell family!)
5. Airplanes/airstrips literally in the backyards of some people!
4. Having a heated garage, auto start, etc., basically those things that are major luxory items everywhere else, but fairly common (dare I say necessary) here.
3. The tolerant/accepting nature of most people. Fashion - anything goes! Homes - nice/new mixed with the barely livable - sometimes on the same street, with everything else in between!
2. Our ward and friends we have made while up here. For me, this is huge! Friends are necessary, and up here, they have been abundant!
1. The PFD! Need I say anything about that?!

Brotherly Love!

Darren just adores his little brother. He always has, but really has just wanted to quickly hug & kiss the baby, and then be on his way.... that is until this last week or so! Now, he likes having the baby sit right next to him on the couch, hold the baby (even if he's crying), and feed the baby a bottle! He will pull Joseph's socks off and try to do "This Little Piggy" in order to get him to smile! If Darren's holding the baby, or sitting right next to him when he starts getting fussy, he will pat his stomach to try and get him to settle down (he can't reach his back). He is such a GREAT big brother! I hope they will always be buddies as they grow up together! (I know, I'm probably just dreaming!) All of these pictures were taken just within the last week, but all on different days! I love it!

Best Buddies!

I love the tenderness on Darren's face in this one - and their matching outfits!

Darren - What a goof!

Do you need to smile today?!

WARNING: The more you watch this very short video, the funnier it gets! Watch Darren's face!

Halloween Part 2

This year, for trick-or-treating, we went to a ward party where they had all the classrooms decorated by various people handing out candy. Anyway, at my favorite door (Darren's too) the person had made a dog house out of a big cardboard box, put a light inside the dog house (all the other lights were off), and the kids had to crawl inside to get their candy. It was very cute. When it was Darren's turn, he of course was eager to crawl inside, and when candy was thrown at him through a little window in the back, he said thank you, and threw it back! And he kept doing this for a couple of minutes. Everyone that could see what was going on was cracking up! It was pretty funny! Darren did eventually keep the candy and we had to pull him out so other kids could have a turn.

Every year for our costumes (starting last year!) we try to come up with a fun and creative theme for all of us. Last year Darren was Curious George, and I was the man in the yellow hat. This year, we went with another "hat" theme! Matt's costume doesn't really fit with the rest of us, but he still looks awesome!

The Cat in the Hat is in the house! Thing 2 has blue hair! Thing 1 is on the loose!

Yes, that's Darren's real hair!
Darren wouldn't stand up
Green plastic army figurine toy for protection!
Don't shoot the baby!!!