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!!!

Halloween Part 1, and Random Cuteness

Monday night, as we were clearing the table from dinner and getting ready for family home evening (Matt and I hadn't yet said anything about FHE in front of Darren) Darren ran over to the door, and very clearly said, "See Jesus." I responded with, "You want to see Jesus?" He nodded with a great big smile on his face, so I picked him up and showed him a picture of Jesus we have hanging on the wall. Then Darren said "uck," (hug), and leaned forward trying to hug the picture. And then he said "isses," (kisses), and kissed Jesus. We then had to walk all through the house, so he could repeat the same thing for every picture of Jesus we have. What a great FHE lesson!

Earlier today, Darren was pretty adamant about wanting a sucker, and I told him not until after lunch. He, of course, did not like that response, and proceeded to throw a tantrum. So, I just calmly but firmly looked at him, and said, "Darren, do you need a time out?" (Just threatening at this point). To which he responded by running down the hall into his room, sat on his bed (the usual time out place) and pouted. He saw me watching him, so he got up, glared at me, and shut his bedroom door. He came out of his room on his own a couple minutes later, a whole new happy kid! Why can't every tantrum be this easy?!

In keeping with the good ol' halloween tradition, we carved pumpkins this week. Well, Matt and I carved, Darren decorated. Darren picked out all the facial features for his pumpkin. Here are the pictures. I will post pictures of our costumes later.

Trying to clean it out all by himself (We did have to help)

He chose the eyes, nose, mouth, etc. to use.
Putting in an ear

Proud of the finished product!

The finished product!

Amanda's, Darren's, Matt's

Matt's in panarama....

....Panarama continued

2 months old already!

Little baby Joseph turned 2 months old yesterday! He is growing so fast. He had his 2 month check up earlier today, and currently weighs 12 lbs. 14 oz., and is 24 1/4 inches long. He's grown almost 3 inches in 2 short months! He smiles and coos more and more every day and has already brought so much joy to our little family. Just this week, he has started to sleep for 8 hours straight at night. HOORAY!! My bed and I are getting reacquainted!

Joseph is already starting to develop his own little personality. He seems to really like his thumb, although we're trying to encourage a pacifier instead. He's also so good natured about his brother loving him too much and smothering him. When Joseph is awake, he is very alert and seems to soak in all the information he can get! I think he's going to be a thinker and observer. He's a pretty snugly baby and likes to be held all the time! I love snugly babies! So far, he seems to be a little more sensitive than Darren, and not quite as animated - though still pretty happy. I love having him in our home and part of our family. Here are some pictures taken yesterday and today - officially 2 months old!

I LOVE this smile! It's very contagious!

He's even happy when he's sleeping!

Darren was jealous that I was taking pictures of the baby, so I had to take a picture of him! He picked his props and his pose!

Brotherly love!

Happy boy!

Again!

Aeorbics - the FUN way!

As many of you know, one of Darren's favorite things to do is to run endless laps around the couch with either Matt or myself chasing him - usually with music playing and sometimes while throwing balls back and forth, and sometimes while adding a little hide and seek in there too.

Tonight he started throwing his balls at both Matt and I, and then trying to run away. This began one of the best nights ever! Matt and I simultaneously began chasing Darren around the couch, while throwing his balls right back at him! When Darren realized he was playing his little game with Mom and Dad at the same time, his little face just lit up and began laughing a great big belly laugh. We all continued running (literally) around the couch, throwing, catching, and dodging balls and pillows for the next half an hour! The whole time, Darren never stopped laughing, and Matt and I were having a great time too! When we finally quit, we were all dripping sweat (gross) and exhausted, but very content. With how hard and how long we were playing, Matt and I decided that it totally counts as an aerobic workout, only way more fun! Even if it doesn't really count, nothing beats seeing the joy on your child's face as he is obviously having a really GREAT time!