Colony Christmas - De's Experience

I got home late Friday night, Alex needed a ride to work early  Saturday morning. It was the perfect time to slowly drive by the lights in our lovely town....I should have brought my "real camera," but this is fine for this year. I will remember to bring GLOVES and clothes next time...pj's got a bit cool. LOL

Downtown

 Our library 

Town's garden at Visitor Center

 This business puts up a great display each year. 

Ah - after 90 minutes of walking the streets - I was happy to see my favorite coffee shack open.....I grabbed a sugar free skinny chai latte and turned Marco Polo on to share the magic with a cousin and some sister friends.

Krista and Stacia wanted to go see how much we could get see downtown before the meet up for the Colony Christmas Float. Colony Christmas is an annual festival.  There is another one in the summer. Our years in Japan have created a love of annual festivals for some of us.  Jacque suggested the nativity display at the LDS church. Wow - it was gorgeous....it gave me a vision for what I could have done with Mom's nativity collection....I do have quite a few of hers and am excited to display more next year.

Via Krista's photos

The main room had a giant display in the center of various nativities, two tall trees decorated totally with nativity ornaments, a stage with live music, and various nativities displayed along the sides of the room. 

Krista enjoyed contrasting the differences between this selection and the display she visited in Springfield, Oregon with mom. There is a Russian/Slavic and Alaskan theme here that is missing in their part of Oregon. 

Nesting dolls of all sorts are popular in Alaska. I hadn't thought of a nativity nesting set. I'll have to keep my eyes open.  

On Whale baleen

At one of the craft shows we saw a nativity made inside of a birch hollow. I will keep my eyes open for that as well.

This set is amazing...all the figures are GRAINS OF RICE!!!!!

We followed up the display by stopping at two of the many craft shows in town for the festival.

Arielle was sick (fever etc) and Cory was working. We decided I would stay home with Benny.  Benny likes Baachan's Black Friday  toys.

I'm having a couple of teas in the next week....decided it may be nice to polish Gram's tea spoons.... LOL

 ...which led to Benny and me enjoying tea. I'm establishing this tradition in the next generation. I brewed a pot of Samover tea....and Benny enjoyed his sugar free chocolate chip cookie. They are the best I've made so far - but they are still dry. I'm going to try again with more butter or something.

I had a fun day. I was disappointed to miss the Colony Christmas parade....the float has been a big deal around here - especially the last few weeks.

HOWEVER - sharing tea with just Benny was priceless.

I'm working on a post from Michael and the other's point of view. LOL

Alive Alaska Update

Friday nights used to mean pizza and movies. For Stacia and I it now means playtime with Bella and Gideon! LOL  The Queen of Sprinkles strikes again.

This seems like a good spot for an update on Alive Alaska.  Alive Alaska is a Christ-centered, recovery-focused church which welcomes all in and out of recovery, their loved ones, and anyone looking for Christ's love every Friday night.

They meet at 591 S. Knick Goose Bay Road in Wasilla every Friday night at 7p.m. Each evening begins with a community dinner and service kicks off at 8 p.m. There IS Children's ministry - run by BreAnne and Brittany.

Brittany and Bre - Photo via Alice Alaska FB 

Izaak, Bre and team planned for soft Launch in November with a "hard launch" on Good Friday 2020.  The thing is - this thing LAUNCHED with a big, unexpected boom. God obviously is using them to meet a need in the Valley. They had 80 people the first two weeks. 80 people. Think about that. The next three weeks attendance hovered at 100. 100 people...coming to celebrate Jesus and community on the recovery journey.  How humbling and exhilarating for BreZaak to be used to meet this need...that spot where their passion and the world's need intersect - calling; magic.

Bre - Strong. Courgeous. Gherkin shirt from 2015
Photo via Alive Alaska FB

Photo via Alive Alaska FB - Izaak on right

Tonight - 130 people in attendance; 21 children. Two more volunteers for children's ministry - volunteers are  a sure sign of health. They ran out of chairs. ::snort::  Brokenness gathered in Christ-centered worship, for His glory alone....magic!

The Return of the Moose!

It took a minute for me to comprehend what I was seeing. It is not one, but three, moose in the yard.

They returned! We've not seen any moose for about a month. At that point it was Rosie (of the USFW collar) and her baby..... Today, there were 3 new ones....

My greenhouse (a  gift of 2018) is a casualty of the recent wind storms.  When Michael is done with float fixin.....I am sure we'll recover what can be used and come up with a plan for next springs greenhouse. It was still standing after the first storm and I wasn't sure how to remove the panels. Removing panels will be fairly straight-forward after the 2nd wind storm.  I had stored summer toys and such in it....it's an unsightly mess at this point. The moose did enjoy exploring the pile.  Note the walls are now over in the garden...that is NOT where the greenhouse was set up.

The greenhouse in happier days....it's a tad bit disheartening. 

Look at all the brown! If it's going to be cold and dark - I want snow. Snow brightens up the landscape.... Without snow, we are getting lots of rain and ice. It is not the norm to have green weeds in the garden this time of year....

The chairs hold a tarp over the fire ring - ready for winter fire/hot chocolate
- for when we're SLEDDING....and snow shoeing....

 Ah - we are not simply a moose refuge...there's an aura of wildness marking our yard.   They simply follow the dancing lights to our garden! ::snort:: Mystery solved. 

And so....this is the second lasagna bed. It was piled tall in the fall, and is "cooking down." We are putting our winter compost here....the moose are loving it. ::sigh::

Do you think they REMEMBER the fence being electrified earlier in the year?

They romped around in the garden, by the greenhouse, with Road Runner - our escapee hen. Phoenix flew out and took care of the overly curious moose who was pawing at Road Runner... Good boy. The moose eventually settled down to our backyard buffet - aka the compost bin. The chickens and I were on the near side of the fence. This is as close as I've gotten to moose - and I won't be getting this close again....unless they continue to materialize on the other side of the chicken yard.

Memorial Ice Cream

Two years since Mom unexpectedly went home to be with the God she loved and served her whole life.  The memories have been  pretty consistent since Nov 17th - Michael's birthday and Mom and Dad's anniversary. One just never knows. Mom was declared cancer-free just 6 weeks before she died. I am much more mindful of "time" and being fully present since this passing.

I DO find myself sad, remembering...and yet, "feeling Christmas" much more than I have the past two years, which tells me the whole "time heals" thing is kicking into this phase of grieving. Mom LOVED Christmas. She planned for it all year.  She had at least 200  nativities....bought gifts and KEPT THEM HIDDEN all year....and so I find myself remembering as I decorate, putting in a bit more effort than is my norm, because they are sweet memories...and she feels closer at Christmas.

We had Life Group tonight. We didn't want to cancel, but we wanted to do something to mark the day. Mom LOVED Dairy Queen, ice cream, sugar just a bit less than Christmas. ::snort::  When Michael and I suggested an early dinner at Dairy Queen, followed by memorial ice cream, Dad got a sweet smile on his face, and laughed.

This isn't the healthiest way for diabetic to remember Mom - but it's fitting....and it's once a year. I had a mini-blizzard and made note to schedule next year's A1C on Dec 10th rather than the 19th. LOL

Cheers, Mom. We miss you - but can barely imagine how much you are enjoying your Christmas this year. 

How odd is THIS egg? One of the girls laid a rose-shaped egg. 

This is one DANGEROUS farm! Dinosaurs on the roof...all the barn animals are lying on their sides. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in Benny's mind. Arielle continues to be pretty sick....it is a blessing we are able to so easily watch Benny for them as Cory works.  The week has gotten away from Stacia and I, but she won't mind the pay from the past week. $13 an hour to watch two kids....good spending money for her.

The Week So Far

It was a quiet Sunday in the nursery. Michael, Stacia and I were happy to play with the sweeties at a ratio of 1:1. LOL 

Michael has been working on the logistics of creating a float for Colony Christmas. Krista has been working on manning the float....a bit of candy is coming in, people have been volunteered, and after church costumes were selected. 

Backs purposefully chosen....as I didn't get permission to use the photo of minors

 Josiah stopped by to pick up a costume after which we headed for lunch and home. Jamin took advantage of the cute puppies to attempt cute footage for his business channel.

Puppies aren't supposed to be upstairs, but Benny has taught them to climb the stairs....who can resist a cute puppy?

A good gal friend and I were able to fit in one more "coffee date" before Christmas. Michael drove me and took my van to get the tire repaired. Her husband brought her and ran errands....the bottom line being we even snatched time for all 4 of us to visit. Win win.  OH! Two screws found in my tire. I have no idea where they came from.

Two things of note have happened to change this week's plans. We had another windstorm - which brought with it warmer temps. Our snow is gone again....with the exception of this little start of the sled hill. It's beginning to look like a BROWN CHRISTMAS. We are set to have the warmest winter on record....evidently the 51* in Anchorage is the warmest day EVER on record for this time of the year. Odd year.

The other thing of note is some silly bug in the basement....Benny woke with a fever on Monday and Arielle came down with it Tuesday. My theory is it hasn't gotten cold enough to KILL THE GERMS.

When Arielle is sick, Stacia gets to go be a nanny in her place. The spot is 30 min from my home....that takes 2 hours out of the day to drive her there and pick her up. It IS a beautiful drive. She enjoys the time and $.

Look who made it up the stairs again? 

Michael and I decided to leave the table as it was at the tea. We don't usually need 8 seats at the table, and it may be easier to put the tables up for extended family with the table oriented this way. We'll live with it a bit and see what we think.

Michael entertained us with Advent wreath tricks after dinner. From Facebook comments I discovered this is a common Advent trick for Dads everywhere. LOL  Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't like the length of the video....which may be another vote for actually starting the YouTube channel again.....in my spare time. 

Tuesday dawned bright, warm, and windless. Carl and Michael took the panel outside to spray paint it....

Earlier, I drove Stacia up beyond Norman St.....Arielle sent a text as I drove, "Be careful. Miranda's area is extremely icy." 

Hmmm....it wasn't too bad - or so I believed. I pulled up behind that little car and slid back down...twice.

 
The roads were pretty good except for the 1 1/2 miles of gravel road ....off  Norman....sheer ice.... I made it to drop Stacia off.....and then I had to go BACK to the main road - UP a sheer icy incline. I learned the van has all sorts of bells and whistles to let one know they are sliding. I pondered WHY car manufacturers would believe one needs the DISTRACTION of those bells and whistles whilst sliding.  I made it. By the time I got to the "main road" - which is really two or three streets from the Glenn Hwy - which is THE MAIN ROAD -  I was all prayed up and had discovered myself to be quite demonstrative in prayer when  properly motivated.

Michael drove out to pick Stacia up and I took these photos. He agreed it was bad...but pointed out they had put a gravel strip all the way down the shoulder and even if I did start to slide off the road, it would have stopped the van. Or so he believes.....I didn't notice it.

Bre had invited the girls and I to a White Christmas tea. We would watch the movie and enjoy some refreshment....Arielle was sick - we skipped the movie, I grabbed Dad, and we met at Bre's for tea and goodies.

I made some sugar free cookies - which were good. I tried some peanut butter/cream cheese truffles that I'm not so sure about. I'll dip them in the sugar free chocolate before making a final decision. I suspect they are keto fat bombs as they are very fatty and not so sweet. LOL  Anyway - I had a couple of sugar options for Dad and I. He does not avail himself of the sugar free options - though other family members DO like the cookies so all is not lost.

Sugar coma? No, Gideon does this at every meal. 

I got home and found the trailer inside the garage (a feat in itself) and Michael assembling pieces....the wind put us a day behind schedule so no lights yet....

We were all VERY tired after dinner and went right to bed. LOL  Early this a.m. we heard that Miranda's little one is throwing up....so Stacia doesn't have to work today. She is happy. I am happy. We're all happy!  Just a normal Wednesday.....

I had planned to have some moms with preschool kids over to decorate sugar cookies, but this close to Christmas with this bug running through the house, caused a change in plans. 

I suddenly realized it's the 11th of December - so I guess I'll pay bills instead. LOL I don't know why a new month always sneaks up on me.