Our 37th Anniversary

Feb 14th was our 37th anniversary. I am writing about it on Dec 30th, because I kept thinking I'd find time to say something profound. However, THIS year turned out vastly different than we were expecting on Feb 14th and I never got around to sharing.  Our anniversary is on Valentine's Day. We rarely go out on Valentine's Day as we don't appreciate the crowds. This year we did something different.  We packed a picnic, removed the van's back seats and headed for the mountains. We choose to celebrate before or after the 14th.  We drove into the mountains on Feb 13th.  This left the 14th for church and cake with the kids. We actually broke our "eat out on Sunday" routine and ate at home to avoid the crowds. 

We timed it in time to arrive before the sunset. We found a great spot to back into so we could enjoy our food from the comfort of the warm van while we watched the sun set. Michael ventured outside longer than I to get photos of the scenery. 

I was content to watch Michael from the warm van

📷by Michael

📷by Michael

📷by Michael

Our town is the lights to the left of the mountain range
📷by Michael

📷by Michael

Thirty-seven years of doing life together.  Maybe that's as profound as it gets this year. ::snort:: 

On a side note, it was wonderful to have older kids stay with Grandpa so we could go out, this led to scheduling a few hours a week of respite care. 

Allie moved in Feb 15th. 

Training Millie to Ride Nicely

 It's time to train Millie to ride nicely in the car. When she was little she rode up front in Stacia's lap. We've been putting her in the back, and she climbs to the front. The last time I took her out alone she jumped up front...a bit of a driving distraction. Taking her along when I take Stacia to work is a good time to work on her riding manners. 

She did fairly well sitting on the floor behind my seat....until right as we turned off the highway....she tried to jump into my lap. I FIRMLY told her no and she laid down and then didn't even want to get out of the car when we got home. LOL 

We'll get there.  Note I cut the hair around her eyes so she can see again. LOL 

Friday is made for Fun and Fellowship

I begin my Fridays with a zoom focused on my wellness journey. This month we are discussing character traits needed to follow through on goals and commitments. Today we discussed resilience. I plan to come back to the notes and do some more research on the topic. 

Stacia has a cold. We decided it best to grab breakfast at a drive through and find a pretty place to park for our Bible study.  We hit the sunrise as we drove out of our area....we'll try about 30 minutes earlier next week and see if we can get more spectacular sunrise photos.  A word about the sunrise - for much of the year it happens "in the middle of the night" or very late in the day when one is busy with "life." This seems to be the perfect time of the year to catch sunrise and sunset photos.....

On our way to town we were stopped for moose crossing the "highway." It cracked us up to find two moose at the head of our driveway when we got home. 

We got home just as GG was getting up - so I took over the morning routine before I ran out to grab a blessed 90 minutes with a friend for tea at her house. This time with Brenda was an oasis in the middle of  "rush and responsibility."

Michael and Alex were waiting to go out for their lunch study when I arrived home again. 

Michael spent some time here today....it's nice to have the garage cleared out enough to get a truck into it for maintenance work. 

Stacia baked and froze cakes earlier in the week. She began frosted and decorated them today.

These roses are amazing...and the cake tastes good too. 

Michael and I met up with dear ones for a couple of hours in the afternoon and then we were home to end the week with WandaVision.....

Alex Turns 19

Alex turned 19 today. He's up most days and out of the house at 0440. For the most part, he enjoys his job at McDonalds. He has a great attitude and is usually happy to pitch in with jobs around here.  
 

The Christmas tree was up until March last year....really SHOULD ...

Stacia made him a small cake for "today" - we just can't wrap our hearts around a "monthly celebration"  - so we'll do a few. LOL 

Nolan asked for Enchiladas for his birthday. Alex asked for hamburgers. It was easier to grill for his birthday in TEXAS than it is in ALASKA....but Michael is a great dad - out there grilling in 16* weather. 

Moose 1 and Moose 2

Millie was out this morning and began barking her crazy, fuzzy head off. A little investigating revealed a moose across the yard from her. She was not happen we brought her in. 

 

And then there were two! I have been thinking it's getting light enough and warming up to 20's....maybe it's time to start walking outside again....but then I see all the moose the last week and I think maybe I will wait a bit longer. 

BTW we are gaining 5 min and 40 seconds of light EVERY day now. It's GREAT. It is dawn at 8:00....and the sun rose this a.m. at  8:47.  The sun set at 5:34; dusk until 6:20 p.m.  The sun was up 9 hours and 13 minutes today! Shoot I can plant soon. ::snort:: 

Olivia Turns 8

 I would be remiss not to mention Olivia turned 8 today! How fun it was to see her picture and think of her sweet smile....today would have been Mom's 80th birthday. 

Livie's first fishing pole - picture from Carrie

Josiah Turns 32

 Josiah turned 32 today! He is a property manager in Anchorage and also keeps busy with his rental in Eagle River and volunteering at his church.  He found Carrie and Livie this year - good things DO happen in a pandemic.

I absolutely love this photo and the gift Livie made for Josiah. 

 Thanks to Carrie for sending these photos out.  A fun fact is that Olivia's birthday is tomorrow!