Noah's Accomplishment

Photo via JaRissa

 WooHoo! Guess who has regained all of his birth weight?!?! Way to go!

Such a sweet little gentleman, it's already impossible to imagine the family before his arrival. 

Winter Snippets

 Snippets from the past couple of months - those little things I didn't have time to blog which added zest and sparkle to our days. 

Joelle makes the most amazing loaves of sourdough bread. She's agreed to teach me. I have baked sourdough bread before but it never looked this amazing. LOL 

The year began with power outages...this seems symbolic of starting the new year somehow. 

I set up a little winter hot chocolate bar for the girls and the kids that come through here. 

How fun to have such an exciting event to count down to in the winter! Noah, Jared and Larissa's baby boy will make his debut before January is over. 

The winter garden. Somehow, I'm not motivated to buy seeds...but I should. 

The sunrise...the sun sort of circles around the horizon. 

I'm enjoying the candles we made. They aren't very fragrant...I especially like the little teacups which will reveal fun surprises as the wax melts down.  AND we can refill them when we burn them down.

We weren't sure if our egg shortage was localized due to the supply chain or if it was national. It turns out it is national. My phone began to blow up on New Years Day with people wanting to buy eggs. This was a good nudge for me to contact a local market and ask if they would buy my extra eggs to sell. 

Yes, I'm a crazy chicken lady. I have started telling the girls who they are laying for. I went out on morning, and they'd only laid 3 eggs. I told them, "You have to do better than this. These eggs are for Hopey's birthday, and I need you to produce." They did. LOL  They are currently doing their patriotic duty and laying for the members who work at JBER since the commissary is out of eggs. LOL 

Allie is working hard on her college assignments. She will be halfway done with her AA when she finishes this semester. Nolan is doing the same (but I don't venture into his study habitat). Nolan is over halfway finished with his Bachelor's in Business Admin. 

Larissa and Noah - such a fun way to brighten winter! 

📷from JaRissa

There were FOUR moose in this spot as we drove out of our neighborhood. Nice of this one to pose for us. 

Freezer meals ready to send off to a new family. 

The boys love to play Hungry Dinos when they come to visit. 

Danny, Benny & Little Buddy 

We are looking to have the older Gherkins help with GG care from time to time. They came over Saturday to go over instructions so everyone would be ready to go as we need them. Little Buddy and Danny took reading over the instructions very seriously. Danny took pen in hand to make needed changes. LOL 

Can you believe its the end of January already???? WHUT is going ON? 

Noah Goes Home

I was happy to hear Larissa and Noah were going home today! 

 Aunt Carrie, Larissa and Noah, and Jared

Do you remember the surreal moment when you were alone in your car with your first child? I do. 

"What?"

"They are really going to let us go home with a tiny HUMAN!" 

The fur babies were happy to have Larissa home and were certainly willing to welcome Noah to the family. 

Is this not the cutest photo? 

Appointments

Annie had an appointment today! She was VERY excited about having an appointment.  It's always fun to see what is important to a child. She and Trudy had well-child visits.  She jauntily left for her appointment while Bella, Gideon and Josiah and I played with tunnels and tubes. 

We also had lunch, put together a puzzle or two and talked. 

Annie came home - still excited. She showed me her two Scooby Band-Aids on her thighs from shots. Nothing could faze her - she had her very own appointment. LOL   They gave me some sugar free candy and a gift card to my favorite coffee stand for my birthday. CoRille gave me a gift card to Michaels. CyRi brought out flowers and leaded chocolate. 

I ended the day at a local diner with five other ladies and one little lady. It's always nice to have the time to connect a bit deeper. 

Tuesdays with the Boys

I thoroughly enjoy my mornings with the boys. As soon as I walked in today, Danny (ginger on the right) grabbed my hand and pulled me to their room. BUNK BEDS!  What a great marketplace find! I didn't know they made low ones like this.  The little boys can't reach the top and Benny loves having a place of his own. 

I told the boys I am about to take down the Christmas cards and I need new artwork to hang above my windows. They got right to it. Coloring with the boys was the highlight of my day. 

I left their house and drove to the other side of Wasilla to volunteer with our food co-op.  Which - resulted in a yummy stir fry for dinner. We love Bachan's Japanese Barbecue sauce. If they sell it in your store, give it a try. 

And that is all I have for the day! LOL 

Oh, yes, today is my birthday and I'm edging ever closer to middle age. ::snort:: 

Birthday Pictures

No, they aren't of me....and they aren't of my birthday (which we will celebrate later) but they are darling pictures on my birthday. LOL 

Each day they are closer to going home...such a sweet family. 

Noah, Larissa & Jared 📷by Larissa 

All that lovely hair! It's blonde right after a bath and looks darker as it dries. 

📷by Larissa 

📷by Larissa 

📷by Larissa 

Allie Knocks it Out of the Park!

 I love this series of photos! 

Allie's second semester of college has begun. New classes with a heavier workload (or maybe it's just new subject matter), new profs...one is never really confident (or sure) what a new prof WANTS with the assignments.  Allie turned in her first response paper in Apologetics and waited, and waited, to see what the professor would say. 

Her phone dinged in the middle of family dinner. 

ACK! Her paper's been graded! 

I seem to be far more confident than Allie in her ability. 

Ninety-six percent!!! Impressive! 

Wait! There's more! 100% on GRAMMAR and SPELLING! All those papers covered with red ink in her Junior and Senior years paid off! I couldn't be prouder of Allie and Michael (the bestower of red ink).