Monday, February 02, 2026

Watching Josi

 I have really missed Carrie and the girls during their travels. I was thrilled to have another day to spend with Josi. Melia joined us. This was good as she was able to have her first conversation with Liv. All in all a good day with the girls. 

Starting the day with a good breakfast! 


Willow LOVES Melia! 

School on the road! 

After nap time - waking up is tough. 

Playing with Smokey

Such a good girl - cleaning up is fun! 

Josi & Willow like helping Melia

I am glad we got a couple of days in right away...the gals will be traveling again in February and I don't think we'll be watching Josi again until March. 





Sunday, February 01, 2026

Sunday Afternoons...

Sunday afternoons are for relaxing. 

If the week has gone well and Stacia's homework load allows it she comes up to breathe Sunday afternoon. She and Melia have begun trying to get out to cross-country ski if the weather permits. 


 They went to Government Peak today. This is a harder trail than the local park. Melia fell much more, but she's a good sport. (Editor's note: She's stuck with it and is starting to enjoy it as much as Stacia.)





We were happy when Nolan stopped by in the evening. We tried to save a building, and I think we ended up losing the fight, but we had fun doing it together. ::snort:: 
Nolan, Stacia, Melia, Michael




Saturday, January 31, 2026

Random January Tidbits

 I KNOW I had great plans of blogging while Melia did school. Life got busy and I found myself sitting nearby while Melia schools but working on our bills, Dad's re-application for the Medicaid waiver, cleaning, Dad's bills...

I am working diligently to finish capturing January before March arrives.  Here are all the wonderful glimpses I might have blogged if I was blogging daily. They are just too good to go totally unnoticed. 

Random glimpses and tidbits from January....Noah is learning to ski (so is Melia). 

Noah - 3 yo (nearly)

Attitude! I love it! 


Meanwhile Luke has been finding sharks and such on his deep dives. I can't imagine! 



Krista continues to build monster "Lego" mouses. 

You will see various shots of Carrie and the girls throughout the month. They chose to abscond to warmer areas...FL and then a cruise - they were traveling from Dec - Jan 20th.  I have realized this is the first year in 3 or 4 that January include a trip to visit Sister Friends in OR. I miss breaking up the winter and will need to check into that next year. 

Josi flying like a pro

Melia has brought Korean dramas to our home. It's really pretty fun to sit with popcorn on a winter afternoon and try to read the English subtitles before they move on.  I wonder if we can find some Japanese dramas to watch...that will help us both with our Japanese and could be considered school. 

Luke on the bottom of the bay again

Allie's favorite spot when she's home. 
We miss you sweet girl! 

Liv's favorite on board hang out! 



THIS was a welcome sight! I lost my wallet...and there it was in the driveway! 

While Allie was home we made a stop at our local Emergency Room. Peace of Mind is PRICELESS, and we don't regret it one bit. It did re-surface memories of another visit. 



Meanwhile - off ship - we enjoy winter. 

Such a big personality - Josi - nearly 2 



Jared - our favorite Anchorage Assemblyman



It's sunset season - soon the sun won't be setting at decent hours. 

Josi's first dentist visit

I have gotten so many phone calls from Noah that I have entered Jared's office phone number as "Noah's work phone." Jared says he walks in, goes immediately to the phone and calls Bachan. 
Bachan's phone buddy! 

Allie & Ashton

Jamin (the realtor and not Jared the assemblyman) has arrived in Florida. He has set up a new apartment and office.  It is pure joy to see him happy in the sun! We miss him. 

This tropically raised girl misses the ocean, too! 


January held visits from adult Gherkins, Melia moving in, Jamin moving away...lots of planned events and a few unplanned. It was a great month. 



Friday, January 30, 2026

The Girls are Home

Carrie and the girls are home!!!! 

I was excited to drive in to wake up Livie and spend the day with Josi. Melia chose to bring her schoolwork with her and come along. We left our home at 6:30 so we could arrive before Josi woke up. 

Melia caught a few more minutes of sleep while I got Josi a breakfast...I think this little girl has grown a foot since I saw her. Seriously, she probably hasn't grown a whole lot, but her personality is growing by leaps and bounds! 

While Melia worked on school, Josi and I caught up on our play time. She's busy all the time these days. 



Sometime in here Josi talked us into spending a bit of time with Miss Rachel. 

Smokey was a bit alarmed with all the activity in the house, but I think he's glad to have his people home. 
We are glad the girls had a great holiday season; we are THRILLED they are HOME!!!

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Comedy Dinner

 Tonight, Melia, Stacia and I went to a Comedy Dinner hosted by Alaska Bible College. We had a great time. Dinner was yummy, the teaching degree was showcased, we got to see JoAnn and Sheri, but the highlight of the night was the comedian - Jaron Myers. 

Melia, Me, Stacia

Jaron was fun! Clean humor!  It was a win for both the college and us. LOL