TWO BULL MOOSE IN THE YARD or the View From My Kitchen Window

 Some days I LOVE the view from my kitchen window!  Is that a moose I see? Why, yes! I do believe it is. The moose have stayed up on the mountain as we've had a comparatively warm winter. It is just getting cold enough that they are showing up in our yard....

This guy STAYED all day long. Cars lined up on our normally quiet road as folks stopped to get photos....We all enjoyed watching the moose too....well, Danny is not sure the moose is worth all the fuss. 

Millie didn't take her eye off the bull all day. 

I finally decided this was a golden moose opportunity and I got closer for some shots. He was very willing to pose. 

He eventually moved over to the swing set.  We're happy to share. 

WHAT? A second bull moose in the yard. This is unusual and could get interesting....

Yep - it got interesting....

Finally, we are left with nothing but photos, prints and poop. 

The bulls turned this long, lazy winter day into a fun day of wildlife viewing. 

Using the Gym Passes

Krista has 2 free gym passes a month. She needed to use them before February arrives. We love it when she invites CoRielle to go to the gym, and we all are able to join them. Josiah and Carrie called to see what we were planning for the day. They joined us with Livie, too!  The boys were working. Michael stayed home with Dad. He doesn't really like swimming in public pools and someone needs to be with Dad. 

We made lots of fun memories, I didn't get photos as my phone isn't waterproof.  Here are mental snapshots I took:

• Livie going down her first water slide with Josiah. She's becoming quite the fish. 
• Benny going down the waterslide with Auntie CoCo - before his parents alerted us that he doesn't like his face in the water. 
• Josiah and Cory talking in the big pool - while juggling Benny and Livie. 
• Visiting with Carrie and Arielle in the Kiddy Pool. 
• Benny gleefully shooting me with the water gun. 
• ALL of us sitting in the hot tub.
• Benny walking out to the lobby in Cory's shorts - someone took his clothes. 
• Benny loves me to the moon, back to the earth, up the stars, and then the ANGELS! That's a whole lotta love.  

Danny isn't 100% in love with the whole pool experience...and yes, I DO look that tired these days. 

Me with Danny, Arielle in the foreground
Photo via Carrie's phone

After the gym the Eagle River contingent headed home, CoRielle went on to new adventures and we came home for dinner....it was the perfect time to give Alex a special bit of mail..... Alex graduated last spring. The ceremony was cancelled and he has chosen not to do an alternative...but he HAS his diploma from the Galena School District! 

Well done! 

A Perfect Friday - Rude Christians?

 Another perfect Friday....it began with the moon as Stacia and I  left the driveway....the time is coming when we won't see the moon for months. LOL 

Our day continued as we discussed the gospel of John over fantastic omelets at Sunrise Grill. 

Whilst we ate we couldn't HELP but HEAR the conversation of two gentlemen several tables away. The main speaker has written a book, or two,  he wanted to share, he loudly condemned compromising churches (including several local churches by name), it became apparent which church he attends (and he doesn't think they've got it "right" either),  he wasn't a fan of President Biden and didn't seem a fan of President Trump either, he used a racial slur that nearly sent Stacia from her seat to his face, but he left...before we said anything but certainly not before the whole place was given a false view of the Jesus we serve.  It saddened us and led to introspection. Jesus help us be aware of the impression we give others of you. May we not misrepresent  you.  And as we've contemplated Pilate I've wondered if I would have the courage to stand up to an angry mob...I certainly need to work on my responses to situations like this...not sure what it all means at this point...but I do think it grieved the Holy Spirit for this to be the representation of Jesus that morning. 

The waiter DID come over and say we were welcome to stay all day and study if we'd like...so maybe they saw the contrast in how we approach our faith?

Arielle and the boys surprised us with a visit. I don't take the joy of having children close enough to stop by for granted! Millie actually was calm enough to stay in the same room with Benny. 

Papa got a smile from Danny. 

Winter Freezer

 I scored a sale on blueberries. I expected them this fall, but they didn't arrive up here this year.  I had just had to buy my first blueberries in a year. 

I was happy to buy these and freeze them. Gotta LOVE our outside winter freezer. When it's 1* outside it doesn't take long to flash freeze things.  12 quarts of berries are in the freezer ready for yummy treats. 

Michael Rocks

 When Acorn sent a man out to install the chair lift - they didn't listen to what we said. They put it in...but they didn't let us remove the railing going downstairs and so the chair is out much further than we were told it would be...and THEN...the man just stapled the extension cords on our walls. I should have taken photos and sent them to Acorn.  We had a box screwed into this wall and 2 extension cords stapled on the wall. Downstairs we have the same. 

Michael removed the baseboard, hid the cord, made a groove for the cord....and look....no more cord stapled to the wall. LOL  I told him he should moonlight fixing chair lift installations. 

Our Lap Dog

Millie is 8 months old, but she still believes she is a lap dog. She can be so aggressive, but she is also the most snuggly dog we've ever had. Of course, she's the first puppy we've had. Maybe they grow out of snuggling?  In any event, we love Millie cuddles.  

She will not be ignored. 

 

All Things Dad LOL

This town we call home is beautiful. It shines especially bright at 5 on a winter morning. 

Michael had an appointment in Anchorage at 1 p.m. Dad had an appointment in Wasilla at 2 p.m. Those who know Alaska know THIS wasn't going to allow me to be at both appointments. Michael left at 11:30.  

Dad and I picked Alex up at work on our way to his primary care appointment.  This was a huge help as I didn't have to lift the chair in or out of the back of the van. My shoulder has been tweaked. Alex stayed in the car and took a warm nap while we went inside. I really like this NP. He is caring and thorough and his philosophy of care seems to line up with ours. We left the appointment with encouragement, a referral to a specialist, and a plan for dealing with sleepless nights.   I opted to keep doing what we are doing for as long as we can...and that includes a healthy dose of prayer for peaceful nights for dad. To use drugs they often use in situations like the one we are experiencing would require a big shake up in meds and we'd all rather avoid anything "new." 

Dad's blood sugars are STILL doing well...and we opted to lower his metformin by 1/3  this time rather than lowering his insulin  a bit more. Nathan told me if I EVER have craziness, as we did this month, with a med to call him personally - and I will.  

Dad used to love Nathan. He's been rude and surly the last 3 or 4 visits as he blames him for taking his license. To be honest, *I* am the one who had the talk with him when the evaluation results came back. His doctor in OR put a big note in his records that his driving needed to be evaluated. Nathan had little to do with it, other than following through.  It doesn't matter; Dad has been mad at Nathan.... Today he looked at Nathan and said, "You know, the hardest thing I've ever had to face (and I've had a lot of hard things) was losing my license."   ::sigh::  

Nathan was so good. He reached over, got down so dad could see his eyes, and said, "Harlan, I know that was terribly hard to lose. I'm sorry." 

Dad said he was mad at all "4 of them" who took his license, but he sees it wasn't Nathan's fault and he's a "good boy from Wyoming."  Shew....

After the appointment dad wanted to celebrate his good blood sugar numbers by having a piece of pie at Sunrise. Whatever!  I know he is eating sugar free at home and I know he isn't going out to eat every day - I turn a blind eye to the shenanigans when we do go out. ::snort:: 

By the time we got home it was too late for me to make the chowder I had planned. We opted to make Wed night our pizza night. We got everyone where we needed to  be on time for the evening.  I probably need to take Nolan's suggestion and make Wed night our pizza night rather than Friday night. 

One of Dad's therapists recommended we get a "day at a time" calendar to help him with days, dates etc. I found this one  and it's a hoot. Every day Dad has to figure out what is wrong with the picture....so we get to laugh, we engage powers of observation, and there are history facts on the back. This is tomorrows - he ripped 2 off today - whatever. LOL The year may go really quick around our house.