"I'm free, I'm free!"

Jack left the morning of my birthday for a 10 day training that started in Anchorage and ended in Unalakleet. Luckily two days after he left we joined him in Anchorage for 5 days. I took this picture flying away while screaming in my head, "I'm free, I'm free!" I'm not one for isolation. While living in Orem and then Provo I was adamant about living only a couple miles off the I-15 for quick access anywhere! Now I live a bush plane flight to another village/town and then a jet to Anchorage. Funny how things change.

The bright blue roof is the school.

It can be kind of drafty on these planes so all winter gear is left on.  We flew Bering Air instead of Ravn this time and the planes are much roomier and a bit quieter.  When we flew into the village for the first time I thought I would loose my hearing flying in these planes multiple times.

We had a layover in Nome of several hours so i made the kids go on a walk to kill some time.  It was chillier than I expected so we didn't make it far.  We found a frozen puddle to ice skate, then fall and get wet.  Which was followed by tears and dirty pants...

Jack was in trainings all day so we went exploring.  We drove to Eagle River where the 3rd largest National park in Alaska is.  We luckily found a short trail to hike.  It was about 10-15 degrees warmer in Anchorage than in the village, but I forgot how could it gets in the mountains!  The drive in was beautiful. 

Hotel time!  The kids looked forward to jumping on the beds and watching tv.

We had some late nights running around Anchorage shopping.  They got books from their pediatrician appointment and read while we waited for Jack to go in one last store before it closed.  The day before we left we went refrigerator and frozen food shopping.  I can get almost anything shipped free to me from amazon or walmart except for the frozen foods.  We had 80 pounds of cheese, meat, and tortillas that we split up between a cooler and suitcases.  The hotel was used to people visiting from the bush so they offer to take coolers to their freezer.  I wouldn't have even thought about something like this in the lower 48.

Ila got a new coat and it is her favorite color, pink!  Her brown fake fur coat wasn't cutting it without a hood and getting small. 

I was so looking forward to eating out while planning this trip.  Being the full time cook of the house is exhausting and not being able to supplement take out/eating out once in awhile is not cool.  The closest thing we have to eating out is school lunch!  A guy named Michael knocks on our door spontaneously to sell donuts, which I always buy.  So while we were there we ate sushi twice and the other chain restaurants that I love! 

Jack got new glasses and he looks so handsome!

Kids night at Texas Roadhouse!

 Enjoying an apple.  The last day I bought just one apple in the grocery store to eat in the car and that was the first time I've ever done that.  I usually get some chocolate, but with fruit not being in the village store often I miss it!

H20 Oasis reminded me of Seven Peaks.  Regular admission is over priced and the facility is a bit run down...we loved it!  They loved Captain Hook's boat and the other kids who were playing.  I wanted to do something that we couldn't do in our village and that was especially fun for the kids.

2 1/2 hours wasn't long enough for them!  Drying off before leaving.  This was a much needed trip for my sanity.  I loved wearing jewelry and lipstick again so I felt like me!  Roads were paved and our amazing friends loaned us their van to drive.  It gave me energy to return to the village and my simple life. 

Whale tasting and snow

One last whale photo!  It is still a little shocking to me. 

While observing the process Jack was given whale meat.  This is kind of a big deal I found out.  So here he is carrying it home!

Our fridge is stocked on every shelf with fish marinating to be smoked.  Jack caught a lot of salmon in August while at a district training and ended up freezing it all together because of lack of a better idea.  We ended up thawing it all out and smoking it!  It tastes great, but now I am tainted since I know the process.  You soak it in brown sugar and salt over night so it really isn't healthy fish anymore.  Oh well, at least it won't all go to waste.  By the fifth day of this process I was soooo sick of the smell and sight of fish.

I'm cooking up the whale meat to try.

We wanted the kids to get a taste and Ila had to think long and hard about it.  She's not very adventurous when it comes to food.  He was tasteless basically.

Zax is very expressive!

Jack is the wrestling coach!  He was only planning on coaching for the first two weeks to teach the other three coaches, but he loved it.  It has been a great outlet for him to get out of his office and he's good at it.

These two!  They are doing great out here, putting up with the cold and lots of together-ness. 

Snow!  This was the first snow that stuck at the end of September.

Finally my cute boots can be put to use.  Luckily the snow doesn't stick for long yet.

I got this jumper for Crew and he is slowly getting used to it.  He doesn't hold himself up well so when he gets that down I think he'll like it more.

Kindergarten is wiping Zax out!  He and Crew fell asleep before dinner.

Crew is a great baby and I am blessed to be able to stay home with him.  He is bald and has a big head just like Zax had.

Dad time!  Notice the baby on the ground.  Ila is obsessed with putting all her babies and stuffed animals to bed all over the house.  Sometimes she takes up all the seating and gets mad when I move them.