fallish/winterish weather!

Hey everyone!!  Well the weather has been weird, we have been waiting on snow!!!  We had an EARLY snow on September 15ish and just dustings ever since.  We are excited to get out and board, ski, snow machine (mobile), ice fish, etc! Here are a few photos from what we have been up to!

 We did some grouse hunting this fall!  This day our friend Jessica went with us!  No grouse, but a great hike w/ guns! :)

 Denali showing its beautiful self!

 GOOOOOOOOOOOOOORGEOUS view for Erin/my hike!

 Girls' hike! 

 We had a party at our house for one of our friend's from Adam's pharmacy.  We played beer pong and flippy cup in our dog room--- college style! :)  It was a great time!

 The result of playing beer pong and flippy--college style.................a man in a bright green singlet doing the worm in our living room.  (And NO, it's not Adam this time!)

 Our family Halloween costume!  Ronald McDonald, Hamburglar, and a ketchup bottle! :) :) :) SO MUCH FUN!  Tundra looooooooooooved the trick-or-treaters and tried to lick each and every one of them!  They loved his costume!

 I took the pups for a grouse hunt--- lovely morning for a hike, didn't drop any birds though!

 A crazy kayaker (banked on the right) in the freezing Eagle River...that is ice flowing!

 Tundy w/ a prized grouse!

 cuddle time in front of the fire!

 Tundra's new "Alaskan winter" collar.... it's getting dark so dang early!

 We were expecting way more snow than this at higher elevations-- we prepared w/ snowshoes and snowboards... BUT we had a nice hike up ship creek/arctic valley

 This is Miss Riley- the puppy we watched for our friends!  A-DORABLE!!

They are chewing on each end of the same bone!  :)  Best buddies now-- Tundra will be VERY sad when she goes home.  We might need to get him a puppy! ;)



Adam starts his new job at the hospital the Monday after Thanksgiving!  He is excited, yet nervous to leave his coworkers! 

We will have Thanksgiving w/ our "Alaska family" at our house-------- friends getting together whose families are in the lower 48 as well. 

I have been very busy at school this year leading the SEL team. (Social Emotional Learning)--- Anchorage school district is a leader for implementing this in the United States! :)  
"YOU HAVE TO REACH THEM TO TEACH THEM!!!"


Peace ya'll-------miss yooooooooooooooooooooooou!

more hiking, hunting, and northern lights!!

Went for a hike on a beautiful day in the fresh snow!!

 Happy dog!!! He loves the snow!

 Dogs-- a woman's best friend!

 They had a great time together!

 Gorgeous sunset-- what a view for those houses on top of the ridge!

 Northern lights from our back deck!!!

 Flowers from a girl in my class!! :)

 Tundra's first grouse!!  Adam took him out and he said Tundra did sooooooooooo well and was so proud of the birds! 

Proud pup!!!

September 15, 2012

 Adam and I hiked a few...7 miles lookin for ptarmigan-- no luck on birds but had a great day!

 The "historical" missle launch.... there was just an article on Anchorage Daily News about it-- check out adn.com for the article if interested.  (Dad and Brandon- this is was you see from teh highway that you have been interested in)

Symphony Lake (on right) and Eagle Lake (left)

 Jessica is a new pharmacist at ANMC- we hiked 6 miles in to Symphany Lake and out in 6 hours with a stop for fishing and lunch

 Tundra's new buddy

 The coyote we came across... check out the video of it below!

 My new toy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 We came across about 15 of these lil buggers down by the river!

 Eagle River and the valley from the mile hi hike

 Hiking with Danae and Tyler!!

 Adam and the cutest lil baby boy-- Opi!  Don't let Adam's face fool ya- he asked to hold him and loved it!

 A girl's night in August!  The picture tells it all!

 A girl's night in September---we survived Talkeetna!

 The pups in front of Denali!--- ya know...the big one on the right

 carrots were not successful in my garden this year.....our 5 year old neighbor boy laughed hysterically!

 The last of our lettuce... yum yum

 The neighbor boy helped me dig up these potatoes!  They are delicous!

 Tundra is the ultimate frog dog!

 Adam took the boat up to the glacier to attempt a goat hunt.....the river was low and he ended up coming back home with a dinged up boat! 

 beautiful day!

 Perfect day for viewing the glacier

Our happy pup with termination dust on the mountains behind him! here comes the snow! already!

This school year is off to a great start- much, much, muuuuuuuuuch better than last year! I only have 15 kiddos!  There are a few challenges, but nothing like last year.  I absolutely adore one little girl who has a degenerative disease that also affects her mobility and speech, but she is super smart and SO HAPPY!!  The rest of the class just loves her and jump at the chance to help her.  It has definitely been a learning experience and eye-opening......and of course sad.  But we are trying to make every day exciting for her with lots of love from our class and Government Hill staff!

As mentioned.. Adam attempted a goat hunt but turned back after a rough run up the river to the start of his hike.  Other than that he has been studying for a test coming up in October that will ....hmm- I don't remember why he is taking it.  I have heard why probably 50 times because Erin and other pharmacists have taken it before, but sometimes the pharmacy lingo just doesn't stick in my head.  If you're interested... ask him! :)

We had a huuuuuuuuuuuuge windstorm with winds up to 100mph that took out power and trees were down everywhere.  We didn't have any damage at our house and the power was only out 10 hours but some people had it out for 5+ days!  We are suppose to have another windstorm with similar strength tonight.  eeeek!  Wish us luck!

PEACE!!!!!!!!!!