Spruce Glacier/Water Taxi

(If you already saw the pictures on facebook this will probably be a repeat for you!)

Papa, Mama, Gini, Ben and Cori left yesterday. They got her last Saturday and were able to spend a week here. The week flew by! I had to work a few days while they were here…but Matt was off so he entertained them while I worked.

We went snowboarding/skiing on Monday (Papa and Mama went and sat in the lodge and provided us with hot chocolate breaks!). Gini and Ben both learned to snowboard and did great! But both of them switch back to skiing by mid day. It is hard to learn something new if you only get to ski once a year. And Cori skied. On our drive to Alyeska it was snowing really hard and the wind was blowing and we were afraid the weather was going to be too bad to ski…but literally as soon as we got to Alyeska it stopped snowing and within an hour or two the sun started shinning and it turned out to be a perfect day for skiing/boarding!

On Tuesday we pretty much just lounged around the house and watched movies and recovered from the day before. We were all pretty sore!

On Wednesday Matt took Gini and Ben back to Alyeska to ski/board again while I worked. That night on my way home from work there were 5 moose hanging out in the forest about 2 blocks from our house…so I called Matt and he, Mama, Ben and Cori all loaded up and got to see the moose! It was too dark to take pictures though.

On Thursday we got up early and drove 2 ½ hours South to Seward. There we got on a water taxi that took us about 8 miles across Resurrection bay to Thumb Cove to stay at the Spruce Glacier cabin (the only way to get to the cabin is by water taxi). It was a 16x16 cabin with no electricity or running water. It was very secluded. And after our arrival there we realized that no one had stayed in the cabin since November because the bridge leading to the cabin and the doorway to the cabin were completely covered/blocked by snow! The snow was so high on the bridge that while walking across the bridge we were level with the 4 foot railings on the bridge. And Matt, Ben and Papa had to use an axe to clear a path to get to the door of the cabin. As soon as we arrived we began gathering wood to burn in the wood stove to keep the cabin warm! After getting the cabin settled we went down to the beach. The guy who gave us the water taxi ride to the cabin said that there were sea otters that liked to hang around in this cove, so we were hoping to see one. But, we didn’t. We were surrounded by mountains, glaciers and water on every side. Porcupine glacier, Spoon Glacier and Spruce Glacier were three that were out there. The glaciers are kind of hard to see this time of year because they are so covered with snow…so I guess we’ll have to go back in the summer sometime to see them again! The water taxi driver also told us that you often see Beluga whales in Resurrection Bay as well…but we didn’t see any this time. On the boat ride home we saw dolphins, but that is really the only wild life we got to see on that trip. All in all it was a great trip! The wood stove kept the cabin plenty warm…slightly too warm at times, and the weather was perfect! We got to see some of God’s most amazing creation. It is so cool to constantly be looking around and wondering if the scenery is actually real or not! Here are a few pics from the cabin/water taxi experience:














It was so good to get to see part of my family. Until Matt and I moved here the furthest I had ever lived from my family was four hours. And, even living four hours from them I had at least two siblings living in the same town with me at all times. Until they came to see Matt and I this week, that was the longest I had ever gone without seeing my family. So, it was really great to see them! And, I can’t wait to get to see them (and the rest of my family) again in April when little baby Ott arrives (well, hopefully he arrives in time for me to meet him!).

Gabe's Visit to Anchorage

This last week Matt’s mom, Gabrielle, came to visit us! She was our first visitor (Gini will be the next in March!). It was so good to see her. Here is what we did.

We went hiking just outside of Eagle River north of Anchorage.

Matt and Gabe

An adorable little cabin that we ran across out in the woods. It is available to rent! It is heated by a wood burning stove. So, hopefully we will be able to take visitors out there for camping trips in the future!


Me and Gabe

Matt and Gabe again…so sweet.

While we were hiking we ran across this sign. Apparently we were hiking along an old Iditarod trail.

We saw this adorable little squirrel along the trail.


We went bowling on base.

Matt with his perfect form. :) He, of course, beat Gabe and I!



On Thursday we drove down south to Homer, Ak. It was so gorgeous. I am not just trying to convince people to come visit by saying this...Alaska really is the most beautiful place I have ever been! It is simply breathtaking!


We saw the volcano, Redoubt, across the bay from us. It’s the mountain in the middle, just behind the tree on the right, with the smoke/steam coming out the top. It is still rumbling and there have been some smal earthquakes…but no eruptions so far.







Me and my wonderful husband.

Spending the week having Gabe up here visiting it reminded me how very blessed I am. Not only do I have a wonderful family, but I now have a second family that is so welcoming and loving towards me! We had a great time this week and we cannot wait to have more visitors!!

Goldfish and Haircuts

This is a picture of Tyler. He wanted to hold all the birds for a picture so that it would look like he shot them all.

It's unexpected how when someone is gone you miss even the smallest things. Like your little brother stealing your goldfish. I remember we went to see “The Pursuit of Happyness” at the theater two days before Tyler died. We went to the grocery store before the movie and we all bought whatever snacks we wanted to have during the movie (yes…we snuck them into the movie). I got goldfish as my snack and Tyler was sitting to my left during the movie. Not even ten minutes into the movie Ty began stealing goldfish from me and I got annoyed with him. But he of course, within a few minutes he had me laughing and no longer annoyed with him. I remember it was so hard to stay mad or annoyed with him…even when he was really being annoying! I miss him stealing my food...he was always stealing someone's food.

Another random memory. When I was cutting Matthew's hair the other night it reminded me of the days when I used to cut Landon and Tyler's hair. I started cutting their hair when we lived in Kansas. So I was 15, Landon was 13, and Tyler was 11. Landon kept letting me cut his hair up through college...but Tyler, at about the age of 14 or 15 quit letting me cut his hair...because he started cutting his own. He loved to do things in his own unique way.

Alaskans view on "cold"...It pretty well puts "cold" into perspective (from their viewpoint)....

COLD IS A RELATIVE THING. . . .

1. 65 above zero: Floridians turn on the heat; People in Alaska plant gardens.

2. 60 above zero: Californians shiver uncontrollably; People in Alaska sunbathe.

3. 50 above zero: Italian & English cars won't start; People in Alaska drive with the windows down.

4. 40 above zero: Georgians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats; People in Alaska throw on a flannel shirt.

5. 35 above zero: New York landlords finally turn up the heat; People in Alaska have the last cookout before it gets cold.

6. 20 above Zero: People in Miami all die; Alaskans close the windows.

7. Zero: Californians fly away to Mexico; People in Alaska get out their winter coats.

8. 10 below zero: Hollywood disintegrates. The Girl Scouts in Alaska are selling cookies door to door.

9. 20 below zero: Washington DC runs out of hot air; People in Alaska let the dogs sleep indoors.

10. 30 below zero: Santa Claus buys a Lower-48 condo; Real Alaskans get upset because they can't start the Snowmobile.

11. 40 below zero : ALL atomic motion stops; People in Alaska start saying...'Cold nuff fer ya?'

12. 50 below zero: Hell freezes over; Alaska public schools will open 2 hours late

Scrabbling up Valentine's Day

I have to work this Saturday on Valentine's Day. So Matt and I celebrated this last Saturday. For our Valentine's date one of the things we did was play scrabble. It was really fun! And. Mom. You would be proud. Look how great our board was! It was very spread out and made it really fun.


We also went on a hike on some trails near our house. It was gorgeous. We got to walk on a frozen river. Even though the ice was about 10 inches thick and there were other people walking on it too....it was still scary to be walking on a river...but very cool too!




Matt also bought me a new wedding band. The ring that I have (my engagement ring/wedding band) does not have a band that goes with it. But Matt bought me a ring that is just a band that I can wear to work. Because with all the washing of hands and putting gloves on and off at work the diamonds on my ring get in the way sometimes. So, Matt surprised me with this new ring to wear to work!

Snowboarding

Matt and I got to go snowboarding at Alyeska today. The ski resort is only 27 miles from Anchorage. It is so fun to have a ski resort so close to our to our house. It means that we can wake up any Saturday morning and decide to go down to Alyeska and ski/snowboard for half a day! Since I now I access to a ski resort more than once a year I have decided to let Matt teach me to snowboard. I have been skiing since I was three! I love to ski! But it has been fun to learn something new too!

Me. About to attempt a black run!

Matt getting all geared up to brave the cold!

We saw two very unusual things on our drive to and from Alyeska. One we got a picture of...the other we didn't. On the way there we saw a moose crossing the road! On the way back we saw a guy driving down the road along the coastline, in his convertible, with the top down, and with a huge fur hat on. It was only 10 degrees outside. I don't know if the top was broken or if it is "normal" to see people with the top down in January in 10 degree weather driving down the coastline.

The beautiful scenery along the coastline as the sun was rising on our drive to Alyeska! It is so weird to see snow and ice covering the ocean!

One of the views from the ski trails.

Random Pictures

These next few are for Mama because she wanted to see our new bedding and the rest of the pics of the house:

Our new bedding for our bed that Walt and Janie got for us for our wedding!

The guest bedroom downstairs





It has been snowing outside on and off for about three days now. It is so beautiful outside! The other night we saw 4 moose walking down our street!! It was my first real moose sighting. I'd seen some before...but they were always far off. But there were right on our street...but it was snowing too hard to get a picture of them so none of them turned out. Hopefully one of these days I'll get a good picture of some moose!

We had some apples going bad the other day...so I made an apple pie. It was my first time to make the crust from scratch instead of buying it...it actually turned out really good!

Pizza on the Other Side

Last night Matt took me out to eat at a restaurant here in town called “Moose’s Tooth“. It is a local favorite. If you come to visit us we will definitely take you there! We order the Avalanche pizza that had chicken, bacon, pepperoni, provolone, cilantro, black olives, parsley and barbeque sauce on it. Matt and I are huge fans of pizza. On our first date we went to Oregano’s in Phoenix and had pizza and wings…since that night I think pizza and wings has become one of our favorite “eat out” meals. Anyway. This pizza tonight was the perfect blend of spiciness, barbeque and amazing pizza dough.

So I know it seems lame to have a blog about the pizza Matt and I had for dinner…but there is a point to it. As we ate, Matt asked me if I thought we would eat in heaven. So, we discussed what we thought heaven would be like for a while. I said that I used to think, when I was little, that being in a place where all we did was sit around and worship God would be boring and I just knew that there was no way that is what heaven would be like. I just knew that heaven would be hanging out with friends and family playing card games, basketball, forty-two, eating and watching college football. But now I could think of nothing better than to be in the presence of God and worship Him continually. What an amazing thing that would be. I still don’t know what heaven will be like, but I so look forward to being in the presence of my King. While we were talking about heaven I, of course, began thinking of Ty. And I began to wonder, what is Tyler doing now? What is heaven like for him? Is heaven going to be different for each of us based upon our own perceptions of things? Is it going to be a place where we recognize one another and know those that we knew and loved here on earth? Are we even going to care about those things, or are we going to be so consumed with worshiping God that everything else seems insignificant? Or, since God is a relational God and since the relationships we have with brothers and sisters in Christ now are so important to our relationship with God, are they still going to be something special in heaven? These were the questions that Matt and I discussed and wondered about as we ate dinner. We did not come to any conclusions. But I do know that I wish I knew what Ty was up to in heaven. I know that he is happier, more peaceful, and more joyful than he could ever be here on earth. And I know that it is only sweet bliss in every way for him. But I still wonder and want to know. It is strange that even though I do not want him to be sad or to have the burdens of this earth again, I do selfishly wish he were back here with me. I am sometimes so torn because I so desperately want to see him and want him to be here with me, but I also know that he is in such a better place than this earth that is full of only temporary and fleeting pleasures.

“Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes…..He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away.” -Revelation 7:16-17, 21:4

I love the Lord because he hears my voice, and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! Death wrapped its ropes around me; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: “Please, Lord, save me!” How kind the Lord is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours! The Lord protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and he saved me. Let my soul be at rest again, for the Lord has been good to me. He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. And so I walk in the Lord’s presence as I live here on earth! I believed in you, so I said, “I am deeply troubled, Lord.” What can I offer the Lord for all he has done for me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and praise the Lord’s name for saving me. I will keep my promises to the Lord
in the presence of all his people. The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die. O Lord, I am your servant; yes, I am your servant, born into your household; you have freed me from my chains. I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. -Psalms 116

I bet this is about what Tyler's expression was when he met Jesus in heaven. I bet he was rejoicing. I just love this picture of Ty. His laugh was amazing! I miss his laugh.

Crazy Weather/Cookouts

It is very interesting how the weather changes here. And, it is unusual how differently the public is affected by the weather. Since we have been living here we have probably had a dozen days where we accumulated at least 6 inches of snow. There was not a single one of those days where they closed the schools down for a “snow day”. For two weeks straight we had been having temperatures that had not reached more than -10 degrees. Then, on Wednesday the temperature reached 40 degrees and it was raining outside……and the schools were closed for the day. The school got closed for three days in a row because the temperatures were too warm. And with the combination of warm temps and rain the roads were rather icy. It was strange for schools to be closed due to warm temps and rain, rather then snow days. Quite different from the lower 48. When I was in school (which wasn’t very often since I home schooled a lot)…but when I was, even if it snowed only an inch or two we usually got a “snow day”. Schools would be closed way too often here if they closed down for an inch of snow!

It has been so fun living in a new place and learning how things are done differently in a city where the weather is extremely different from any other place I have ever lived! Yesterday while we were at Wal-Mart we overheard a guy say, "Man this weather feels just like summer. I can't believe it's so warm this time of year". It was 36 degrees outside.

With this warm weather we decided to have a cookout on our back patio. Matt grilled chicken...it was fun having a cookout in the cold weather...made us feel like true Alaskans.



The view from our patio just before the sun went down



Matt getting the grill ready...and keeping warm

Fear of Fading

Today is the 2 year anniversary of Tyler's death. Somehow it seems like it was just yesterday that we felt the tragedy of his death and I still feel so many of those same emotions today. And yet, it also seems like it has been a life time since I have gotten to see him.

As I have been working to get Matt and my new house all decorated and feeling like home I have been going through and trying to replace some of my old pictures with new ones. New ones from our wedding and from our lives together so far instead of just pictures of me and my life before we met. As I was doing that I began to look around the house and realized that if I replaced too many pictures with new ones that there would no longer be any pictures of Tyler around. I love pictures. I love taking them and love having them printed and finding the perfect frame for them and the perfect place in the house for them. But I don't want to replace the pictures of Ty. I don't want them to be lost somewhere in a box of other pictures. I don't want new people that I meet to never see pictures of him. I wish I could take more. I wish he were here for me to catch that great smile on camera. I wish he were here to jump in every picture just to make people laugh. I wish he were here to cover Cori's face and try to keep her out of all the pictures, just to tease her.

"How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? I call on your Lord for you will answer me. The Lord is my strong hold and my life--though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear...for in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling. I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." ~Psalms 13, 19, 27