We had a great Christmas party with friends Saturday night. Jonathan made a prime rib roast and we had so much delicious food.

 

 

I made yeast rolls in the morning and Daphne kept sitting by the table and whining before they were reheated for dinner. I had to snap a quick picture before she realized she was caught.

 

 

Some people dressed in their tackiest Christmas attire so we got into the fun.

 

 

 

 

Let it SNOW!!!

We wanted snow and we got 12"-14" Friday-Sunday. It's finally starting to look like winter up here! With the daylight limited this time of year we haven't gotten out for pictures but I did get a few today in the yard while the sun was starting to set (at 3:30pm).

We had a wonderful time in Oklahoma. It was an exhausting 10 days but we couldn't be more blessed to have seen our families and spend time together. Sorry we left all the cold in Oklahoma. It's been warmer in Alaska lately than in Oklahoma....I guess everyone should come to Alaska for Christmas!! :)

 

 

 

Christmas is in full swing for us! We had our first Christmas party on Friday with Conoco.

 

 

We've got quite a few Christmas parties this weekend and next. It's a fun and busy time of year!!

We finished getting the house decorated this past week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful sunset Sunday night at the Knik River.

It's been a beautiful weekend!!

Friday we saw the northern lights were out and it was a cloudless sky!! We stayed in Eagle River so there were some city lights but we still had a good show.

 

We finally got some snow Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful morning today!!

 

 

Viewing may cause drooling....

We love our game day food. Today Jonathan decided to smoke a brisket for the first time. It turned out really good!!

 

 

The weather is cooling down and the days are getting shorter. We had the first snow of the season about a week ago. It came and went quickly but it showed us how close winter is. The snow on the mountains surrounding us is getting closer and closer. With the cooler weather comes the gorgeous colors of fall. I haven't had a chance to drive out with the camera but I took some pictures from the car on my drive to Wasilla the other day. If you want to have a visit to Alaska and don't mind packing warmer clothes this is the time to visit. It so beautiful right now!!!

View from Mt. Baldy trailhead in Eagle River today.

We've been missing the New Mexico chili's lately. Jonathan decided to make some enchilada sauce from some dried New Mexico red chili's we found at the store. We had to add a fried egg on top to make it extra special!

 

Delicious!!

 

 

Labor Day we went the AK State Fair for a Phillip Phillips concert. He's one of my favorite artists right now so I was really happy to see him. The rain came as predicted but we were prepared and stayed dry and had a fun time!

 

It was a beautiful, cool, cloudy, rainy day!

 

 

View of the Moose Flats south of Palmer on the Glenn Hwy.

 

 

We had to get a funnel cake before leaving the fair!

 

 

 

Yum!!

Jonathan had the brilliant idea for Indian tacos yesterday. They were delicious!

Frying up some of the bread.

Enough chunky guacamole just for me.

The master at work building his gigantic indian taco.

His masterpiece, almost needing a bigger plate.

I can tell by my last post with snow still on the ground outside that its been a LONG time since my last post. I blame all the sunlight and trying to do as much as possible during the summer. Now that IT'S FALL in Alaska  and the leaves are starting to change 10 minutes north of us at Eklutna Lake we're slowing down and starting to take it easy. I'll hit the high points of our summer and hope it's not too boring! :)

In May we took a day trip about an hour Northeast of Palmer, AK to Matanuska glacier. It was a fun time walking and climbing on the glacier until I got freaked out the further we went and the creakier it sounded below my feet. Jonathan first went to Matanuska in September right after we moved. The glacier looked different this time already. It's amazing to see how much and how frequently the change. This fact makes it hard to take before and after pictures like we would have liked to take. The path and distance it takes to get to the glacier is also every changing. It was a very cloudy, gray day so the color and definition of the glacier were hard to capture with the camera.

One of my good friends and boss from Farmington came and visited with her family in May. We were able to spend a lot of time showing them around even though many places were still snow covered.

Jonathan got to do his first hike in late May with a group of his co-workers that do a weekly hike around the area. He really enjoyed it but I'm glad I decided to stay home after hearing that it was very steep! If Jonathan thought it was steep I wouldn't have made it. :)

We decided to make our first big toy purchase and found and RV we liked. We love it!! I love getting to a campground and already being set-up. No going back to tents for me!! :)

I made my first visit back to Farmington in June. It was a good trip and glad I made it while the weather was still so-so in Alaska.

After I returned we made out first trip in the RV to Denali for my birthday weekend. It was an amazing weather weekend. Perfectly clear and pretty warm. (Little did we know the heat was going to stick around for a while). We soon realized that the Denali park isn't like any other national park. There isn't much you can see or do at the park. The south viewpoint is beautiful and we felt extremely lucky to have such a beautiful day. After realizing there's not much to do we decided to drive to Fairbanks since it was just an hour and a half from out RV park. We soon realized there's not much to do in Fairbanks. We grabbed some gas and an ice cream cone and headed back to the RV. It was so hot (80) and the mosquitos (AK's unofficial state bird) were so aggressive and everywhere that we stayed in the camper and didn't even feel like a campfire. It was a fun trip and a great way to break in a camper.

 

 

We reached record heat this summer in Alaska. 75-85 degree days are not welcome with 24/7 sun and no A/C!! For about 3 weeks we had no relief from the heat but it started staying in the 70s after that.

 

Later in June we had our first visitors from Oklahoma!

 

Denali south viewpoint before McKinley's peaked through the clouds.

 

We had a good time keeping them very busy! :) We did lots of things and saw a lot.

 

 

Beluga Point watching the tide come in.

 

Foxglove bloom from the botanical gardens

Hatcher's Pass

View from Hatcher's Pass

In Seward, AK before our wildlife cruise.

 

Orca (Killer) Whale from the wildlife cruise in Seward.

Gray Whale fluke from the wildlife cruise in Seward.

 

 A few days later we had more visitors! After a week of cloudy, gray weather we got some really nice days.

 







 

 

Hatcher's Pass

 

 

Lake at the top of Hatcher's Pass. The road from Hatcher's Pass to Willow, AK was finally opened. We found this lake at the beginning of the road.

Virgin Creek trail in Girdwood, AK

Wildlife refuge in Girdwood, AK 

 

We took the train to Seward, AK for a wildlife cruise.

 

 

Ready for the wildlife cruise and prime rib, salmon and crab leg buffet on Fox Island in Seward, AK.

A puffin in the rocks in Resurrection Bay on our wildlife cruise.

We were extremely lucky and had a gray whale breech very close to the boat. This is right as its mouth closed with a big gulp of water.

Beautiful views from the train to and from Seward.

Jonathan's friend took the guys out fishing in Seward. They had a nice catch and came home with halibut, silver salmon, and rockfish. A beautiful day on the water and the water was like glass just out of Resurrection Bay.

 

 

Finally we make a trip to Denali. The top of Mt. McKinley peaked through the clouds.

 

 

The south viewpoint at Denali.

 

 

Jonathan's gone on another fishing trip with some work colleagues and brought home another nice catch. Daphne and I spent a relaxing day at the RV and exploring Seward while Jonathan fished.

 

We took a nice hike up Mt Baldy in Eagle River one afternoon when the day was too perfect not to enjoy. It was another steep one but we made it.

 

 

 

 

The landscapers completed our yard a few weeks ago. We haven't been able to go on the yard since while the grass seed started to grow. It has come in very nicely and Jonathan mowed yesterday. It  has been very rainy since it's fall and that's what it does in the fall in AK but we've had a nice couple of days so we took the dry days as our chance to mow. It is still soft from the fresh soil and rain but it's looking good!

 

The new paver patio looks very nice with the grass grown in. And Jonathan built the step from the deck for us.

 

Daphne was allowed out in the yard without being on a leash for the first time today and wasn't sure what to do with herself. She stay near by for a while until she realized she wouldn't be in trouble if she ran off.

 

 

 

I think I've covered the highlights. I'll try and be better and updating! Snow will be fall in a few months and I'll have lots of time! :)