Alyeska!

We are off to a running start for Spring Break '10. We just returned from a quick trip down to Girdwood to ski Alyeska. We haven't skied as much this year (it doesn't seem like) as last year so we were excited to head down for an overnighter last night. Even better, our friends the Sutterfields, the Feuchts, and the McNeils were all down for the night as well. Sunday afternoon was the best skiing we've had since moving to Alaska.. it was clear skies, warm weather (20s) and lots of new snow. The skiing was so awesome, I didn't take a single picture :) Seriously! And we were so proud of Kara and Clay who immediately rode the tram to the top of the mountain and skied down blue runs all day long. Myself, I have bruises on my shins and the most sore calves in the history of these legs! I am, obviously, a horrible skier because I have sore calves.. everyone else says their quads get sore. NOT ME! I think it's from keeping a mini-snowplow going 90% of the time.. skiing with 2 kids is an adventure, for sure. I go in front, Clayton comes down behind and makes sure the mountain is Johnson-free before we get back on the lifts. We were thankful for safe skiing once again. Clayton even managed to get in some "hard core" runs w/Motor.. Good times!

We also managed to get in some swimming and dining with our friends.. the kids had a blast and so did we!! Monday we had planned to ski all day but we woke up to a blizzard. Literally. The mountain was closed except for a few runs so we decided to hang onto our lift tickets and just get home... I say this all the time.. But we are so thankful for our friends in Alaska. We've always had good friends in the places we've lived.. But for some reason, it seems like our friendships in Alaska have been extra special in that they all just happened right as we moved. They are obviously a gifts from God to us and I am so thankful.

Clay in front of a random sculpture in the hotel lobby.

Ainsley, Kara and Ariel in the hotel pool...

Clay and Hunter (aka the Jedi Master to Clay-Clay.. he absolutely adores Hunter and Hunter is so sweet to Clay and the other little guys even though he is almost 10!)

Clay-Clay and I waiting for Clayton to bring the car around..

Kara and Mommy (who is in need of some anti-wrinkle eye cream, apparently)

So this is what was taking so long.. Clayton said there was about 16" of new snow.. and he had to dig the car out.. at least that's his story and he's sticking to it!

Kara and Clay heading home... No, Clay didn't have a jacket. It was almost 40 which is a regular heat wave. Seriously.

Last, but certainly not least, a picture of April and Mustache March.. Yep, Clayton's giving in to the peer pressure of mustache March yet again. It is his idea to take pictures periodically to monitor the progression. Posting them on the blog is my idea. Revenge can indeed be sweet.

Hello, March! Have you seen February?

So I'm noticing that my blogging record is poor, at best!, so far this year.. I guess that means I haven't had a lot of drama to report? Maybe,?? Maybe not!! Take this morning, for instance. It started out relatively well (unless you count Clayton NOT shutting the bathroom door when he took his shower at 6:00. That light can be a killer.. I am very particular about dark bedrooms while it's still a possibility these days. I digress..). The kids and I were all dressed and ready to go with 15 minutes to spare, no small feat. I was debating putting on some water for tea-on-the-go when my phone rang. I answered and it was someone from Clayton's work.. hmm, what shall I call him that I won't be embarrassed for one of my Grandmothers to read??? (thinking to self: "hmmm, no that one won't work... um, oh, not that one either... for SURE not that one..") So I'll just go with "Moose Poop for Brains" or MPB, if you don't mind... So, it's MPB. At 8:30 AM. Looking for Clayton. Who has been gone to work for nearly 2 hours. MPB asks for Fokker (naturally). I manage to keep ALL TRACES OF IRRITATION out of my voice when I say, oh-so-pleasantly, "He's SOF this morning. He should be in the SOF tower"... all the while thinking "I know this because I saw the schedule.. You're a pilot, you have the same schedule.. LOOK AT IT!". SOOOO, MPB tells me "Well, I've tried him on his cell and he didn't answer (try telling me something I don't already know). And he's not at the SOF desk". So, I say to him in a less kindly voice "So are you telling me that Clayton didn't show up for work this morning?" And MPB says "No. He hasn't been to work yet." SO I SAY "Well, MPB, you have more ways for getting hold of him than I do. What do you suggest I do?" (meanwhile, I do believe I've adopted my more panicked-yet-trying-to-remain-calm voice.. which has NO EFFECT WHATSOEVER on dear MPB). Not surprisingly, he has nothing to say for himself so I hang up.... I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. .. We all know that Clayton NEVER answers his cell phone (not even sure why he has one) and I do not have any numbers for him at work.. (you don't have to believe that, but it doesn't make it any less true) The weather wasn't horrible but it was starting to snow so I'm picturing the car in a ditch... And as the seconds tick by, the scenarios in my brain get wilder. So what did I do? I'll tell you:

First, I called Kamdon who tried to assure me that if he was dead, the DPS would have already called. And that someone would have surely called if he hadn't shown up for his SOF tour. I wasn't feeling that rational so I went on to plan B.

What's that, you ask? I drove the highway to the base to see if his car had gone off the road.

(It hadn't)

Next step, done while driving, I called my super awesome cousin Monty, who happens to be an airfield manager at Elmendorf... He was taking a rank test so he couldn't answer right away.. but when he got my message he tracked Clayton down... in the SOF tower. Not only that, he confirmed that he had indeed been there all morning, took the AM brief on time. Amazing what can happen when one knows one's hind-quarters from a hole in the ground! (THANK YOU MONTY!)

Meanwhile, I'm late for my Bible study because I'm looking for cars in the ditch all the way in Anchorage.. But thankfully Clayton was alive and well, ON TIME AND PRESENT in the SOF tower unaware of all the drama (however, you can be sure that he's going to get an earful when he comes home tonight). It reminded me to be thankful for save travels...once again!

What is the moral of this story? Caller ID is there for a reason. Don't answer the phone in the morning, when you're on your way out the door, unless it's Kamdon saying she can't pick up the coffees before Bible Study. MPB can continue to spin his wheels looking for the needle in the haystack just like I always do. The other moral of the story is that I have got to relax! SERIOUSLY! I'm still not sure what exactly triggered the panic.. but it pretty much sucked :(

On an entirely different note, Kara's spring break starts tomorrow. We've got a quick overnighter planned to Girdwood. Should get some good skiing in. I may even take another lesson if I'm feeling daring enough. Other than that, there's nothing really on the menu for her week off. If anything really interesting happens, I'll be sure to post.

We're (the kids and I) really missing the AZ cousins!! Kara and Clay have both asked when they'll see their cousins again... anyone up for a last minute trip to AK for Spring Break?

Anatomy of a Homecoming

So Clayton actually came home yesterday... as scheduled, no delays. In fact, he was 15 minutes early!? I do believe we've used up all our good luck on this one TDY return, but we'll take it. I'm still smarting from my spar with the volcano last year :) Obviously, this month-ish TDY was broken up nicely by our time in AZ, but it is always nice to have Daddy home. We actually got to meet him at the jet yesterday afternoon (after thinking we were going to miss it since they were ahead of schedule). I had my camera but, naturally, the batteries were nearly kaput and I only got this one picture:

However, it's better than nothing and the kids were stoked to be right next to the jet while Clayton was shutting it down and unloading.

You may be wondering (well, I'm sure you aren't.. but you know I'm going to tell you anyway) how we get ready on the homefront end for a Daddy Return?! Well, this time was pretty typical. The last days are always the slowest so we scramble for things to keep us busy. I try to get the house clean (fruitless) and keep it clean (pointless). We had a full weekend leading up to The Return. On Friday night, Kamdon and the kids came over to watch movies and play. Just minutes before they arrived, I was putting some garbage in the garbage can and I sliced one of my fingers WIDE OPEN on a green chili can lid (at least chilies are acidic, therefore naturally antibiotic). I swear to you I saw the fascia underneath my skin. I couldn't get Jackie or Karen (my personal oncall surgeons) so I had to call Kamdon to stop at Walmart for some Liquid Stitch. OUCH! The cut is right above my knuckle so I knew there weren't going to be any stitches. Karen called later and confirmed my care plan. All's well that ends well :) Saturday was cleaning day and that night, Kamdon and I met a friend at the movie tavern. GOOD TIMES! Sunday, the longest day of all, we ended up spending some QT at McDonald's. We were the only loser moms there on a Sunday morning so I have no interesting observations for you :) We got the kids home in time for a short rest before jetting off to Elmendorf to find Daddy. I don't know why the last 2 days are the longest but they are!!! When you're on vacation, it's the opposite, the last 2 days FLY BY! Anyway, the blessings of safe flying and another safe homecoming are not lost on us and we thank God for the grace of safe returns once again.

I'll close with an action shot of Clay at his ice skating lessons.. He is thoroughly enjoying himself although I'm not sure how much actual progress is being made. He does seem to be spending less time on his hiney so I'll call that progress for now.

(that's Clay, in the upper left hand corner, on his hiney...)

We're currently taking reservations for the summer. Act now!!

To Arizona and Back...

Since we last chatted here on the family blog, we've been to Arizona and are back in the great state of Alaska once again. The kids and I met Clayton in Arizona for another fast and fabulous visit with the family. As my kids get bigger, they enjoy their cousins, aunts/uncles and grandparents more and more! This visit was no exception. My kids revel in their time with their cousins. That is no exaggeration. It doesn't matter if we're at PPP, the park or jumping on a trampoline, they're in hog heaven. Believe it or not, there is very little bickering. In fact, it's a regular love-fest most of the time. I love watching Kara with her cousins. She's a little bit of a celebrity with them and instead of capitalizing on it, she tries to find things that each cousin enjoys while spending a little one-on-one with them. It's really quite amazing to me as a mom.

Here are some bullet point highlights from this trip:

*Hiking South Mountain with the group. Clayton and I got engaged on South Mountain and we used to hike it all the time when we lived in AZ pre-AF days. It was fun to be back in that element with our own kids plus the cousins.

*Valentine's Day party. It is fun to watch the kids be creative and make messes. What I REALLY love is watching them gift one another. I think they kind of get how it's actually fun to give and receive.

*Visiting the Great Grandmothers in Duncan. Both of my grandmothers are still living and are in good health. My kids LOVE going to visit. They have their own Duncan Expectations like I did growing up... they want quarters from Great Grandma Jeanette at Gi'Mee's and they want pancakes from Gram Boyd.

*Sleepovers at the Filleman and Johnson cousin's casas. There was not an overabundance of sleep happening, early rising but good times (on my kids' end, at least..... may have to break out the kid Ambien for the next time).

*For Mommy: happy hours, Bachelor watching, Super Mario Bros. playing, shopping, almond tequila margarita drinking, ice cream eating, sitting-round-the-table-talking, and the Paisley Violin top the charts.

*For Daddy: seeing Mommy (ha ha, not really), bromances with his brother and brothers-in-law, gun shooting and eating decent Mexican food. (These are conjectures, but I'm pretty sure I'm spot-on here)

Naturally, I forgot my camera and I wasn't very diligent using my dad's this time. With all the Arizona highs, there are the "saying good-bye lows". This gets exponentially harder every time as well. It is especially hard for Kara. She was WAILING when she said good-bye to her aunts, uncles and cousins on Saturday night. It was heartbreaking, really. She and Eli were two sad little messes and it got the rest of us tearing up as well. SO HARD! But very sweet to see how much they love eachother.

Big thanks going out to the Arizona contingent. You guys put your lives on hold for us when we visit and I know it isn't always easy or convenient. Needless to say, it's not lost on us! We know how much work and time you put in pre-, during, and post-visit. Thank you!!! Thank you for loving on us and the kids. To our friends that we missed (once again) while in AZ, I continue to ask for forgiveness. I swear to you, our time in AZ is over before it begins, especially when it's for a week-long visit.

Our trip home was blissfully uneventful. The kids did great. The only glitch was me not thinking to medicate Kara before the flight.. her ears were REALLY hurting on both descents. Our flights were on time. Kamdon and the kids picked us up at the airport and we hit up Moose's Tooth for lunch. Two of our favorite Alaska things within an hour of being home! Can't do much better than that :)

And So It Goes...

How weird is it that January is almost over?? I can hardly believe it myself. And I've only blogged three times so far this month...

First item of business for this blog, I'd like to wish Davis Filleman, my nephew, a happy 5th birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Davis! We sure love you, buddy, and we can't wait to celebrate your birthday with you when we see you next. Kara and Clay love you bunches and we miss seeing you (and the rest of the cousins) on your birthdays. XOXOXOXO!

Next item of business is to wish my friend Susan Miller a happy birthday as well. HBD, Susan! I met Susan while we were living in Enid. Together, Susan and I figured out what being married to a pilot in the USAF looked like.. we had some good times in Enid, read a lot of books together, shopped the state of OK, philosophized about military leadership, and ate some decent Mexican food on Friday nights together. Cheers to good friends and their birthdays. ((hugs))

I guess that about covers the birthday wishes. If I missed yours, HBD to you :) The kids and I are in full TDY mode around here.. what is that, you ask? Well, I have no idea what TDY actually stands for but it means that Daddy is gone for a while. He's at Red Flag in Las Vegas for 2 weeks then he goes to some training in Florida before he comes back to AK. How does that translate out for the Johnsons?? Well, here's a bullet list of ways life changes for us when it's 3 of us instead of 4.

* We eat a lot of cereal. For breakfast and dinner. Clay eats an unusual amount of peanut butter waffles as well (I think PB on an eggo makes an excellent meal substitute, any time of day for Clay). I basically stop cooking regular meals when we're in TDY mode.. Don't ask me why.. it's mostly laziness, I think. And some rebellion.

* My Mountain Of Clean Laundry grows to biblical proportions. I don't mind doing laundry, I just mind folding it. So what do I do? I do the laundry and throw it into a huge pile at the end of my bed. When Clayton is home, I get a little bit of guilt going on when the hill reaches about arm pit height. However, when Clayton is gone, it doesn't bother me a bit. As I type, I hear my dryer signaling me it's time to make another deposit to the clothes landfill at the end of my bed. Laziness and rebellion again.. uh oh, I'm seeing a theme.

* I find myself watching super stupid shows on TV.. For instance, "Locked Up Abroad" on NatGeo. I mean, how many different ways are there to get caught smuggling drugs overseas? Not many. But I think there are many different levels of prison squalor overseas so that's why the show doesn't get old with me.. I also watch a fair amount of HGTV and Food Network. Why? I'm clearly not cooking or improving my domicile.. but whatever.

* Something good is that the kids and I read a lot more books together and play more games when Clayton is gone.. We just bought Jinga and Clay and I are going to become Jinga masters before you know it. Normally our evenings are centered around Clayton coming home, having dinner and family time. When he's not home, dinner is cereal, family time needs to get interesting fast or we have issues.

* I end up reading through the "Links" section on facebook and I invariably get into facebook arguments with my liberal friends. I DON'T KNOW WHY I DO THAT!!! Today's mini-war was in regards to repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. I couldn't keep my mouth shut, I had to point out that this friend has never served in the military so he doesn't know what he's talking about (the TRUTH!)... fortunately, another friend of mine who went to the AF Academy took over the conversation and made the first friend look like a fool before I made a fool of myself. I should say that I'm not always rescued.. and I'm always reminded of what my mom used to say to me as a kid "Fools names and fools faces always appear in public places". Yet another reason to take down that FB profile....

So, that's about it here. You can see that our ever exciting life in AK marches on whether or not Clayton's around to participate. If you'd like to come visit us while Clayton's on TDY, please be sure that I will actually cook and I'll close my bedroom door so you don't have to look at the Mountain Of Laundry.

Reflections on a McDonald's Lunch

I'm going to blame my lack of blogging on the short, dark days we're having here in AK.. actually, I shouldn't complain because we're getting something like 5 minutes of sunlight every day. This will continue until June 21, at which point I'll be whining about no nighttime. Oh well, it's part of the charm of Alaska.

We had a surprisingly lovely MLK long weekend. We hung out as a family, with friends and we skied twice: once at Hillberg on base and once at Alyeska. Some friends from the squadron were also at Alyeska so Clayton had someone to go down the really scary runs with him and I was able to sit by the fire and drink hot chocolate with friends while the kids were in ski lessons and Clayton was skiing with Doctor. It was a really good day, the end of a great weekend. It was especially nice because Clayton's going to be out of state for a month starting this week.. ugh. So far, however, the volcanoes are not acting up so we're anticipating a firm return, nothing "indefinite"... however, as I type, I realize that while I don't believe in jinxing myself, I might just have done it anyway. Ah, the air force.

So, on the heels of a really fabulous weekend, it was Tradeoff Tuesday. What is that, you ask? Well, it's a day that two friends(Suzanne and Kamdon) and I trade off watching each others kids so that 2 moms have a whole day to do stuff (get hair done, work, grocery shop, eat bonbons whilst sitting on the couch..screeeeaaaaacccchhh!) done with free child care. It was my day to have the kiddies. I started out all motivated to do fun activities with them but my back was really hurting (stupid back, hurt it last year pulling kids on a sled for exercise..) so I thought if I could work out with Bob on The Biggest Loser yoga DVD, it might feel better. I ended up telling the kids if they'd cooperate (i.e., not break anything major or hurt one another, nothing too exceptional), I'd take them to The Place... McDonald's. The kids were agreeable and I actually cranked out the DVD without having to pause once (this does NOT mean that I didn't have company throughout the workout, however). Sooo, conveniently, it was about 11:00, a perfect time to hit the Eagle River Mc Donald's. Poor little Abbie was the only kid who was dressed in her day-clothes so while I was helping Chase get dressed, I sent Clay upstairs to put his clothes on... this is what he chose:

Nice. Obviously we are proponents of "clothes over the jammies", but this was too much. Much to Clay's chagrin, we had to change....then we were on our way!! Hallelujah.

Here's a shot of the mountains we get to see on our way to the ER McD's. BEAUTIFUL!

This is the Tradeoff Tuesday crew (Clay, Chase and Abbie). Abbie affectionately calls the boys "my boys". They mostly do what she tells them, too, which I try to abuse whenever possible.

So, we get food and the kids eat at McDonald's and I'm torn between watching the kids play, people watching, and reading a book... It has long been a dream of mine to be the mom reading a book while her kids play at the McD/museum/park.

Which did I choose?? I went with people watching. Seriously, there is material for a master's thesis or a dissertation in McD playland. Not even just here, but anywhere... It attracts all types. Let me explain:

First, there are the Moms Who Pretend That This Is Their Only McD Visit This Century: There were two of these moms at McD yesterday. I have to laugh because they come in looking around to make sure none of their friends are there.. they'd be embarrassed to say they feed their kids food made by a clown... These moms were having a loud conversation about how they NEVER come to McDs, how they NEVER let their kids have fried foods (guess their mc nuggets were baked.. and the fries, too)... how their kids don't even really like McD (BTW, their kids totally sold them out by running straight to the secret hiding places in the play area in addition to asking for specific McD flavors of dip). Have some pride, people.. It's Alaska in the winter. We have no other indoor playground options in ER.

Next, there is the Overprotective Dad Who Must Tell His Daughter He Loves Her Ever Time She Comes Down The Slide...Loudly. This poor guy. I'm pretty sure he also had some hand sanitizer in his pocket that he made Princess use every 4 minutes. (I'm all for sanitation, but I'm also one for promoting a healthy immune system. So, for me, I think making Clay wear his shoes to the bathroom and washing his hands before eating is sufficient.) He also hand fed his daughter when it was convenient for her. If it wasn't so weird, it would have been sweet to see a Dad-Daughter date in the afternoon. I think Clay and Chase wanted to hit the guy up for a shake, he seemed so nice...

Then there's the Angry Mom Who Doesn't Watch Her Kids Because She's Texting The Entire Time.. but she tries to fake the rest of us out that she's paying attention by randomly screaming at her kids every few minutes "COME EAT YOUR HAMBURGER, TEDDY"... "WE'RE LEAVING IN 15 MINUTES" (which she repeats every 2 minutes for 30 minutes) "WATCH OUT FOR THE LITTLE KIDS".. oh, because I forgot to mention that her kid is 12.. and it's Tuesday at 11:00. Hmmm.

Finally, there's the I Have No Shame Mom. That'd be me. I own the fact that McD food isn't that nutritious.. but it's not that bad (I'm a nutrition professional people, I can and will rationalize pretty much anything related to food so don't even try to go there about the horrible-ness of McD food or I'll take you to task on your juices and fruit snacks). I am not ashamed of taking my kids to McD so I can have an adult conversation with a friend (Kamdon, if I'm going down, I'm taking you with me). I'll spring for a happy meal or a $0.50 vanilla cone simply so my kids can burn some energy running around a filthy dirty playground. I'm over trying to put on airs that I'm a better mom than the one who abuses the McD playground!!

... on second thought, I should have read the book and not bored everyone to tears. Thanks anyway for reading. While I'm on the subject, however.. if anyone feels burdened to open a different restaurant with an indoor play area in the Eagle River area, let me know.. I bet I can get the capital from my mom friends :)

Happy New Year!!! (9 days in)

SO, I had good intentions of blogging often through Christmas but it didn't work out that way... We had a great Christmas here in AK! The weather was lovely, no new snow (both good and bad) but we got out skiing and snowshoeing and tubing while the Grandparents and Karen were here. The first ski trip to Alyeska on the 23rd was the most interesting.. I thought we had skied Griswold-style before but I was wrong. This trip took the cake. To start, it was raining at the ski mountain. Yes, folks, raining. And in case you were under the impression that ski jackets, gloves and pants are waterproof, you were wrong. I definitely thought they were. However, everytime we went inside, we were able to wring puddles of water out of our hats, gloves and pants. Fortunately, it was in the 40s that day so we weren't freezing. However, it didn't make for the most ideal ski conditions. Add to that Clayton's snowboard binding shattering 1/4 way down the mountain (he had to hike back up to the tram in heavy snow.. yes, it was snowing up top, raining at the bottom) and Michael's snowmachine tour cancellation, you can see how tempers might have been running a little thin by the end of the day :) :) :) Nonetheless, it was a really fun day. Christmas Eve found us snowshoeing at home, getting Karen from the airport and enjoying a yummy dinner together before we did the Christmas Eve tradition of the Christmas Story complete with puppet theatre courtesy of Kara and Clay. Christmas morning was really nice, lots of gifts, yummy breakfast. About the time the afternoon rolled in, though, Kara was running a 104+ fever. (insert screeching brake noise) Had to cancel the Sutterfields coming over 3 nights in a row because Kara stayed sick through New Year's Eve (she had a major infection in her mouth while cutting 3 of her 6yr molars. I highly recommend avoiding this illness at all costs). Still, we had a fun New Year's playing the Wii with the Sutterfields and Karen. Good times. We had a great 2009 with far more blessings than we deserve: health, good friends, job(s), safe landings of fast gray airplanes, safe landings of 2-wheel drive Tahoes, and on and on. Blessings on you, dear reader(s) for 2010. I will try to be more blog-entertaining this year...

Making gingerbread houses with Ainsley and Chase...

Clay enjoying his Reeses' tree off the roof... good call! Those are delicious.

Opening gifts from eachother.. coincidentally, they gave each other the exact same gifts. A guaranteed way to avoid arguing!!!!!!

Before skiing in the rain at Alyeska on the 23rd...

Everyone's happy......

Clayton coming in after hiking up and down the mountain.. then walking 1 mile in the rain from the resort to the day lodge. He was soooo happy, in case you can't tell.

Christmas morning.

Bunkbeds for the American Girls made by Granddad Buzz, quilts by Amy.

Karen and April on Christmas morning.. FYI this picture was taken about 10:00AM, yes it was still that dark outside.

Christmas aftermath...

Hooking up the Wii to the downstairs TV.. another cause for happiness from Clayton. Not.