Christmas Madness

Mid-December... must be time for a blog update. We have been running up here in Alaska. I didn't know there would be so many Christmas (or "holiday", if you're trying to be PC.. which I'm not. Ever.) activities for Kara and Clay at school!! And, ever observant mother that I am, I have been surprised several times at the last minute with concerts and plays. It will all be over today as the kids are at their last day of school before Christmas break. Whew!!!!

We started out the month with Clayton's birthday. It was a mid-level celebration for us. Neither Clayton nor myself are super big "birthday" people so sometimes we don't really celebrate like we could or should. This year, I made dinner and some of our neighbors came for dinner and cake. The kids and I gave Clayton a "sick" new snowboard (at least that's what the kid at REI assured me). He kept it instead of returning or exchanging it so that is a victory in my book. The thing is, the last new snowboard he had was one I gave him the year before we were married.. that would be 1996. So 14 years ago. He was due. I think he was really surprised and he rode it last weekend at Alyeska and Hillberg. Good times.

In addition to regular downhill skiing, I've been cross-country skiing. Clayton gave me skis last year for Christmas and I was sort of irritated because I felt like he was implying that I wasn't exercising enough. Well, I found a bunch of friends who skied or at least were willing to try and I was hooked. I've been probably 10-12 times already this season and I'm loving it!! If you come visit us in the winter, I will take you out. SO. MUCH. FUN.

So I'm going to post some pictures of the concerts... But I must tell you about Clay's not-so-good day last week. He has been telling us lately that he hates his name because kids have been making fun of him at school. Apparently, it all started with the dreidel song "Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of "CLAY"". Yes, that is his thorn in the flesh right now. We have tried to talk him off the ledge and were met with some moderate success.. UNTIL the kindergarten "Holiday" concert... the kindergartners were singing their dreidel song and when it came to the "clay" part, they all turned around and looked at Clay. If you know him, you know that Clay doesn't deal real well with public humiliation. He did not melt down or start whacking at anyone but he did give me the death glare through the rest of the song. His teacher was mortified. It was actually pretty funny but we can't laugh about it with him yet... And that was also the day that he carried on a fine family tradition of drug trouble. Yes, he was caught with a cough drop at school. Fortunately, he wasn't intentionally smuggling it or trying to sell it, but he did have to go to the nurse's office (because what if someone stole the cough drop and died from the deadly poison it contains!?!??!) where the nurse called me and flogged me over the phone. I have now promised to take all medicines into the nurse myself and not put them in my kids' pockets for prn dosing. Oops.

I'll now leave you with pictures from the above said adventures/activities..

Clayton and his white cake with white frosting birthday cake. I will not be accused of being a cake-lady, in case you're wondering...

Random pic of my xc skis.. do you love the light at 9:30 in the morning??

Kara and her choir on their "tour" of Eagle River.. First stop: Walmart. Awesome.

My stupid camera kept focusing on other kids but there's Kara in the pinky-purple hat.

Clay at his Christmas concert.. before he got all postal about the making-fun...

Clay and his snowman outside his classroom. You can tell the sparkle has left his eyes :(

Kara at her nighttime choir concert.... We learned that if you don't show up to these gigs at least 30 minutes early, you WILL stand in the back.

I will post in the next few days something of a Christmas letter.. I think.

Thanksgiving 2010

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that Thanksgiving 2010 has come and gone. This year (I know, this is a central theme for me lately) has been flying by. The last couple weeks have been very difficult but it made it easier to count the blessings this year, for sure. I was so thankful to have Clayton's mom, Anne, in town to help keep me organized and on-task this Thanksgiving. We went to the Sutterfield's for the meal and, I have to say, our eats were fantastic. We had way too much food and it was fun to be pretty low-key. It was also our first snowy day after a week of rain and way too much ice. In fact, there was so much ice that the kids' school was cancelled Tues. and Wed. of last week. It was fun having them around and we managed to not let the ice keep us down.

The turkey... before the carve. Clayton accused me of drying it out in the manner of Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation. It pleases me to say he was wrong.

Desserts.. yum.

A snowy attempt at pictures in the snow... will have to try again later.

Random picture of my blooming Christmas Cactus.

When we aren't actually celebrating Thanksgiving, here are some of the things that we're thankful for during the week at our house....

A little Lego Star Wars action on the Wii...

Destroying Clay's (yes, he was MAD) turkey project and wearing the "feathers" on their faces..I just know in about 6 years, they won't find face spots funny any more :(

Dancing with the Wii late on a Saturday night.

3 weeks of swimming lessons culminating in a solo slide down the "big slide" at Fort Rich.

Victory!

Last night we went to the Christmas Tree Lighting in downtown Anchorage.. before hand, we did a little shopping at REI.. Clay was modeling the absolute latest in warm-face wear. Or bank-robbing wear. Either one will work.

Kara tried on about 15 hats. She loves herself some hats.. winter or summer. Since Clayton was along on the shopping trip, she left empty handed, naturally.

This picture was taken at 4:00 on Friday, on our way to shop and tree light. We're getting to the worst of the darkness here.. in a couple weeks, it will be dark as night by 4:00. But, nevertheless, we start with the longer days on December 22.

On our way to Town Square, we passed the reindeer being off loaded from their trailer.. it was sort of anti-climactic for the kids... they still don't know what to do with the whole Santa thing. I think they are unbelievers but sort of afraid not to go along with it which is hilarious to me. Anyway, these poor reindeer definitely did not sign up for last night's job...

The unlit tree.

Santa pulled up in his sleigh right in front of us. Kara was in the front row and when they asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she said "a computer". Santa said she should ask for a puppy instead (like every other kid they polled).. I don't know what it is with a computer. She's not getting one, BTW.

This picture was taken at 5:30. It was 20 degrees (which actually is considered warmish) but I did not insist on warm foot-wear for Kara or myself so we suffered.. but we had fashionable boots on so we at least looked good on the feet while we were in pain ;)

We are so thankful this year. Thank you to everyone who checked in with us after the crash last week. I think that the pilots and their families in the 525 are limping along. Our hearts are so very heavy for the Haneys. No one expects their husband not to come home from work. Continued prayers for the Haneys will not go unanswered, that I believe. There is a Jeff Haney memorial page on facebook that has some information on donating to the girls' education funds if you want to participate in helping in a tangible way. And for those of you who pray for safe flights, pray on.

US Air Force Hymn

Lord, guard and guide all those who fly

Through the great spaces of the sky;

Be with them traversing the air

In darkening storms or sunshine fair

Thou who dost keep with tender might

The balanced birds in all their flight

Thou of the tempered winds be near

That, having you, they know no fear

Control their minds with instinct fit

What time, adventuring, they quit

The firm security of land;

Grant steadfast eye and skilful hand

Aloft in solitudes of space,

Uphold them with Thy saving grace.

O God, protect all those who fly

Thru lonely ways beneath the sky.

Happy Veteran's Day

Thankful for a husband that serves. Thankful for dad/father-in-law's service. Thankful for the sacrifices of my WWII serving grandfathers. Godspeed to our friends and family who are currently overseas.. may you stay safe and come home quickly.

In Other News....

November??!! I can remember when I was in high school complaining about how time seemed to go so slowly. My Grandmother told me that once I got older, time would seem to speed by me. I didn't believe her but she turned out to be correct, AGAIN! It's amazing to me that we're coming up to Thanksgiving. We have some snow on the ground but not enough to work with.. it'll come, I'm sure :) We're very excited about dragging out the skis... so, we say, "Let It Snow"!!!

Here are some recent highlights and goings on around our house...

Kara at her American Heritage Girl joining ceremony. She was so proud to walk behind the flag, for some reason :) Patriotism runs deep around here, that's for sure and we are happy our kids value our country.

Lighting the candles and getting their patches.

While the Claytons were in AZ, Kara had spirit week at school.. one day was crazy hair day. Kara knew exactly how she wanted her hair to be.. little pony-tails all over and a big flower on top. I believe it qualified as crazy.. unless you're shopping in a Walmart in Texas on any given day.. then it's status quo.

As the weather turns, kids go out less often.. and they turn to fort building. This picture doesn't do the fort any justice.. in fact, it just makes my living room look messier than usual. Suffice it to say, this was their masterpiece fort to date..

Halloween is not really celebrated at our house, per se, but far be it from Clayton to deny his chance at free candy from the kids!! Kara was dead set on being a barrista this year. I have no clue where she came up with the idea but we made it work. I ordered a kids' apron from some guy in Taiwan on eBay for $17. Worth every penny. She got a latte painted on her face at Peace Lutheran's Harvest Fest on Friday night.

Ooops... an out-of-order photo... Kara lost both her front teeth in a week. She very much enjoys talking funny and she is VERY much enjoying double-duty tooth fairy money.

Back to Halloween.. we went to our neighbors' house for dinner.. my friend Kim was telling me about a spooky tree cake she made so I gave it a whirl with some help from Clayton (he made the tree!!!). It looked awesome, if I may say, which I may since it's my blog.. but it tasted HORRIBLE! I don't know what happened. Good thing there was lots of candy.

Boba Fett and Boba Fett.

All the kiddies before heading out to beg for candy...

So, all in all, we're doing great and waiting patiently for full-on winter. Come visit and bring a coat, hat and gloves.. you'll need it when we drag you out for some winter-time fun!

A True Story

So, a few weeks ago, Kamdon and I were asked by a friend to help decorate for a VP cocktail party on base. Turns out, the VP was Jay Leno. The AF Reserves were opening a new recruiting center and Jay Leno was coming up to "open" it. After the opening, he was giving a free show on base for any military ID card holder. SO, there was going to be this cocktail party after the opening before the comedy show that our friend was tasked with throwing. There was going to be some serious AF and Army brass as well as high profile community leaders. The more we found out about it (after we agreed), the bigger deal it seemed to be. Karla and her husband pointed us in the general direction they wanted to go and we ran with it. I'm not going to lie: it was a lot of work. I cut out a lot of aircraft out of balsa wood.. a lot. Kamdon painted a picture of a P-something airplane one day.. we special ordered napkins and coasters.. we were harassed by a very insecure lady from air force protocol (this is the manners department.. they make sure the right behinds are kissed properly, etc... not to take away from their very important job, but really, we're 2 SAHM moms decorating a room for a party as a favor for a friend.. we don't want your job!!).. we created a lot of silly drama for our poor friend and her husband.. but I think the room looked fantastic at the end. IN FACT, my bible study leader was at the party (from the community side) and she told me that of all the parties she's been to in that room, ours looked the best by a long shot. OH, and we did meet Jay Leno. Poor guy looked like he had infant triplets at home that he'd been up with for the last 7 nights straight. He was, however, very funny and Clayton and I laughed HARD at his show. We had VIP passes and seats right in the front (obviously a bonus for helping out with the party... we would NEVER have made the invite list otherwise!). It was a fun end to a long week...

The room all finished... we brought in art from the 477FG... old Tuskeegee airmen images, lots of fighter pilot nic-knacks. It was really cool looking, if I say so myself :)

Centerpieces with balsa airplanes.. there were P-somethings, F16 and F22s, all airplanes flown by the 302FS.

P-40 (???) Super cool painting.. it's for sale.

Yes.. we are shameless.. actually, there was a line and they herded you through like passengers boarding a Southwest jet. As a side note, please notice my very cool shoes that my darling husband informed me were "hooker" shoes on the way (in the car) to the party. He sure knows how to make a girl feel good about herself :)

Proof positive that we returned the room to its original condition.

A Full Heart

(a random moose-in-the-neighborhood photo from a week or two ago)

2010 is sure to go down as the super-slacker blogging year for me. I won't beleaguer you with reasons for such slackerness but I like to think that we're busy people, people :) Lots going on this time of year as school is in full-swing and various kid activities are going (and going..and going). Clayton has been in town more lately so that has been nice as long as there aren't too many alert shifts or 16 hour days (sigh). He has some traveling coming down the pipe this winter so we're enjoying his local presence while we can.

Little Clay and Kara are doing great in school. I chaperoned one of Clay's field trips last week to the Botanical Gardens. Um, it is pretty cold here (20s in the AM) and most of the plant life outdoors have been dead for WEEKS... so I'm not sure why they're still doing field trips to the botanical gardens but they are. Well, actually, Clay's group was the last one of the season.. Anyway, I realized that I am a very strict parent. Like in the category of, perhaps, nazi or the KGB. Some of those kids were HORRID (despite the fact that it was well below freezing and we were outside for 3.5 hours). I mean to tell you, I can't get over how rude kids are to adults. I'm pretty sure they'll lose my license to go on these trips after last week. I'll post some pics of all the kiddies in their winter gear.

Getting a story read to them in the sunrise.. at 10:00AM. Good-bye sunlight.

Learning about lady bugs (a garden visitor as opposed to garden pest).

Clay-Clay in his new winter coat. He wouldn't fasten the hood. His exact words "It's killing me to have the hood buckled".

Some sad news for us is that our friends NATO and Camille are leaving Alaska for sunnier (literally) pastures. Clayton has worked with NATO for the last 10 years. I have known Camille for about 6 of those years. There is a hole in the collective Johnson heart with their departure. It has, however, caused me to reflect on the great blessing of friendship in my life. God has been so faithful to provide GOOD friends for me in every season of life thus far. I have always been aware of that blessing but never more than here in Alaska. This place is so amazing and beautiful but it's FAR from home. There's no jumping in the car in the middle of the night, driving 24 hours and getting to Arizona.. There's no guarantee of a flight out if there is bad weather or a volcano (please, no more volcanoes). Most of the time, we pay no attention to that nonsense.. but sometimes, the reality sets in. I'm telling you, we have the most special group of friends up here. I thank God for them everyday. So when someone leaves, it is PAINFUL! Our friends are our family in Alaska and I treasure each and every one of them. If you've traveled up here, you've probably seen how integral they are in my/our life. I'll post some pictures of our recent antics with said friends. My heart is full tonight thinking of the blessing of friendships even as it is heavy with the Hegtvedt's departure. We'll miss you guys.. but it's not good-bye. It's see you later.

The Hellion and his angel going to the Hegtvedt farewell.. Camille requested "Hellion" attire. Needless to say, we obliged. (If I may comment.. there is a rich military history behind the whole hellion thing.. but it's another story for another day)

Kamdon, Jen and I. Fast Jet babes, right?

The original Hellions Angels.. almost the whole group. A finer group of ladies, you'll never meet.

One last dinner at Simon & Seafort's just before Camille left.. She and I have logged a fair amount of time in the S & S saloon.... often times splitting the halibut like we did that night.

(Bad mom moment... realized I didn't have any photos of Kara.. here she is trying on Daddy's mullet wig after we got home from the going away party.. I hope the biker look always remains a costume for Kara :))