Happy Halloween 2012

I had a very difficult time finding a costume for Ella this year for Halloween.  She wanted to be a puppet.  I could not find a puppet costume at all.  She settle on being a queen of telekinesis but, I couldn't find a costume that made her happy and think that it had anything to do with telekinesis.  Finally after searching tons I found this costume.  She calls herself Frankeenstein.  Which apparently is the girl version of Frankenstein. 

The ward had a Halloween party for the kids this year so she got to dress up for that and her Activity Days girls had a dress up day as well.  She of course got to dress up for Halloween.  She went to a few different places around the neighborhood and then we went to Trunk or Treating for my friends ward.  Nate and I brought 150 pieces of candy and handed them all out in a matter of 30 minutes. She got a ton of candy.

Tyler dressed up as a werewolf again this year.  He went trick or treating with his friend Capo.  They went around the neighborhood by our house.  He got 5 regular size candy bars.  He wouldn't let me get any pictures of him in his costume.  But he did let me get this one with his costume.

Nichole went out trick or treating with some of the girls in our ward.  She went around their neighborhood.  She didn't dress up at all.  Natalie went with Ella.  She didn't go trick or treating she just took Ella out which was really nice of her.

We got 3 whole kids to come to our house for trick or treating which was 3 more then last year.

Good bye Grandpa Swenson

Nate's Grandpa passed away in October.  Nate was able to go down to Utah for the funeral.  Unfortunately the rest of us couldn't make it.  Nate said that it was a beautiful service.  I wish that I could of been there to say good bye to Grandpa.

Grandpa Swenson was always a kind man to me.  He accepted me and always told me I was his favorite grand kid that was at this age.  He collected the most interesting antiques and had a knack for knowing exactly what the next popular thing to collect was going to be.  He would always sit and visit with us even if that meant that he would fall asleep on the couch.  The kids loved to go to his house and feed the chickens and ride on the four wheelers.  I have many fond memories of Grandpa.  Grandpa you are loved and you will be missed.

This was the first time that all of the grand kids have been in the same place at the same time in 15 years.

Nate with his sisters and brother.  From left to right  Tessa, Nate, Matt, and Haley

Nate took this picture of a picture.  This is the last picture they had of ALL of the families together. Nate was 15 years old. 

Nate and I would Facetime while he was gone.   He was able to stay in Utah for 10 days.  It was nice that he could reconnect with his family like that.

Sisters..... Sisters

Every Monday morning the sister missionaries come over to my house to do their laundry and eat some breakfast.  I look forward to it every week.  If you have been following my blog you will see that this has now happened with 4 different sister missionaries.  I love having them in my home and they are such a positive influence on my children and on me.

Sister Claspell in the pink shirt and Sister Rivera in the black one.  They are writing letters.  Rest assured that it is after 10 a.m. so it is allowed.

Sister Claspell in my big furry had and in her nose warmer.  She is from Southern California and is always freezing here.

Sister Rivera in my big fuzzy hat.  She is from Idaho so she is used to the cold.

Of course I have been up since 6 o'clock in the morning so these ladies talk me into doing many dumb things.  I was particularly obsessed with the pointy note cards on this particular morning!

Murphy Family Pictures

These are my friends The Murphy's.  Marissa is the one that took my family pictures this year.  I took her family pictures in exchange.  Her little girl, Ruby loves me so much and it is so funny.  She pushes past her parents to come to see me.  She cries to go to my house.  Everyone at my house dotes over her. 

 This is Ruby and her new little brother Ryker.  He likes to hang out at my house too.  He just doesn't know it yet. 

Family Photos

 It's that time of year again.  The time of year dreaded by most people especially my family.  It is family picture time.  I only do family pictures about every other year now.  They hate doing them so much and I don't want to put up with the fighting that goes along with it so I have skipped it to every other year.  I do the kids pictures every year though.  Originally we were going to be doing pictures up at an old mine called Hatcher's pass but as it decided to snow that day and it's up a very steep mountain we couldn't make up in our van (believe me we tried but when you are pushing on the gas to go forward and you are still sliding down the mtn anyway it is much safer to just turn back) we had to do them in Wasilla.  We found an old building and since I am so an old building person that is where I got them done at.  I took my friends family photos and she helped me out by doing mine.  I really appreciated it and they turned out pretty good.  I can't wait until I can get them on print.

 The sign says family but you can't really tell.

 Not the most flattering picture of me but everyone else looks good.

 These are my two favorite pictures of my kids.  I love the way they turned out!

 This picture kind of looks old fashion and I really like the feel of it!

Oh Boys!

The other day I had the opportunity to watch these 2 little boys while their dad was having surgery.  On our way into the house from the bus stop the boys found some worms.  I asked them if they wanted to hold one!  Hello, dumb question.  They are boys so of course they wanted to hold one.  As I placed one worm in each of the boys they squealed with delight as the worm as the worms crawled all over their hands. 

After I settled into a routine with them it was time for lunch.  I asked the boys what they wanted to eat/

 They all yelled, "sandwiches".

"Well, what kind of sandwiches?"

The older one replied "Peanut butter and honey."

While the middle boy said " Peanut butter and worms!"

"Okay done," I said with a mischievous chuckle.

"I will eat the worms," said the middle boy.  "If you make it I will eat it!"

Challenge accepted.  I sent the boys downstairs to play while I made lunch.  I started to put together 3 sandwiches.  One with worms, two without. 

I then got into my refrigerator and pulled out one hot dog.  Opened my utensil drawer and took out a straw.  I pushed the straw into the hot dog and pulled out one "worm". 
When it was lunch time I called the boys upstairs to eat. 
I handed the oldest his peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich and I handed the middle boy one of the "worms" that I had made.
It was great he started screaming at me "That's gross.  Ewww, that's gross".
I then told him that he asked for worms for his lunch and I went outside and caught one especially for him to enjoy.
He was getting kind of upset that it was on his plate so I picked it up and started to put it in my mouth.  I got quite the reaction from doing it too.
"Ewww Jessica that's gross.  Ewww stop Jessica.  Stop.  Don't eat the worm".
I told him that someone had to eat it so I asked him if he would.  He told me that he wouldn't.  I tried to convince him that he would really enjoy this worm if he would just give it a try.
I even told him that it wasn't a worm after all that it was just a hot dog.  I showed him the hot dog that I made the worm from.  His response "How did the worm get inside a hot dog".  It was quite classic.
When his mom came and picked him up that day he told her all about the worm that I had made for him at lunch.  He was still convinced that it was a real worm.  I kinda wish I would of ate it.

This and That

This is typical Alaska weather.  At the beginning of this week the weather was chili outside.  It rained a lot and .  By the end of the week it had snowed and stuck around for a while.  This happened before Halloween.  I am kinda sick of snowy Halloweens.  Just snow all together.

I am one lucky mama I get to walk this little girl out to the bus stop every morning.  She holds my hand and even gives me a kiss goodbye. When she gets on the bus she waves at my on the first step and tells me to have a good day.

This was the day of our family pictures.  It snowed just a few inches.  It was the first snow that stayed around. Boo

Ella could play all day in the snow she loves it!

A weeks worth of nothing

I have a few snapshots to share that don't really have to do with anything else.  It has been so cold but oh so sunny outside lately.  In Alaska when the sun is out in the fall/winter/spring time it typically means that it is cold outside because the cloud coverage isn't around to trap in the heat.  Although the winter has been sunny it has been extremely cold outside too.

My friends and I had a girls lunch at a local restaurant here. Quite a few ladies showed up.  I think there were more kids there then there was actual women.  It's always nice to have good friends as company for lunch.

One more picture of the sun through my window.  It was so bright outside that I had to pull the curtain to get a descent picture.  This is kind of a fun perspective anyway.

As some of you know I have been making my own extracts and sugars.  So far I have made vanilla, orange, lime, lemon, coconut, and almond extract.  I have also made vanilla and lemon sugars.  It has been fun making the new extracts.  And seeing how far they have come.  With any luck they will be ready by Christmas time.

Nate has had back problems for many years now.  He has been going to the doctor for several months now trying to get it taken care of.  They have finally decided on a course of action.  They decided to burn the nerve endings off by the muscles that were spasming.  This is the result of the first time.  It is a trial run that only last about a day.  He said it worked and can't wait for the final procedure to be done in a couple of months.

Natalie's first high school band concert

Natalie practiced and practiced and practiced for her first high school band concert. She did an amazing job. She is very talented in music and I love seeing how her music abilities has changed and evolved over the last 4 years. From her first squawks and squeaks to her beautifully flowing tunes that flow through her instrument. She has transformed the notes from the paper to the notes threw her saxophone so effortlessly that she makes it look easy. I thoroughly enjoy listening to her play her saxophone. I can't wait to hear her grow more as she gets older.

Saying goodbye

Saying goodbye is a very hard thing to do. Especially to the sister missionaries. This sister missionary, Sister Peterson is very special to us all. She spent her first 6 months here in Eagle River. And she was at my house at least 2 times a week.
She has left us to go to Fairbanks. We found out that she started training her own little girl 6 weeks after she transferred there. Good bye Sister Peterson! You are missed!