Christmas is in the air, or is it??

Well it has been an interesting November and December so far to say the least.  November started out VERY cold, temperatures hovering around -5 to -18 below for the daytime highs, 2nd snowiest November on record! In comes December and the pineapple express, yep RAIN and temps in the 40's and 50's, can you believe it?!?! In Alaska no less, Dave will never admit it but hmmm maybe there is something to the global warming thing?

The rain has turned our roads to a mess of slush, ice and mud, such a joy to drive in let me tell you! But hey beats feet and feet of snow (again I will deny I typed this, it was an evil snow hating wench, she high jacked the computer, that is my story and I am sticking to it!) David is in morning as the snow is all melting and it looks closer to May at this point than December. :)

Lets see what has been happening.........

Krista got a job at Chilis, she is a hostess and is liking what she is doing.  Her schedule keeps her busy and so does school.  She is learning the responsibilities of life, you know the fun ones, Job, Bills, Gas, how much everything costs.  It is always funny to hear her say will you buy me this and when Dave and I reply, you have a job, if you want to go tanning you can pay for it, to which her reply is but that is $50, and I have to pay insurance and gas for my car.  We just reminder her that this is life and sometimes there are choices to be made.  She is doing really well though and learning to save.  We have been discussing a lot about colleges, scholarships, and other realities in life, like how will you pay for college? how will you eat? you all know these as we have all lived them at one point.  Top Roman noodles for a month, pizza that lasts for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 3 days straight, ahhhh the fond memories of college.  :))  In all seriousness she is really wanting to go to Bozeman, MT (MSU) as they have a great engineering and education program.  Her ACT scores are really good she is in the top 25% in the nation, so she has a good chance to get scholarships hopefully. She is taking some pretty challenging classes and doing well, I was informed that I would more than likely be paying up for all her A's this semester LOL. We are very proud of her for doing so well and finding a job.

Ashley is doing well, she is liking the Air Force and talks about making it a career along with getting her college degree in accounting still.  She has been sent to the commanders office to help out in his office and she is liking it quite a bit.  She was elected the president of her company booster club and pretty much single handedly organized the company Christmas Party.  She sold 127 tickets out of the 138 people in her company so it was a huge turn out.  She said it went off with out a hitch and everyone had fun.  They had games, a DJ, dinner and prizes.  She said she hadn't won any of them but her date did lol, she was a bit miffed, that she didn't win.  She is living off base with a couple of people, Dave and I wish she would move back on base as then we wouldn't worry as much, but that is not going to happen lol. She is coming home for christmas on the 19th and will arrive on the 20th at 1:50am, joy joy I get to drive in and get her lol, hopefully the pineapple express will stick around and I won't have to manage the ice and snow, but doubt that will actually happen.  She is wanting to go snowmachining and to the north pole, see the northern lights and go camping while she is home, hmmmm no problem right LOL.  We will see how much of that we can fit in for her.  She is excited to come home and see the snow, hopefully we will still have some lol.  Other than that she is doing good and enjoying life, which is what Dave and I wanted for her.

Dave and I are doing good, making plans to go to vegas in September of next year when my project is done, and waring it out with each other on a game called "words with friends" essentially scrabble online.  He wins some and I win some, but ohhhh how I hate to loose!! especially to words like XU!! who ever heard of XU!!! Honestly!!  I have accused him of cheating lately, lol.  He is getting the snowmachines ready for the first race coming up on December 18th.  We belong to a snowmachine club and he recently got elected chairman of the rules committee, boy is he having fun with that one, NOT, lol.  We have people who are trying to "donate" to the club if the rules are formatted the way they want, honestly people get a life! Its not about who has the most money or the most money to throw at their sled, it is about having fun and doing it in a safe family environment.  On the even funnier side, I was elected Sargent at Arms for the club since I seem to be the only one who knows Roberts Rules of Order and can play referee with out pissing people off, lol, guess I missed my calling as a middle east peace advisor LOL.  Thank goodness the meetings are almost over and the rules are pretty much final, what a chore!  But on the bright side it does keep us busy (like that is really our problem ha ha!).  We are both looking forward to Christmas and time with Ashley.  We wish Krista would've stuck around this Christmas but she really wanted to go home this Christmas so she could spend her 18th birthday at home next year.  Dave and I are planning something big for it, but Krista since I know you read this I am NOT going to tell you what that is ha ha!!

Well better run, have to go kick Davids booty at words with friends, hmmm let me see where did I put that dictionary.........

Love and Miss you all!!! Have a Happy and Safe Christmas!!

Dave and Jen

The snow has hit us

Well the snow has hit us in full force, we have about 10 inches or so and the temperatures are a balmy 10 degrees.  Dave has been working on his vintage snow machines getting them ready for the upcoming race season in December.  He is excited for the fact that the snow is here and it is sled time, but sad that the nova is now parked for the winter and so is the bike.  


We are hoping to do some work on the inside of the house this winter, add some shelving in the garage, and turn the downstairs into a personal gym for us, as well as start cleaning out some of those items that we haven't touched in two years, and donating those items to charity.


I have been busy with work.  I took a trip to Houston, Texas at the end of October, first part of November and was able to fit a side trip in with Ashley.  It was really nice to see her and spend time with her.  The puppies she has are very cute!  She seems to be doing well and enjoying herself.  She is heading up here for xmas this year and Dave and I are excited to have her home for two weeks.  I have taken time off and so has Dave so we can all hang out together. We are hoping to do some snow machining while she is home.


Krista is done with cross country and has been trying to find a job.  She has been struggling as the economy up here is going really good, so we have had a huge influx of people from the lower 48 coming up here for work.  We are hoping she finds something soon as we feel it would be good for her to get a job and learn about the joys of working and learning how to pay bills and what that part of life is all about.  She is headed to Illinois for xmas again this year as she said she wanted to be home for her 18th birthday next year.  Hard to believe she is a Junior this year.  We have been talking a lot about college and the realities that will be coming at her.  She is really hoping to go to Montana State University in Bozeman so hopefully she will get enough scholarships and student loans to carry her through what she wants to do.  She has a couple of interestes and she is not sure exactly what she wants to do, it is sort of between engineering or special education.  So time will tell what she decides.

Ashley and one of the puppies

Ashley's apartment that they share

The kitchen, and yes it is 1970's decorated lol

Kodiak on the deck in the snow

A two story carousel that we saw in Houston in one of the malls

Krista and Rachel dressed up for Halloween

It has been awhile

Well it has been awhile since we made an update. I threw in some pictures from a recent camping trip. Everything has been staying real busy. Krista is done with Cross Country and just staying busy with school. Ashley....well....oh being serious she seems to be staying real busy, she said she just took her final for her English class. It has been one year in the Air Force for her, I am amazed how fast time is flying by. We are so proud of her. Looks like Jen may get to see her around the first of November if her work schedule plays out. She is suppose to spend a week in Houston and she may be able to see ash for a few days. Jen is keeping busy with work and taking care of Krista and I. I am staying busy at work and home, doing a little work on the Nova and getting the race sleds ready for another race season.

Here is a picture of a swamp on a brisk october morning.

Nice little lake we camped by.

Me showing Krista how to hold a rifle.

Trying to get my 4 wheeler out of the mud.

Another stuck 4 wheeler.

Last of the Snowless Adventures

Well fall is here and winter is right on it's heals, the temps are starting to dip down and the leaves are fast vacating the trees.  We have had termination dust on the hills and it is sticking around, so not long now before the bikes have to be put up for the season.  Dave and I managed to get out for an evening ride tonight before it starts getting too cold and we can no longer get out and ride.  We have one more camp trip planned for the last weekend in September but then it will be time to winterize the camper.  :(((( Summer is truly over, so sad.  Dave is ready for it to snow and have snow machine season start.  I had my first board meeting for the Vintage snow machine race association Mat-Su Valley Snow machine Race Club (MSVSRC). So sadly the snow will be showing up soon.  I am not really looking forward to the commute to town in the snow and the ice this winter, but I guess I will be come a professional kamikaze driver like the rest of the valley commuters that make the trek into Anchorage.  I will post pictures of the Alaskan ditch divers when the winter snow starts to fly, so stay tuned.  Below is a picture of the bikes from our ride tonight.

Krista has her last cross country race of the season tomorrow and we have bought her plane ticket home for xmas, hard to believe this year is quickly ending.  Hard to believe it is almost October.  Krista is enjoying school and having fun.  We have already had the homecoming formal below are some pictures of her and her friend Rachel and Krista's boyfriend Cristian.

Ashley is doing good and we bought her plane ticket to come home for xmas, can't wait to see her, I was so bummed that I couldn't go with Dave to New Mexico, but alas work kept me home. For those of you that may not know Ashley called the wedding off, long story but Dave and I are proud of her for making the right decision.  She is having fun hanging out with a bunch of her friends and seeing all kinds of different places.  I am excited to see her in december.

The skys are starting to get dark around 8pm at night now and the sun is not up until around 7:00am so the days are definitely getting shorter, so sad, oh well, we are getting some amazing sunrises and sunsets.  See the pictures below.

Well have to run.  We miss you all and wish you all were here.

Latest update

Our latest adventure has taken me to New Mexico to hunt Elk and Antelope with Ashley. Jen wasn't able to take the time off from work, and Krista couldn't miss school so that left me to go by myself. Ashley drew an Antelope tag and I drew an archery Elk tag, and the seasons overlapped by 2 days. I got off the plane in El Paso Texas and it was 102 degrees, I immediately thought maybe I had made a mistake on taking this trip. I hunted Thursday and Friday and then took the weekend and spent it with Ashley. We did a lot of shopping and ate out a few times. Ashley went back to base on Monday so I went back to hunting. On Wednesday morning I walked back up a draw about a mile before light. While it was still dark I had the chance to watch a couple of bulls do a little bit of fighting. It was awesome to be that close to two animals that big fighting it out. By the time there was enough light to shoot, they had moved on up the canyon. I stalked them for 2 and half hours. There was 5 bulls altogether and seemed like at least two were sparring all the time. At one point I was 15 yards from 2 bulls and when they had their horns locked I could hear them breathing. I was in some heavy brush so I couldn't get a shot. It was an awesome experience. I drew my bow back on the biggest bull and held it for a couple of minutes, but couldn't get a clear shot. I finally got a shot and made it count. Tenderloins on the grill tasted very good. 

Ashley came back down on Thursday night so we could head down to look for Antelope on Friday. We had to leave camp really early to get out of the mountains and down in Antelope country. It was hot and dry. We spotted an Antelope about an hour into the hunt, but he was running full speed and not a chance of slowing him down. We didn't see many, but about 11 am we spotted a lone buck feeding. We used my buddy Larry's super secret gunny sack method of stalking up on him. It worked great, to my surprise. Ashley's first shot was at 200 yards and she missed, of course with a muzzle loader 200 yards is a long shot. After stalking up on it again she got a second shot at 200 yards, and this time she hit it. The shot was a little low and farther back than I would have wanted. We stalked up on it again and she got another shot at it and hit it a little high, of course that was my fault for telling her to aim high when it was at 150 yards, and by the time she shot it was only at 80 yards and I forgot to mention not aim high then. But she got her Antelope, and was it awesome to be there when she got her first big game animal. She did an awesome job shooting that muzzle loader, so proud of her.

  

 

Summer is about over.

Well summer is just about over, most of the fishing is done and hunting season is upon us. Krista has been running cross country for almost a month now and started school two weeks ago. Ashley seems to be keeping busy and doing well. She recently had a "combat dining out", wasn't exactly sure what that was, but it sounded like a BBQ with lots of super soaker action. She has an antelope hunt coming up soon, hope she can shoot a muzzle loader well. Jen has been real busy at work with lots of 10 hour days, and now a head cold has got her stuck in bed, hopefully she will get well soon. She had a team dinner this past week and I was able to sneak in, although had to pay for my own dinner.....lol. After dinner there was horse and buggy parked near the restaurant, and I know she has always wanted to take one for a ride. So we took a ride around down town Anchorage and down near the inlet. It was a good night for it. Jen's schedule works out that she gets every other Friday off. Since the weather looked good we decided to take a Harley ride. We took off around 9 am and had great weather all day. Rode 292 miles, and stopped for lunch at Sheep creek lodge.

Our view from the buggy ride.

We stopped on the bike to take a picture.

picture of the inlet, from where we took the buggy ride.

Jen with a smile on the bike.

Me having a good day.

Vacation

We spent a couple of weeks on vacation. We started out by driving from home up to Deadhorse, back to Fairbanks and then over to Dawson City Canada. Now the highway to Deadhorse isn't a normal highway, most of it is dirt road. It is 500 miles from Fairbanks to Deadhorse. We took our time and spent seven nights in the camper. Along the way we saw a bear trying to use a roadside restroom, so I guess that blows the theroy "that bears go in the woods". We saw moose, caribou, fox, eagles, muskox, bears and a snowy owl. Jen cooked us some awesome meals and Aunt Marlene taught us how to make a real smore. The trip was 2207 miles when it was all done. Some awesome pictures and great memories. Thanks Jen and Uncle bob and Aunt Marlene. We also spent some time at the Kennicot mine and some fishing on the Kenai. We had one bear incident, Jen woke me up at 4 AM telling me there was a bear outside trying to steal our cooler. I thought she may have been dreaming, so I opened the back door. There was a large black bear trying to get into our cooler, but I think my bed hair must have startled him, as he decided to wonder off.

Caribou at Deadhorse

Fox

The only forest in Deadhorse

Deadhorse Gas station.

 Rolligon

 

The camper was a little muddy.

Aunt Marlene had to have her picture with all these cans.  lol



 Snowy Owl in Deadhorse.

 Jen at the Deadhorse General Store.

 I had to take off my shoes and wade across this small creek to stand on this small patch of snow. If I can just find snow in August, I will be able to touch snow every month of the year.

 Caribou in Deadhorse below the pipeline.

So I think the sign says it all.

Fireweed along the Dalton Highway north of the Yukon River.

Bear trying to use the outhouse.

The ferry across the yukon River to get to Dawson City Canada

Entering the Yukon.

Uncle Bob telling Aunt Marlene she could not have that rock.

My wonderful bride.

Mount Sanford.

Old Railroad bridge that is now a one lane auto bridge. It is 238 feet above the water.

Root Glacier.

Kennicott Mine.

A morning of fishing for Reds.