Our first visitor is…….. Grandma!! I knew she couldn’t stay away.. Even though I was surprised that my dad didn’t accompany her. He says he’s too busy working, supporting the family…. blah blah blah… : ) it was very nice that he loaned out his wife yet again to let her come and play. I did return her in one piece… well a very tired one piece that is. The one thing that does make me homesick for the “Lower 48” is the distance. I feel like we are another planet away up here. I watch as the sun barely graze across the sky, not above.. and I can see where the rest of my family would be… “down there some where”.
Anyways. on Sunday we accidently slept in a little late (Which is VERY easy to do here since the sun doesn’t come up until 9am) so we just decided to get on the road. We heard the roads were getting a little icy so we packed up and headed off to Anchorage. 3 hours later we arrived in town and it had just started to snow. It was great timing. We checked into a hotel and played with the kids in the snow. My mom was scheduled to land in Anchorage at 1am so that’s why we all stayed in a hotel. I bravely went out in the snow and picked up my mom. What a relief to see her standing there in one piece. Not an easy journey. The roads were starting to get very slick so I drove cautiously back to the hotel. The next day we spent the morning carefully driving around town running the errands that we had been waiting to do. You have to make the best out of being in town. So we went to Costco, best buy, CosmoProf (professional beauty supply store, of course) and a couple of other stops and then we decided it was best to get on the road and make the journey back to home. It took us much longer to get home. And I am sure if my Mom wasn’t in the car Kiel would have yelled at me for the amount of times I asked him, told him, pleaded with him to slow down!! I felt like Grandma Miller… “Jerry, Slow down!” The roads were very slick. Here we have discovered that they DO Not plow the roads like they do in Utah or any other “lower 48” state Grrrr.. They just plow the top layer off and let everyone drive on the ice. It’s more like ice skating with 4 tires. Fun stuff.. But we are learning. No one has died yet so we aren’t failing. That day we were lucky it was clear and the weather was beautiful so we were able to see the trees for the first time covered in snow. We stopped a couple of times just to take in the view.
But there must be a disclosure here… The pictures will never be as good as the view in person. We kept saying that. We would take a picture and even if it was a good picture we would look up and say it’s not as good as being here in person. So just keep that in mind you “lower 48er’s” Once we made it safely back into town we found our snow covered home.
Grandma quickly pulled out these amazing snow bibs and coats she brought for the kids and we all played in the snow.
Snow Ball Fight!!
Having my mom here is like a Breath of fresh air. She has this way of refilling my soul, energy and confidence. It was so nice having here and seeing our daily schedule and what our life is like here. A lot changes compared to Arizona living. She helped me hang pictures on the walls and help me organize my house even more. Her advice is like gold to me. She has lived in it all so I value her opinion and advice. All week long we stayed in town and worked on many projects. We made a ton of "Toasties” some to give away for Christmas and then others for the kids to warm up and sleep with at night.
She helped me make new stockings for Christmas (pictures to come when they are finished) and then she also helped me start on a great project for a gift for the kids for Christmas… TBA. We played in the snow,
went to the icy/snowy park,
saw some amazing sunrises,
walked along the Kenai river,
and so much more. I gave my a Much needed haircut (Mom please stop Cutting your own hair…. Please
) While she was here I received a phone call from a salon that I turn in my resume to. They wanted me to come in for an interview. My mom gladly offered to watch Chloe and Curtis for me while I went and met with my now new Manager. I was hired on the spot at this really cute salon/spa. I am very excited about working there.
It seems like it is a great team to work with and a very family oriented place. The manager asked if I knew how to perm hair and if I was comfortable with doing them. I hesitated and said I haven’t done one in over 6 years but I would love to get back into doing everything so I offered the idea of having my mom come in while she was in town and doing a perm on her for practice. She loved that idea and set up a time where I could have a couple of stylist there to help and have a mini refresher for everyone. So we set up the time and my mom was able to come in and have her hair permed and see the salon. I think we were both impressed with the other stylists and the salon it self. I have a picture of my mom with the rollers in her hair but I was threatened by her not to put it on the internet so I won’t…. but it’s a good picture : p It turned out great and I was impressed at how quickly everything came back to me. I am excited about going to work. My first official day is this Friday and then I work again on Saturday. My manger called me this morning and told me I already had a perm booked for Saturday. Crazy. I love me some smelly perms! I guess they are coming back so its all good! My plan right now is to work twice and week and see how that goes. I am happy that I can get back into a salon and keep up my craft. I really do love it and have missed being in a salon for a long time. You can like them on Facebook I was told they are working on updating their website… https://www.facebook.com/halcyonspalon?ref=br_tf
It was perfect timing with Kiel’s rotating schedule, it’s hard sometimes to plan things to make trips but while my mom was here it was perfect. Kiel had Saturday and Sunday off and the Weather was perfect so we made a trip to the other side of the peninsula and saw Seward. It was a breath taking drive. I just can’t get over how gorgeous the mountains are. Especially covered in snow.
once again… I could never be able to capture on camera how gorgeous it really is.
We heard about a great aquarium in Seward so we had to check it out. It didn’t disappoint.
Curtis was the only child that was brave enough to touch the animals…
There was a very playful Sea Lion Pup that was very curious about the kids. He stayed very close to the kids doing tricks and playing in the water. It even at times seemed like it was coming in to kiss Chloe when she was kneeling on the floor against the glass.
After we left the aquarium we shot this picture. It was very windy and VERY cold so we quickly smiled and ran toward a warm place to have lunch.
After the 2 hour drive home we stopped in our neighborhood. There is a pond and we checked to see if it was frozen. With 3degree weather we thought it was safe. Kathy was very nervous about it… she wouldn’t even touch the ice but the kids thought it was awesome!
The rest of the time with my mom we relaxed and just enjoyed each other. We read stories,
made delicious meals and tried out a new recipe for Thanksgiving… my new favorite, Coconut Cream Pie… She might even serve it at her Thanksgiving day table! It was delicious and not as hard as I had anticipated.
Like I said before I love it whenever I get to be with my Mom. She has a way of refreshing me and this time was no different. She gave me all the confidence in the world that we will be great up here and she just calmed all my hesitations. I wouldn’t survive without my family. As my Mom left and started her three flight and half day venture home I worried that she would never come back to visit again. But I am so glad you came Mom and Thank you for everything. We love you and will always be here with us now. Love you! And Thanks again Dad for lending her out! I hope your bill gets lost in the mail some how : )
Who will be the next brave soul to come visit us in Alaska?
