Mini Update

Just realized its been since XMAS when I last posted a blog, so a mini update.  We are leaving Alaska in 108 days not that we are counting.  The past two weeks we have been doing nothing but house stuff trying to get it ready to be put on the market.  Hopefully we can list it on Monday.  We are ready to start our next adventure.  Nicole has been so good thru the whole moving process even though it hasn't really started yet.  She is a firecracker and her favorite word is "no"  to everything.  Its hilarious.  She is looking more and more like Jake everyday. 

When we leave here we are going to be driving out and pulling the trailer.  We are stopping in Washington, Oregon and California on the way to New Mexico.  Hopefully we are able to see alot of the family on the way to our new home.

Christmas Pics

They are in reverse order of how the day happened.

Christmas

Christmas was so much fun this year.  Nicole was older and seemed to enjoy herself.  She woke up at 6 am on Christmas day, lucky for us she doesn't know what is going on with the presents so we didn't all have to get up and start opening gifts.  However, we did leave one present unwrapped under the tree in clear sight so if she noticed it she could go and have it.  Jake got up about 7 and Nicole still hadn't seen the new present under the tree.  Eventually she seen the magna doodle from Nana and was super excited.  We were able to skype with Andrew, Malia and Dustin that morning and the little ones opened their gifts in front of each other.  That was fun for the kids more for Andrew I think.  Before we even got off the call he was already asking to watch his new video we got him.  Nicole started opening all of her gifts.  Happy we didn't get her tons of gifts because the fun and excitement seemed to wane for her.  Eventually she seemed tuckered out and wanted a nap.  After nap time we got out her stocking and she found that she had a bunch of trucks, this I think was her favorite gift. 

The day after Christmas we took Nicole to target (she got a gift card from Grand Dad and Grandma Susan) so we let her pick toys out.  Jake let her keep anything she put in the cart.  Kind of fun to watch them.  We did get her more trucks and cars to play with, no small cars though.

Jake and I don't exchange gifts with each other.  We try to usually get something for the house or a big gift we share.  This year we are going to Mexico in February.

I cant wait for next years Christmas. 

ABC

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Christmas

This year me and Jake are really getting into Christmas.  In the past years we haven't done much because its just been us. Usually we would get a gift for us to share something that maybe we needed in the house.  Well this year we already are using our gifts to each other.  haha.  But now with Nicole we are getting more into the spirit.  This year we decided to do an adopt a family.  Jake and I want Nicole to grow up wanting to give more than to receive.  So I looked around at places that sponsored adopting a family and found the AWAIC Abused women in aid crisis center participated in this.  So we got our list from the center, we had asked for younger children.  These boys that we got are getting so much stuff.  Jake went a little overboard on getting toys and clothes. We even did up a nice little stocking stuffed with toys and candy for them.  Shopping for these kids helped me see what Jake will be like with our kids.  With us not doing much for Christmas in the past I was able to really see how much he gets into it. 
Now all the wrapping is done for the kids, tonight we are going to be delivering the gifts to the center.  Then on to getting Nicoles gifts ready for Christmas.  

Winter

So the holidays are almost here.  It seems like the year has gone by so fast.  This winter has been the coldest so far of all our years here.  I have been saying that its our last Alaska winter so of course it will be horrible.  We have so much going on over the next few months.  Here is what we have planned for the winter so far

1 Dec-Terri visits Alaska
4 Dec-I travel to Seattle for a class for a week
25 Dec-XMAS-YEAH
1 Jan-Jake is going hunting with his dad
sometime in January we find out our possible locations for where we will move to next
Jake should also sew on his next stripe on the 1st of Jan.
8 Jan-Jake comes home
sometime in the first week or so of February we will find out where we are moving to
12 Feb-MEXICO-first vacation

Seems like a lot is going on with us.  Only 8 more months left until we move. SO exciting. 

Fairbanks

So we finally had some time off together and we took that time to travel to Fairbanks.  For us it was an 8 hour drive one way.  We didn't take the trailer with us.  We worked about the weather and it being too cold in the rv.  It ended up being very nice each night, but it could have snowed buckets.  So happy either way. Nicole did so good driving that long in the truck, I seen it as a test for when we leave out of here and have to drive for days at a time.

So we were trying to preplan what we wanted to do and really there is not much in Fairbanks.  There is however good food, i think that is what they are known for.  The tourist season ends on Labor day and a lot of shops and activities close up after the log weekend, so most everything was shut down.

We wanted to go and see the ice museum in Chena after Nicole's nap.  But she ended up sleeping for nearly 4 hours and then our day was just about over.  So we stayed in town and went to eat and went to see Santa's House.  Not sure what I was expecting when I hear Santa's House, but it surely wasn't a store front along the highway.  Either way it was fun.  They have some Caribou-Reindeer on site and Nicole was enjoying them.  Santa however was not there, he was on vacation till November.  Kind of a bummer but we took pics with his chair.

On our last day there we took Nicole too the park, it was a good time seeing her play.  Cant wait for her to get bigger and be able to run around more.