Halls Hollidays

We had a quiet Christmas. Rod and Aud got off work early on the 24th, and Christmas Eve we had our traditional "Wassill"and watched the Polar Express then the Mormon Tab. Choir with Sissil. Everyone opened one present. Christmas we all slept in!! Yahoo. We got going about 10:30 or so, letting Dave and Emma dive in. We all got more that we needed. Rod got some tools to play in his garage with and clothes. Mary sent him an awesome hat from England. I'll post a pic sometime soon. We made a lovely breakfast, and then even got a nap in the afternoon. Later that Eve we went to some friends, the Hansens, for Christmas dinner . It was very relaxing and a lot of fun.
It's been chilly (not Cold) and is the darkest part of the year now...but the good news, we're gaining light every day! We did get snow so the kids had fun sledding in the back yard. Over all it was very nice, we missed the rest of the gang not being with us, but hey, maybe next year??.

Thurs night we went to Anchorage and stayed with Aud and the kids. Dave has a hockey tournament this week-end. We watched the game on Fri. and then Emma, Rod and I headed north to Fairbanks. Jenny and Garry and fam are moving to the air base up there. Yea, over Christmas (what Christmas? they might say). So we wanted to go north and see them, maybe even help them unload their moving van. Funny thing on the way though, the lights on the ole "Burb" kept flickering. They got progressively worse until about 15 miles out of Fairbanks , and about midnight, they gave up the ghost and left us stranded. Stranded on the Parks Hyw in northern AK in the end of Dec in the middle of the night, in the COLD . Good times.
Of course we were being watched over and one of the local natives soon rescued us and gave us a ride in to Fairbanks to our hotel where it was safe and WARM.
At present, Rod and Garry are out and about getting parts so we can get going again. Thanks to Garry for giving us his daylight hours,( which aren't many). With trying to get into a house and all it is very nice of him to come to our rescue. So this posting is really from the TOP of the World!

FATHER CHRISTMAS

SANTA BABY...just slip a sable under the tree for me, Been and awfully good girl, SANTA BABY, so hurry down the chimney to me.

Umm, Ok I want......

SANTA arriving at the Ward Christmas Party!

The Tree, complete with little elves.

Oh, WHAT DO YOU DO IN THE WINTERTIME??

A little "after work" work! Rod in our back yard on his 4-wheeler loading wood up the hill from the tree that blew down in the last wind storm!

A bit dark for working isn't it?.. Oh yea, we're in Alaska, it's always dark!!!

The tree on the right is the top of the tree that blew down. Rod hauled it up and it is now in our living room...voila., a beautiful Christmas tree

Another project for Rod. This time its a trailer for his "toys". It needed a little work, so he took it over to Max Finchs and got er done. Thats Max and Rod on the top, and Rod and Matthew on the bottom. I was especially happy he had some helpers (other than ME).

TIS' BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

It's that time of year again!! One of Rods favorite..putting up the lights.
The trick was getting the ladder up to the deck.

Thank you "little giant".

Ta Daa...looking good, even if it is only to us and the moose.

Let the Festivus begin.

THE DRIVE HOME

We were driving home from Anchorage last week end just as the sun was just setting. (yea, an early day) It was so beautiful I tried to capture it . Of course nothing is as good as the real thing, but since your not here, here's your peek.

These were taken along the Turnagain Arm before you get to Girdwood.

No matter how many times we drive this, it never gets old. It's unbelievable how beautiful it is.

This is the view we have everyday driving home.... doesn't get better than this.
Eat your heart out.

OUR ALASKAN HOME

It's like we are living out in the forest all by
ourselves. So quiet and peaceful. Dave and
Emma helped plant the hanging baskets of














flowers.

This is our back yard. Yea, we live on a lake..great for kayaking, swimming or just looking at.
(Oh yea, great for flying insects as well!)

What did you do for Thanksgiving?

We woke up to a Grey, drizzling rainy day. Chinook winds have warmed us right up..melting precious snow for "machining" and " boarding". So warm, in fact, that Alyeska had to close for Thanksgiving, after an above avg. opening for snow and people! Our snow is gone, replaced with icy roads and mudd. But hey, 40 degree temps....life's not all bad.
We did the usual shopping thing, then made a killer fresh fruit salad and cream cheese pie. We joined a couple of other families for the Thanksgiving festivities and food, then came home toooooo..........yep, CARIBOU MEAT!! Good times. Should have been here Mar and Jen!! You have "experience"! We have like 180 lbs. of boned meat to take care of. Thought it would keep in our Alaskan Refrigerator, but this warm-up thing has messed that up! So we were in the middle of makin burger when the power goes out. Ahh, you say, what now? Well, being the resourceful Alaskans that we are, Rod went to the storage shed, pulled out his newly acquired generator, and walla, not only did we have power for a light and the kitchen aide meat grinder, but we got CSI as well!! Doesn't get better than that.
Hope you all had a Thankful Thanksgiving!

THE BIG HUNT!!

Here is the link for the photo bucket slide show of the hunt, courtesy
of Max Finch, Chief Guide, Cook and Baker

http://photobucket.com/albums/g256/alaskacanoe/Adak2007/?action=view&current=73f8549f.pbw

WHAT BEGAN AS A DREAM HUNT FOR ALL THE "MEN" IN THE FAMILY FINALLY CAME TRUE. .....FOR ONE OF THEM!!...

THE ADAK CARIBOU HUNT
A small island at the end of the Aleutian Islands, and a former Military Base, Adak is left with lots of modern military housing, and an expanding herd of about 3000 + Caribou. Add a pick-up for running the roads(yes, they have them), an argo for getting off the roads and retrieving game, a thousand Eagles for viewing and cleaning up the carnage, ptarmigan flying everywhere to add a touch of color, and a zodiac for fishing and exploring the coastline and inlets, and best of all...no limits on the caribou..... Add to this a Super Guide/ Gourmet Cook/ Pastry Chef/Entertainer/Storyteller, lots of good company and you have a recipe for a near perfect week of fun and adventure.!