Here We Grow Again

Here's a news flash.
Check the date...
Baby sister is 38. :o)

I guess I am officially in my "late-30's"... Sigh.
Okay, that's enough dwelling on that.

We had a good day yesterday. After church, we went into Anchorage to go to the Holiday Craft Bazaar at the Egan Center. We went to that last year for my birthday as well.

I met Shannon Cartwright who is a children's books illustrator, among other things. She signed the 3 books we bought for Alicia May for Christmas. She does great work.

I bought Stephen his annual knife from a vendor who comes up from Homer, AK. This year we got a skinning knife with a mermaid (fossilized walrus bone) handle. Shhh... don't tell him, it's a Christmas gift.

I also got some awesome peanut brittle from Klondike Candies. Okay, we also got pecan brittle and macadamia brittle as well as some chocolate cashew clusters. Yum!

Then we headed over to JCPenney and got our family portrait made. Last year we made our own out in the snow. This is the first "formal" family portrait we've done since Alicia joined our brood.

We did the birthday lunch at the Golden Corral because the restaurant I'd wanted to try was closed for Sunday lunch. But the Golden Corral was good and easier to manage a toddler.

At home we did the cake and gifts thing once the digestion had made some progression. Tess & I played a board game called Huggermugger, which involves vocabulary. And Alicia May ran wild around the house, crying and antagonizing. I know I shouldn't, but I can't wait for her to outgrow this phase! She's a complete terror when she wants to be (which apparently is often!).

Case in point... it took about 3 attempts to achieve a good run down the front yard sled hill. In between the efforts, she was dragged back into the house and disrobed for throwing a tantrum for one reason or another. After which, she'd apologize "for crying" or "for being bad", etc and we'd start all over again.

By the way, I keep meaning to mention... We're heading up to the Chena Hot Springs in mid-December. On the way up, we'll be passing through North Pole... where the big guy lives. If anyone would like us to mail anything from there, let us know. At that time, we'll also be passing through Big Delta where Mom, Dad, and Susan lived in the early 50's... I'll try to take pics, but it'll probably be pretty dark when we pass through.