Frozen Jungle

The high today is between 5 below and 5 above zero. Lows tonight could reach 30 below... Suffice to say, we're wishing we had tickets to Hawaii right about now.

Many people vacate Alaska for the islands at this time of year. We'll have to get the knack of that sort of vacation pattern soon!

In the meantime, life goes on. I'm throwing a baby shower for a friend this week. They're using a jungle safari theme. So I spent the weekend making a diaper cake and an edible cake with lots of jungle animal patterns...

Merry Christmas 2008

Snow is falling lightly here in southcentral Alaska. The world is white and pure.

Indoors, spirits are light and cheery. Alicia has just settled into her afternoon nap. The pot roast is cooking in the crock pot. The rest of us are thinking of watching one of our new Christmas movies.

Alicia was so excited to open her presents this morning. It took her a while to even notice the giant kitchen sitting near the woodstove. But when she did, she was overjoyed. She and Sissy investigated all the cupboards and appliances, finding foods, dishes, pans, and even an apron, chef's cap and bowl mixer.

Everyone was pleased with the gifts they received as well as the reception of the gifts they gave. Tess, Donald, and I each received new digital cameras. Mine is a wonderful upgrade from my last camera, which was a nice one, but no comparison to the new Canon. It'll take me a while to learn how to use it well, but I'm excited about the potential for taking wonderful photos of our lives here in Alaska.



For a last minute shopper, I must say, Stephen doesn't do half bad... :o) In addition to the awesome new camera, he also got me a beautiful piece of scrimshaw while he was stranded in Ketchikan last week. And the new camera lets me take a super photo of it! It's done on fossilized ivory. Really nice...




Yesterday, Alicia helped me deliver shortbread to the neighbors. Both neighbors love the shortbread. One had guests coming in today for Christmas dinner. I'm sure they'll share. But in case they run out, I sent along the recipe as well....

He knows when you've been bad all day...

... So be good for good mistake!

This is Alicia's version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". I think she'll make it as a songwriter.

It's Christmas Eve and our living room is relatively tidy. That should change dramatically by tomorrow morning.

Santa's workshop has been busily wrapping gifts for the Littlejohn household and has realized they may have gone slightly overboard in the pink & purple gift department.

Tonight we'll go out for chinese food in Eagle River and then head to the candlelight Christmas Eve service at 8pm. The kids will open one gift from under the tree and then scurry off to bed with delusions of yearlong good behavior dancing in their heads.

Alicia's in the tub right now with some Dora the Explorer bubble bath. She wants to smell good for Christmas!

I've got to go deliver some shortbread to our neighbors. Tess is babysitting while her client does some last minute shopping. Stephen is working a half day today then heading out to do his standard Christmas Eve shopping with all the other husbands out there. As far as I know, Donald is still in bed.

I think I'll lay down for a nap this afternoon when Alicia does. Although I hate to waste good daylight hours on sleep. But I have a feeling I'll be needing to stock up.

Hanging in Ketchikan

Well, Stephen made it almost all the way to Metlakatla yesterday. He and his colleague stopped in Juneau, then Sitka, then Ketchikan... and that's where they ended up. Apparently they were on the "milk run" flight. But they were unable to take their float plane connection from Ketchikan to Metlakatla (about a 10 minute flight) due to possible weather conditions.

This is always a chance you take with business travel around Alaska, but especially in the Southeast. All timelines are subject to change. So you try not to have any big plans scheduled for the day you are "supposed" to return from there... like open heart surgery, a connecting flight to Fiji, or a major holiday like Christmas.

Don't worry, he has a few days of leeway between his expected return date and Christmas... He should make it. If not, we'll send Rudolph down to guide him home through the storm.

What we're up to...

Alicia and I decorated some spare cookies Tess brought home from her basketball team bonding party the other day.


Some of you might recognize the dress she's wearing as one Aunt Susie made for Tess back when she was Alicia's age. It's Alicia's favorite dress and she wears it about 3 times a week. She'd wear it everyday if I let her.

Tess had her first basketball game last night against the Wasilla Warriors. You might recognize that name as Sarah Palin's hometown. It was a close game. Wasilla ended up winning in the last 15 seconds with a 3 pointer. But everyone was pleased with how they played. Tess was team captain...


Stephen's off to Metlakatla this morning for the rest of the week. You can google that to see where it is...

Showtime!

We're all ready for our big Christmas show this evening at the daycare... Alicia and her friends will be singing lots of holiday songs. Her favorite is Feliz Navidad.

Afterwards, we'll wrap a toy for a needy child and share some cookies and juice.

Later in the evening, we'll go to Sissy & Bubba's choir concert at the high school. It should be a festive night!

Christmas Cheer

Yay for Christmas!

We cut down our Christmas tree yesterday in the Matanuska-Susitna Moose Range north of Palmer. The girls napped in the truck while Stephen and I tramped through the snowy woods in search of the perfect tree.

At home, Alicia was a big help in decorating the tree. She's very excited about all things related to Christmas. I set Kate & Ray's gifts under the tree this morning before she awoke and she was ecstatic. She can't wait to open them...

Tess, Alicia, and Daddy did the most work on decorating the tree while Christmas music played in the background.

Merry Merchant Munch

We spent a festive evening last night at the Merry Merchant's Munch and the Winter Wonderland Walk in Eagle River. This event is held the first Friday & Saturday of December every year.

It includes many fun, holiday events including singing, food, gingerbread, and Santa. It's all free and a lot of fun.

Local school choirs sing holiday songs. Local merchants give out all sorts of food and treats. We went to Super Suppers which had an awesome buffet of really good food, everything from appetizer to dessert.

The bank hosted the Annual Gingerbread Contest again this year. I hesitated to enter my gingerbread trio as I hadn't really made it with the competition in mind. And last year, I was disappointed by how the judging was handled. In the end, I decided to enter so I could again share my creation with the hordes who participate in the Merry Merchant Munch. I did take first place in my category. There weren't any gigantic houses this year. I suggested to the bank staff that the questionable judging last year may have dissuaded some bakers from entering, as it had almost done for me. Apparently, there are different judges each year.

Santa was scheduled to arrive at 7pm and light the Christmas tree in the park. He was right on time. Kids were tossed up on their daddy's shoulders to get a better look at the arriving Santa. He landed in his sleigh at the base of the sledding hill and was escorted by torch-bearers to the hub of the crowd.

After the tree lighting, children lined up to visit with Santa in his sleigh and pet his reindeer. Rudolph didn't make the trip as the fog wasn't so thick as to require his services.

Along with snow and munchies, the festivities included lots of dogs to be petted. Alicia spent much of her time asking dog owners if she could pet their pooch and then distributing a nice rub down to each.

There was also a team of dog mushers. Alicia took a try at driving the sled. She might have to grow a little taller before she enters the Iditarod...

Wintertime

Every weekday, I back out of the garage into the morning darkness. The house is shrouded in snow and Christmas lights. It looks like someplace cozy to be. But I won't see it again until the darkness of night has fallen.

Both legs of my commute will be in darkness for at least another month and a half, I'd say. We're down to under 6 hours of daylight, I think. After Christmas week, we'll start slowly on the uphill climb toward the midnight sun of summertime.

In other news, Tess has been having basketball tryouts this week. She's made the JV team again this year and is neither surprised nor disappointed. I think it'll be a good season for her. Especially once she gets back in shape. They worked them hard at the tryout sessions and Tess begged us to heat up the hot tub so she could soak her feet. It took us a day to get the temp up and the chemical mix sufficient for her to use it as she did her homework after practice last night.

Donald has been going to orientation in the evenings for his new job at Walmart in Eagle River. Soon he'll be insuring his truck, learning to drive, getting his license and moving ahead with life...

More Gingerbread! Yay!

I spent much of Sunday putting together my own little gingerbread creation. I had some leftover mini-house parts. So I used some to construct a gingerbread sampler of sorts.

On one end, you've got your nifty woodsman's cabin with a tootsie roll stump and necco wafer axe. In the middle is the quaint, country church with the white wrought iron fence and bench and a wafer cookie doorway. And on the far right is the more traditional gingerbread house with golden graham cedar shingles, Big Red gum door and tootsie roll mailbox.

I incorporated many of my favorite gingerbread techniques and had a nice time doing it. And the best part is, the family's still speaking to me. See, I am mellowing out!

Donald's senior picture is due today if he's going to make it into his senior yearbook. Hopefully they accept a digital copy. We snapped this one yesterday in the yard as he was on his way back out the door to go to youth group at the church...