Six more days until the winter solstice. And we are loving it more and more! Sure it's dark until late in the morning and early in the evening, but if we get outside and play it's really not that bad. The sun rose at 10:11am and set at 3:34pm today. Sounds wretched, but with all the fun we can have you don't hardly notice. By December 21 we will only lose three more minutes of daylight. I think I can handle that! Though we are all three praying for more snow, as are many outdoorsy Alaskans. If we get enough we can take our newly acquired toys from directly from our house instead of only being able to hop on after trailering them 25 minutes up the mountain. Chadd woke me up one morning before leaving for work and we got our first sight of the Aurora Borealis flickering green streams across the northern sky! It's so fascinating. They move so fast! I can't wait to see more. The northern lights can also scatter pink, blue, violet, and white. It got up to 30degrees today, also not bad. Cyrus dislikes bundling up as much as his father remarks that he did when he was a little tyke. So his coat gets discarded quickly in anything over 20. He's a tough little Alaskan.
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| A bundled winter bike ride down to frozen solid Cottonwood lake near our home |
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| The breath freezing vehicle scenery on a regular return from work |
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We have one more reason, and the best so far, reason to love Alaska: Snowmobiling!! (AKA: Snowmachining, or "sledding" as Alaskans call it)
It took a day, but Chadd has caught on skillfully, too be expected. I am getting there. We are waiting for some real deep fluff so we can really practice the turns, side-hilling, and counter-steering. Getting stuck is a natural part of the sport. Different techniques, a shovel, and a lot of huffing and puffing get it back on top of the snow and off again. The scenery surrounding us is as amazing and the exhilaration of flying over hills and bends. And now that Cyrus is not whining the whole time about being cold it's a lot more fun :) Better than four-wheeling, we love the winter! And we still have yet to ski, snowboard, and watch the dogsled Iditorod in February. Let it SNOW!!!
Thanksgiving Vacation to Florida! (via Texas)
Cyrus and I flew to Texas to roadtrip to Florida for a Thanksgiving family reunion and 60th anniversary celebration while Chadd stayed back to work on the house. We embraced the sun and splendidly enjoyed wearing one layer of clothing, playing in the waves and spending time with my wonderful family. My family came to this hotel when I was a child so nostalgia smiled as I watched my son play in the same settings. This has made the Alaskan winter much shorter. Thank you Grandpa!!
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| Cyrus and his cousin Brooklyn playing too rowdily the moment he started feeling better. |
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| My crazy endearing Graybill family. And my grandparents (On the right with the white hats) celebrating 60 years together!! |
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| A rest stop on the 12 hour drive from Dallas to Panama City. |
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| My Dad paid for a charter fishing trip for four of us! |
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| Cyrus got very sick with respiratory wheezing and a high fever. It was the worse severely sick he has ever been and the most difficult trial for me. We almost went to the ER/Urgent care four times. But thanks to my cousin Amber lending her son's nebulizer and giving us some remedies, my Mom's purchase of a bushel of expensive herbs and staying up with us all night, and my sister spoon feeding him broth and honey herbs, but mostly, a desperate prayer of a humbled crying mother, he started to improve. Many more of my extended family who were at the hotel were also praying earnestly. Praise only to my Lord and Savior! Winter Alaska Kid activities #2: Open Gymnastics day. Cyrus LOVES it! |
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| Helping his Daddy fix a cable to plug in his truck. |
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