Aloha!!!

We ventured into the world of Space A travel this week! The Air Force was flying from AK to HI and they had 53 open seats in there C17. So, we packed our bags and began our version of the Amazing Race! We made the cut and boarded the C17. It's HUGE!!!! Plenty of leg room! We're not sure how or when we'll get back but we're going to soak up the sun and warmth while we can!

Letters to Santa and Snow Play

First, I want to say that my heart is broken and sobs with those families whose babies were shot and killed this week in CT. It is an unimaginable, revolting, and totally devastating tragedy. I think of those little children going to school and my soul shivers when I think of what they encountered. How terrified they must have been. I just can't even imagine...

It definitely makes you hold on tighter to the ones you love, doesn't it?

I pray for peace for those families. Peace, Dear Lord. Wrap them in Your arms so that they feel You and Your love. I think it must be the only thing that can begin to provide solace at a time like this.
.......................................................................

Boo has been working on a letter to Santa for quite a while now. He finally finished it up last week and was so excited to address it and put a stamp on it. Well, once Lil Sister caught on, she HAD to write a letter too.
So, we sent them off in the mail earlier this week. And Boo can't wait to get one back from Santa. Hopefully our little Elf from the North Pole will bring one back soon. ;)

We also had some snow last weekend. We've been in a snow drought this year. So, it was nice to get some snow so that we could get out and play.

This makes me smile.

Boo's letter says:
"Dear Santa, I loved seeing you at the mall (last year). I would like LM (Lightning McQueen) racers this year. Love, Grady"

I'm not sure what Lil Bit's letter says, but it's quite colorful and I'm sure Santa can deliver something fun for her too.

Boo's envelope.

B-man playing with his new snow toy!
4-wheeler and snow plow combo.

Looks like fun! I'm just glad he's here to tackle the job!

Lil Bit headed down the hill!

Here she comes!

She's a little unsure on the way down but all smiles once she gets there!

Boo's ready to go!

WIPEOUT!

No tears!
Hallelujer!
Seriously.

She's too much!

Cuteness!

Big boys have to figure out how to get themselves and their sleds back up the hill.

Whoa!

B-man took this pic right before Boo went between his legs at the bottom of the hill.
Haha!

A little concerned, but having a blast.

She loves it, but she can't move or hold on with all of those clothes on so it's hard for her to handle.
I got a new sled for her that I think will work better to help contain her.

Moving on down the road to try out another hill.

B-man was taking the pics for this day.

O Christmas Tree

We decided to take advantage of the AK wilderness this Christmas season by going out into the woods to cut down our Christmas tree. Sounds like fun, right? Well... we did have fun, but it was a l-o-n-g day! And Boo spent 95% of our time in the woods crying. I'm still not sure why. He really cries a lot and I'm kind of having a hard time with that right now. Anyway, we made it to one of the designated tree cutting areas on post to find, well, not much in the way of Christmas trees. The underbrush was grown up and it was quite difficult to traverse the area with Boo and Bit being shorter than the brush. And, most frustrating was the lack of trees.  We were hard pressed to find a suitable or near suitable tree. Thankfully, B-man forged ahead in different directions scouting out possibilities for us. It was pretty cold too, so we weren't going to doddle too long making a decision. And he finally came across a few possibilities. Hooray! So, we picked one and he cut it down for us and he dragged it back to the truck. We got it home and up in the stand. The trunk is so skinny that the eye screws almost didn't hold it in place.
It stood there for several days. I finally trimmed some of the more wild branches to give it a Christmas tree shape. But, I didn't want to trim too many, or we wouldn't have anywhere to hang the ornaments!

So, here she is...

Decorating the tree. Boo is wearing camo jammers.
Do you see him?

Ta-dah! Here she is in all of her glory.
She is perfect! I love her and we will remember her always!
And although Boo seemed totally miserable out there, he tells about it like he had a wonderful time! Go figure.

Last night we braved the bone chilling temps to attend the Christmas Tree Lighting on post.
It was C-O-L-D! We experienced temps colder than I have ever felt before. Ever.
The temp was -10 but the wind chill was -23!!!
Our nose hairs were freezing in our nose!

There was a SURPRISE visitor from the North Pole!
Boo was beyond excited to see Santa and really, really, really wanted to sit in his lap.
So, we waited. :)
Look at how happy he is! For a little guy who had been under the weather earlier this week, he was finally smiling again.

Bit was mostly interested in the candy canes they were supplying.
Lol!

 Santa even brought his reindeer with him!!
I've never seen his reindeer before!
This is DASHER. They really are so cute. Short little deer with those big antlers.

Boo really loved it, so I had to put in all the pics of him smiling.

 After we walked through the door back home, Maggie lay on the floor and said, "I can't get up!"
All that gear! It was worth it though.

Boo is getting to the age where he might remember this for the rest of his life. I hope he does remember meeting Santa's reindeer! So magical.

We're doing special things to demonstrate the true reason for Christmas as well, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I will be posting about them soon.

Today in Numbers

Temperature Outside: -15 degrees 
Sunrise: 9:55 a.m.
Sunset: 3:47 p.m.
Boo's temperature: 100.5 degrees
Days of confinement due to a sick Boo: 3
Magnitude of the earthquake earlier this week: 5.8
Bit's wake up time today: 7:15 a.m. This is actually a good number! She's been getting up so early lately.

This Carolina Girl is COLD! I do love Alaska, but I do NOT like temps below zero. The bears have a good thing going with this whole hibernation thing. I'd love to snuggle in a warm cave until spring!

Brrrrrrrrrrr!

More on Bit

I guess we'll do videos first because that's where they're showing up...

Our Lil Miss is something else! She's soooo stinkin' cute and is so sweet. But, she can throw down with the best of them! Lol! She definitely has her opinions of how things should go and what she should get and when she should get it, but for the most part, she just LOVES to have fun. She absolutely loves playing with her big brother and is always excited to go pick him up from school. She has her DaDa wrapped around his heart in a way that only little girls can. And, she is MY BABY! I remember on my birthday last year talking to my Dad. I told him that I still felt like I didn't know much in life and that I still felt like the baby of the family needing him and BeBe and Aunt R to take care of me. He said to me, "Well, you are the baby of the family. And you always will be and that's okay." The way he said it really touched me. It didn't make me feel bad for not knowing more in life. It made me want to embrace my place in our family. And I can tell you that Lil Bit will ALWAYS be my baby. And you know what, Lil Boo will too! He's my first! Anyway, I guess my point is that I keep referring to Lil Bit as my baby...but clearly she's a toddler and on her way. But, when I rock her at night and ask her, "Are you Mama's girl?" She graciously replies, "I Mama's girl!" Melt. My. Heart! We love her so much and she is just perfect for us!

She loves Minnie Mouse and animals of all kind. She is very good at taking care of all of her animals too.
She also loves trains and dinosaurs, thanks to her time with Boo.

Happy Birthday hug from our resident big brother.

Opening a couple of presents before Boo had to go to school.
Boo got her a Minnie Mouse book.

Playing with her new toys.
I think she likes them :)

:)

She had no problem opening up her presents!

Minnie getting ready for a bus ride to school!

This big guy was a very gracious Big Brother!
He wasn't upset at all that it was her bday.
He even said, "It's all about you Mags!"

A little something for Boo.
Thanks G & GPa

I made Elmo cupcakes for our little family celebration.
Thank goodness there were only 4 of us!

Cake!!

Under the category of "It's my birthday and I can do what I want..."
Wearing snow pants inside all afternoon.

And in the same category...putting your finger up your nose!
Hehehe!