New camera + Family trip

Sliding with Barometer in the background

I guess only kids are allowed to survive...

Russian Church

Waiting to fly

All the cousins at the "Northernmost Denny's in the World"

Aunt Rachel and Lady A next to the Alaska Pipeline

The Duchess saw a BEAR!

Cousins... too cool for school!

Deep thoughts being shared here!
Also, a word of warning about crossing the white line in the background.

Hello! I'll be your server this morning!

The Duchess knows how to race that dogsled!

Sisters

Not quite as interested in this part of the tour

Lady A was laughing because her aunt and uncle kept moving in front of the camera!

Fun family photo!

Love these two!

The men.
Alternately, the tallest flanked by the shortest.
Or, the youngest flanked by the oldest.
Take your pick.

Our "Rustic" Cabin

Taking a picture of me taking a picture of her

Not sleeping.  Also, not smiling. But we can see his face!

Flipping the switch

Denali

Another view

I asked Mom what she thought about being on the train and getting all the hiccups sorted out.
This was her response.

Lady A in a pensive pose.
I was trying to show Princess N how to adjust the camera settings to achieve different effects with the lighting.

April becomes May

It is May already.  It is hard to believe we are already into the fifth month of the year.

So many things are happening just this month.  There is the end of the school year. There will be parties and field trips and goodbyes. For our niece, the end of high school and her birthday.  For our "baby" girl, her second birthday.  For Michael, nights have become days again. And we can't forget that his birthday is coming quickly too. For friends, this is the beginning of transfer season.  Already we have seen the trucks in our neighborhood, estimating, packing, and loading.  Wednesday night is the last night for AWANA.  The girls have loved participating.  I have enjoyed having a semi regular date night with Michael and the Duchess.  And then of course, there is Mother's Day.  My girls keep asking about and reminding me that Mother's Day is coming soon.  Lady A and Miss E have both decided to make cards for me and that I need to have a scavenger hunt to find all of them.  Perhaps I will take a nap while they set it up... Michael works tomorrow so Princess N has offered to assist.  There is more, much more, going on, but what happened to April?

April was a blur.  It was a challenge.  When you have 6 people sharing germs, it generally takes 6 weeks for those germs to go away.  There was someone sick pretty much every week in April.  I'm not sure if it was all the same virus because we all had different symptoms and we were each out of commission for different lengths of time.  Princess N had fever for a day and was fine.  Miss E had fever for 5 days, but was back to normal otherwise after 3 days.  Michael was sick for three days while whatever got me knocked me out for almost two full weeks.  Lady A and the Duchess seemed to escape unscathed.

I am hoping May slows down a bit so we can enjoy it.

I abandoned you in Great Falls...

No, we didn't just spend the last several months in Great Falls.  We continued on into Canada.  And then back into the US.

About two months before we left Texas, we finally had ferry passage reserved.  Since we were not leaving from Bellingham, Washington as we'd originally planned to do, we needed to quickly get a passport for all four girls and me.  With Michael's travel schedule and the requirement that he either be present or sign a form giving permission for me to apply for the girl's passports, it quickly became apparent that we may or may not receive them before our planned travel dates.  We had a small cushion of time built into our travel plans in the event something came up along the way that delayed us, but waiting for more than a week after our planned departure date would mean missing the ferry if we had a major vehicle failure on the road.  Still, even though they could take 4-6 weeks to arrive, we needed passports.  By the time we applied, there were four weeks exactly before we were planning to leave town.  The week before the movers came, we visited with family and friends in Florida.  While we were there, our next door neighbor let us know that some of the passports had come in.  By the end of the last week of school, we had all five passports and were ready to go.

This was the first trip out of the country for our girls and I added a 4th country to my list.  (those would be Ecuador at ages 8, 17, and 18; England at age 12, and Canada at age 36, and of course, the US, where I've pretty much lived my whole life)  I'm not sure how many countries Michael has been in, but we all added some more states to our lists as well.  I'd never been to Montana, even when we lived in Wyoming, so it was neat to see the accuracy of their state nickname, Big Sky Country.

When we pulled out of Great Falls, we wandered along a river with some beautiful views until we reached the interstate.  Once on the road, it was a few short hours to the US/ Canadian border.  Before we crossed into Canada, we realized that we really needed to set up an international calling plan for our cell phones.  We had three hours to the border to figure it out.  I decided that even though we'd have the calling plan, I would leave my phone off unless for some reason Michael and  I went separate ways.  It was nice to be disconnected for a few days.

Crossing the border was a bit nerve-wracking at first.  When we pulled up to the checkpoint, we were told that the cargo rack was partially blocking our license plate.  The Customs official asked what the plate number was and both Michael and I stumbled over trying to remember the correct sequence of numbers and letters.  Then when he asked us to open the back window, I originally thought he meant the window on the tailgate, not the left passenger window.  Eventually, we got everything sorted out and the drive through Canada began.

When we lived in Cheyenne, there were three main colors.  Brown, white, and a combination of the two.  If we wanted to see something green, we drove to Denver.  The landscape across the border was beautiful.  Lush, green, rolling hills gleamed in the sunlight after a rain shower.  Familiar, yet foreign.  After the ruggedness of Wyoming and Montana, the green fields made me think of the Wizard of Oz.  There were no fences on the lands immediately across the border to keep livestock in and people out.  It seemed open and welcoming.

One of the first things we noticed was a U-Haul truck pulling a trailer that had been at the border.  When we pulled up to the border checkpoint, we saw that it had a flat tire.  Folks traveling in another vehicle seemed to be helping them change the tire.  Apparently, the tire didn't fit because when we passed them on the road, the U-Haul was sending sparks flying as the rim of the wheel dug a groove into the pavement.

Another thing we noticed almost immediately was the courtesy of the other drivers.  In Houston, we often said that using your turn signal meant that other drivers knew to speed up because you revealed your intentions.  In Canada, we saw very few drivers not use their turn signals.  In Houston, Michael claimed that "Driving Friendly" was just another Texas myth.  However, in the western part of Texas, we did encounter several folks who "Drove Friendly."  In Canada, we had many people pull over to the right, especially on the four lane highways, when a faster moving vehicle approached.  In fact, most people drove in the right lane except to pass.  Imagine that! :)

It was interesting to find places to eat and fill up the gas tank though.  In the US, highway signs indicate which direction you need to travel to find a restaurant or gas station.  In Canada, we pulled off the major roadway several times but were unable to figure out which direction we needed to go and how far we would need to go as well.

We hit Calgary at rush hour.  It wasn't too bad at first, but the far side of town was awful compared to what traffic we'd been in over the past couple of days.  Once we made it out of Calgary, and thankfully onto the correct road, the drive was quite pleasant.

Edmonton was another challenge though.  We had stopped for dinner earlier and decided to try to find a hotel on the route out of town.  After taking several exits and not finding hotels, we finally found one.  After the many hours of driving, we were quite relieved to find a place to rest.

Up next: Edmonton to Whitehorse

some recent photos

I know the story of the Grand Adventure is stuck in Great Falls.  I promise to get back to it.  In the mean time, how about some recent photos? Recent meaning photos from the past few months...

Moonrise at Jewel Beach

Sunrise

All of us at Ft Abercrombie - it was a gray day, but we got a much
needed stroll and fresh air!
In front: Miss E and Lady A
In back: Mom, Princess N, Michael, the Duchess, and me

Pretty in Pigtails

I'm a bit late, but HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! (at Jewel Beach)

The mountains at night

Stranded Starfish

The Bering Beauty - Photowalk 2014

Me, Michael, and the Duchess on a hike at Ft Abercrombie

Cheyenne to Great Falls

June 11/12th

One of the things that both Michael and I commented on several times is how green Cheyenne and most of Wyoming is this year.  When we lived there, we pretty much saw only two colors - brown or white.  I think there may have been green for about two weeks during the entire time we lived there.

I mentioned the R&B Breakfast Club in my last post.  If you ever happen to be driving through Cheyenne at breakfast time (or even almost lunchtime) we would wholeheartedly recommend you stop in for a breakfast burrito served with a side of Elvis.  And pick the red chili... it is milder!

Our second morning, we were trying to get on the road a bit earlier so we skipped a second visit to R&B Breakfast Club.  I can't say I'm totally disappointed about not getting in another visit.  I think I was still full from breakfast the day before.

As we drove out of Cheyenne, the girls pointed out every antelope and snow fence they saw.  They found it very interesting to see the antelope as they wandered freely around the base.

The scenery from Cheyenne to Great Falls was simply incredible.  When we lived in Wyoming before, I didn't get out of town too much.  When I did, it was usually to head toward Denver or Ft. Collins, Colorado.  Michael and I agreed that if you simply sang the first verse of America the Beautiful, it might come close to what we saw.

I took quite a few pictures of the landscape along the way.  Looking back over them, I realized that the majority of them do not show the majesty of what I was trying to capture.  As well, being shot from a moving vehicle with a cell phone camera, the majority are also of questionable quality.

Getting into Great Falls was a bit of a challenge as I went to refresh the directions on our cell phone's GPS only to discover that we had no cell service.  I knew the road we were on would eventually lead us to an interstate that goes to Great Falls.  We were thankful that we passed through a small town with cell service just in time to turn on a road that cut almost 4 hours off of the trip had we ended up going directly to the interstate.

Once we checked into the Temporary Lodging Facility on the Air Force base there, we all agreed that next time we'd take an extra day in Great Falls rather than in Cheyenne.  Most times, the Air Force bases have very nice lodging facilities.  Cheyenne, being an old Cavalry base, has their temporary lodging in historic buildings.

Up next: Great Falls, Montana to the Canadian border to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Amarillo to Cheyenne

June 10/11th

After a later than desired arrival in Amarillo, we also had a later than desired start leaving Amarillo.  It was a fairly uneventful beginning until we came to a stretch of highway designated as a "safety corridor."  Neither Michael nor I could figure out why until quite suddenly we were surprised to see a very large B-52 flying very low over the roadway.  I fumbled with my phone to pull up the camera and managed to get a not-so-good photo of the plane. The girls were excited and a bit scared by the plane as well.  Michael and I both commented on the fact that we could barely hear the plane as it flew overhead.

Only picture I managed to get of the plane

We had originally talked with Sarah about meeting her in New Mexico and while I am sad we didn't get to see her before we headed north, I am glad we cancelled.  We did not cross into NM until almost 11am local time on the 10th.  We had planned to meet on the 9th.  I am looking forward to finding out her schedule for next year so we can send her a plane ticket to visit us up here.

Colorado was absolutely beautiful.  The girls asked about the mountains they saw and they enjoyed the changing scenery.

It was in Colorado that we ran into our next challenge.  Michael called to pay for our ferry reservations.  The military has a fairly straightforward way of writing orders for PCS (Permanent Change of Station) moves.  However, since we were going to Alaska, there were some extra items that were not written into Michael's orders that the travel company needed in order to process the payment.  We attempted to sort that out while our cell phone reception dropped in and out due to the increasingly hilly terrain.

We finally arrived in Cheyenne around 8pm the evening of the 10th without any resolution to the ferry/ orders issue.  We checked into our room and took the girls on a brief tour of the town.  Princess N was excited to see our old houses and the other girls asked lots of questions about what we did when we lived there.  There wasn't too much that had changed though there were certainly areas that had built up in the decade since we were last there.

Michael and I decided that with a very long day of driving ahead of us, we would take a one day break.  Besides, we wanted to eat at our favorite breakfast spot before we left.  We actually planned this section of our trip around this particular restaurant.  The R&B Breakfast Club has been around since 1997.  Their burritos were still as good as we remembered.  And the pancakes were just as big as before!  If you are on Facebook, Michael posted a photo of the burrito.

Later in the day we went to the park that was down the street from our first house in Cheyenne.  Michael and Princess N went running while the rest of the girls and I walked around the lake.  It was just over a mile.  Lady A and Miss E were both surprised that 11 years ago I wasn't able to walk that far without being in a lot of pain.  This time I was a bit winded, but otherwise it was an easy walk.

The lake

The Duchess enjoyed swinging

Michael and I had a lot of hard times in Cheyenne.  Neither of us have too many fond memories of our time there.  Being there still dredged up some hard memories, but overall we were able to remember more of the good times than the bad times.

Up next: Cheyenne, Wyoming to Great Falls, Montana

Houston to Grand Prairie (no extra 'e' on Grand) to Amarillo

June 8/9th

The Houston to Grand Prairie segment of the trip was mostly uneventful.  Michael traded his motorcycle for a truck (much more useful up here) and the shipping office was located in Grand Prairie, Texas.  We laughed because they most likely would be sending the truck back down to Houston before it headed to Alaska.  There was a bit of confusion beforehand because we visited the office that handles the household goods shipments at the end of April.  We were instructed where to go to ship the truck.  When I called a few weeks later to make sure I had all the necessary paperwork, I learned the contract had been awarded to another company, effective May 1st.  Then it was a bit of a scramble to figure out who the new company was and where they were located. 

Monday morning, June 9th, we washed the truck, in the rain, and dropped it off.  While Michael was handling all the paperwork for that, I stepped outside for a moment.  As I walked down the steps I suddenly realized that I was falling.  Unfortunately that realization came just as I hit the ground.  I am thankful that my wrist had been hurting from the packing and cleaning we did just before we left.  The wrist brace I was wearing took the brunt of the fall.  My left ankle was hurting and I wasn't sure if I could stand up.  I texted Michael and he came to the rescue.  Before he could get to me, two employees came out and helped me up.  It turned out that I had not sprained my ankle as I had originally thought, but I had scraped it up pretty badly.  

Once the truck was sorted out, we decided that it would be best to pick up another copy of the registration receipt in the event we needed it for border crossings.  We still don't know if the sticker on the window is the official registration or if the receipt is the official registration since commercial vehicles are the only vehicles required to keep the receipt in the vehicle.  Either way, we thought it would be a good idea to have a copy.  After waiting in the courthouse parking lot for over two hours, I was beginning to rethink our decision to pick up a copy.  Michael had gone inside and when he first picked up a number, his was in the 500s.  They were still working through the 300s at the time.  As people left, he noticed someone throw their number to the side and walk out.  He picked it up and moved up almost 70 places in line.  It took about two minutes and $2 at the window and he walked out with a copy of the receipt.

Finally, around 2pm we were on the road.  Until we got into Wichita Falls, Texas.... Michael noticed that he had been passing quite a few cars and asked me if I'd noticed a speed limit drop.  I told him I had not.  Just about that time, Michael noticed a police officer on a motorcycle turn his lights on and pull in behind us.  Apparently we'd missed several speed limit signs while we tried to figure out which road we needed to be on.  After being issued a ticket for speeding, we were on our way again. 

And that was only the beginning of the trip.

The rest of the day into Amarillo was uneventful.  Lady A became the official Speed Limit Checker and called out speed limits as we drove. She even had a whole list of items to check off.

It went like this:
Speed Limit Checker? Check.
Parents? Check.
Sisters? Check.
Truck? Check.
Everything we need in the truck? Check.

The list varied once in a while, but this was her usual list. Lady A enjoyed having a job to do and she did it with great enthusiasm.  

Up next: Amarillo, Texas to Cheyenne, Wyoming

Year in Review - Mid Year Edition

January:

• January saw the beginning of the craziness.  We knew we were moving.  We just didn't know where.  The countdown was on and we had about six months to finish everything we needed to finish before Moving Day.  Michael also started an intense travel schedule again in January.  I had only one class for the Spring semester and absolutely no motivation to work on it.

February/ March:

• While Michael was traveling, we received word that our orders had come in.  He had been interviewed by a unit in Florida and it looked as though that would be where we would be heading.  Instead, we ended up going in the opposite direction! Alaska would be our new home for a few years at least. The Overseas Screening was supposed to be completed within ten (10) days of the receipt of orders.  Michael arrived back home ten days after he received the orders so we tried to finish the screening as quickly as we could.  A round of doctor appointments and dentist visits later and we handed everything in.  We were then told that the paperwork was incomplete as it needed signatures on another form in the packet.  I went back to the doctors and the dentist for signatures.  As my doctor was only part time, it ended up being a week before we were able to send the packet back in.  Again we were told it was missing a signature.  (and we were told the forms were self-explanatory - I disagree) Since it was again my doctor who needed to sign, it took almost another week to return the forms.  By this time we were into the middle of March.  

April:

• By the time April rolled around, we were beginning to get concerned about whether or not we were approved to move to Alaska.  We discovered the official approval came on March 29th.  We were going to Alaska!  Almost immediately I began to wonder if we made a mistake or if this was truly where God wanted us.  After all, we'd hit nothing but roadblocks up until this point.  At the end of the month, we began the process of setting up our household goods shipment. 

May:

• I finally finished my class.  It took a lot of work but it was mostly because I was so focused on trying to sort out all the details for the move that I didn't want to waste time on classwork.  I still passed with an 'A', but just barely.
• We took a short trip to Florida to visit family before we moved to Alaska.  It was a sweet time and we really enjoyed being able to see not only Michael's family, but part of my family as well.  We may not be officially related to the McQuearys, but they are officially part of our family. The girls had a great time playing with their cousins and all of us enjoyed celebrating lots of birthdays. 

June:

• June is where things really got interesting.  The girls finished their last week of school while the movers packed and loaded our belongings.  On June 8, we headed out of the Houston area.  I'll be writing more detailed posts about our trip.  Stay tuned for some beautiful scenery!!

Birthday!

Lady A turned 9 today.  We had a great time celebrating her and being able to give her a very special surprise.

Michael and I have been plotting for a couple of months now about Lady A's birthday.  The gift I planned to get her for Christmas, he planned to get for her birthday.  Since they are so close and since the weather has been beautiful, we went ahead with his plan.

The actual purchase was supposed to happen yesterday, but a series of events derailed the plan.  This morning, Michael had plans to meet with a friend of ours and so we decided he would make the purchase on his way home.  While he was gone, I decided it would be great if we could give it to her right away, so I took some note cards and the scavenger hunt was created.  

Michael called to let me know he was heading home and we discussed the plan for when he arrived.  I asked Lady A to help me with sorting laundry in my bedroom.  She didn't know that I was hiding the clues to her gift.

After Michael came in, he gave her the first clue.  She was able to read, or sound out, most of the words.  We had to help her a bit, but once she understood, Lady A was off!

Reading the clues

She eventually made her way out to the driveway where the truck and motorcycle were parked.  

 Lady A searched the motorcycle first.  She thought she was getting a motorcycle ride.  I reminded her what the clue said, so she wandered around the truck for a minute.  Finally, I told her the last part again and instead of going to the back like I expected, she opened the side door.  I tried to get a picture of her face when she saw her gift, but it was a bit difficult.

Think she is excited??

She rode for most of the early afternoon before I took her on a shopping trip.  She found a pretty pink skirt, a headband, and a scarf that she liked.  The shirt she liked didn't fit well so we will be trying another store to see if they have one that fits better.  

After the shopping trip, we finished the cupcakes.  They were made to some demanding specifications. Well, maybe not too demanding, but the day was filled with lots of rainbows.

Rainbow cupcakes with rainbow sprinkles added to the colored batter with rainbow swirled icing on top

I think it was a good day.  I know I enjoyed it quite a bit.  Michael asked Lady A several times if she thought we needed to return the bicycle.  Lady A insisted that she would keep it.  It brought a huge smile to her face and had the rest of us laughing and smiling at the pleasure she took from riding up and down the street.

Another Birthday!

Mr McQ, who has been a wonderful part of our lives, has a birthday today.  Last time we discussed birthdays, I believe he was turning 47.  Not sure what number it will be today. 

So many of my good childhood memories include the McQs.  From boating to borrowing an absolutely amazing camera to just stopping by to chat.  They have been and continue to be great friends.

I am so blessed to have them as a part of my life AND that my children also know, and love, them as well. 

So, happy birthday Mr McQ and a belated happy birthday to Mrs McQ.  We love you very much!

Of Girls, Grownups, and Get togethers

N decided that Miss E needed to be a present for her birthday! N set the bag up very carefully, filled the bottom with paper and placed Miss E inside. Here Miss E is working her way out of the bag.
N opening her gift from Grammy. Her first question was if she could use the backpack for school. She was disappointed when I told her no.

Miss E dug into her carrot cake. She didn't care much for the icing, but the cake was gone in no time!

Who can resist a face like this one?? I think somebody was ready for CAKE!

Getting in on the action! Just look at that grin!

The kids got to have a water balloon fight because N wanted party games and I only know girly party games... Besides, who doesn't love a good water balloon fight?

The kids did get a little bit wet while I was filling the water balloons. But most of that is from balloons being pitched.

First Day of Kindergarten!! I don't think she was too excited. Now though, she asks me if she can walk to her class all by herself. I let her because I want her to be excited about going instead of having a screaming fit because I want to walk with her.

4th grade already! Where has the time gone?? My baby is 10 and my newborn is 1. She has really enjoyed the school here. Most especially the fact that they do not change classes.

Miss Bri & Miss E before we moved. Miss Bri is a very sweet young lady who loved our children and they loved her back!

Miss Jenny & Miss Jessie. (Jenny is on the right) These 2 are the daughters of my friend Cathy who died in April. These are also 2 special gals!

I hope you have enjoyed these as I wade through the backlog of photos.