World's Largest Chocolate Fountain

For all you chocolate lovers out there, we took these pictures just for you. This is thought to be the world's largest chocolate fountain and it's right here in Anchorage. My kids wanted to climb right in. Especially Daniel. How Paul got pictures of it without the kids is beyond me as they were both right there trying to reach in as soon as they saw it. We had to get them some chocolate covered marshmallows to allay their disappointment. I myself opted for white chocolate covered pretzels as I am one of those very few who don't enjoy chocolate.

Day at the Park

A couple weeks ago, Paul and I took the kids to the park and I forgot about these pictures. So, just for Aunt April who has been begging for new pictures, here they are.

The life of Parents

Paul had a dinner we were supposed to go to last night, so I arranged for a babysitter, and looked forward to a night out and I got all dressed up. Paul got home about an hour before the dinner was to start and said that he was really tired and that he didn't want to go. I had a babysitter lined up and I was not about to pass up on that opportunity even if I went out by myself. We decided to go just spend some time together, get take out and bring it home. We thought we would stop at Wal-mart really fast so that we could pick up a couple of things.
Well we never got out of there until just before our time was up.
So we got a babysitter and got all dressed up to spend our night at Wal-mart? As I realized that on our way home I couldn't help laughing. So this is what it is like to be a parent. Date night is running errands... We've got to change this scenario.

Encounter with a Moose

I had a bad day yesterday and some very kind people in my ward watched my children. The person who dropped them back off at our house last night said that they had had a lot of fun at the houses they had been to. Little did I know.

A Moose comes to visit...

Also check out youtube to see a little more action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-SiJ7CjI0E

Reagan apparently thought that it was a horse. My friend Amy kept telling her no it's a moose and she would say moose, but a few minutes later she would be back to horse. I wish I could have been there to have seen it. Apparently pumpkins are a real treat to moose and it is a real draw for them to come down and eat them.

Dinner is Served

Okay so I am a couple days late in posting this but I thought it was worth the post.
The other night we had fresh pineapple, Au Gratin potatoes, and for the main dish- Moose cube steak with sauteed onions.Can I say delicious! Even right now as I think about it at 8:30am my mouth is watering and I'm wanting some more. A friend of Paul's at work gave us some Moose meat and it was a first for all of us. The meat was very tender, hardly any fat at all (I had to add oil and water to the pan to cook it.). Not knowing what spices went well with Moose (still learning a few things), I played it safe and sprinkled the steaks with flour, seasoning salt, fresh pepper and garlic powder. Our take on Moose meat- Yummy!
My Mother in law I'm sure is cringing reading this as she loves Moose and I'm not sure she would approve of eating one. Sorry Lois!

The Technology Gap

I was on the phone yesterday with my Mom and they have decided that since my Grandpa is living with them (he has Dementia) they need to get a cell phone as they are making frequent trips to the doctor with him and some are out of state. Mom said be prepared as I will call you this week so that you can help me figure out how to use it. I started laughing and my Mom said my sister April said just give it to Emma (8) and Jonathan (10) and let them figure it out as kids are so much better at doing that. I had to agree. The night before the kids and I had gone to Office Depot to run an errand for Paul and Reagan had grabbed my cell phone to play with while we were waiting to have something bound and before I knew what was happening she had taken a picture of something and had it ready to go in a text message getting ready to send it when I discovered what she was doing. Give her another year and she'll be managing this blog.

And my calling is...

I've been waiting for them to issue a calling and last week when the Relief Society President asked me to play for R.S. a light bulb went on. She had told me previously that she had had my name turned in since the week we moved in for a calling and I suddenly realized what it was- R.S. pianist.
So today they called me to be R.S. pianist and I was very happy to say yes. I left the Bishop's office saying give me three or four callings just keep me out to Nursery. One day I would really like to serve somewhere else besides the music of the church, but every time I start to complain about only serving there they either put me in or try to put me in Primary and I suddenly realize that always playing or leading the music really isn't that bad. One day 20 years from now I would be happy to take my turn in the Nursery or Primary, it's just that right now I need to be a Mom and after taking care of kids literally my entire life, well I need a break so I can be a Mom.
(It looks like there will probably be another calling coming anyway as the choir director stopped me in the hall and asked if he could call this week to get my help with choir. I am ready to retake up the banner that has been trailing for awhile anyway. I used to be practically a one man show with the music in church and in recent years I have had a music calling but haven't done much beyond that and I'm ready to really get in there and serve in that capacity again.)

Unprepared

Paul has finished enough of his on the job training that he has been cleared to work over time (Hooray!) That means that they can call him in at anytime to go back to work. They really like people like him to work overtime as they cost less for them to pay so he will be one of the first people they call. He has the option to turn it down most of the time but at this point we really don't want to. Knowing this we went to bed Saturday night with the expectation that he would probably be called in Sunday morning for a flight from China. We were sound asleep when the phone rang about 12:30am Sunday morning. This totally freaked me out as usually the only time the phone rings in the middle of the night is when Paul is in Iraq and he was there next to me.
I was so out of it when I answered the phone that I had to ask a second time what they wanted and even then it only registered that they wanted Paul and it was work. It turned out they wanted him to come in to work immediately. We were so out of it Paul told him no and went back to sleep. They called again at 7:30am for him to report in for the flight from China that we were planning on. As Paul woke up he realized that he had turned down overtime, Sunday and shift differential pay that would have brought him up to about $48 an hour for the night before. He was kicking himself for doing that. We were just so totally asleep and unprepared for that phone call to come in we didn't know quite what was going on.
Better luck next time.

There is Sunchine in My Soul Today!

The sun is out!!! Since we have moved here I was beginning to think that we had somehow landed in in Seattle or London. It rains a lot here right now. And while I love rain, it gets really old when it's every day. Ordinarily the gray skies don't bother me but day after day it gets to you. Today the sun is shining it's 55 degrees, my windows are open and if I didn't have so much to do inside the kids and I would be outside all day. (Well that and the fact that for some reason neither of them will use the toilet today and I've gone through countless changes of clothes. )
I'm not worried about the dark. It's very soothing to me. Today sunrise was at 8:30am and sunset will be at 6:30pm. We loose about 5 1/2 minutes of daylight every day right now. It is a little disorienting when Daniel comes in to wake me up at 7am and it's pitch black outside. I want to yell at him, "Get back in bed!" This will take a little while to become accustomed to.
Meanwhile we are busily preparing for winter. We have snow suits for the kids and snow boots now. (You just really didn't need them in VA when it only snowed really well every 3 or 4 years.) Next on the list is a sled of some kind as in a few more weeks we should have snow. For all of you people out there who thought that we were crazy moving to AK, Colorado has more snow than we do right now. It's probably colder too.
It is a little weird when you look on a map and realize just how close Russia really is...I mean isn't it supposed to be on the other side of the world? And having spent my entire life at about the same latitude (southern CA, southern UT, southern MO and, northern VA) it's a little weird to realize how high up on the world I really am. Fun facts for you- AK is the largest state, the most western, north, and eastern state. You're asking how can that be? Well a small portion of AK is actually on the other side of the hemisphere. If you split the world in half like they do on the maps a small portion would be over on the other map.

The answer to the Nursery Question

We finally called the Bishop back last night to give him our answers about the callings to Nursery. I told him that if he felt like that that was where I really needed to be I had made my peace with Nursery and that I would do it but that I still had several concerns. He asked what they were and I explained that we had just moved to the ward and that there would be little opportunity to get to know anyone in the ward in that calling, and that I am very burnt out on taking care of kids and that when I take care of other people's children I feel like I am not a very good mother.
For Paul, both he and I felt like Nursery was not the place for him at all, so his answer was no. I was really grateful to the Bishop as do to my concerns (particularly the later) he decided not to place me in Nursery. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Paul had a hard time with it as he had never turned down a calling. The Bishop already has several other callings in mind though and we should have new ones within the next week, two at the most. As long as it isn't Nursery and preferably not anywhere in Primary I won't have a problem accepting anything.

Daniel's first trip to the Dentist

 Paul took Daniel to his first visit to the dentist this week. Apparently he was a little unsure of things at first but as you can see he quickly got used to the idea of helping clean his teeth and wearing cool sunglasses. He was also excited about all the goodies he came home with. Could it be any better than a toothbrush with Miss Sally (from the movie Cars) on it? The best part is no cavities!! Thankfully it seems he did not get my teeth.