We made it!

We made our trek through the mountains and made it to Anchorage. It was quite a trip--not so much the driving part Hans did great with that but it just seemed long. The ferry ride was pretty. I got to camp out for real on the floor and even took a shower there. I have alot of firsts going on right now. It is pretty cold here and has been snowing off and on since we got here Tuesday night. No, we don't have any ash falling around us from the volcano and today it is actually sunny and mostly blue skies.
On the way here we saw a coyote running down a mountain pass, a herd of caribou (I think the group is a herd) and since we have been in town 3 moose walking across traffic near downtown where we are staying in the hotel. I still can't quite get used to such a big animal just walking around wild between cars. We have been diligently looking for a place to live and we have one that we liked a lot and submitted an app for but are waiting on their decision. We have continued to look and there are a couple other alternates but nothing for sure yet. We are really hoping to have a place by the first of April. The barge carried most of our stuff in a container and then it was railed up to Anchorage from the coast. We have yet to retrieve it since no place to put it yet. It's funny to have "home" be a hotel but at least we have a decent place with a kitchenette in it. Anyway, we have the weekend off from searching so much as most offices are closed at the complexes. Hopefully the place we like will decide on us and call us this weekend so we won't have to worry about it anymore.
I took pictures on the way up out the window but most viewing areas were all blocked off with high snow banks. We got a couple pictures at one of the few that were cleared and it was so cold out there! It was fun seeing all new country together for the first time. We had a good road trip and are glad to be here. I just can't wait until we have our own place so we can start working on jobs and everything else. We have internet here at the hotel and we intend to get it once we settle somewhere but it may be patchy for awhile. I will try to keep you all informed as much as I can along the way.

Good News

I confess... it has been another long time since I wrote last. We do have some good news--well pretty bad news that turned to pretty good. Hans fell in a hatch at work last month and his leg got all messed up. We went to the ER and another doctor here and they referred him to an orthopedic clinic. We went there and they examined it and thought it was a torn meniscus cartilage and would need surgery. They ordered him a MRI and looks like it came back showing the cartilage is fine and it is a torn ligament that will heal itself in a couple of months. He (the Dr) was so sure that it was the cartilage from how the knee was reacting so he goes back next week for another check up. So the good news is that it looks like no surgery! Yay! Which would be really bad timing for our other news... which is that we are moving to Anchorage. We are packing our stuff up here and basically will be moved on March 6th. We are going to Disneyland with my Mom, Step-Dad, and brother for several days and then heading to WA to get our storage shed squared away. Needless to say, we have a bunch on our plate right now. It is going to be a different change and we are going to miss people and I am sure some of the things about Ketchikan. I know Hans will since it is his favorite. We have all new adventures waiting for us up north. It will be much colder in the winter and darker but the summer will be sunny! We are excited to explore everything together.
Hans is going to go to school for diesel mechanic it looks like or do a lineman apprenticeship to work on the power lines. We are working on both right now and we will see which seems right when we get there. I am going to work and possibly go to school myself to finish in something which should be good too.
So I will try to keep you all updated as we go along but I can't guarantee I will stay too good on this since we have so much to do and so little time. I don't know for sure when we will have internet when we get there as we don't have a place picked out yet. It will all come together though as it always has.
So there you have it.

Randomness

Yes it is a word to me. Hans acquired hardware that allows me to get the pictures off of my really tiny memory stick. So below are a selection of the pictures that I found there mostly from this summer, just slightly delayed in coming.

Hans getting a mug shot with the bear rug. I found it among the pictures from Cub Scout day camp this summer.

I put in a picture of all the boys at camp. Since this post is random I thought I would put in a random picture. This is what 3 days of my life consisted of... lots of boys, noise and fun.

Pictures from Hans' B day get together in August since he was out of town for his real day in July

Meanwhile in another part of the house something other than singing was going on....

This is our friends' daughter Lola who took the opportunity to explore something she doesn't have at her house... toilet paper.

Yes Mom, I do like to eat pork. I guess this is only funny if you know her Mom is a vegetarian.

Smiley tooth pictures of Sophie. This is way old, like from August or something and she has most of her mouth filled up now.

Day trip to Metlakatla to "almost" buy a skiff. Well, we actually bought it and then the trailer broke and we gave it back to the guy and had to run to catch the ferrry. My first official trip off the island to somewhere else in Alaska.

I'm sorry. Do I have something on my face?

Starting from the end

This is how Sunday ended up after the snow storm.... the sun came out and blue skies rolled in and it looked beautiful all dusted with snow.

This is a taste of the amount that piled up on the railings on the back deck.

I saw the ferry passing by just a little too late. I wanted to get a better shot but there was only time to catch it thru the wires... sorry guys but take my word for it.. it looked cool crossing in front of the snow covered trees.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

This is the snow coming off the roof. It is weird how it curves down and then just hangs. Quite amazing that it does and that our good ol' gutters hold up under pressure.

My car Gracie is somewhere under that pile.

Hans out trying to salvage what he could of the truck parking... it still took him a LONG time to get her out.

There he is folks, braving the snow to get one of our vehicles free (the truck took the lead since we had just driven it the night before). Mine hasn't been out in days. On a side note... we have almost the exact picture of him from last year's snow days.... instressting.

This is how it looked around 9am or so Sunday morning when church was cancelled and then it kept snowing... see above photos for proof.

So this is the much waited for ice inside the entryway windows... I like to call it our extra freezer. We don't have to worry about things spoiling in this part of the house

That's Instressting...

Yes. I did mean to spell it like that. When Maya and I have conversations about this and that and she thinks that is something new she says hmmm... that's instressting. So it has kind of stuck around our house.
So I have checked out other friends blogs and they all have info on Christmas and I was not even thinking, "Self.. boy that is weird how we haven't posted anything about it and probably won't". Strange how that happens when it is just the two of us I guess. We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas.
We did put up a tree and decorations this year which is a step up from last Christmas. I made a bunch of shell ornaments and we had some given to us from Hans' Mom so the tree didn't look half bad. Plus it was a pre-lit one and that is great since I don't enjoy doing lights at all. We keep threatening to get a real one but that hasn't happened...maybe next year. We had a good Christmas. On Christmas Eve we went over for dinner to the McCarrons and gave the girls their toys we bought. I picked out a toy cash register and shopping basket for Maya because I always loved to play store when I was a girl. I think it was a hit. Soph got some accessories (bib, bottle, sippy cup, wipes etc) to play with her doll. She likes to play with the baby and Maya suprisingly did too that night. Normally any toy with a face --human face that is, is smooky (spooky). It is quite funny but maybe she is rethinking her stance since little sis likes them so much. Christmas day we just relaxed and I made a turkey with all the trimmings. We didn't open up packages until like 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I know we won't get away with that when there are kids old enough to care in the house. We went to Yolaunda's for desserts and visited there for awhile. It was a good day. There was some snow on the ground but the sun was shining and blue skies--a perfect day. Since then we have been dumped on like most of the country. We have over 2 feet consistently in our yard and many places have drifts that are 3 or 4 feet high. My car is pretty much covered completely and hasn't seen light for a couple days now. We took pictures yesterday when Hans tried to dig out his truck that got buried and it took him over 2 hours to get from the house to the road with 2 neighbors helping him. He figured we better get one of the vehicles out--now or never. It has been pretty fun. I know all over has similar conditions but as we were driving back from town today--we finally got out of the house and braved the roads--I was thinking, "Now this is how everyone pictures Alaska to be". Funny how we didn't have any real snow to speak of for a long time. Don't worry though...it is snowing now, we are doing our best to live up to the expectation.

Our Life / Dirtbag stash

This is Amy on Alaska... Hans saw this picture and said, "Hey this shows our life." When questioned he explained and I can see where he is coming from. You can see us on the couch all wrapped up in blankets (because it is always cold and in the wintertime we must sit close together next to the heater since it is so drafty in this house). Hans is taking the picture somehow and probably was being mellow and see exhibit A- one hyper girl. It is strange how that happens to me alot but here it is folks. Makes you want to move here too right?!?

I'm not sure but I think he may be trying out the "Do you feel lucky?" pose

I have to confess... this is NOT my favorite look on him but it does make for interesting conversations. He calls it the dirtbag stash and several of our friends came up with different nicknames for this new found facial hair. This is what happens when men don't get enough fashion choices... they resort to customizing their faces. I thought he looked like he had one of those fake disguises like you see in a cheesy movie. Fortunately for all concerned the stash only lasted a mere two-and-a-half days. Whew! What a relief it wasn't a keeper.

Trip to the big city

Of Anchorage. My first time ever and it was an experience. It was odd to have it dark still in the mid morning and so early in the evening. I am told that the summers of huge amounts of daylight make up for it. It was cold but very interesting. My favorite moment is when we were driving around the first night on our own and I looked out the car window and saw a big animal running along the road. At first I thought it might be a horse but no... a MOOSE! So funny seeing one running in the middle of the city eating the decorative landscape at some apartments. We flipped around and went back so we could watch it some more and in the meantime a woman walked by and they didn't notice each other at first then after the lady had walked by the moose saw her and started charging her. The lady just bolted out into the busy street (luckily no cars were coming at that moment) so she didn't get hit and the moose got distracted in the median and continued running across the road. It was wild. I am glad no one got hurt or else it would have ended a funny story badly. Only in Alaska....

We drove out to see the sights of the area and came to Turnagain Arm. It was the first time I had ever seen the ocean frozen up close and it was moving! As we watched the ice covered water moved along like root beer float foam. PS>>> Sooooo cold!!!

Me trying not to freeze myself to the eye spy scope. Don't I look tremendous in Hans' Carhartt hat? I think we own one of everything with that brand on it.

The brother of Hans looking like Lyle E Coyote.

Lyle took us to this diner after the temple on Saturday and we had a good time. The above sign was posted out front so I had to take a picture for Dad Ruben's sake (OK the spelling is off but how often do you get a sign saying that you're the best in town?)

We were able to attend the temple on Friday and Saturday both. We had never been in one of the smaller temples and it was a real treat to attend. All of the workers were very friendly and helpful (which is always the case) but here they actually remember your name from day to day. We felt very blessed to get the opportunity to go together since that hadn't happened for quite some time. Good Stuff!

Interesting tidbit... It is really hard to get a good picture of the temple when the cars are parked so close to it. Have you ever stood on someone else's Suburban to take a temple picture. Well Hans has!