My first Alaska T Shirt!

Hello all. I am excited that I finally got caught up on the blog! Woohoo. So today was good and bad. The bad is that I am exhausted from ANOTHER day of shopping. I went to the commissary for some real groceries...and you know how when you don't know the store it takes forever to find everything? And then you end up going back and forth and back and forth....or is that just me? Either way it was annoying...and they didn't have SALMON for sale!!!! Hello, this is Alaska right? :) So...then I made a real dinner tonight! Meatloaf and gren bean casserole! And then we finished up with some of the pumpkin pie I made yesterday. :) So yes, when you look at that picture of me....that is a picture of a real live housewife. :) Zach is wearing his first Alaska Tshirt...he also has a hoodie that says Alaska. :) But no need for wearing that yet.

Thanksgiving...and Black Friday!

Ok...so Zach's first Thanksgiving!!! Yay. We started the day by watching the awful football blowouts...the Cowboys winning by 1 million points was a plus. By the way, football comes on at tlike nine in the morning here...anyway...we then went over to my Cousin Dean and Judith's for Thanksgiving dinner. That's right...we have family in Alaska! So...Dean is my Grandma Shirley's nephew...which would have made him and EJ (my Dad) cousins...so I guess we're second cousins. Either way, it is pretty cool to have family here! So we went over there and had a really good time. They have two kids, Jaylee (2) and Jared (4 mos)...they were both absolutely adorable Gosh I am just plain kid crazy now...I was entertained by them the whole evening. Jaylee is getting good at talking and was showing off her verbal skills...which was too cute. And her brother Jared was showing off his dimpled smile. We had a delicious dinner...I was the one stuffed...not the turkey (ok so that was a lame joke but you'll understand why by the end of the post). Dean works here at Elmendorf teaching people to fly C17s...which by the way the crazy Army people are jumping out of...and it's like 30 degrees colder at that altitude! CRAZINESS! Anyway, we had a great time. Zach played on Jared's tummy mat and then took a nap lol.

So then we get to today...Black Friday...so of course Zach gets me up at 630....so I'm like...I should go to the BX and see what kind of deals they have! So we went...and got no deals...but lots of good stuff! We came back and Chris was still asleep! So it was sneaky shopping! :P We had some waffles (yes, I've become a full fledged cook...or at least a full fledged if-it-comes-in-a-box-I-can-make-it-cook)...and then I talked Chris into going out for more shopping! So we went to a few stores (he got some stuff too! Can you believe GnR finally released Chinese Democracy? Crazy!)...and I was and am so completely exhausted from our day out...my legs gave out on me. My mind went too...But I do have to hand it to Alaskans...they were REALLY nice...especially seeing as how it is like the most annoying day of the year...I had a fellow shopper carry out this bulky storage thing I bought b/c I looked like a fool trying to manage it, the diaper bag and Zach, lol. And all the sales people were so nice...they all said "you're very, very welcome"...and there were no lines...it was insanity...I wasn't sure if it was Black Friday...the only bad thing is these Alaskans seem to have something against Texans..."haha, you know what we Alaskans say about Texans" said the Best Buy man...haha...shut up. :P








Here is Jaylee, Judith, Dean, Jared and us. :)

Here is Zach getting ready to help Mommy do some Christmas shopping...he is ready in his Santa's little helper outfit.

Here is the weary shopper...in another outfit as you can see...don't buy BX diapers...they leak.

Here is a picture Chris made me take. That sticker says "$2.79 in Alaska." Under the sticker the price is $1.59. Sigh. Shipping costs...

Also, here is a picture of Zach with Santa on his Sleigh! :)

First time in the snow! (well...the second...but first on video!

Here is a video of us walking right outside our temporary home. :)

Caught playing Wii when we weren't looking!!!!



This was about a week later when smokey came to play! This park is right across the street from our temporary home.

Here are some pictures of him in his bear outfit. Isn't it adorable?

Here we are at the vet to pick up Smokey. Zach is afraid they are going to take him in on account of him being a bear.

Smokey and Chris playing in the snow at the vet.

Here is a great picture of how he sleeps. Butt in the air. It is hilarious.

Happy Thanksgiving ya'll... luv&hugz from Texas to Alaska!! ak & mm

I couldn't get the rest of our traveling videos to post...so I am moving on. Basically we were going to show you that the second boat was rocking A LOT...and that it was snowing when we got to Whittier...then it took about 45 minutes to get to Anchorage. That's about all. :)

EDIT: I WAS ABLE TO GET ONE OF THOSE VIDEOS LOADED...LOOK AT THE ROCKING!

Kennicott

So if you haven't guessed yet...we were on the Malaspina...then we spent a day and a half in Juneau...and then we got on another boat...the Kennicott...this one was very very rocky...it cut through the open water and was very very rocky...I ate some crackers and then went for a walk...huge mistake...got very sick...the elevator wouldn't even work b/c it was rocking so much...so it would've been hilarious if you could have seen Chris and I trying to get the stroller up the stairs while Zach was sleeping...and while the boat was rocking so hard...lol! :)

More Juneau

More Juneau

More Juneau

Juneau

More videos...

Here is one with Zach and Chris playing...

More Malaspina!

More Malaspina!

More on Malaspina!

part2

Finally! Video!

Here is the first video...I have a BUNCH of them....since I finally found the internet (like that guy on TV) hopefully I can load a lot of them. Enjoy!

Update: Smokey got here today. We dropped him off at the expensive vet...we can visit him as much as we want...it's only a couple blocks from the base...We signed for a house...that we don't get until Jan 12th...it's very very nice...can't wait! Zach likes the cold and loud music. Those are the two surefire ways to turn off the screaming!!! :)

OK, so I still haven't found an internet connection in Alaska that is capable of actually uploading video. I am getting worried. For now, here are some more pictures. We'll take some today at our temporary home and in the snow and all that. :)

The scoop is we have a really old and small house to live in until January 13th when we get our new and awesome house. It's on base but tucked away in the woods a bit with a view of the mountains. The houses are only a year old and they are very very nice...definitely more than we would be able to afford off base. The internet and cable bill combined willbe less than $100. And everything else is paid for....well, except for our cell phones...which we are going to get new ones today. We'll keep you posted. I am also going to get a PO Box Monday. We'll post all of that asap.

The only problems are Smokey and Christmas...we won't have any of our Christmas stuff for Zach's first Christmas. :( And we will have to leave Smokey at the vet until then. :(

Here are some pictures.

Juneau

We stayed in Juneau for a day...first we went to eat at the original salloon...pics below...it was pretty cool...thenwe went walking around downtown...finally we went to the Mendenhal glacer and took some pictures...and we also spied four bald eagle. It was pretty neat.

Malaspina

As I wrote in the email the trip is going well. All of our photos are from the ship we were on, the Malaspina. We're halfway now. We had to stop in Juneau for about 36 hours and then we'll be on our way. We have plenty of videos...just waiting for a wifi connection that can handle them. lol.

Here's our boat.

Waiting to drive on the boat.

Still waiting...

View from the aft deck.

Better view from the aft deck.

The solarium...and the tent of one of the crazys who slept out there.

View from the portside.

Zach got to cruise (pun intended) in style...

Zach's bunk.

Getting ready to go outside.

Just loungin' on the deck...

Lol.

It's all very exhausting...