Rocks

So I am usually not that interested in rocks, and I don't know a lot of people that are, but when you are female and live in a tiny town in Alaska (with zero shopping) in the middle of winter it can be quite entertaining. Estelle and I were driving into Kenai yesterday to go the grocery store and passed by a thermometer that said it was 47 degrees!! We quickly decided that we needed to take advantage of this unusually warm weather and do something outside. We flipped a u-turn, went back to the house and picked up the stroller so we could go to the beach which is right in town. We got to the beach and I learned that the local beaches are all covered with really cool rocks and agates. We spent about 45 minutes picking out some really unique rocks, but I did not have enough room in my pocket for all that I saw. There were all sorts of colors and patterns including many which were granite, which was strange to see in rock form and not on a countertop.

I tried to get a good picture of Mt. Redoubt and the mountain range but it was cloudy. On a clear day though this would be a beautiful picture. You can see a little steam coming out from the top, it has been steaming for quite a while now.

The beach is quite different from those on the Wa and Or coast. First of all, this is actually a bay, so there are no waves, bummer. It is very rocky and the sandy parts are mostly covered by ice and snow still. And of course, most people never go swimming in this water, even in the summer, way to cold!

The tide is out in both of these pictures and you can see a couple ice chunks out in the water.

We finished out the evening with this super yummy apple pie and games!

Here we go!

This is the view that we will have from the cabin once it is completed. Scott and Estelle just purchased this lot which is across the lake from where we are living now. See next picture for a zoomed in image of the house we are staying in now.
It is a little hard to tell but on the far left is the house we are staying in, in the middle is a cabin that Scott's sister is living in and on the right is Scott's parents house.

The house we are staying in .

This is the front of the cabin that Scott and Adam are building. Scott and Estelle are financing the construction and Adam and I will be living in it rent-free depending on how many hours Adam puts into building it.

The back of the cabin. This cabin will have a second story which will be the bedroom, and below will be a living area, kitchen and full bathroom.

Adam and Scott made a very nice dinner for Estelle and I on Valentines Day. They made Yakisoba noodles, potstickers and this beautiful cake. Adam completed the look with these origami swans made from paper towels.

Adam folding swans with his 'property of my wife' t-shirt on. A valentines gift from his favorite mother-in-law!! Thanks!

Scott did alot of cooking while also looking after Frances. She was a big helper!

I figured I should document this moment for all to see, yes, Adam is in the kitchen and actually cooking!!

For a couple days in a row moose just kept showing up consistenly behind the house. Adam was trying to get a good picture of this bull moose, and even tried throwing a snowball at it to get a good reaction. Nothing happened of course because unlike the snow in WA, this snow doesn't pack, making it very difficult to form a snowball.

Bull moose, apparently it is pretty rare to see the bulls, and more common to see the cow's and babies.

Bull moose again.

This bull moose either has not sprouted any antlers yet or they just fell off. I'm not really sure!

Estelle and I decided it would be funny to set up a nice dinner for the boys since they were out working and missed the dinner call. We set up our cameras to video their reactions, but it took way to long to upload the video. But with the help of Shania Twain singing a romantic song in the background, I think you can get the idea.

Adam working hard to keep us warm with the new woodstove that had just been installed in house.

Diaper changing stop, but also a great time for a picture.

Drive home from Anchorage, the sun coming up over the mountains.

In Anchorage after our haircuts.

I was so excited to see Adam after two weeks of not seeing each other.

On the drive home from Anchorage.

Estelle and I went on a late night shopping spree to Target while in Anchorage. You would be surprised how much you miss the conveniences of home when the only store in your town is Safeway! We had a little to much fun trying on these fur coat thingy's.

We trecked 3.5 hours to Anchorage to pick Adam up from the airport in the middle of January. Unfortunately on the drive there it was very cloudy which did not allow us to see the much of the mountains. This pic show princess lodge and the beautiful river below.

I decided to very impulsive and cut my hair, and not just a trim! Estelle spent a good hour and a half cutting 6 inches off, giving me side-swept bangs and layers. She also decided to give herself bangs which she hadn't had since she was like 12! Overall we were both very pleased with our new dos!

These are just a few of the many moose we have seen since we have been here. This is a mom and a calf. Now that I have been here for almost two months, it is not nearly as exciting to see one as it was when I first got here. This is outside our back window at around 9:30 in the morning, see how dark it is still!

Alaska sunset.

Scott's parents who live just down the road own 200 acres. This is a view of Mt. Redoubt from their property, it is an active volcano.

Me and Frances bundled up to go snow-machining, (not snow-mobiling, Alaskans know your not Alaskan if you say snow-mobile!)

This is the view from the back of the log-home we are staying in. There is a lake in this picture but it is frozen. The mountains in the background are actually across the cook inlet and are very beautiful. The cabin that Adam and Scott and building will be placed across the lake on a lot that Scott and Estelle bought just to the left side of this picture.

This is the log-home we are staying in that Scott and his family completed two years ago. It is 4,700 square feet!