Thursday, October 6, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Chena State Park
For the past few days we have had cold, rainy weather but today the sun came out so we went exploring. We spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon enjoying the sun and amazing fall colors in the Chena State Park just outside North Pole.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Fall has arrived in Alaska.
One of my favorite things to do in Utah is to drive up the canyons when the leaves are chaning for fall. Now, I can just look out my windows.
Kitchen window.
Bedroom window.
Living room window. Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Denali National Park
If you had asked me to imagine the most beautiful place in the world, I would not have been able to come up with the splendor we saw at Denali National Park. It was spectacular. We arrive just in time to see the fall colors. Of course these photos don't do it justice but you get the idea.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Alaska Visit
I made it to Alaska safe and sound.I will stay here for a week and then return to Utah for a few weeks before driving back for good. I have spent most of today unloading boxes and cleaning the house. Steve and I attended our ward on Sunday. It is a pretty small ward and everyone seems nice. It is obvious we are in Alaska - pre Sunday school chit-chat included the latest neighborhood moose sightings, we talked about canning salmon in Relief Society, a gentleman introduced himself to me and then proceeded to show me photos on his iphone of the fish he caught last week. We were also informed of the church weather policy.
-30 degrees: sacrament meeting only, -40 degrees: sacrament only.
We have had beautiful fall weather so far but it is getting cooler. We went for a great bike ride to the river on Saturday and then Steve and I camped in Denali over the long weekend and it was amazing. (photos to come).
-30 degrees: sacrament meeting only, -40 degrees: sacrament only.
We have had beautiful fall weather so far but it is getting cooler. We went for a great bike ride to the river on Saturday and then Steve and I camped in Denali over the long weekend and it was amazing. (photos to come).
Steve also bought a water tank so we can fill up our water supply. We will probably have to fill up a few times a week.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Mile "O"of the Alaskan Highway.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Alaska Update.
Steve started work on Monday and so far it has been going well. He enjoys his coworkers and is anxious to dive in and get started. It has been lonely without him but we talk every evening on the phone which helps. Thanks to Steve's Dad (who drove the 5 days to Alaska with Steve) we have a few more photos of our house to share.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Our New Home
We will be renting this beauty for the next little while in North Pole, Alaska. These are not great pictures as I pulled them off the internet listing, but you get the idea. Steve is already on his way, driving the U-haul full of our stuff, and should be somewhere in Canada by now. I will join him at the end of September when I have finished up some projects at work. I will visit him during the first week in September and will post more photos then.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
The Great Alaska Adventure Begins
When we landed in Fairbanks, AK last night around 11 pm the sky was not yet totally dark but we were less interested in the sights and more interested in sleep. This morning we got to see how beautiful it is here. 
Today we looked at hundreds of rentals...okay, maybe not hundreds but it felt like hundreds. Now we have to decide if we want more space or a garage. Either way, we will have to outfit our cars with an engine heater that plugs into an electrical outlet when the tepms get really cold. But, the good news is the last few winters have been very mild - according to one local. She said the it never got below -40 last year. Phew. That is a relief. Nice and balmy.
Today we also learned that most homes use oil for heating and that you can pick wild blueberries in the summer. We also paid no sales tax for our Italian dinner made by real Italians. All in all it was a pretty good day.
Today we looked at hundreds of rentals...okay, maybe not hundreds but it felt like hundreds. Now we have to decide if we want more space or a garage. Either way, we will have to outfit our cars with an engine heater that plugs into an electrical outlet when the tepms get really cold. But, the good news is the last few winters have been very mild - according to one local. She said the it never got below -40 last year. Phew. That is a relief. Nice and balmy. Today was productive as we got some good advice from Santa Clause in the town of North Pole. Yup. We really did chat with Santa and he though we should live in North Pole instead of Fairbanks as it will be closer to Steve's work. Santa, we may just take your advice.
Today we also learned that most homes use oil for heating and that you can pick wild blueberries in the summer. We also paid no sales tax for our Italian dinner made by real Italians. All in all it was a pretty good day. Monday, August 1, 2011
Guatemala
This trip to Guatemala was awesome! We spent the week working on a 22 room hospital that will serve the entire valley. Right now, people have to travel many hours to a hospital which is very expensive. Most cannot afford the trip resulting in prolonged suffering and often death.
Our goal was to get all of the wall panels up and ready to be covered in concrete and we reached our goal with the help of some of the local villagers and kids.
We also had plenty of time to play.
