Not a whole lot is new.  Mike is gearing up to take command of his first company on the 23rd, and so he is busy with inventories right now.  "Busy" is really an overstatement because that is his only job right now so he's been having four day weekends and short weeks all over the place.  It's a nice break to spend time together before he gets really busy with command duties.  I am trying to enjoy it as much as possible, because from here on out it will be pretty crazy for the next year and a half or two.  We took a short trip down to Girdwood, Alaska and stayed at the Alyeska Ski Resort there.  It was pretty nice to get away for a bit, though it was a little frustrating to watch everyone skiing and having a great time on the slopes when we couldn't (with the kids).  We still had a nice time, though.  We've been getting more and more snow.  The plows came through and widened the snow out on our road which in turn put huge snow berms in everyone's driveway.  I was super exasperated until they came along with a big tractor and plowed out the bottom of everyone's driveway and pushed the snow well back!  I think they did an extra good job on ours because I was out there glaring at them with shovel in hand...You must understand that I had originally thought I was going to have to spend my morning digging our driveway out!  I will have to take a photo of the snow piles because this was going to be no easy task.  Thankfully they remedied the situation and now our driveway is better than it's been for a while!  Anchorage is about 6 inches away from breaking a record set in the 50s.  It's been a snowy winter!  We just recently invested in some better outdoor gear since I think the last time I had snow gear of any real protection was when I was a little kid.  The right gear makes all the difference!  I had forgotten how fun it is to play in the snow, and we have been out there almost every day with Nathan just rollicking in great big drifts and sledding and having a great time!  


We went to see the official start of the 2012 Iditarod Dogsled Race.  It was a really great experience!  Last year we went to the ceremonial start in Anchorage, which is where they parade the teams through the streets and you can meet the mushers and teams if you want.  It was pretty neat, but the real start, which takes place in Willow, was a sight!  It had a much more Alaskan air.  There were people in their furs and people on their snow machines and it was just a great experience.  I got some good photos that I will try to post on here eventually.  We recently got the equipment for Skijoring with Nikita.  Basically it's a pulling harness for your dog to which you attach a tow line and then yourself with Xcountry skis...and off you go!  I can't wait to try it out for real, but we plan to find a wide open lake to do that on since Nikita has no training :-/  We had her out pulling Nathan's sled the other day, though, and she did great!  It was a blast!  She can really pull some weight when she digs in.  She was pulling Mike on the sled and he usually weighs just shy of 200 lbs!  This will be great exercise for her and a lot of fun for us, so I am pretty excited!  Tonight we plan to head out to Hatcher Pass or Talkeetna to see the Aurora.  There is a solar storm hitting earth said to be the biggest in 5 years and the sky is going to be lit up!  Mike already saw it this morning on his way to the gym.  It is normally on the northern horizon even for us, but it was right over our house, straight up!  Tonight is supposed to be extreme!  I am going to get my camera sensor cleaned and start my photography portfolio with a bang!  Apparently the sun goes through an 11 year cycle during which it comes to a head with massive solar storms.  So I read that over the next year or two into the end of 2013 there should be solar storms similar to this every month.  And we live in Alaska for this!  I couldn't be more excited!  Yes, there is that nagging in the back of my mind about radiation...hmmm... But mostly I'm excited :) 


Well, I have lots to do today!

Christmas was great fun with the kiddos!  New Years Eve and Day were uneventful, but Mike and I managed to actually stay up till midnight, which is pretty amazing.  Sometimes we feel much older than we really are.  I guess that's what having kids does to a person.  We updated our desktop computer to an iMac, so that is pretty exciting!  I was always very much a Dell person, and I still had my 6 year old Dell desktop that I got in college.  It was my first computer and it served me very well.  6 years is a long time in the technology world, though, so it was time for an update and after much deliberation and research we decided to take the Mac plunge.  So far I am not disappointed.  My only complaint would be that there does not seem to be an acceptable alternative to Quicken for the Mac platform.  I use Quicken to track all of our finances and I would be very disappointed to have to learn a whole new software system.  Because of this, we are now considering running a program called Parallel on our Mac which allows you to install Windows and use Windows programs on your Mac.  I know, what was the point of getting a Mac,right?  Well, there are still many advantages to having one.  


We have gotten a lot of snow this winter.  It has not snowed for 2 weeks now, but before this dry spell, we were getting pounded.  Places like Valdez and Cordova were getting upwards of 20 ft of snow.  We didn't get that much, but we got somewhere between 2 and 3 ft.  Then after all of that snow was dumped on us, we had a week long wind storm that blew our snow piles across our driveway and packed them down like concrete.  That was a job to break up.  Everyone around us was paying top dollar to have their driveways plowed, and we almost did until our neighbor came over to help us with a snow blower.  So, we broke up the snow into chunks and the snow blower took care of the rest.  What a blessing!  That job could have taken a good part of the day, but only took us about an hour and a half instead!  We have some really great neighbors!  


Future things to look forward to include Mike's change of command coming up soon.  He will be taking command of 545 MP Co and preparing them for deployment over the next several months.  Between now and then he starts inventories, which should be tedious for him.  I can only imagine.  On the bright side he will probably have some free time during that time where he does not have much scheduled, so we may get to spend some time together as a family before he takes command.  After that, we will see how much of him we actually get to see.  I expect he will be very busy.  I am very proud of him, though.  He always seems to have a lot on his plate at work, but that happens when your superiors know they can trust you.  It's a curse but also a blessing, I guess.  He is a good officer and soldier, and above all a good husband and father.  What more could I ask for?  


Nathan is getting big!  He is already fitting into 4T shirts and he is not even 3 yet.  I think he will be very athletic if he applies himself.  Ayla is growing like a weed, too!  Only 6 months old and already trying to push up on her knees to crawl even before she can sit up by herself!  She's a determined little girl!  She always wants to play with her big brother.  I love it when we are driving somewhere in the car and I look back at Nathan and see him holding his little sister's hand.  Melts my heart!  What a good big brother he is.  But, of course he has a little devil of a temper, too.  "No" is his favorite word right now, and he says it constantly to me and Mike.  It can be very trying on one's patience.  I just don't want to end up like one of those parents with no control over their wild kids.  We discipline him and I feel like a broken record at times, but right now we do look like those parents who don't discipline their kids when we are out.  It's not true!  Oi!  How tough this job is!


Well, it's time to get lunch for Nathan.  Maybe I'll post some photos on here next time.