HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween everyone.
We went to the Zoo Boo in Anchorage. We got spiffed up (well, not Marcie...she didn't have time) and went to the zoo to freak out the animals. There were a lot of kids there, mostly younguns under 10 years old, but it was fun. We saw our first wolverine, a pack of very large grey wolves eating rib cages, lots of owls, some eagles, yaks, musk ox, snow leopards, lynx, tiger, foxes of differing varieties, grizzly bear, sheep, caribou, giant bull moose, polar bear, seals, hawks and others. The strangest were the camels (huh?) and of course the rarely seen magpies and ravens...go figure. We got back to Eagle River around 7:00 and "trick-or-treated" until about 8:00 in 20-degree weather. The boys got a nice stash of booty. Here are some pics:

Tavyrn and stuff

Here are some pics of Tav and the cat and a table we bought when we first got here. We have since painted the edge of the table and Marcie is working on recovering and painting the chairs. When it's done, I will put more pictures in this album.



The snow is trying to fall...the snowline is visible at about 500' above our house but has yet to fall in town. Maybe tomorrow.

Marcie is upset with the whole educational system (me too, vicariously) as they keep making her jump through the paper hoops and basic lack of thoroughness on their part. She went on a field-trip with Tavyrn's class to see a play in Anchorage (Frankenstein). She is not impressed with the caliber of kid in Tav's sixth grade class, but we were very spoiled with the great kids in the Albany schools. Tav is good about weeding out the bad seeds and using his best judgement, so we don't worry too much about it, other than he may not have many friends. Bryer, on the other hand...:)

What else? I don't know. Gotta figure out what i am going to be for Halloween. Any ideas?
Snowman?

Oct. 27th

Hey all,
Went to Naknek, Alaska yesterday for work. Its roughly an hour flight from Anchorage to the southwest...on the eastern edge of the Bearing Sea. First established as fishing camps hundreds of years ago, it has since flourished as a fishing community, washed away by tsunamis, built back up, flourished again, and is recently suffering a downturn in their community. There are 3 communities in the area, 2 on the north side of the Neknak River and 1 on the south. There is no road across the river (3/4 mile wide) except in the winter when they can build an ice bridge, so the main mode of transpo is flight. This means they fly kids to school as well...creepy huh? So we went to look at the place. It's quite gorgeous...flat and wet, but I hear the fishing is outstanding.

Oct 18th a.m.

Here are the visitors we had in our yard this morning. We could have reached out and touched them, if we had any guts.

October 18th

One month anniversary for being in Alaska!

Completed week two at my government post. Trying to finish a project that has been in the works since 1983. Get to take my first work trip a week from tomorrow...to a small town called Naknek, on the coast of the Bearing Sea (it's where they film "The Deadliest Catch").
Have my first government funded educational class this Friday too. I don't know what it is, I just volunteered to go so I could get out of the office.
Still waiting to get paid! I don't know why it takes so long...but we may get a paycheck sometime next month. The good news is I have my first paid day off tomorrow...it's Alaska Day! It commemorates the official transfer of Alaska from Russia...lucky me. I will probably end up working on spreadsheets anyway.

Marcie was scheduled to have an interview this week but one of the people didn't show... it got pushed until the 5th. Sounds like she can submit for substituting jobs right away though, so she is going that route first. Marcie says that she loves me and that I am so lucky to have her.

The boys are doing what they do...no new activities. They made Halloween cookies with Marcie and then played with some friends at the school the rest of the day on Friday (they had the day off for inservice day). I made them pick up leaves in the yard yesterday. They had a good time with that even though it dangerously resembled work.

Nothing real exciting last week and looking at just a typical week coming up. Temperature at the moment is 27 degrees and very sunny. The sun doesn't come up until 9:00 by the way...that's tough on the internal clock, but from my work window, I get to see the sunrise every day, when it's not cloudy or foggy. I suspect we will be around 45 or 50 today. There is no snow anywhere around us...the snow that was on the mountains earlier this month is all gone but we are expecting new fluff any day now.

We put studs on Marcie's car this week.
Saw two moose.
Tav saw two bald eagles.
Discovered the hot tub is broken...ice damage. Ice damage in a hot tub?

Hopefully we will have a more exciting week so this will be a little less dry...I'm really reaching for things to mention.

October 10, 2009

First week of work down.
It's nice that Fridays have meaning once again. The week started with a first morning meeting with the boss where he let me know I would be in charge of a couple of people. That's cool I guess, but I feel a little weird knowing less than those under me...but then again, isn't that the true qualities of any boss? ;)

The boys are warming up nicely to their school and neighborhood. Bryer has about 15 friends and informas us of new ones every day. Tavyrn is warming up to his classmates, which is about right on par for his personality.

Marcie finally got up the courage to get her teaching documentation together and submit it to the school district. It took them all of 10 hours to contact her for an interview...she interviews on Tuesday. She knows she wants to teach 2nd grade, and preferrably art, but the likelihood of that specific job is nill. We're not really sure what we want at the moment...work in Eagle River or Anchorage? where are we living next year?

We'll let you know what happens later this week.

Tavyrn got a clarinet this week since he has joined band...HA! He got a green one...of course the only colored instrument in the entire band ensemble. Nothing like standing out as the new kid. Wedon't know what Bryer will end up doing, nor do we know his options at this point.

All for now.

October 3rd, 2009

So, we bit the bullet and got Marcie a new car. We spent today playing in it. We drove up to Wasilla to say "Hi" to Palin for everyone, but she wasn't there dontcha know.

A few more photos

We got a roll of film developed from the 35mm. Mainly just more amazing scenery. Enjoy.