This is as close to a family photo as we'll get for a while. ; )

Santa is Comin' To Town!

We've been feeling the Christmas spirit early this year. Our tree was up on Thanksgiving and we've been enjoying the festivities ever since. Here are a few catch-up pics since I've been neglectful of the blog for a while...we hope the season is bright for all of you!

Here is Miss Lily helping me with dishes after her evening bath. Is her little robe not THE cutest on her!?

My dad gave this to Caleb his first Christmas and he now shares with Lily. They love listening and dancing with Pooh and friends...
Playing by the tree..
Lily being brave on her slide and Caleb impatiently waiting his turn...

A beautiful, fresh snowy playground awaits us outside!

Dear Papa has a place on our tree, thanks to Heidi's creative and thoughtful talents!

Lillers knows who Gramps is and says his name often or points to him...I think he's with my kids more often than I know. If babes could talk...

Poor Lillers, nursing a cold and making sure she has enough tissues for her nose.
The kids peering out the window on a rare, sunny and very cold day!

It's a White World of Snow Again

Caleb is being a great helper this year. Always willing to help shovel the driveway and walks with Dad...

Whittier on the 4th!

We hope you all had a great Independence Day! Cannon was blasting Beach Boys, "Born in the USA" and Neil Diamond's "America" (one of my dad's all time favorites) all morning while we got ready for a little road trip. We went to Whittier with a bunch of friends and had a great time eating fresh halibut fish n' chips, exploring the docks and admiring all the boats, coloring on the sidewalk, and enjoying fudge. We left sunny Anchorage and 1 hour and 1 tunnel later, we were in chilly, cloudy, rainy Whittier. It was gorgeous, though. We enjoyed every minute with our friends and after returning home, we had moose burgers (which Caleb finally ate for the first time) and potato salad, out on our deck. I made some strawberry short cake and we finished the 4th watching "Independence Day" with friends. It doesn't get dark at midnight so fireworks aren't really a big deal here. It was a good day and we are truly blessed to live in America.

To and Fro

Since dad's death, we've been back and forth to AZ a few times. During the trips to AZ we were able to say goodbye to our dad properly and we were able to enjoy a Mix family reunion in Vegas. It was very difficult to leave for the last time. Living in Alaska never felt so far away from home as it does right now. I'm sure that with some time, the distance will not be so painful for me. Or perhaps we'll secure a job in the states that will put us closer to family. We are enjoying the beautiful summer here. I think of my dad constantly. The lessons I'm learning are so beautiful. I wouldn't change anything, actually.

Happy 4th to all of you and God Bless America!

It's been a while since I've posted. Some of you know that my dad died unexpectedly last month. I don't have the heart to post any other pics. I've got a pic of Caleb and Gramma the night after dad died, the pool looking very empty and a pic of dad at the summit of the Grand Teton in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. That is how I remember my dad...adventurous, heroic, big hearted, good to the core, courageous and smiling.

We had a ceremony to scatter his ashes over Memorial Day weekend in St. George. It was beautiful and painful and cathartic. There is really something definitive in my mind about my dad being free now. He's gone for a while. I'll see him again and that is very comforting.

Someday I'll post lots of pics but tonight I'm not ready to do that.

To those of you who have kept our family in your thoughts and prayers and have sent love in all of it's forms (kind words/emails, flowers, cards, cleaning my house, phone calls, etc), please know how very touched I've been. Each gift of kindness smoothes the edges of a jagged hole that has been blown in my heart.

A few pics from our intrigues the last couple of weeks. Life is stressful so it's good to capture the happy moments on camera. Then we forget the stress and remember the sweetness. In fact, looking at these pics, I'm forgetting the fights about finances, fretting about the job, and finding down time for just me and Cannon. Thank heavens we 're just normal.

mush, mush

Back from Boise

We are home safe. Boise has grown since I was there 18 years ago. Cannon had work to do and we needed to get some sunshine. The weather was typical blustery Idaho stuff but there were a few days of glorious warmth and sunshine. It was pretty mild compared to Alaska and was very much enjoyed by all of us. While Cannon was working during the day (and sometimes nights) we spent most of our time with Amanda, Tristan and Pierce out in Emmett. We had a great time with them. We also got to go shopping, got to play at Monkey Business, ate at our favorite places, swam at the hotel pool. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Hillam for a brief but wonderful visit. All in all, it was a great visit to the sagebrush ridden, dirt hills of Boise. I will admit that anytime I heard someone mention "BSU", I snickered to myself, rather immaturely. And the flaming orange and electric blue BSU colors have always struck me as annoyingly tacky, but their football team has been so awesome that folks wear their school colors with pride. Boise is in an ugly place, but it's a fun city because there is a little of everything for everyone. We attempted to drive out to the reservoir and some peak that I forget the name of and we were so bored with the barren nature around us that we turned the car around before ever reaching the reservoir, knowing that anything we saw would be very anticlimactic. I will say this about Alaska, NOTHING compares to the wild, spectacular beauty of this place...not even Boise's reservoir, or the deer.

But it was tough to return to Alaska, knowing how far we are from family and not knowing when we would see friends and family again was a hard pill to swallow. It was also difficult knowing that I was no longer going to be paying 57 cents/pound for oranges and $2 for a gallon of milk. We are happy to be back in our home, sleeping in our beds and visiting with friends here. It's just a little bittersweet.

Cold=Cuddles

So, we do a lot of cuddling in the winter up here. It's cold and the weather is fickle and there has hardly been any snow lately, so going outside is not really an option. Listen to me, you'd think I was a lazy mom. I should be enjoying this Alaskan winter but I'm not. I have a newborn and venturing outside is not even on my "to do" list this winter.

Okay, Cannon wants me to fly a helicopter in the living room and I know I'm going to crash it, but he is insisting so it's time to sign off.