Merry Christmas

December 26, 2018

The day before Christmas, Rachelle's family came over.  We went for a walk on Sand Lake.  Jacob and Scott were good sports to pull us in gear sleds. 

We then had a delicious Christmas Eve dinner - British style with crowns from "crackers" and Yorkshire pudding as a side dish.

We then read the story of Jesus' birth from the scriptures.

On Christmas day, the Pessettos joined us in the afternoon.  We had leftovers for dinner and had fun watching a Christmas show and playing games.

We love having family to celebrate with.

Solstice Tour of Trees

Sunday, December 16, 2018

This year we joined Scott and Rachelle's family and went to the Solstice Tour of Trees in Kincaid Park.  We walked along the 1.5 mile trail and enjoyed the 40 decorated trees along the trail.  One of the most interesting trees was decorated with musical instruments.  The top was decorated with flutes.

There were several other instruments on that tree including several trombones.  I thought of Jacob when we looked at the tree. 

We are glad we got to spend time with Scott, Rachelle, Peter, and Thomas.

Botanical Gardens

December 14, 2018

Rachelle and Scott invited to go to the Anchorage Botanical Garden Holiday Lights in the Garden.

We walked along and saw the light displays, got warm by bonfires, and enjoyed hot chocolate in the greenhouse.

Earthquake

December 14, 2018 

Two weeks ago, at 8:29 a.m. on November 30, we had a 7.0 earthquake here in Anchorage.  I have lived in California - earthquake country- for most of my life.  I have experienced more earthquakes than I could count.  This one was different.  This one was terrifying.  This one left our house looking like it had been ransacked.

I was sitting on the bed and could hear things falling, crashing, and breaking.  Brent was downstairs.  Five minutes after the earthquake we had a 4.8 aftershock.  During the last two weeks, we have had thousands of aftershocks.  We haven't felt most of them, but we have felt more than we wish we had.

Here is what the house looked right after the earthquake.

In the family room, all the pictures fell and the cupboard opened and games fell out.  Some pieces from the nativity broke.

Things fell off the shelves in the garage but luckily no glass jars fell or broke.

Jacob's room was a mess.  The most interesting thing was that the statue of Joseph Smith didn't fall over but it turned around 180 degrees and was facing the wall after the quake.  

The drawers of my dresser came open during the shaking of the house.

In the master bedroom, some pictures fell off the wall and lots of things fell off the shelves.  

A large picture in the upstairs hall fell and broke.

Brent uses Rachelle's former bedroom as a study.  Lots of things fell off the shelves.

Many of the roads were broken up.  Some homes and schools were damaged so badly that they can't be occupied.  

We are so very thankful that we had only a few items break or become damaged (one crystal goblet, some glass display domes, some nativity pieces, a mirror, a picture frame, a scratch and dent on my car door.)  

It is amazing that there were no fatalities in the quake and no major injuries.  Everyone is on edge, but thankful things weren't worse.  

BBB Torch Award

November 13, 2018

Alaska Sleep Clinic was awarded the Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Ethics

 Business of the Year

October Activities

October 2018

October was a busy month.  Rachelle and Scott went on a trip to Europe while Brent and I watched their boys for 12 days. Because it rained nearly every day, we did lots of indoor activities

The day after Rachelle and Scott got home, Brent and I flew to Fairbanks, Alaska for three days (October 23 - 25) to attend the Alaska Chamber of Commerce convention.  Brent attended workshops and I had a chance to relax.  Wednesday evening there was a gala/dinner event.  We went to a nearby museum that housed a private collection of antique automobiles and women's dresses from the early 1900's.  Brent enjoyed looking at the cars and I loved seeing the dresses.

This was my first time visiting Fairbanks.  We enjoyed driving around the city and the University of Alaska at Fairbanks (UAF).

After our Fairbanks trip, we re-packed and flew to Utah for 5 days. The purpose was so that Brent could confer the Melchizedek priesthood and ordain Jacob an Elder.  We also enjoyed being on BYU campus and spending time with Jacob.

One evening, we took Jacob and Hannah (our neighbor from Alaska) to dinner.

We stayed with Brent's mother in Salt Lake City and enjoyed being with her.

We arrived home on the afternoon of October 31 so we could celebrate Halloween with Peter and Thomas.  Rachelle did a very creative job making an 18-wheeler truck as their costume.

October was busy and we made lots of memories.

Las Vegas Visit

August 31 - September 4, 2018

Jacob was settled in at BYU.  We had spent a few days with Brent's mother in Salt Lake City.  Brent and I then drove back to Las Vegas to spend a few days with Jeanine's family.

We had fun hanging out and playing games.  William had fun wearing the elephant ears that Jacob got on his first day of band camp.  Jacob said we could take them to Henry or Lydia, but William is the one who wore them.

Lydia and I had fun reading books together.  

Brent took one of his pistols so he could go shooting with the boys at their nearby shooting range.  Before they went to the range, Brent gave a lesson on gun safety.

William

James

Alex

Monday was Labor Day so there was no school or work.  We drove to Mt. Charleston.  The temperature was 30 degrees cooler than in Las Vegas.  It was so pleasant to be out of the heat.

While we ate lunch, the storm clouds started rolling in.  Just as we left, the rain started to fall.

We are so glad we got to spend time with the Crane family before we headed back to Alaska.

BYU

August 23 - 30, 2018

On our way to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, we stopped in Las Vegas for a couple of days.  We had fun relaxing with Jeanine and her family.  Very early on August 25, we drove to Provo, Utah. 

We helped Jacob get moved into his dorm room. 

The Heritage Halls that I had lived in was torn down and the new Heritage Halls is very updated and nice.

Jacob is on the 4th floor and has a great view from his bedroom and living room window.  He can see the new MTC (Missionary Training Center), the Provo Temple and a view of Mount Timpanogos in the background. 

 To the far right, there is a view of Pride Rock (aka Squaw Peak.)

Brent and I attended part of the New Student Orientation.  There were 4,000 freshmen in attendance (out of the 5,000 freshmen). 

Jacob has some great roommates.  Brent and I got to meet a couple of them.  Max shares a room with Jacob and his cousin, Emily, had come to visit.

Jacob and three other roommates hiked up to Y mountain.  (Bryan, Grant, Jacob, Davis)

I loved being back on BYU campus.  I have so many fond memories of my college years.  It is good to know that Jacob is in a good place surrounded by good people. 

California Visit

August 14 - 22, 2018

Brent, Jacob, and I traveled to California to be with Elise and family.  The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed playing in the backyard with their children.

Besides being there to visit, we were there to have Austin take out Jacob's wisdom teeth.  Jacob spent most of our California trip recovering from his oral surgery. Since I was busy caring for Jacob, I knew I wouldn't have a chance to visit with other family members.  Thankfully, Heidi and her children along with Keena and her children came to Elise's house on their way to the beach so I got to visit with them. 

We enjoyed being with the Burnetts for family home evening.  Elise and Austin introduced their family theme for the school year, "It's Cool to be Kind". 

The day before we left, Elise took us to Crystal Cove beach.  Since it was low tide, we were able to see lots of sea creatures. 

We loved the blue ocean, blue sky, and warm weather.

We got to walk with Caden on his first day of school.  We stopped at the park on the way to play for a few minutes. 

We then packed up and headed on our way to Utah with a stop in Las Vegas.  We are glad we got to spend time with the Burnetts.