Mount Redoubt = Ash

Many of you have probably heard that Mount Redoubt has been watched closely over the past month or so and finally last week it began to spew ash...however we have been fortunate to have the wind pushing the ash clouds away from the Anchorage area. Today however was a different story. Early evening today Anchorage received its first dusting of ash. There was no doubt when you looked outside and saw the hazy skies and instantly smelled the scent of ash/sulfur. Also all that snow that I have been longing to disappear has now turned to a dirty gray instead of the beautiful white it use to be.

Thankfully we have only gotten a light dusting as Anchorage received the outer edge of the ash cloud. We are hoping this is all we get but with the mountain spewing ash clouds several times a day we will most likely see more.

Here is a picture of my footprint in the snow on our deck. You can see the white snow in the footprint appear under the thin layer of ash.


Guess we're in for a new adventure as we wait and see if more is to come...and Yawkey is in for lots of baths as we have to wash his paws ever time he goes out to piddle

Winter Walks and Girly Talks

Not to much has been going on at our home lately. But we are managing to keep our evening full with friends, family, and movies. This past week it was so nice outside that I took Yawkey out for a walk almost every day. Yawkey actually does great walking on the snow packed trials as long as he keeps moving but the minute we stop his poor little paws get so cold.
Yawkey and I don't every have to go walking by ourselves since half of my friends up here also have dogs. It has been fun to get to call up my girl friends and meet up with them for a short visit and brisk walk with the pups. Even though the sun is shining and the day is beautiful it is still very cold outside so the walks are short but fun.

Tyler has been keeping very busy with his new business and in trying to create a good client base and get his name out there it has required some long hours at the office. Though I miss having him home in the early evenings with me I have had a great time just hanging out with my girlfriends.

My friend Melanie had a girls night at her home a few weeks ago which was a blast. There were about 7 of us who took the night away from home and come over to Melanie's house for a night of pampering ourselves and watching girly movies. We did pedicures, manicures, facials and of course had some chocolate. And since it was all girls we got a little distracted talking and didn't get around to watching a movie. As I left to go home that night I was filled with joy, praise and thankfulness to God for the wonderful women he has place in my life. I am so blessed to have these gals as my friends who love the Lord, love their husbands and desire to follow God.



So winter is still here and yesterday we got another 6-10 inches of snow but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else right now. What a huge blessing from God to have the friends He has give me up here in AK.

Fur Rondy 2009

It is once again time for the annual Alaska winter festival - Fur Rondy!

We spent a few saturdays ago downtown enjoying a few of the activities that were going on. It snowed all day that day which made for a great winter backdrop for all the activities and made for some fun pictures. However. it also made it very cold outside. We bundled up anyway and headed down town with our friends Kyle and Natalie and decided that snow was not going to stop us from enjoying Fur Rondy.

This year we decided to watch the annual outhouse races. There were over 20 teams racing. Each team builds their own "outhouse" and places it on skies so it is ready to either push or pull down the street. The whole race was way far more exciting then I had imagined. When you have 4 people pushing and one person riding in these "outhouses" it makes for some great entertainment. They push the "outhouse" down the road and try to turn them around and push then back the other way on the slippery snow and ice. There was lots of laughter a few toppled over outhouses and only one or two team members dragged or almost run over.



(sorry no sound in the video)

Only in Alaska do you see stuff like this. It was fun but the cold finally got to us sooner then we had hoped and we called it an afternoon after only a few hours. We came home to warm up and then headed back out later that night to watch the fireworks.