I Do Apologize

I know, I know, I've been terrible about keeping this thing updated lately. What can I say? I don't enjoy blogging/dealing with my pictures from computers that aren't mine, and mine isn't here yet. That being said, I will now attempt to update you to the best of my ability with little bullet point snippet type things, with promises of pictures on Flickr soon (note: not today, or even tomorrow, but soon) and better posts once my computer is here and all set up and ready to blog. Now, off we go!

* My dentist appointment last Monday was FABULOUS (she says in a sing-songy voice). Everyone was very friendly, and they managed to get me an appointment to get my wisdom teeth pulled while my mom is still here!

* My wisdom teeth are being pulled tomorrow. I have never been through any kind of surger before and thus have never been "knocked out" before, and I have to admit, I am a little anxious about that. I'm not worried about the surgery or the pain afterwards so much, just the being put to sleep thing. I think it has something to do with my not being able to control it and is God's way of telling me I am trying to control too many things in my life again (and let's face it, if I'm trying to control even one thing, I'm trying to control too many things), and I need to just let go and trust Him fully. BUT I suppose that could be a whole nother post for a whole nother day.

* Saturday Josh drove us an hour and half out to a glacier. Pretty cool. The boys did great on the ride out and the ride back. The glacier was quite impressive. I didn't realize how wrong I was as to what I thought a glacier was until I actually saw one. It's not a giant mountain of ice flowing along the open seas. It's actually a GIANT (we're talking miles and miles and MILES) of ice slowly flowing down a river. It was really cool.

* Sunday we went to a church Josh had been attending before we all got out here. I don't think I am too crazy about it. We had to keep our kids with us through the singing portion - which I think is a great idea, but starting at an older age. My boys were good, but they were all over the place, wanting to be picked up, put down, up, down, sit, stand, go to the window, up, down, etc. So, I was not able to enjoy the worship time. This week Josh wants to try a different church, so we'll see how that goes.

* Last week I got yelled at by a neighbor for shooting Josh's new BB gun (oh yeah, just start calling me Annie Oakley) in our backyard. I think she's a wee bit on the eccentric side (seriously), and she told me I wasn't allowed to shoot a firearm in our neighborhood (which, by the way, I AM allowed to do, provided I keep it in my yard - which I was). She then stood there and stared at me. Everyone has a deck in their backyard and they're all about the same height so you can see what everyone else is doing who has a yard on hte same side of the street as you. This is how she was able to see what I was doing and yell at me and stare at me. When I asked her to quit staring she did, but it was to come to my fence and yell at me again even though I wasn't doing what she was yelling at me for. Sigh.

* The incident with my neighbor made me realize just how ugly and sinful my heart really is, and just how much I still need a Savior, and how good it is that there is nothing I can do to get myself into heaven, because I know that I will never be able to get it done myself. I realized how blessed I am that Jesus paid the price for my sin so I can have an assurance of heaven and all the glory that will come with it. Again, this is all probably another post topic for another time.

* On a different note, yesterday we went to PWOC out here for the first time. It was great. The ladies there were very happy to have a newcomer (me). I joined the class that is learning about the book of James. You know, just in case you were interested. Also, I met a woman there who has two boys the same ages as my boys, so I got her info and hopefully (once I've healed from my teeth extractions) we can get together.

* And today, my mom and I took the boys to the zoo. We tried to find the Botanical Gardens as well, but ran out of road somehow. Not sure what happened there. But we did find the zoo, and it was fun! Zeke had a great time seeing all of the animals. Deacon enjoyed it for the first half hour I guess. I'm not sure how much he really saw, but the last half hour wasn't as much fun for him and he got a little melty. But it was fun, and I bought us a year-long family pass (which covers grandparents too - nice!). I expect we'll be spending a good amount of time at the zoo this year.

And that's about all. I hope you enjoyed the bullet points (and all the parentheses) and to hopefully tide you over until I get around to Flickring (that's right, I just verbed the word Flickr, and apparently the word verb), here is a picture of Deacon on our ride home from the zoo today:

Another Post With No Pictures

I know, I have to stop writing these. But I just wanted to let you all know we made it safe to Alaska! The boys did great on both airplane rides. I got sick on the first one (I think it's just small planes that really get me), but felt much better on the second one. The house is fabulous. The snow is gone, except for the tops of the mountains. And there are a lot of mountains. There is a particularly nice one right out our front windows. Walmart is about a mile away. And so far we are adjusting pretty well. I'm not sure the boys have fully grasped the concept that this is home now and we won't be going back to Oklahoma (at least not any time soon), but they'll get there. And since I'm still worn out from the past couple of days, I am going to go now. But know that we are here, we are safe, and I am FINALLY going to a dentist tomorrow!

Just Wanted To Let You Know

That's right, Daddy's home! Josh got to the house at 1am Saturday morning. We both got the boys up (when it was time, not at 1am). As we opened Zeke's door, he saw me and said (as usual), "Mommy!" Then he looked over and saw Josh and as his eyes got all big he said, "DADDY!" Then just hugged Josh for a solid five minutes.

Deacon, on the other hand, played it shy. He insisted that I get him out of bed, and wouldn't let Josh hold him right away. Obviously he got over it very quickly. Josh is enjoying seeing all the changes since he left two months ago.

My mom also got in on Saturday. It was a big day for the boys. For all of us, really. We had a nice Easter too. Nothing very "Eastery" happened, so there isn't any pictures of dying eggs or digging through baskets, but it was a good day all the same. I hope that you all had a wonderful "Resurrection Day" and now I must go and start packing up some stuff for the big move this week. If you don't hear from me again soon, I'm sure I'll be back shortly after we arrive in Alaska on Saturday. (I really cannot believe that I will be in Alaska in just a few days. Life is very surreal right now. Don't worry, it's in a good way.)

Sure It's Nothing a Wipey Can't Handle

But is it necessary?

In case you can't see it in the last picture, there is sugar all over the side of his face from that candy bracelet he's munching on. Nothing is a "clean" food when it comes to Deacon. I have full confidence that he would be able to make a mess while eating celery. It's an amazing gift the child has.

The other week (as in, last month sometime) I gave the boys juice in open cups during lunch. Zeke is actually quite accomplished at this, so it wasn't a big deal for him, but Deacon had never had one (without some help from me) and was THRILLED to be drinking on his own.

I think you can see why we didn't do that too often here. They really do make enough laundry as it is. However, we have continued practicing, and he is getting MUCH better about it. The pants usually make it out unscathed. Sadly, I cannot say the same for the shirts - poor dears. We'll get it though. If there's anything Deacon is, besides messy, it's persistent. Hmm...I wonder where he gets that from?

Who Knew Sheep Could Be So Much Fun?

A friend of mine has been having a rough time lately. I commented on her blog today that I would leave something here for her. So, if she's reading this, this is for you (and I know you know who you are). I don't know why I think this will make you feel a little better, but here it is all the same. If she's not reading this, I hope everyone else enjoys it as well. Even if you've already seen it.

Don't doubt Mt. Redoubt

As many of you may or may not know, Mt. Redoubt has undergone a series of erruptions as of late. (I'm not sure how much coverage the news in the "Lower 48" has covered it.) While this has been exciting at times, I would like to point out that the Volcano is about 90 miles North West of Anchorage in a remote part of the state so there is not a huge threat from the erruptions themselves. The main concerns stem from flooding caused by ice melt from the volcano as well as ash fall which can be carried hundreds of miles by the wind and pose significant danger to aircraft flying through the affected area and if falling in sufficient quantities can lead to structure colapse, breathing problems, and eye irratation.

Part of my current assignment is to work these very issues from the Garrison Crisis Action Center (GCAC). In the GCAC we have software to conduct our own plume modeling in order to help predict the area at risk for ashfall, resources to mobilize in the event some disaster does occur, and plenty of coffee to help sustain the 24 hour operations pulled as neccesary. In reality, after the initial erruption, Mt. Redoubt faded to background noise as we returned to regular operations, even though it is still errupting regularly. The Alaska Volcano Observatory has the lead in any case and we support as necessary. The only ill effects I felt from Redoubt to date have been a couple days of sleep deprivation and some slight ash fall in Eagle River on Saturday. (Above pic: Ash fall on the hood of my car) You can click on the AVO link to get more info about Volcanoes and Mt. Redoubt in particular, as well as check out some great photos of recent as well as past explosions of Redoubt.