21 inches of snow fell yesterday and last night. It was beautiful here for Christmas Day. Lots of work for Lance and Jim to shovel and plow. It made for great sledding and snow -cave building.

Christmas with "the boys" has been noisy and fun! They got to open presents on Christmas Eve and then Santa came last night for more fun today! Santa brought Amelia her very own pair of camo binoculars for more outdoor fun.....

Reid's not too sure about this sledding thing but everyone else is having fun.....This is right in front of grandma's house...the hill slides down into the field that is usually hay in the summer..... We have had lots of snow but it's nice and warm (compared to AK temps). I've been dying to ski and a relative of Lance's is bringing some over for me today!!!!! I'm not as homesick anymore....

I will spare you the graphic images of the calf "actually" being born but this is twins(one is wrapped in a wool blanket). Two days after we got here to Idaho...Amelia's cousin Austin's cow had twins and Amelia and Lance were there to watch the second one fall.....Lance was cleaning the first calf with straw and warming it with a blanket....(it's cold here...about 15 degrees that day), when they saw more feet coming out of the momma cow....Amelia said, "I knew babies were in momma's bellies, but I didn't know they came out of their butts.....!!!) Always a lesson to be learned.....

This is a picture that I'm very proud of....The one on the left is me when I was 5 yrs. old....Amelia, on the right, is wearing the very same costume that I had on 30 years ago.....

We had an early Christmas in SC before we left....Amelia and her Papa had been playing his many guitars and so he gave her her very own for Christmas....A real guitar!!! She might be ready for lessons soon......Her and Reid got to ride a little train and visit with Santa too....

We went to the Discovery Place Science museum in Charlotte , NC and some of the highlights were petting and snake and touching starfish....among other great hands on science activities....

Just some family fun....me and EvanMarie (my good friend Erin's 2 week old jewel....) and my Uncle Sammy having fun getting Amelia....

Reid loves all of Papa's guitars...so much that Papa has to close his office door when he's not around....Reid has been caught a few times pickin' on some strings.....

Amelia is working on her tan and getting exercise at the same time!!!!

Amelia and Reid checking out Papa's new barn....and the tractor. There is a full upstairs that is insulated....this thing is bigger than our house......really nice. Mom has a bunch of mine and Kevin's old toys upstairs and we had fun going through and picking out things for the kids to play with....a blast from the past!!!

My lovely boy decided to experiment with a green marker...it is just one thing after another with him...

Trick or Treating was fun tonight. Reid's fake horns didn't last long but the "real" ones are always there! He had the candy thing figured out real fast....Amelia was the cutest scare crow I've ever seen!!! There is lots of candy for me.......

Some great fun Fall shots...green grass, leaves and cows. Things Alaskans will never take for granted!!!

Reid gets his annual haircut from aunt Nikii.

We had fun carving pumpkins in Idaho. The pumpkins were grown at aunt Nikki's and in a friends garden.

Just noticed we didn't have a picture of the plane after it had the complete paint job.....She's a beauty!!!!!

My friend Lora and I had been aching to do an overnight hike all summer and when the time finally came that our busy husbands could take the kids off our hands....we got snow!!! But we went anyway. This is up "Carlo Creek" drainage looking back towards Cantwell. We had a nice sunny day of hiking after a cold, windy, snowy night in the tent!!!! Call us desparate but we had fun!!!

Amelia and Lance went on their yearly rabbit hunt....they got these two snowshoe hares and we cooked them for dinner the next night. (sweet and sour rabbit.....tasty!)

Snow came early this year....the end of September!!! This snow goddess was made right after a really wet snow/rain....usually our snow is too dry for a snowman. The kids had fun and I think Lance did too!

We have been fortunate to have the weather and be able to get out and hike a lot this Fall. This was actually on my 35th !!! Birthday up the Jack River (that flows behind our house). There is a great canyon and the mountains were stunning with "termination dust" or snow on them. When I ask myself why we live in such a cold place with a short season of good weather, all I have to do is look back on times like this.

On another hike recently we came across this little patch of ice crystals in the otherwise brown tundra. This shows a crowberry in the middle of the patch of crystals. We believe there was a little vole living under the ground there and it was his warm breath meeting the cold air that made the crystals........

A few weeks ago Joanna and I took Rachel, Amelia and Reid up Reindeer Mtn. It was a long hike for Amelia but she did great!! Reid got a little snooze on the way up.....lucky guy!

My friend Lora and I took the kids to explore a new trail up Carlo Creek at the end of the Fall. (Yes, I know it's still Fall in the rest of the states!!!) but we're different up here. (in a lot of ways....) These are Lora's kids, Sage and Allie. This hike led Lora and I to dream of an overnight camping trip without the kids.....which we just did this past weekend, in 4 inches of snow!!! Photos to come of that awesome adventure soon......

We had a tag for a caribou and decided to go with Troy on 2 four-wheelers out the Denali Highway. We weren't really thinking we would have a chance to shoot but thought it would be a nice outing with berrypicking and a picnic......with no expectations...we were excited to have a chance to harvest this nice small bull.....perfect meat for the winter and easy to handle. The kids really enjoyed the day and it was a nice time spent together!!! Perfect weather and the berries were prolific!!!!

The kids really had fun on Uncle Troy's 4wheelers!!!

Amelia hiked WAY UP Reindeer mountain last week to appease me in looking for bigger, better berries than were in our yard......or anywhere else that was easier to get to than climbing straight up a mountain. We now call her "the mountain goat!"....we found berries and now I can't stop seeing blue......

You can see how far up we are above the Jack River.....Reid looks so tiny in that sea of Fall tundra. With our buckets full of berries...we are all smiles!!!!

Amelia and her friend Oliver hang out in the back of the truck while I sell "goods" at the Farmer's Market. This year was the first and it proved successful....we're hoping to make it bigger and better for next season. I sold lettuce, kale, raddishes, rhubarb, carrotts, blueberries, jams/jellies, dog treats, baby hats and some jewelry, oh and a few baked goods.......and some of Amelia's jewelry and notecards.......