Wildlife in our own backyard!

For many Alaskans some of these images might not be too strange to see (we have had many moose encounters in our yard over the years) but I thought the rest of you might find it interesting!


A young moose accidentally wandered into our fully fenced yard at our old house. The fence he jumped in the backyard was a short one but the one in the front isn't an option so he was trapped in our front yard for a short time.


It was a cold day that day and frost was on everything. It even makes chain link fences look beautiful!

Torsten loved looking at the little moose up close.

Finally the moose wandered back through our backyard and over the fence again.

This wildlife encounter was a little more unique. We had two coyotes visit us in the backyard of our new house. (I honestly didn't even know we had coyotes up here and thought they were wolves at first.)

The neighbor at the bottom of the hill (who was nowhere to be seen) has some one year old dogs/puppies that decided to investigated the coyotes and were getting themselves into trouble. When one of the coyotes acted like it was going to attack the dogs, Haakon got out his 22 and put out a warning shot just to get the coyotes to leave. He was absolutely giddy that he was able to shoot his gun from our porch. (Obviously, he won't be making a habit of it.)

Gratefully, the coyotes took off and left the dogs alone but we were sad to see them go. It was a pretty neat thing to see.

These last animals were not seen in our backyard but about 15 minutes down the road on the Seward Highway. Usually we only see these Dall Sheep at higher elevations but in the winter they will sometimes come down. It was fun to sit and watch them for a bit. I thought you non-Alaskans would appreciate these pics.

In Memory of Swishy

Our pet fish Mister Swishy MacGregor died this past week. He is our beta that we have had for the past 2 1/2 years (with only one secret replacement from an accidental...... negligence). For years Corinne begged for every or any kind of pet imaginable and had finally resorted to catching and naming a moth "Toto" for a pet. When that happened I decided I would be willing to try a pet fish. (Don't get me wrong, I love pets and have had pets all growing up but right now I am so busy with little people I just haven't wanted to deal with one more responsibility.)

Overall Swishy was a great pet. Low maintenance for the most part and I was surprised to find that fish actually do have little personalities. Needless to say, we all cried when we sent him to his watery grave. It is a sad thing to lose a pet no matter what kind.

We will miss you Mr. Swishy MacGregor.......

More sledding fun!

We went sledding again this weekend and I thought I would post some of the wild runs down our hill.

I wish you could see this video better. Torsten gets bounced around so much at the bottom that he just pops off sideways at the end. Just pay attention to the darker dot. It is obvious that I think it is pretty funny. ;)

Backyard Fun

Last Saturday was a beautiful day! We had to get out and enjoy the sunshine and snow! So we played for the first time in our new backyard and had a great time!
This picture is the view from our backyard of Flat Top.
We live on the edge of a little valley so our yard has an area that slopes down in the back. It makes for a great sledding hill! The dots are the kids down at the bottom of the hill.

We found a smaller hill at the bottom that was easier for the kids (and pregnant me) to climb.

Lauren had a blast and went again and again and again!

Here is a shot looking up the hill at the back of our house.

Total we spent four hours straight sledding in our backyard and enjoying the sunshine. It was HEAVEN!

Orange Peel Art: an original!

Corinne has displayed a knack for artistic creativity and I just thought I would show off one of her random works of art. We would consider a show at the museum but they shrivel too fast.

A momma and baby kitty.

A teddy bear.

This is a more abstract piece that inspired the rest. It is a Persian kitten (fluffy tail) playing with a ball. (She really likes cats.)

Happy Balemtimes!

Just wanted to send you Valentines wishes from my family to you! One pic is a flashback of an Alaskan Valentine Corinne and I made years ago (wow how time flys!) and the video is a little diddy that Lauren learned at preschool! She doesn't quite say Valentines right and I love it! Hope you all feel as loved as I do today!

The scarf was Lauren's addition to her apparel. She is hilarious!

Our new house!

We moved! We still live in Anchorage, just further south.
I took these pictures several months ago back when we first saw the house on the market. It was bank owned and sat vacant for a year so there were some issues etc. but we were able to get a great deal on it. (Does that surprise anyone?)
We are really excited about it and absolutely love the location. We are right on the edge of park service land and have a great view of Flat Top. (for non-Alaskans it is a well known peak here in Anchorage)
There are lots of windows and on a sunny day the light just streams in. I almost need to wear sunglasses! It is sooooo nice!
Of course, there are some things that are a little odd about the house but it isn't anything that can't be remodeled down the road. We plan on being here for a while! (I'll let you decide on your own what things we will probably be remodeling someday...... everyone has their own opinion! ha ha!)

I have taken a few more recent pics and will have to post those soon but right now if I took pictures of the inside of our house you would just see a jumbled mess of boxes and random furnishings that aren't where they belong. Organization is not my forte.

Entry and foyer/staircase to great room.

Living room/formal dining and Family room.

Kitchen......

master bedroom

Master Bath


This is a picture taken out the window in the family room. Isn't it great! And it just doesn't do it justice because the clouds are covering the mountain so I will try to take another one on a good day of our snowy peak view.

Now we have a great excuse to have friends come and visit us so please do! (Both Alaskan and non!) A bonus to the move is that we now have a guest bedroom! Yay! Can't wait to have you come and visit us in this beautiful state!

Our Arctic Experience

In January we were invited by our friends Ty and Liz Z. to join them out at a friends cabin on 20 mile river (just past Girdwood). It is only accessible by boat in the summer and trekking over the ice in the winter so hence our arctic adventure began. Corinne went ahead with Ty and Liz but Lauren and Torsten were pulled by Haakon in the chariot. It was about -11 with a strong wind when we left and I was still gathering up gear so Haakon took off as soon as they were all ready, to minimize the time in the cold.

You can see him up ahead of me in the middle of the image. He is the little tiny almost imperceptible dot. We were headed for the cabin hidden in the trees straight ahead of him. Total it is about a one mile trek to get back there.

The pictures just don't do justice to the wind that whipped across a large stretch of the river. It was biting cold. Fiercely cold. I thought I was going to lose one side of my face to frostbite.

Haakon didn't have a neck warmer so he improvised with one of Corinne's extra shirts. The kids were bundled nice and warm in the chariot and Lauren even took a nap.

After we passed through the arctic gauntlet and the wind stopped howling and throwing stinging snow at us I was able to snap a quick picture of Haakon with ice crystals in his eyelashes.

It was an absolutely amazing place and the view was breathtaking!

Looking back you can see the wind whipping up the snow where we had just trekked across. Isn't it a beautiful place!

Corinne with frosting.

Warming up in the little cabin after our trek. Haakon has Torsten and Liz and Ty's son Zach. He is sitting with friends Ben and Tiffany.

The girls enjoying the warmth and a yummy cup of hot chocolate.

Playing with our friends dogs.

A quick family picture before we headed back.

We had a great time and would do it again in a heartbeat. Preferably in a little warmer weather! Thanks Liz and Ty!

Fun at -15!

A couple of weeks ago we had a cold snap that hovered around-15 to -20 degrees (-25 was the coldest it got on our thermometer) for about two weeks. At first we just stayed inside and did indoor things but eventually we all got cabin fever and decided to brave the cold for a little fresh air. The kids had an absolute blast and it made me wish we had gotten out sooner. We just bundled them extra well and we all had a great time (usually lasting about an hour or so).

We went ice skating at -13 degrees.

Torsten's first time on ice skates. We just skated around holding him up in between our legs. He loved it! (Please pay no attention to the fact that our son is wearing girls figure skates..... they will have to do 'til he starts playing hockey.) ;)

One night we went to town center to enjoy the ice sculptures and
play on the ice.

Usually we don't make it to town to see these 'til they have already started melting so it was fun to see them in pristine condition.

Bundled up for -15.

Even in the cold the kids were laying down on the ice so that Haakon could spin them around. It was quite a sight. People were taking pictures of the weird Alaskans playing on the ice.

We coined this activity "kid curling".

-15...... bring it on!