Finally.....Home Owners

Andrew took off early on Friday since he had worked TONS already that week which worked out perfect because the title company called and they had finally received the correct paperwork from the seller. We asked if we could come in that day and sign papers.
We signed papers Friday afternoon. We were over joyed!!! We wanted to immediately run down to our house and start work right away but decided that it would be best to just hang out and start the next morning when we would have all day.
We kept talking about a four-wheelers and how useful it would be to us on the farm and all the fun we would have on it. So we decided to go "look". Well looking turned into wanting and well lets just say as of Saturday evening we are now proud owners of two Honda Foremans.
Saturday after picking out our new rides we went down to the farm and started work. We didn't get to pick out fourwheelers up right away because they needed assembled.

First thing we did to the house was change the locks, then we started cleaning everything out. We soon found out that the porch had several rotten spots from years of the snow left sitting and melting on the porch and it going untreated. I took some before pictures which I will post in a month or so when the inside is complete.
We got allot of stuff cleared out of the way. We live just a couple miles from the transfer sight where you can dump off stuff. This came in so handy!
The kids were big helps!! I really mean that. Lance loved loading up the truck and throwing wooded stuff on the fire. Lexie just kind of ran around playing and occasionally helping, but we didn't have to get onto them or worry about them being in the way. It was great! They both love playing on the bridge at the entrance of our driveway. They love throwing rocks down onto the ice in the creak below.

That evening we enjoyed a nice ride before heading home, taking baths, and getting some much needed rest.

SPRING TIME

Spring came right one time this year in Alaska. Each day we caught ourselves saying "tomorrow it is going to be up in the 40's!" then before we knew it we were hitting high 60's!! I never thought I would be so glad to hear the sound of honking geese overhead. Each day brought more and more birds and less and less snow. Then one day I looked up at the trees and noticed buds!!! God is so good. I never tire of His awesome creation and the changing of the seasons.

Easter Weekend

A guy that Andrew works with invited us to a party at his house on Saturday. They had a big Easter egg hunt planned for the kids. Each family was to bring 1 dozen eggs per kid in their family. Friday night we dyed Easter eggs. Each year gets funner and funner. The kids are now big enough to do things completely by themselves and have a little more patience than years past.

We dyed 18 eggs and also stuffed a couple dozen fake eggs. Because I let the kids help me put the candy in the eggs I didn't have to fight them to stay out of the candy. Not one piece was eaten until after the party!

I loved that Easter fell later in the month. It was a beautiful weekend and the snow was melting.

Sunday morning we all got dressed up for Easter service. We gave the kids their Easter presents. We didn't do baskets this year. We took this as an opportunity to buy the kids something they had been wanting for awhile. We got Lance a remote control truck and Lexie a bike.

We enjoyed a wonderful Easter message and worship service, then home for a wonderful Easter dinner; grilled steak and corn on the cob!

That evening we went to our first Alaskan Hockey Game. Fairbanks team is called the ICE DOGS. Lance was in heaven!! He loved being right up against the glass watching every play. Lexie enjoyed snacking and talking to those around her. We had a great evening!!!

Tuesday thoughts

*my parents will be arriving in a little over a month and we can't wait!!! Dad will be helping fix things up at the house. We have lots of fun things planned for while they are here too.

*my Brother Matt, his wife Stephanie and little girl Addylynne will be coming to visit also in early June!! 

*kindergarten enrollment Is in just a couple weeks!!!!! O my goodness! I don't know how I feel about this. 

*Lance will be turning 5 in little over a month! I'm not really planning on doing a big birthday. We still don't know too many people here. 5 is what I consider a milestone birthday so that may change. I am thinking about maybe something at the park. 

*Lexie finally decided on a name for her puppy. Her name is Alaska! 

*all the puppies have homes and will start going home in about a week or so. Today is their first vet appointment so this should be fun.

*spring is in full force here in Fairbanks. The snow is rapidly melting and temperatures are reaching 50!!! I love walking outside and hearing the song birds and the sound of geese returning!!! Also, yesterday I noticed buds on the trees!! I could burst with excitement! 

*this weekend we will start work on the house!! Super excited! I can't wait to get my hands dirty!

*have you noticed all the exclamation points? I am super excited about so much!!!

*we have a trip to Pennsylvania planned for July. The kids and I will then travel on from Pennsylvania to Lousiville to see some friends for a day or two then on to Missouri to visit more family. I'm super excited to see everyone, but hate we will be missing a bit of Alaska's summer. 

*16 years ago on this day I became an Aunt for the first time! I can't believe my niece,Oaklie is 16 today!!! Crazy! 

*Sunday is Easter! We have an Easter party in Saturday and plan to attend Sunrise service on Sunday. I am looking forward to celebrating the resurrection of Christ! 

Some sillies from the kids:

On tv they were playing bongos and Lance said "they must be in china!" I said "China, why do you think that?" Lance then says " have you ever heard of China? It's where you can only eat rice!"

I gave Lance a pack of gum that had a piece missing. I told him that daddy needed a piece for his breathe. Lance then goes "did his breathe smell like wart hog musk?"

Lance had a book about the Ninja Turtles and Lexie calls it the "engine turtles"

Lexie is all about dancing these days! She does a littler performance anytime she ears music. Lately she has added a few Disney moves in there. She pretends to be making ice with her hands and she loves to comb her hair and pretend it glows. 

Lance told Andrew "when you love somebody you marry them and you only marry one person. I'm gonna marry Lexie" Andrew then says "no, you can't marry Lexie. She's your sister." Lance then says "but I love her so much!"

Spring Pictures

I made a new friend and was telling her about our puppies and chicks when she suggested that it would be a super fun to do a photo shoot with the kids and animals. I agreed that it would be super cute and I would need to find a photographer since mine was moving away. That's when my new friend Jenny told me that she was a photographer and that she would hook me up.

I am absolutely in Love with all of the pictures!!! These are just a few of my favorite!!

Jenny is an amazing photographer! She came to our house and worked with the kids so good. They really liked her.

I can't wait to get into the new house and start hanging up pictures!! I have years of pictures to hang up, I hope I have enough room for them all.

Weekend fun

Andrew had to work through the weekend so the kids and I had to find some fun things to do on our own. Our town always has something going on.

The University of Alaska is a huge part of the community! They are always hosting free events and opening up their doors to the community. Saturday they hosted Science Potpourri. It was a day for the students to show off some of things they are learning.

We got to see glow in the dark rocks.

Pan for Gold.

Watch them melt hot lava and pour it out.

Play with robots (Lance's favorite!!)

Do science experiments 

Cut rocks 

It was such a fun time! The kids loved running room to room seeing what was next!

How cute are these two holding hands!!

I am so blessed with two wonderful kids. I love being able to take them places and not have to worry about temper tantrums or anything like that. They listen so well, know to stay right by momma and they watch out for each other. 

Dozer Fun at the Farm

We love our weekends!! 

Friday evening Andrew and Lance went to the gym to go swimming & then to their favorite store, Sportsmen's Warehouse. Lance loves to swim and is getting really good at it! 

Lexie & I attended an event called A Woman's affair. There was tons of booths set up all geared towards women plus some food tasting and lots of wine sampling. I didn't drink any wine, but the food was all yummy.  Lexie listened so good and stayed right with me. She wore her Princess Anna dress so she got lots of comments from all the women. It was so much fun getting dressed up and spending an evening with just my little girl. I love spending time with my little girl!! She is getting so big! I love our conversations! She is so smart & funny! 

Having a boy and a girl works out perfect for our family! 

Saturday and Sunday were such gorgeous days!!! We rented a bulldozer for the weekend from Andrew's work to clear out some brush, junk and snow from the farm. We all had a blast!!! It seriously was so nice to get out of the house and be working outside getting dirty. One of the things left on the farm was an old camper packed full of stuff!! Lance was in heaven! He spent a majority of his time digging through the junk. He found old cars, marbles, a skateboard and lots of other "treasures". 

The kids loved driving the dozer with daddy. He even taught me how to operate it and mommy got in on the action too. 

It all looks so much better! I love our huge level yard!!! 

We have lots of little things to do, but we are up for the challenge!