On your mark, get set, GO!

At Lance's school they offer track and field for all grades even Kindergarten. I asked Lance if her would like to join the running club and he was all about it. It just lasted for the month of September and they would have practices on Monday and Tuesday with races every Thursday.

His first race he did ok. He ran some then walked some. I think it was a little overwhelming for him. There were TONS of kids there to race!! They lines up with 2nd grade on the first long line then 1st grade on the 2nd line then kindergarten on the last long line. They started with 15 seconds in between each grade, It was CRAZY!!!

The 2nd race came and Lance knew what to do. Well, at least I though he did lol. The race was in a huge field marked by flags to show the course. Lance is so funny. He loves being out in nature and was easily distracted. I kept waiting for him to run by, but he was no where to be found. My little boy was out catching grasshoppers. I think Lance finished 2nd to last. He was so happy though with his pocket full of grasshoppers.

The 3rd race was Lance's best race. He finished in the top 10!!! Andrew took off that day to be at Lance's race. Lance was beyond excited to have daddy cheering for him. His coach told me she was so impressed with him. He ran the 2K without stopping and beat many of the older kids!

The races were lots of fun! I can definitely tell that all that running has made Lance faster. He loves to run everywhere now and has built up quite a bit of stamina.

Changing it up

A couple weeks ago Andrew went into work and was told he would be on block labor on nights for the gold mine for the next 6 weeks. Block labor means 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. 

I will say I immediately freaked out and was so worried things would be so hard and hectic. 

We have all adjusted and made the best of it and everything has worked out fine. Daddy leaves here for work at 3:30 pm and gets home around 7 am. He puts Lance on the bus so he can see him a little bit before school then goes to sleep till about 1:30 pm when I pick up Lance. He then spends a couple hours with the kids then off to work. He is really missing his family time. Last week he called in sick two days in a row and was able to spend lots of time with is and even go to one of Lance's races. He really did have a cold and taking two days off helped him finally get over it. 

One thing is, this Conway family has always been good at rolling with the punches and adjusting to whatever crazy schedules Andrew is thrown. 

We are 3 weeks into block labor with 3 more to go! I can't wait for things to get back to normal. 

God has really helped us out through all of this. I prayed allot and God sent people to occupy us in the evening and help out while mommy does her Pampered Chef parties. My favorite sitter whom the kids love moved away for the winter. 

The weather is slowly turning colder and it seems that fall is almost over. I know, crazy right!! The leaves have already turned and now most have fallen off the trees. 

We decided to surprise the kids on a little weekend trip this weekend. We will be taking the kids on a train ride to Denali National Park then staying in a family friendly bed and breakfast. I am beyond excited! We have talked for a long time about taking the train and we are finally going to do it. 

Since moving

Since moving to the new house lots of things have changed. 

*We no longer have annoyingly close neighbors!!! Matter of fact, we can't even see our neighbors house. 

*We no longer hear the train all hours of the day and night. Now we hear and see fighter jets flying over, but only during the middle of the daytime and during the week. Fighter jets are way cooler than a train. 

*going to the town now has a whole new meaning. We are about 35 miles from Fairbanks. So when we make trips to the store we make them count. 

*Andrew & I downsized from a king bed to a queen. We love it and it doesn't take up so much space in our room. The kids, not so much. Now sleeping with mom and dad means laying on the floor beside them. Although, some nights dad is gone working and I let them sleep with me. It doesn't hurt anything. 

*we now only get PBS channels. With Lance being in school and tons to do around the house who has time for TV anyway. I enjoy not having the distraction. 

*phone service is a hot commodity. I know of a few spots in the house where I can set my phone and get 2bars with 4G service. Andrew's phone is hit or miss. 

*watching the Northern Lights has become so easy!!! I just look out the window! There isn't any light pollution to take away from the amazing light shows. 

*we stay super busy maintaining our home. We now have to weed wack, cut wood, and come winter snow plow our driveway. 

*I feel like we can actually enjoy our neighborhood with the kids. I don't have to worry about watching for traffic, strangers, or anything like that. We are free to roam where we want. 

*we take daily four wheeler rides to explore and make new trails. We recently cut a trail to the Tanana River bed. The kids love playing in the sand and mud there. Lexie calls it "our beach". 

*we fish almost daily in our stream which is full of arctic greyling trout. 

We love living out in the country!!! The fresh air, the peace and quite, the animals, everything!!! I am so thankful that after years of having to rent houses in the city (or town) we are finally able to own a place in the country!! God is so good to us!

My handy man

I just wanted to take a moment to brag on my husband. He is such a wonderful dad and husband but lately I've been so impressed by his skills. Seriously, that man can do/figure out anything! He did ALL the plumbing in our house, wired in appliances like our stove and dish washer, new ceiling fans and light fixtures and soooo much more. I just stand back and am amazed. Our pipes aren't leaking or bursting. All the water is draining correctly and coming in correctly. And all the lights work without sparking or smoking. Plus, they look so pretty!!! He really does amaze me with how talented he is. 

I am one lucky girl to have a guy that can do everything, is so funny, so hard working, and so sweet. He really is the complete package!!! 

iPhone photo dump

My little sleeping beauty The view out our back window at sunset

The view off the front porch

Lance caught an arctic greyling trout off the bridge at our house

Visiting santa's reindeer at the North Pole 

Lance shaving with daddy

Playing around at the Salcha River

Waiting for the school bus

Shooting bows with daddy

The drive down the road to our house. Fall is so beautiful!

Family update

*we got all moved into the new house the weekend of 16th. We are still trying to find the exact place for everything. 

We love living out in the country!! It's so quiet! Plus, we can see the northern lights right out the window because there is no light pollution from town. 

* daddy has been working quite a bit out of town. His work is good about giving him an extra day off though. As a result he has had 5 straight 3 day weekends. 

Daddy has gotten to work out in Chicken Alaska lately. He has been super excited about this because that is where the caribou migrate through. He hasn't spotted any yet, but hopefully soon he will get one.

*lexie is adjusting to Lance being at school. Right now her & I have kept pretty busy putting the house together and running errands. She loves to play with her stuffed animals. She puts them in my laundry basket and calls it her zoo. 

*mommy is super busy with the house and normal things. Plus,I am gearing up for my busiest time of the year with Pampered Chef. I just joined the PTA and am super excited to help out with things at the school. 

*We have started looking for a church close to our new house. We tried one out and really liked it. It was smaller than we would like but the people were great and we loved the preacher who just so happened used to pastor in Bloomfield Missouri. 

*the dogs love the new place. They can run and roam around free as can be.

*a timber company is coming tomorrow to give us a bid on doing a select cut on our timber. We are anxious to hear what they have to say. 

* we ended up having to have a new well dug at our house ($7,400 ouch!) . We had the water tested and the results came back good!!! We have such good tasting water too!!!

*we have a nice getaway planned for us this winter. For once, we will not be going to see family. We will be going on our first real family vacation!! 

Life is good. We are blessed beyond measure! God is so good to us. I can't think Him enough for all the wonderful blessing and our wonderful family. 

Victory!!!

Lance loves school. He just doesn't love waking up for school. He has to wake up at 8am to be on the bus by 8:25. 8 am is not even early so I don't know why we have been having such a big problem with this. Thursday I had my Dynamic Divas meeting and daddy didn't put the kids to bed till I got home at almost 10. Well, Friday morning was awful. We almost didn't make it out in time to meet the bus and then once the bus came to a stop Lance bolted in the other direction. I literally had to carry him to the bus kicking and screaming. He was soooo tired!!! I made sure I picked him up at 1:30 that day. First thing he said when I picked him up was "I'm gonna take a long nap!" 

This weekend I bought Lance an alarm clock and showed him how it worked. Yesterday morning the alarm went off and Lance didn't move a muscle. With some coaxing I got him out of bed and dressed. Today, I decided I would let him shut off his alarm and get up on his own. I lay in bed listening to his alarm go off and get louder and louder. Just when I had almost given up hope I heard him. My little boy got up, hit snooze on the alarm clock and even got himself dressed all by himself!!!! 

One problem though. Lance is still in summer mode. He came in my room wearing shorts, a tshirt, and flip flops. I told him to go look out the window and decide if he should change. He looked out the window to see a thick blanket of frost. It was pretty funny because he then started adding layer after layer of clothes. I had to help him out some. He was pretty set on dressing himself. He even decided that tucking his pants into his socks would make him extra warm. 

My little boy left the house wearing shorts covered up my under armor covered up by pants on the bottom and a t shirt, pullover and vest on top. 

I really hope his teacher helps him out. I told him that if he got warm at school that he should go to the bathroom and take off a few layers. I have a feeling he will be in shorts and a t shirt when I pick him up. 

Even though he was dressed a little crazy today I count it a victory in my book! He woke up on his own with no whining of not wanting to go to school. 

Going into the Bush

I met a lady a few months ago that was native Alaska who wanted me to come out and do a Pampered Chef party out in her village. I seen her again in early august and we again talked about me coming out to the village. I talked with Andrew about it and we made all the arrangements. 

This weekend I flew to a small remote village above the Arctic Circle called Fort Yukon to bring Pampered Chef to the native Alaskans (Eskimos) that live there. 

I flew on a small airplane owned by Werbelow's air service.

The flight was absolutely beautiful!! Way better then flying 20,000 feet up. 

I arrived around 10am and was picked up by my friend, Charlette. Charlette is the VPSO (village public safety officer) there in Fort Yukon. She handles small matters. When stuff comes up that she can't handle she calls in the troopers.

The women there were so excited to see me. I was introduced everywhere as "the pampered chef lady". We went around town letting people know that I was there and that we would be doing the party from 2-6 at the community building. 

The Pampered Chef Party was a very relaxed party and people came and went as they pleased. I made a peanut butter cup cake and chili cornbread bake. 

We had a good turnout on Saturday. The women loved having something new to look forward to. They really don't have tons to do there so this really gave them something different to do. 

Saturday night Charlette and I drove around the town and even took a little four wheeler ride. 

Sunday morning we went to Arctic Circle Baptist Church. It was a cute little church with just a handle full members. 

After church we invited some more people to the party that we would be having at Charlette's house. Then we went home to set up for the party. 

I found it funny how no one showed up on time. I've heard about "Island time" but I think "Village time" is even slower paced. 

The town of Fort Yukon has very little cars but instead has four wheelers everywhere. It was funny to see so many people both young women and old women pulling up to Charlotte's house on four wheelers. 

I loved my first experience out in the bush. 

I felt like I was a blessing to all the women. They can't wait for me to come back in October! I'm glad it gives them something to look forward to. 

Charlette loves her people there in Fort Yukon. She is always looking for things for the community to do and different things to offer to them. She is a wonderful Christian lady. I am do glad to have gotten to know her!