Took these on the way to Anchorage the other day to pick up a friend!  It was only -31 below out!!!  Emma came with me for an eye exam and we found out that she is a little far sighted so she was having trouble reading....since then she has really taken off!  I also think it has helped having a tutor to work with Emma and Madison, just because they don't argue with her as much!  Anyway we spent the night in a wonderful hotel on the 15th floor with amazing views went to the doc. and then headed home!  Our weeks have been busy and weekends even more so...the girls had a swim meet last weekend and they have another one next weekend!  They have been working really hard to improve their times so this next meet will be exciting to watch.  Heidi and Mason have been taking swim lessons again and they are both swimming really well.  It won't be too long before they get onto the swim team too!  Chad has been going to Ju Jitsu for several hours most week nights and enjoying it, although he is often pretty sore...  Overall we are trying to stay warm in the fridgid temperatures....thankful that they are not the -75 with windchill that the northslope has!!! 

Some pictures of the sunrises we have been having lately!  With the temperatures being well below zero for several weeks now they have been beautiful! 

Snow and Sunsets

Last Saturday Chad Emma and Madison spent the day plowing, while Hiedi Mason and I hung out together.  So the little ones and I went to town, then went to wagon train to take some pictures and then back home again where they wore my hats and posed for me to capture their adorableness!  The sunset was beautiful we now have more than 2 feet of new snow....and now it is -20's outside so we can't really enjoy it....at all!  For school I am teaching Emma and Madison how to sew and use the sewing machine and these are the bags that I and each of them made!  They turned out amazing and I am ready to make one for myself as the other one was for Heidi.....we made ours for swim bags and lined it with duct tape so it was waterproof~!

Our Christmas Break!

The kids had lots of fun playing in the snow, making cookies and eating them, opening presents, playing with friends, staying up late, going to snow camp, and sledding!  I enjoyed spending time with friends from far away, my family, baking, staying up late and sleeping in :) I must say I am a little glad school has started back up because I am now getting to bed before 11pm where before I was lucky to get to bed before 1 or 2 am just because of all the teenagers here! :)  We had fun at a cookie exchange party, celebrating our exchange students birthday, having friends over on Christmas Day and Thai dinner the next night, and playing games all the other nights, mostly mario cart that I got for my christmas present.....but really haven't gotten to play yet! :)  So to say the least we had a very full, exciting, jam packed Christmas Break!

Heidi and Mason have taken to dressing up in our snow gear and wearing it on all different parts of the body!

Our kitten Crush decided to climb a tree and it took a few hours for him to climb back down....The kids were convinced that the cat was stuck and in dire need of rescuing! 

Mocha and Crush like to play together, and sometimes it looks like Crush might die, but Mocha is usually pretty gentle with him.

A friend was kind enough to make the gingerbread for the houses and brought them over for the kids and I to decorate!  We had such a fun time.  Made me miss decorating them with my mom when I was young.

For Cecile's birthday party all of her exchange student friends came over and played broom ball

The cake I made for her 18th birthday

Cecile and her cake!

The day after Christmas in the morning the kids got out their sleds and we took them over to our big hill and let them sled down.  Then we pulled them back up to the top with my vehicle!  Some of the kids went for a sleigh ride while they waited their turn for a sled! 

The last day before break ended I needed to get a family picture taken, and I conned my friend into taking it for us.......it was -20 degrees outside :)  this was right before we jumped back in our cars and headed home!