Misa-Laneous Happenings: Christmas in Alaska '08

What a marvelous time to visit Alaska... Christmas ! Having lived there for four years, you never quite know what you will find as far as winter weather. The winter before we moved up there, there was a 2-3 week stretch where the temperature was -30 degrees (or colder)! One winter while we lived there, the temperature never got below zero at all. We had white Christmases, and non-white Christmases. It is indeed a unique place.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon, the weekend before Christmas. There were several inches of snow on the ground, and the trees were covered with a thick layer of frost. It was pretty light out, as it was a clear day. It seemed lighter than usual for that time of year (it was about 2:15pm).

On our way to Palmer (about an hour north of Anchorage) we saw two moose, eating off trees along the side of the road. I had to laugh, because on each trip up there, I always look for moose, and rarely saw them. But this time, there they were, within a few minutes of leaving the airport. (Unfortunately, I was not able to get photos, as we were driving.)

The week was both relaxing and hectic. We visited with friends and spent lots of time with Steve's family. The kids enjoyed every minute of it, and at last count, had "7 Christmases" this year!
It seems that there was an event, a party or some gift exchange just about every day... and some shopping and lots of eating (yummy holiday goodies) in between!

Amanda got to go ice skating (and shopping, and out to lunch - all the girl essentials!) with her BFF (Best Friend Forever) Tessa. The girls connected as if we had never moved away, and I think they would have spent every minute together, if they could have. Unfortunately, their end-of-the-week plans were called off due to Amanda getting sick, so she was not up to much fun on Friday and Saturday.

Benjamin found an instant connection with his cousin Harlan. It is amazing how much both boys have changed in 3 years... the last time we visited Alaska Ben was only 8 and Harlan 4! Both boys share a love of building, creating, and using their imaginations as only boys can do. Ben wanted to spend every spare minute at the farm, and the two of them disappeared together as soon as we arrived, off on fantastic new adventures.
And both kids had lots of fun with Kyle (14), Kelsi (10), Emma (3) and Nathan (1).

As beautiful as it was, I don't think I would EVER get used to seeing the SUNSET (yup, I said SUNSET) at 1:30 in the afternoon...