Happy Valentine's Day

I am not a big Valentine's Day person. It seems that it can get a bit over the top quickly. But I like some of the smaller stuff, like sugar cookies, paper hearts, little gifts. We had a good day at our house today, celebrated in my low-key style. We started last night by making sugar cookies for Oliver's class at daycare. Oliver had fun cutting out the cookies. He really wanted to help put them on the cookie sheet, but by the time they got there they were slightly disfigured. He also enjoyed eating the cookie dough. This morning we had delicious heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. Oliver is beginning to develop a love for breakfast meats (bacon and sausage). Until a few weeks ago he had no interest in them, now I have to ration him. Tonight when we came home from work we had a big surprise. Our good friends the Moore's (Chelsea and Andy, I think Brig was at work) had decorated our entry way and dinning room. It was a great surprise and made all of us smile. They even brought us chocolate covered strawberries. I am thankful for good friends to brighten our days. We finished the evening off by going for a walk. Oliver cannot get enough of the outdoors. He cries when we bring him inside (which makes us proud).
Hope you had a great day, whether you like to celebrate big or small.

Stealing Julie's Thunder

It's a Girl!!
jake

When it gets cold in Alaska...

This past month was cold in Anchorage; the average temperature was 2.5 degrees. It was the 4th coldest January since they began keeping record in 1917. The lower 48 has been experiencing a much different phenomenon this winter, temperatures much warmer than usual and no snow. In all honesty, I feel a little sorry for everyone in the lower 48. Since living in Alaska, I have grown to love winter (I know some of you are thinking I have lost my mind). But I love that I wake up every morning and know there is going to be snow on the ground. I love knowing I can plan on going skiing, sledding, or snowshoeing any day of the week. I don't have to wait for the snow to make plans to go out and play. The snow is there everyday and I get to pick the best days to go out on and I love it.
Now, back to the cold month of January. While the cold is cold, it can present some fantastic opportunities. Last weekend, we were able to enjoy one of those opportunities. Since we have lived in Alaska, every winter we have wanted to ski Glacier Creek. Glacier Creek is the creek that runs through Girdwood and under the hand tram. In order to ski Glacier Creek the conditions have to right. It has to be in the -20s (yes, you read that right negative twenties) for several days in order for the ice to freeze over parts of the creek. Last week, our fifth winter here, we were finally able to get out and ski the trail. It was awesome. We started later in the day and it was somewhere between -2 and -9, so the we did not make it as far up the trail. However, what we did ski was amazing. It was a sunny afternoon and there is something about being surrounded by everything covered in white snow that is so peaceful. Normally I would be a little nervous about the parts where you have to ski over the creek on the ice bridges, there is something unsettling about skiing over moving water, but is was not bad at all. Maybe, I enjoyed it because it is not typically ski. When you can only do something under certain conditions and you have waited several years, it makes it more cherished or enjoyed. In the end, it was a great ski, one I look forward to going on again.

Jake and I enjoying ourselves. Love the icicles on Jake's eyelashes - mine are not as noticeable.

Jed. Notice the creek on his right.

Taking turns going over the creek.

Ethan - this is his favorite trail, winter or summer, in all of Alaska.

Veggies in my Oatmeal

At our house, we tend to eat pretty well-rounded. However, I feel like I never reach the goal of 5-6 veggies a day. We certainly eat our vegetables, but there is always room for improvement. In an effort to eat more vegetables, I am always looking for ways to sneak more vegetables into our meals. A friend of ours passed along a cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld (as in Jerry Seinfeld's wife) entitled Deceptively Delicious. It is about adding more vegetables into our diet. She uses a lot of vegetable purees and adds them to her everyday recipes. One recipe that we have fallen in love with is oatmeal. Before this recipe, I could never get Jake to eat oatmeal; my oatmeal was reserved for cookies only. I also love this recipe because we get in some veggies at breakfast. Enjoy!

Oatmeal

1 C. milk

1/4 C. firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 C. canned pumpkin or sweet potato puree

1 t. vanilla (optional)

1/4 t. pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon

1 C. old fashioned oats

2 t. peanut butter (optional)

dried fruit and nuts (optional)

maple syrup for serving (optional)

1. In a pan combine milk, sugar, pumpkin or sweet potato, vanilla, and spice. Bring to gentle boil, add oats. Reduce heat and simmer 3 to 5 minutes, until oatmeal is soft and creamy. Stir in peanut butter if using. 

2. Spoon oatmeal into bowls, sprinkle with dried fruits and nuts and serve with warm maple syrup. 

3. Serves 2.

I tend to use all the ingredients, save for the syrup. It seems sweet enough without it. The recipe calls for natural peanut butter, we tend to have Jiffy, so that is what I use. Like I said above we love the recipe and the boys even ask for it. 

Top 10 of 2011

This holiday season was a little hectic and to help alleviate some of the stress, I did not send out Christmas cards. On one side it makes me very sad; I love getting Christmas cards in the mail and reading and seeing what our friends and families have been up to the past year. On the other, it did help free up some time and not cause me too much stress.
Anyway, in lieu of cards, I was resolved to at least make a top 10 list of the past year.


*Note to reader: These appear in no particular order. 

10.  White water rafting Six Mile

This past summer we rafted down Six Mile River near Hope AK while Jake's family was in town. It was a great trip and one which we all survived. There were a few moments when we thought we were going to lose people off the raft, but we all made it safely to the end. It was an adventure.

9. Salmon fishing in Valdez

We love Valdez, we love fishing in Valdez, and we love the excuse to visit our friends Anne and Weston. This summer while my parents were up with our niece and nephew, Kendra and Levi, we rented an RV and went to Valdez for a few days. We had a great time, caught a ton of fish, enjoyed some great weather, and saw lots of bears, sea lions, and moose. The RV was a great way to go.

8.  Remodeling the bathroom

For those who have been to our house prior to our remodel know it was, bluntly stated, ugly. During the spring we set out to gut it and remodel. It was of course more time consuming than intended, but the results have been well worth it.

7.  A year of firsts for Oliver

It has been a year of firsts for Oliver: crawling, walking, talking, feeding himself, passport, etc.(you get the idea). He has been gaining more independence everyday and has kept Jake and I on our toes. He has truly been a blessing and brings so much joy into our home. As you can tell in the picture above, he likes to help in the kitchen when we bake.

6.  Road trip to Skagway

I realize those are railroad tracks in the background, but we did drive to Skagway to meet up with my sister Kaycee and her family. Once there we took a ride on the White Pass and Yukon train. Oliver was trooper through all the long hours of driving; maybe it helped we turned his car seat around and he could see where we were going. We enjoyed our time along the way camping, swimming in the hot springs, playing at the park, and stopping for TimBits at Tim Hortons.

5.  Jed

This past year Jake's youngest brother, Jed, has lived with us while taking classes at the University of Alaska Anchorage. It has been great having him around and he is a huge help with the house and with Oliver. Oliver loves him and makes sure he gives his uncle Jed a flying elbow (a wrestling move taught by dad) every time Jed is laying down. Jed has also excelled at making eclairs and biscuits this year. I really feel I am bringing him along in the kitchen.

4. Jake's private practice

At the beginning of the year Jake started to look for office space to begin seeing clients privately. He found some space close to our office and began seeing clients. He has slowly built a website and is beginning to establish a practice.

3. Trick-or-treating on Embassy Row

We found ourselves in DC this Halloween and went trick-or-treating on Embassy Row. We figured it was not every year that you can go trick-or-treating on foreign soil. I made Oliver's monster costume and he was big hit.

2. Winter ski trip to the public use cabins

A few years ago our friends the Tyler's invited us on a winter ski trip to a public use cabin. We loved it and have tried to go every year since. Last week we skied into Byers Lake with our friends the Moore's. We again had a great time and are already planning our trip for next year (get ready Becky and Terry!).

1. Baby #2

We figure Oliver has survived the past 18 months with us, so we would try for number 2. Our second is on it's way and will be joining us in June 2012. Oliver (pictured above) and baby #2 will be two years apart. We are excited and will be sure to share more details as we find out.

4th Annual French Thanksgiving

Since we moved back to Alaska we have celebrated Thanksgiving by cooking a french feast from Julie Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Typically the meal is four or five courses, depending on how ambitious James and I are feeling. James is my partner in crime when it comes Thanksgiving dinner. We begin plotting months in advance, preparing our menu. We end up taking several shopping trips to various stores all over town to find all of the right ingredients. The first year James had to bring some duck fat back from Seattle because we could not find any in town.
Now, you may be asking "why french?" We recognize the French were not involved in the traditional American Thanksgiving feast. However, James is a lover of french food and I love to cook. And than for no other reason that we cooked a french meal the first year, we have continued the tradition. We have had fun with it over the years. In the past we have cooked duck, lamb, and crab. This year we returned to duck.

Our full menu:

Cheeses (brie, cambozola, gruyere, and havarti with dill)

Soupe a L'Oignon - French onion soup 

Caneton Roti a l'Alsacienne - Roast duck with sausage and apple stuffing

Haricots Verts A La Provencale - Green beans with tomatoes, garlic, and herbs

Rolls 

Gateau Fourre a la Creme d' Orange - Spongecake with orange-butter filling

Homemade vanilla ice cream

Oliver helped me with the cake.

Jake's favorite part of the meal is when he get to use his blowtorch  on the soup.

Washington DC and Toronto

It is has been nearly two months since I have updated this blog. I am not really sure why I have fallen behind. I will do my best to update and am even going to take the time to write a few posts to catch myself up over the next week. So as a starting place, we went to Washington DC and Toronto in late October/early November. Jake and I both had conferences to attend to for work (in two different cities) and they overlapped by a few days. Jake's parents meet us in Washington DC to help out with Oliver. We had a good time and enjoyed some great weather. Toronto was equally as fun, but somehow we did not take as many pictures. *As a disclaimer this post is mostly pictures.

Commuter bikes we rented. Made it easier to see more of the mall.

New MLK Jr. monument. Very busy, but very  impressive.

Oliver enjoying the down comforter at the hotel.

National Cathedral. It was closed the public because of damage to the building during the earthquake over the summer.

Spoiled.

Trick-o-treating on Embassy row. (I may devote entire post to this adventure.)

Oliver helped by carrying his own passport at the airport. 

Poutine. No trip to Canada would be complete without poutine. 

We bought the poutine from the blue food bus in the background.  Street food, yummy.