The first day of school

Here is Jordan on his first day of school

And here is Sam

I have to send them to school bundled up because they go out to recess when it is -20 degrees or warmer outside, so somedays they could be heading out into -18 degree weather.



This is the first time my boys have been able to ride the school bus and they are loving it! (so am I!) The first day we were almost late though! It's kind of mean that I love this picture. :)

Hannah loves that the boys ride the bus too because we get to go pick them up in the sled everyday.

The walk home was fun for the boys for the first week because we lived in this new winter wonderland and they loved the chance to throw snow and play.

 I sure love these kids.

Our first week in Alaska

We moved here without a home to move into, so for our first week we lived in a hotel. This hotel is pretty cool though because it's on Santa Claus Lane. We can say we lived there once.

Benji wasn't supposed to start work right away, but the dentist he works for had an emergency appendectomy, so Benji started only a few days after moving.

 We had fun exploring our new home.

The hotel room looked like home with all the stuffed animals lined up in the window.

A few days after moving here we went and watched at the finish line of the Iron Dog. It is a snow machine race.

Then we ate at the Fudge Pot. Good chowder and sandwiches!

Life in a hotel was pretty fun for the kids. They loved the continental breakfast and running down the halls.

There were a few things to get used to. One of them is plugging vehicles in. It gets so cold here you have to plug in so your car stays warm.

 It was nice to have a kitchenette in the hotel room so we could actually eat homemade meals. Since we were on "vacation" though the kids got root beer at dinner. They thought that was pretty awesome. (not sure whats going on with Hannah's hair. Hat hair maybe?)

The kids slept soundly in the hotel.

It's fun to live in a place called North Pole. Some businesses stay Christmasy all year long. And why not!? I think I'm going to decorate for Christmas this year and never take the decorations down ;)

After a week of the hotel we found our house and moved in! This is where we will be renting for awhile. We are wanting to buy a house by the fall, but I love this house and wouldn't mind waiting to buy it. We'll see.

Flying to Alaska

Benji had a meeting in Alaska to get is dental license the same time I had a blog conference. So, Benji flew to Alaska and then one week later (on my birthday) I flew with the kids. By myself.

Thank goodness I had a lot of help getting to the airport. We had eight huge luggages, 3 car seats, personal items and carryons for each person. It was a zoo. Benji's parents helped me load everything and get it checked in at the airport. There is no way I could have done that myself. I'm so glad they were there.

We got through security with no problems. They actually sent us through the line where you don't have to take off shoes. Hallelujah!! Then we waited to get on the plane.

Here are the boys' reactions during take off.

Then we had a short layover in Seattle.

Here we are on the shuttle. I tried to get a picture of my reflection because I was wearing three backpacks and holding my carryon and a purse. It was not fun, but since we were moving all of our belongings those backpacks were WAY too heavy for my kids. I probably had 75 pounds on my back.

Here we are waiting for our plane to Fairbanks!

We took up two rows on the plane, so I had to make sure my boys were all set before take off. They did great! They loved that I let them play Minecraft the whole time and they loved the free ginger ale.

We made it to Fairbanks. After gathering all our belongings we were the last ones off the plane.

Phew! We made it!

Las Vegas Vacation: Bellagio fountains

 The last thing my kids wanted to do was to see the Mirage volcano and the Bellagio fountains. They loved them both and the best part? They were both completely free! :) Benji dropped us off and went to park the car.

 The kids spent their time waiting for the show to start by climbing trees.

And I spent my time taking selfies.

I had to include this one because of Sam's face.

And then suddenly Benji was in one of the selfies.

The fountains were amazing as usual.

This was Hannah's reaction to seeing the fountains. They are blurry because it was dark, but you can still see how excited and surprised she was.

We then made the long drive home. Leaving late at night made it so the kids slept the whole way home. Benji and I had plenty of snacks and Pepsi to help us on the way.