Castner glacier

One outing that my parents were especially excited about was going to Castner Glacier. It takes about 2.5 hrs to drive out there, a little over a mile walk up into the hills (although it is mostly a flat trail, thank goodness!) and then hike back out... drive 2.5 hrs home-- it was a long, but fun day.  It was quite a drive to get out there, and with our limited daylight we needed to hurry in order to make it home before dark... ha ha ah! We still drove home in the dark, but the adventure was worth it.

The hoar frost on the inside of the glacier can grow the colder it gets in the winter. These were so cool to see in the dark insides just clinging to the ceiling, these fragile icsicles.

In some of our pictures, those dirt veins looked golden. There were lots of people exploring the glacier ... it was Saturday after all and the weather wasn't terrible. A great day to get outdoors.

WE MADE IT! Back to the cars for a quick snack and then to hit the road. I would have liked to take a nap, but the driver should stay alert and stay awake too!

 

November fun

This is a quilt top that I bought from a lady at a garage sale almost completly done and with a whole bag of fabric pieces cut up to continue to make the blanket bigger. All hand stitched. It had to of been some little old grandma that had been working on this for years during the winter or whenever she would sit down. Mom and I had to trim the scalloped edge and put on a border in order to have it ready to go to the quilt shop

This is the final picture taken of the quilts we started from scratch. I had most of the fabric and we bought some other pieces at Joannes to make it bigger than a lap quilt. The colors were so fun, and it was nice to have all the kids helping and working on it to make it.

I saw this funny pie chart and can now relate to the passage of time in Alaska. Summer seems to fly by while Jan-Feb can be torturously long. 

Most of the month was spent playing, working, and trying to do school while Grandma/pa Hoopes were in town visiting. We had a big snowstorm that kept us busy trying to shovel it off of the driveway and sidewalk- Grandpa was staying busy working outside when he could. We also spent time going over to our friends house to watch their dog and make sure their house was safe. Riding their snowmachine and playing around was a fun break to the routine.

Cael gave his brother a haircut and it was one of the more embarrassing things this family has had. The jagged cuts and "bowl" look were almost too much to bear. Usually the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is 3 weeks... well... it never got better! I just had to look at this boy and then I would start laughing. If you looked straight at him, he reminded me of a little Swede!

I had bought some fabric off of the lady from the market Place and when my mom was in town I knew it would be a good project for us to work on together. A couple of times we had a whole crew working in the “sweat shop” and it made the work go by quicker. Quilting is a funny thing. You cut pieces of fabric into smaller pieces, and then sew them back together to make bigger pieces and a blanket. 

One time when I wasn’t watching my mom started sewing but put the wrong pieces together and so she had to and unstitch the entire length before she could move onto the next piece. She was mad, but knew that she needed to do it right in order to have the quilt look its best! So glad to have my mom and dad in town and to work and complete this project together

Brielle’s baptism day