8:45 AM NEW YEAR'S EVE

At 8:45 and I headed out to the coffee shop and internet access.  This is the scene.

It's funny to enter a place that is so cheery and when it's so dark outside! Seems more like five or six am!

Mission accomplished!  Coffee, multi-grain toast, an order of bacon, and internet.......all a person needs!

And now I remember why I don't use this tiny computer very often.  The keyboard sticks!  Space bar has a life of it's own.  Driving me crazy!

A WALK IN THE WOODS

We are just blocks from downtown Anchorage, and pretty close to the airport, but right behind the condo we are staying in there is a small wooded space.  Actually, you find them all over Anchorage.  The snow is about the same as we have in Minnesota, plenty deep, but softer, whiter, and fluffier.

The woods opened up to a beautifully decorated meadow like area.

Have you even seen such beautiful snow decorations?

Wait, what have we here?  A large brown spot!



And another!  It's a mama and a baby moose!



The baby is the size of a horse, so you can imagine the size of the mama!

We left them alone, and they left us alone!  But what a treat to see a moose in downtown Anchorage.

I have more photos but Blogger doesn't like me this morning!  I'll try again later.

ALASKA IN THE WINTER

Alaska in the winter is breathtaking!  On the plane Tuesday, I got a few shots as we flew over the Prince William Sound area, and then over Girdwood and into Anchorage.  I hope to get to a coffee shop today where I will have a stronger signal so I can post some pictures taken at 20,000 feet.

This is the first view of the mountains as we came out of the clouds into the sunshine.



Over the Girdwood area







Girdwood area again

The ice on Turnagain Arm as you come into Anchorage.  All I could think of is that it would be cold if you misjudged the runway!!

The sun is low in the sky at 2:30

IN SEATTLE

Just a quick update from the Seattle airport.  We got up at 1:30, Kari picked us up at 2:45, we were at the airport before 5 and we flew out at 6:30.  Now we're half way, by air miles that is, and have another 3 1/2 hours ahead of us.  We leave here at 11:40, we hope.  We were told that things on this flight change often, so who knows!

Who would have thought that in the middle of the winter, all the flights to Anchorage would be filled up!  We even had super travel agent niece Tammy working for us. We found out late in the afternoon yesterday that our only option was 6:30 this morning.  So we made it work.  Ernie's brother and SIL who were vacationing in Maryland got on two different flights, two different airlines, on two different days!

Next stop Anchorage.

GOD IS GOOD!

The angels in Heaven are rejoicing today!  Jesus took my dear sweet sister-in-law home to live with Him in Heaven.  We are looking for flights now, and will be leaving for Alaska within a day or two.  The funeral is Thursday.  Please keep her family in your prayers.

Hallelujah Chorus -Quinhagak, Alaska

THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

I drove over to our college campus this afternoon and thought I should share some of the beautiful winter scenery with you.  This is the main entrance to Old Main.

This entrance goes into Old Main by the dining center and up to the main lobby.

Off to the right is the library and next to that is the chapel.  There are plenty of piles of snow on campus this winter!  Below is the Fine Arts Center, a group of beautiful snow covered pines with a caroling scene in front of it, and the three flags we fly on campus, the Norwegian flag, the American flag, and the Minnesota flag.

Some more pretty snow covered trees.

I love this loan (excuse me!  Lone tree!  My mind isn't working today.) tree.  I think it's kind of funky looking!

And the scene down my street.  And guess what?  We're scheduled to get the biggest storm of the winter so far on Thursday.  Could be an interesting New Year's Eve and New Year's Day!

SCENES FROM CHRISTMAS

Just a few random scenes from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The two grandkids who think they are super models.... and they probably could be!  Jacob and Kjirsten.

Anna with her Justin Bieber doll.  She also got JB jammies.

Our beautiful Katie loves Woody!

New family member, Sampson, isn't bothered by any of the commotion!

A little Christmas Day food..................

brownie lollipops.......

assorted cookies..........

Oreo flavored mice..........

Adam and Katie, visiting with their brother Aaron who gave Callie (in the dark sweater) something sparkly for Christmas!

Joe and Justin

Jaden and Anna

Madison

My thoughts exactly!

Seems two grandsons escaped my camera.....Ben and Caleb, where are you?

SURPRISE!

We woke up to a big surprise this morning.  It's snowing!  I think we just might have a white Christmas!

I poked my head out the door at six to see what the conditions were.  I'm guessing we have about 4 inches of new snow so far.  They're saying we'll most likely have a record amount of inches on the ground for Christmas, the record for the snowiest December ever, and who knows what other records .  I believe this is our eighth snow storm since November first.  Know what?  I love it!  I love the new fallen snow.  It's March when I don't like it....when it's hard, and chunky, and dirty, and ugly.  This is beautiful!  And I especially love it to be snowing on Christmas Eve!

I also love blue lights on Christmas trees shining on the white snow at six am!

My blog lately has contained only snow and food reports!  Here's more food for ya!  On Wednesday we motored up to our brother and SIL's place.  (I love old newspaper reports that always say so and so 'motored' to such and such a place!)  We had our sibling Christmas party and celebrated the retirement of our baby brother!  I cracked up when I looked at my pictures of the event.  Way back in the left hand corner of the counter is a pan of egg bake.  In front of the green bowl is a plate of fruit and next to it is sweet soup, a Norwegian fruit soup.  The rest of the plates and platters and dishes contain only treats and cookies!  A good and proper brunch, I'd say!

 

What are your plans for today and tomorrow?  Do you have a large family celebration planned?  Or will you snuggle in quietly at home, just immediate family?  I know not everyone celebrates Christmas, so is it just a regular weekend for you?  We will attend 4:30 services at our church and then go to oldest daughter Kari's family celebration.  Tomorrow morning we again attend services at 10 am, and then we'll head to a local motel where I rented a small meeting room......that opens up unto the pool!  The grands will have their choice of pool, wading pool with fountain, or hot tub.  There are tables and chairs around the pools, so adults can supervise without swimming themselves, and the others can sit in the room with the food.  We are dining on  sloppy joes, relishes and dips, cheese and crackers, chips and dips, and cookies and candy.  Oh, and pickled herring.  You have to have pickled herring!   Everyone brings something to contribute to the spread.  I'm guessing there will also be shrimp, venison sausage, and other easy to eat foods.  No sit down meal with silverware and linens and spilled gravy for us!

Wishing you a blessed Christmas!  Be happy and be safe.

MORE OF THE SAME

The duplex across the street is looking a bit snowy!

The flakes were huge!

Just down the street from our place

However, someone had a hair appointment.  And someone is leaving next week for Arizona and she won't have her sweet Amy around to cut her hair.  So someone had to get to town no matter what was happening outside!  I did have Ernie drive me, in the big 4-wheel drive truck, but what a mess it was! 

It's truly a winter wonderland out there!  And we had some rain last night so everything has a frozen crust on it this morning, making for very slick roads.  But now someone has a Bible study Christmas breakfast to go to!

PARTY TIME!

Isn't this a beautiful table?  Yesterday my sister Betsy hosted a birthday party for me and our youngest sister.  My birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and Lois' is today.  So sister Ruth came from the east and Lois and I drove down from the north, and we had a lovely party.  The menu was this luscious salad and crusty French bread, and a creamy chicken and crouton casserole.  Nummy!  Ruth brought cheesecake and some wonderful mint brownies.  And we had wine and coffee.  Doesn't get any better than that!

The gifts were special, too.  Lois gave me a small cross that says Let everything that has breath praise the Lord and I had made a purse for her.  Betsy gave us notebooks with family heritage recipes in it....the title of the cookbook is Gaar vi til Bords which in Norwegian is we come to the table.  Included are some recipes from our grandmother, and some from a great aunt, and some from a dear lady we called aunt.  Included in these recipes are a couple for lefse.

Which was the gift we received from sister Ruth!  Lefse!  She had gone through a little town down in the hills of southeastern Minnesota, known for it's lefse factory, and had stopped to buy us each our holiday supply of lefse. 

However, no gifts were needed.  Spending these hours with my sisters was gift enough for me.  We had a very enjoyable time in a lovely decorated home, and we feasted on good food and drink.  Thank you, each of you!  I love you all.

MY BIBLE STUDY SUNRISE

Tuesday morning I left home about 7:30 to head for my 8 o'clock Bible Study and got to the end of our street when I saw the red sky in the East.  I turned around and went back home for my camera, then turned the opposite direction from town and the church, and parked along the icy road so I could snap a couple of pictures of the sunrise.  It was so beautiful!  And now I've been trying to share it with you all for the last 2 days, but Blogger and I had a little misunderstanding.  It's cleared up now, and hopefully I have the additional storage space for photos that I just purchased.  I didn't know I had that many pictures on my blog that I would run out of the free space and have to purchase more!  Oh well.  It wasn't expensive at all!

NO MORE BLIZZARD POSTS

I promised.  No more blizzard talk.  So I won't even mention it.

But this is a whole new snowstorm!  Another 6 inches already.  Another day of school closings, snow emergencies, and snowplows and snowblowers.  But the exciting thing is that next week marks the end of fall!  Yup, we'll officially be out of this lousy fall weather and into winter next week.  Are we all excited about that? 

It is a beautiful snowfall this morning.  There is no wind, and the falling snow is the kind of picturesque flakes that adorn Christmas cards.  The kind they show on TV when they play I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas, or Walking in a Winter Wonderland.  And I tried to get a photo of it, but it's not working for me!  Maybe later.

Meanwhile, rush over to Kari's blog  and vote in the Ugliest Christmas Sweater contest!  Let's see.  I linked it here so I get a chance.  I'll go over and vote, so that gives me a chance.  I have a new Nook.  I need to buy books.  Barnes and Noble gift card.........yup, I think she should pick me!

NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BLIZZARD!???

The parking lot next to the coffee shop where we went for breakfast this morning, our first time out since the blizzard started!

This ice skating rink doubles as the Sam's Club parking lot!  It was treacherous!

Just a few drifts along the street........the main streets are cleared, but secondary streets and roads are still pretty bad.  But the road conditions aren't the main subject of conversation in Minnesota.  People are talking about the

collapse of the Metrodome and the fact that Brett Favre isn't starting tonight's postponed and relocated game........after a run of starting 297 games in a row.  Do I care?  NO.  Does Ernie?  Yes, he does.  He started watching the pre-pre-pre game stuff at three this afternoon!

LAST POST

I promise.  This is the last post on this blizzard.  Not promising anything if we receive another batch of snow, say around Thursday or so.

The temperature has risen to a balmy 3 above zero, so I decided to take a walk and get some fresh air.  I haven't been out except to shoot out the garage door since this crazy blizzard started and I was craving some fresh air.  So I bundled up in my Steger mukluks and my fleece jacket with a scarf around my neck, grabbed my camera and ventured out in to the winter wonderland.  It is beautiful out there!  The sun is shining and the ice on the trees is glistening, and the white of the new fallen snow is almost blinding.

 Just down the street from us are these gorgeous evergreens.  I love evergreens.  Especially when God decorates them with pretty white snow.

Some more of God's Christmas decorations.

This is a road right down the center of the picture, but it hasn't been plowed yet.

Our back yard.

Can you see the sparkly branches on the trees?  That is the coating of ice that is under that foot or more of new snow that we received.  And the snow on top of the ice makes for treacherous footing.  I was very careful when I walked.  The plowed roads are heavily coated with this ice, and it's going to take warmer temps than 3 above to melt it!

I love the designs created by the blowing snow.  This is also in our backyard. 

Ok.  I'm done with the pictures until next time.