gabi & abi

Gabi & Abi have been close buds with the girls since they moved into our neighborhood 4 years ago. A year ago, the Gilroys felt called by God to sell everything and move to Costa Rica as missionaries. What a treat it was to have them here for a few nights this past week! The girls miss eachother like crazy and they didn't miss a beat re-connecting. The size of their smiles tell it all...



They always request to get "egged" when they come over....an old low-budget spa trick I've done for years!
And crazy hair....ever put an empty water bottle (or two?) on the top of your head to make your hair stand straight up? If not, you really should try it:) They talked me into going to Fred Meyer like this so they could wander around in public. Crazy pre-teens!!!


And science, thanks to a good friend, we did experiments with dry ice one evening! Cool stuff!

nothing like the first snow!

Is there anything better than the first snow of the season? We don't think so:) These guys...like most Alaskans....have been WAITING and WAITING and WAITING for this white stuff. Claire walked up the stairs from school and said, "This is the best day of my life!" At supper, each one of them insisted on praying to thank God for the snow. Thomas' was my favorite..."Dear Jesus, thank you for the snow. Please send 16 feet." Ah....made his daddy smile pretty big. Dad is just as excited as the kids I think! Welcome winter! The Smiths are glad you're here:)

photo swap

We are blessed to have a good friend who is a professional photographer. A few years back, Molly & I decided that as our children grow and look back at photos, they may not see their mothers in photos unless we stepped in to help eachother! So began our yearly photo shoot...Here are a few of my favorites from our recent photo shoot. Thanks Molly! Check out Molly's business at www.theblinkofaneye.com

toasty memories

Claire amazed the socks off me this fall by climbing to the top of the buoy swing rope! Hailey & Ella both tried, but couldn't get more than a feet off the buoy. Wow is about all I could say. I went inside after snapping a few pics to cook supper. Recently, I downloaded my camera to find these other pics that Ella took that day...Love how she captured the sun in these shots. Toasty memories on today's much cooler fall day...

salsa decor

This summer, Tom began a quest to grow tomatoes. He built a very simple "redneck greenhouse" and diligently cared for 15 tomato plants all summer. As you all well know, however, this was NOT a good summer to grow tomatoes in Alaska! We had almost no heat and TONS of rain. Our tomatoes got a fungus and just weren't very happy or productive in their surroundings. We ended up with 4 small red tomatoes and tons of tiny green ones. Despite this, we perfected a fresh salsa recipe and were determined to can it and savor it all winter long....After doing some searching ( & price checking!), I did find a dear sweet lady, Mrs. Dearbourne, who sold me 15 lbs of tomatoes. We made two huge batches of salsa and proudly canned for the very first time. Last week, we finally cracked a jar.......YUCK! All this effort, and we can't even eat it!!!! For now, the jars of salsa sit on top of my cabinets as....decorations? You win some, you lose some...:)