two thousand sixteen part 2

Our glorious Alaskan summer continued with lots of adventures. Laura and I took the kids on one of our favorite hikes out at Chena Lakes. We were devoured by plenty of mosquitoes and despite the flat terrain the kids acted like their legs were going to fall off halfway through.

I (despite my appearance as everyone likes to point out) am getting older and passed an aging milestone; I need glasses for reading/detail work. I'm thankful that I found a company that makes stylish frames for kids so I don't have to resort to Barbie frames.

Then my family came to visit! We had them fly into Anchorage and met them down there so they could experience as much of Alaska as possible. While we were down south we visited Seward, playing in the rainforest and throwing rocks on the beach. We had delicious food in Anchorage (hello, Moose's Tooth) and visited the temple - and also saw some moose right outside our Airbnb house! Then we headed to Talkeetna where we stayed in a cute cabin, saw Denali, went for a hike, ate yummy food, played lots, and celebrated Oskar's birthday. Then back home to Fairbanks, stopping in Denali National Park to check out the visitor center and take a little hike. Once in Fairbanks the fun continued with a trip to North Pole to see Santa Claus (and his reindeer!), more hikes, blueberry picking (and making a pie from the spoils), family photos, shaved ice, visiting downtown, hanging out with Nana and Grandpa, playing in the backyard, a haircut for Oskar, visiting the hospital on post that my Grandpa (my mom's dad) designed, and ice skating. It was a fun fun visit and we loved showing off our state!

At the tail end of my family's visit Rob and Max headed back to NC for Rob's grandmother's funeral. Aside from the sad reason for the visit they had a good time seeing family and doing some North Carolina favorites (like eat at Chick Fil A). 

Then Viggo turned 2! 

Our final harvest, the afternoon before the first frost. We had so many tomatoes so we had to give a bunch away, while ripening as many as we could fit inside.

As August turned into September I was able to take an enormously fun girls trip down to Anchorage. We squeezed about a dozen women into one RV, went shopping and eating, I took a walk with my dear friends Amanda on the coastal trail, took a nap in the RV after said walk (we went about seven miles!) while everyone else visited Costco, snuck away to a fabric store (one friend accompanied me so she could see me in my element...), and visited Bear Lake where I jumped into freezing cold water and thought I was going to die, then spent the rest of the time in the old school hot tub. On the way home we were rewarded with the most spectacular northern lights show that I saw our whole time up there. 

That fall we spent as much time outside as possible before the snow and cold hit. The dogs and I took one last hike up Wickersham Dome- my favorite hike in all of Alaska. 

Back to school photos! The leaves up Sage Hill were unreal.

My goobers. They are crazy but I love them.

We continued to homeschool and this year we got the boys their own computer building kit from Kano Computer. These were their reactions when they hooked them up and they worked!

In September I went on the Denali Road Lottery trip once again. This time we won our own spot so I took Laura and the boys, the dogs, and my friends Anita and Dori. It was so beautiful and like always, so so fun. Lots and lots of photos were taken!

Right before winter hit I took a natural dyeing from the garden class up at Calypso Farm. We picked the flowers, boiled them, then dyed different types of fiber. It was my favorite class I've ever taken and the results are breathtaking. 

Max turned 10! We love this sweet kid so much.

At our Cub Scout Pack meeting he earned his Bear rank and moved up to Webelos. I moved up with him so I could stay his scout leader (I'll take all the time I can spend with him while he still wants to be seen with me). 

What do you do when you have all the cub scouts? Make them do Insanity. I'm still marveling at my genius; they had fun and I didn't have to wrangle crazy boys.

The boys did swim lessons again! The younger ones had a new teacher this year so their classes were more like playtime at the pool than learning how to swim, but they loved it.

In October my friend Dori and I shared a booth at the Holly Days Bazaar on post. I debuted my new business Jax Harmon Handmade there; after the new year I opened my etsy shop selling the things I make.

Then Halloween! This year we had Harry Potter, Jayne Cobb from Firefly, Michelangelo the Ninja Turtle, and Marty McFly from Back to the Future.

With the advent of winter we spent a lot of time indoors; this is when the number of random photos of everyone increases. 

We love winter though, and would get out in the snow as much as possible. This lady made herself a snow bed in the baby pool and laid in it all time throughout the winter months. 

Viggo had the opportunity to model for my friend's blanket company. We had a lot of fun hanging out in the snow with her cute blankets.

The holiday party for Rob's battalion was a lot of fun! We saw Santa then got to ice skate; one of our favorite things!

2016 was a full, good year for us. We learned that fall that we would most likely be moving the next year so tried to savor as much of Alaska as we could. Life keeps flying by, but we wouldn't change a thing. We welcomed 2017 with open arms and were grateful for such a happy year together in the arctic.