Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day I made Lila a special Kuspuk. 

Here we are posing in front of the HUGE snow drift outside of her house.  That is a boat behind the snow drift.  In case you are wondering!

The kids and I went to Libby's house because she had the pattern and was going to teach me how to make it.  I have never sewn a garment in my life and I am hooked!

Here is a picture that Lila took of me sewing.  That is right, I am sewing.

We had to cut out the pattern.  Libby helped me make it fit Lila.

Libby and Lila with one of Libby's kuspuks in the back.

Lila was my helper/photographer.

Will just walked around the shop being cute and playing with crab pots and whatever else he could find.

Some friends were there to visit, and Lila took their picture.  In fact she took a TON of pictures.  She is quite the photographer!

Crab pots.

Maddie and Wes.

The finished kuspuk.

We had a great time.  It took two days to make the kuspuk.  Don't I work with some great nurses?

Lila wore it on Valentine's day to school and she was so excited.  She looked really cute too!



Happy Valentine's Day from Nome, AK!



Kugurock Road

Last fall and friend of ours asked my hubby if he would like to go hunt Musk Ox.  You can find some good information on Musk Ox here at the Musk Ox Farm Website. 

So they left one morning at dawn (9am) and drove down Kugurock Road in search of Musk Oxen.  They did actually find a herd of Musk Oxen but they were too close to town and so they couldn't hunt them. 

He did get some great pictures so I wanted to share those with you.

Isn't Alaska beautiful?

-30 below and a blizzard!

We have had a cold winter in Nome.  For a long time, the temperature has not gotten much higher than -30.  There were a couple of nights it got down to almost -50.  That's right. Negative.  It is funny when it is that cold.  We stay covered up.  Your fingers freeze quickly.  And you can feel your nose hairs freeze.  I'm not joking.  It feels weird.

People are tough here.  School has not been cancelled once.  The kids have indoor recess when it gets below -20.  And they are troopers.  When I dress Lila for school, only her eyes peak out so she is warm when she waits for the bus. 

Earlier in the week, I met my husband at the Recreation Center with the kids.  I took them down, and he met me after work to take the kids home so I could work out.  It was -30 and I ran the truck for almost 20 minutes before we got in.  I still dressed them in all of their winter gear!  This is how they look for a car ride in -30.

I took the pictures with my phone, so they might be a little blurry!

Then after these freezing cold temperatures, it finally warmed up.  I drove myself to work on Saturday and it was a little windy, but the 20 degree temperatures felt almost balmy!  It wasn't beautiful for long.  Soon the winds picked up and the snow started to fall.  There were white out conditions all day!  I couldn't even see the buildings across from the hospital.  Luckily I got a ride home from work.  I wasn't even going to try to get home!  The drifts were scary and I had to walk from the highschool to our apartments.  But it wasn't too cold so that was okay. 

My hubby drove me to work on Sunday and by Sunday night I was able to get home on my own.  A few drifts caused our smaller truck to zig and zag but I think I handled it well!  I didn't end up in the Tundra!

Here are some pictures I took this morning of "Big Red" after the storm.

The snow had drifted chest deep up to the apartments.

The driver side of the car was covered with snow.  The passenger side was clear!

Here is a snow machine that was parked next to us.  It was almost covered!

Will must like the warmer weather because he didn't complain at all when I got him ready and took him outside.  Usually he is prett whiney when I get him dressed to go out.  He must have been happy that it was a beautiful 30 degrees today and he didn't need his snow pants!

Will and I picked Lila up from school today then went to my friend Libby's house where we started a project.  I will tell you all about this project next Monday!  But here is a little tease.

Can you guess what I am making??