Klondike Derby

This week our troop put the finishing touches on our race sled and we headed out to East Canyon State Park for our annual Klondike Derby winter campout!

The assembly crew

That night we chowed down on hobo dinners and dutch-oven peach cobbler. The other leader and I were only woken up once from a boy who was too cold, and after getting him up and moving he slept the rest of the night just fine. In the morning before the sun was up over the mountain we enjoyed a balmy 14 degree morning before the sled races! Unfortunately, one of our boys fell while pulling our sled and we didn't make it very far in the preliminaries. We might've only had four boys that were able to come, but we sure had a good time together!

The racers

Back home with all extremities and digits intact

So much snow...

We seem to keep getting storm after storm and the snow is just piling up. I love it!

This week was pretty rough for Dani. We know there's no magic date for the "morning" sickness to go away, but it was discouraging for her to feel better for a little bit and then go back to feeling lousy.

On Tuesday my buddy Todd and I drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon to snowshoe to White Pine Lake. Todd used skins on his splitboard and he let me borrow a pair of snowshoes. We were one of the only ones to hike that trail since the last snowfall, so we were breaking trail most of the way. I realized pretty quick that I am out of shape! It felt like wearing flip-flops in knee-deep water while sinking down into mud, except with heavy winter gear and all snow. It was all I could do to keep up with the guy who's been fighting fire as a hotshot all season! Regardless, we enjoyed catching up and breathing the smog-free mountain air. It was incredible hiking through the blanketed trees and deep snowdrifts with white mountain peaks surrounding us.

Our trail through the trees

This week I had my first ride-a-long with Morgan County EMS. I will be volunteering with them just like I did down in Moab. Morgan is a small community of less than 10,000 residents about 25 minutes away from my house. Our call volume is pretty small, so sometimes it can be boring around here. I usually just bring my homework and hang out at the station until we get a 911 call. It will be a good way to force me to take a full study day for the week while still doing what I love on the ambulance.

The call we had that day was for a woman with a kidney stone in extreme back pain. She was at the Morgan Health Center and we transported her to McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden. We don't have a hospital locally, so we take all of our patients to Ogden. A fairly uneventful day, but I love being back on the ambulance.

What's a quinzee?

Igloo: built of blocks of hard snow
Snow cave: shelter dug in deep drifted snow

A quinzee is a shelter made by piling snow into a mound and then burrowing into it. I've always wanted to build one and sleep in it, but living in Moab I never saw enough snow to make one. That all changed when we moved to northern Utah! I spent the day after our white Christmas making a huge snow pile, and the next day carving it out. It was long and wide enough for two people to lay flat! I spread out a tarp and threw out our sleeping pads and bags and Dani and I slept that night perfectly cozy.

Dani had a streak of good days, and we were able to drive down to Provo to hang out with some of her friends, namely Candace who was visiting with her family from Alabama for Christmas. Nearly all of Dani's college roommates have babies, so it was nice to hear their stories and get some good advice for new parents.

Candace with Ollie, Dani, Michelle with Everley, and Laura with Josh

Unfortunately later this week Dani started feeling sick again, but she encouraged me to go hiking to alleviate my case of cabin fever. I did the Ogden Canyon Overlook trail, which starts at Snowbasin ski resort and goes up about 2.5 miles to the top of Ogden Canyon. There was quite a bit of snow but there had been enough people who skied the trail to pack it down enough for me in my hiking boots. After I escaped the overflowing parking lot of snow sports enthusiasts, I didn't see anybody else on the trail until I was almost to the trailhead again. It was a perfect day of solitude.

A Dread-ful Decision

Have you ever thought something sounded like a really good idea, and then you tried it, and realized it was actually a really bad idea? Well I have.

The idea: getting dreadlocks.

The last couple of years I have been fascinated with dreadlocks. There's two different kinds of dreads - the gross kind, and the really pretty-but-edgy&perfectly-hippy kind. And I have been waiting for a chance to transform my hair into the pretty-but-edgy&perfectly-hippy kind for quite some time. Lucky for me I married a guy who also happens to like dreads! One night Chris decided we should just do it, so being well educated by a large variety of YouTube videos we set out to get everything we would need to give me perfect dreads at home.

Not able to see the back of my own head, Chris took on the title of head hairdresser. He got really good at using that metal flea comb to backcomb my hair into locks. And my dreads were born. 

Now as any person who has done their internet research on dreadlocks would know, dreads aren't going to look perfect on day one. They take time to settle and form. However, on day two of the dreadlock journey two things became blatantly obvious to me: thing one - not wanting to hurt me Chris had gone easy on the roots, leaving the top much looser than the bottom, thing two - these dreads were not going to mature into the pretty-but-edgy&perfectly-hippy kind, but had the perfect beginning to mature into the gross kind. 

With thing two weighing heavily on my mind, I was all of a sudden fearful of a third thing that came into my mind: the longer these dreads stay in my hair, the less likely I am to get rid of them while still keeping hair on my head. Admitting that my dream of dreads was a bust, and that I would look even worse with a pixie cut or a bald scalp, I started the long, tedious, multi-day process of brushing out my dreads. 

This part hurt a lot...

If you can't tell from the above picture, my hair was pretty damaged after this experiment. I started deep conditioning and still needed to cut off about three and a half inches. To minimize the amount of length that was removed from my hair I ended up getting some layers as well.

The layers are even more obvious when my hair is curly, or
 pulled back. But still, 3 1/2 inches seems like a lot to me!

We also enjoyed living in a snowglobe this week. The pictures are pretty but don't even give this magical winter wonderland justice. Life in Narnia is spectacular, and we can't help but be in constant awe at all the beauty around us.

By the end of the week there was over a foot of snow!

Our weekend adventure was probably one of our favorites yet. One of our sweet primary girls, Zoey, and her sister Tatum got baptized. Zoey is 11 and Tatum is 9, but they both attend a class younger from where they should be to be with their friends (approved by the bishop and primary president due to family circumstances). Their father isn't a member, and their mother is just starting to come back to church after years of inactivity. We absolutely adore these sweet girls and are so proud of them for the choices that they are making. Zoey is a joy to have in class and has such a fiery testimony for a kid so young and new to the church. She is always asking questions, and her mom told us that she loves class so much that every Sunday she goes home and then teaches her family everything she learned that day. Zoey excitedly asked us to participate in her baptismal service, so I gave the opening prayer and Chris spoke on the importance and blessings of baptism. He also had the opportunity to stand in their confirmation circles on Sunday. It was a special day for both of them, and Chris and I felt validated in our callings as primary teachers -- we're glad we could play a small part in Zoey's learning. We just love seeing the the "aha" moments in our students eyes, and have fallen in love with not just our students, but all the children in the primary. What a blessing it is to teach Heavenly Father's little ones, and be surrounded by their sweet spirits each week. 

Tatum and Zoey on their baptism day.

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

Bears, Boats and the First Snow

This week our busy schedules were interlaced with some fun surprises. As Chris was running an errand one evening he saw a pair of eyes on the side of the road. Once he realized it was a bear he pulled over so he could get a better look at his furry friend attempting to hop the fence. Going full tourist mode he was snapping pictures when a taxi pulled over with its hazards on. The driver got out and kindly asked Chris if he could help with anything, and when he realized Chris was just taking pictures of a bear he indicated that Chris must not be from around here. It doesn't matter that we've lived here since May and wear our Southeast sneakers, we still can't fool the locals. We're just too amazed at all the beauty around us to look like the regular Juneau folk!

Some of the high quality shots Chris took for you. 

This bear has x-ray vision. Superbear maybe? 

Saturday was a blast as we had the opportunity to get out on the ocean. A kind man and his sweet wife come to the B&B often for dinner, and they offered to take us out fishing. When our schedules finally aligned it was too late in the season for salmon, but we went out anyways and had a blast. We loved hearing stories from his past and getting to know him better. (After we got home Chris and I were mulling over how many friends we've made here who are our parents age and older. Look at us - adulting so hard!). He taught Chris all about his sonar and GPS gadgets, and even let him captain the ship for a while. As we were headed back to the bay a light snow started to fall.

We loved how beautiful the B&B looked in the first snowfall. Winter is finally hitting Alaska, and we know we're in for all sorts of new adventures as the days continually get shorter and the snow piles higher. 

When we left our apartment for church on Sunday, we noticed a dumpster across the parking lot that had been knocked over and garbage strewn everywhere. It turns out a bear had wandered over during the night and found a tasty pre-hibernation meal left by the bakery. All the trashcans and dumpsters in Juneau have bear-proof locks, but some people are evidently a little casual in securing the lids.

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

Jardine Juniper

We had an awesome start to our week with a camping-date-hike extravaganza!

Chris made sure he designated our trip of the week as our official date ahead of time - yah I'm that lucky, I have a husband who really listens to all my nonsense - and it was one heck of a date. Monday after I got off work around 10pm we tossed all our camping gear into the truck and headed up Logan canyon. We spent the night at Wood Camp and it was a gorgeous little camp. It was right next to Logan River and as two washed up river guides we couldn't have asked for a more peaceful night than being able to fall asleep and wake up to the sound of moving water. (But words of the wise, try not to mention rivers around us. We've both come down with a bad case of whitewater-fever and as excited as we are for Alaska we can't stop dreaming - literally, we both have dreams - of the river.)

Tuesday morning we woke up to a light snowfall and had a nice little breakfast in our tent. We then packed up and started our hike up Jardine Juniper.

And it continued to snow. And we kept hiking. And it snowed harder. And we fell down past our knees in the snow. And we went 6 miles. Then we stopped and had lunch under the platform - the only dry place on the mountain - and enjoyed the view of a spectacular 1,500 year old Juniper tree, the oldest living juniper tree.

Annnnnd, we went back in the snow with another 6 miles back to the truck. And it snowed harder. And it snowed so much our footprints from the way up had already disappeared. And it snowed until you could no longer see the trail. And we lost the trail. But luckily we found it again. And we kept hiking. And it kept snowing. Have I mentioned yet that it snowed on this 12 mile hike? Anyways, all-in-all, it was an awesome hike and we were the only two people on the trail all day (probably because of all the snow).

We couldn't have asked for a better start to our week, and we are so glad that we had the opportunity to camp and hike on the only two cold and snowy days that Logan has had in weeks. But hey, when you both have a day off you do what you gotta do to spend time together and enjoy God's creations.

The rest of the week was busy with school and work. Chris did his clinicals for his CNA class. He particularly enjoyed the old woman who muttered "I don't like you" under her breath when helped feed her. And contrary to what he may say I'm sure he also enjoyed all the bowel movements he helped clean up.

Today we had the unique opportunity to go home teaching together. Chris's companion wasn't able to meet up with him this month so I stepped in to fill those shoes. It really is a miracle and a wonder every time I see my husband teach the gospel. He truly has a special spirit and I am constantly working to be even half as good as him. He's a great example to all those we live around, but is the greatest example to me.

That about sums up this week. We were bummed to miss out on Jorgen's baptism and all the fun family times this weekend, but we sure can't wait until next weekend when we have the chance to go down and visit our family in Moab!

Oh! And one more thing! We finalllllllly got our plane tickets for Alaska! We will be flying out the evening of May 2nd. Juneau here we come!

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew