I love you dad!

You know what stinks? That fact that no matter how hard we try we can't help but to take people for granted. That is until we lose them or almost lose them.

This last weekend I almost lost my dad. I have never been so scared in my life. The thought of losing another family member was just unfathomable. I was and am not ready for that. Losing my sister was one of the hardest things I have ever gone through and even now it still makes me sad and I think about her everyday.

So my dad still being in the hospital and not fully awake (it could take awhile) but making progress everyday, I am feeling a lot more confident in his recovery and am finally able to write about it.

I am not going to go into the details of that night on here but rather tell you a little about my dad.

My dad is the best dad in the whole wide world. I know a lot of people say that but I know I'm right. My dad is amazing. He is the smartest man I have ever known. He can fix and or build anything. He loves to read and do crossword puzzles (he knows so many useless facts but I love it). He loves to learn about anything and everything and can sit and talk about the things he has learned for hours. I love how he gets excited when he talks about things that interest him. He is the cutest man. He always helps me on any questions I have financially, medically, spiritually etc. He is the most caring and loving man and willing to help anyone in need. He has done so much for me in my 24 years and I owe him so much. I never told him how much he has helped me, is an example to me, and how much I respect and love him. When I get married someday I will use my dad as a guideline of what I want in a husband.

I am crying now as I write this even though things are looking good, and even though it may take a while, we are praying for a complete recovery. I want my dad back. It has been so hard to be here in Alaska away from him while this is happening. I know my being there won't help but I still can't help wanting to be there.

I am so thankful for the prayers and thoughts from all my friends and and family. I know they have helped in healing my dad and bringing comfort to me and my family. I am also so thankful for my brother Craig who basically saved my dad's life doing compressions until the ambulance could get there. I am also thankful for Ryan and Becky Jo being so close to offer support to my mom in this time and to my dad. Also to all the people who have come to the hospital and stayed with my mom and those who called as well. So many people genuinely care and love my dad. I can only hope that someday people will be there and care about me just as much.

To my mom you are a really strong woman. I have no idea how you have kept it together through all of this. You are an example to me as well and I really appreciate you and love you. To my brothers and sisters I love you and I am thankful that we have the gospel in our lives to help us through this.

I wish I had a picture to post of my dad but I don't. I will have to remedy this.

A picture is worth a thousand words...

I know I haven't posted in a long time and really a lot has been going on but nothing exciting to write about so I'll let you see it instead.

*note* these pictures are NOT in chronological order!

Just to give you an idea of what was happening in these pictures...

• 
  
  Chena Hot Springs
• 
  
  Go Kart
• 
  
  Bowling
• 
  
  -25 to -50 degree temperatures

(no that sign is not correct. It was about -40 that night)

• 
  
  Christmas
• 
  
  Halloween
• 
  
  Muktuk tasting
• 
  
  Shooting a gun
• 
  
  Living Nativity

Thanks for a laugh Becky Jo

My sister-in-law sent me this in an email today. There were more but this one made me laugh out loud.

Remembering Mike Jones

Picture taken with my cell phone soon after he joined my family.

I found out Saturday that my beloved Russian Dwarf Hamster, Mike Jones, passed away. It was very upsetting to have this happen while I am away in Alaska but after shedding lots of tears I realized that he was well taken care of and had a very happy life.

Mike Jones was more than just a pet. I remember the day I got him, two and a half years ago, like it was yesterday. I had been living alone in my first apartment for about two months when I decided I needed some company. So I went to Pet Smart and looked at all the small animals. When I saw Mike Jones I knew it was fate. He was the cutest hamster in the bunch. I immediately bought him, and brought him home. The rest is history.

Thanks Mike Jones for all the times you listened and sympathized with me.
Thanks for always being my running partner, you on the wheel me on the treadmill.
Thanks for running around in your ball and leaving little poop pellets all over my floor, making me have to vacuum.

Thanks for keeping me up at night with all your running on that squeaky wheel.

Thanks for being so darn cute.

So here's to you Mike Jones, my confidante, my pet, my friend. I will always cherish our short time together and I will miss you!

xoxo.

These are pictures from the funeral. My brother sent them to me since I couldn't be there. I couldn't imagine it being any more beautiful. Thanks to my mom and dad, brothers and sister-in-law for all they did during this difficult time.

Aurora Borealis

I stole this picture from the internet. You have to have a really good camera to capture the northern lights, with all sorts of fancy things like awesome zooming capabilities and other stuff that I know nothing about.

Around 3:00 last night I woke up for my nightly (sometimes several) bathroom break(s). I always just get up and go without getting my glasses because I know the way so why do I need to see? It's not until I get back in bed that I remember that I was supposed to check and see if the northern lights are out, but then I am usually too cold and tired to get back up. I have seen them only once and it was just a faint green streak across the sky. It didn't make it any less awesome though! Anyway back to last night, I was walking back to my room and just happened to glance out the window. Mind you with no glasses, I saw this bright green streak in the sky. I was so excited I ran and woke up Annelisa's mother-in-law (who had said she didn't care what time of night, but to wake her if we ever saw the lights) then I ran to my room and got my glasses and we gathered back at the window to watch the lights. They only lasted about 5 minutes but in that five minutes they dimmed, got brighter, and they moved around the sky. It was amazing! It is one thing I will never get tired of looking at and hope to see it many times more while I am in Alaska. I just hope next time there will be more colors and they will dance around the sky as I heard they do!

Stolen from the internet, below is a picture of what I hope to see!

On another note. One night I did remember to take my glasses with me to the bathroom. When I looked out the window the northern lights weren't out, but I did have an up close and personal view of the big dipper. Now, I have a hard time picking out any of the constellations in a star filled night but this was different. I couldn't see ANY other stars in the sky and it was like it was right above the the house, it was so close. It was just as amazing as seeing the northern lights, so I wasn't disappointed at all. I did not get to see the little dipper though. Maybe some other time!

Also stolen from the internet...

P.S. It is already all snowy here in Fairbanks! Pictures to come soon!!

llama llama red pajama

This is my new favorite childrens book. My nieces love it, and I think I have read it about a million times to them since I have been here. It is such a fun book and I think every little kid should own it!

Here is another book by the same author about my favorite llama. I can't wait to read it and see if it is as good as the first.

Good old fashioned Anchorage, AK fun.

I am a very shy person. I have a hard time being in places I don't know and meeting people. There is nothing better than having all the anxiety of meeting new people completely vanish when the people you meet are so friendly and fun to be around.

That happened this weekend.

I went to Anchorage for a long weekend with my sister and her kids. Annelisa (my sister) has a brother-in-law and sister-in-law (Mike and Maggie) that are stationed at Fort Richardson in Anchorage. They have four adorable children Quinton (8), Austin (5), Avery (3), and Jace (1). My nieces had so much fun playing with their cousins. It was lots of fun to watch and play with them.

The reason we went down there was for Quinton's baptism. Because of the special event both sets of grandparents and one great grandma also flew in for the occasion. It was one full house and even though I wasn't family and I was an extra body to house and feed, I felt very welcome there. They are such a great family!

I am so glad to have met so many wonderful people and I had a genuinly good time! I want Maggie to know that I am so thankful to her for having me in her home. She is such a great person and mom!

On the drive there we got to stop at a view point for Mt. McKinley. The most beautiful Mountain in Alaska. We also saw some moose cross the road, just moseying along, taking their sweet time.

While in Anchorage we went on a hike and saw some salmon and lots of beautiful scenerey. Part of the trail was closed due to bears. I wish we had seen one (from afar of course). We also saw some more moose on the way home from church today. No matter how many times I see them, it is still so exciting to me.

Below is a my weekend in pictures. (Sorry, still none of moose.)