Long Time No Blog!

Man, it's been two weeks since the last entry. Shame on me. Anyway, before I get into what we've been doing, be sure to take a look at my good friend Kevin's new blog, www.artofsteel.blogspot.com. It's great.

The Tuckers have been busy and crazy as ever. Brandon is officially an old man, having turned 32. He expects his first Social Security check to arrive any day. The temperature right now is about 7. That's fahrenheit, if you're curious. We have about a foot of snow on the ground, which we've been enjoying, especially Malcolm and Daddy. We even have a cool snow mountain with a tunnel in the front yard. On the weekends we love to go sledding.

Last week we joined the other locals downtown for the big Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Santa was there with his reindeer, and this being Alaska, they were REAL reindeer, pulling the sleigh and everything. The next day we visited a local candy company that has the world's tallest chocolate waterfall, not counting Willy Wonka's. And this afternoon Malcolm and Stephanie built a gingerbread house. When it was finished, I politely suggested she attend architectural school. She was not amused.

Steph and I also took the rare opportunity to go out recently. We partied with some friends at Chilkoot Charlie's ("Koot's"), the most legendary bar in Alaska. And in a state that drinks this much, that's saying something. The best part was Stephanie drank more than I did. We danced, sang and generally made asses of ourselves. It was perfect.

These days it's work and school, with whatever time we have left spent together. The weather is full-blown winter now, with snow every few days. The temperature will range from 25/30 down to 10/0, though we've enjoyed it so far.

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Love,

Brandon, Stephanie, Malcolm and Chloe

Birthdays, Snow and the New New Job

So Malcolm is now four and Brandon is (wait for it...) thirty-two. Our birthdays were lots of fun. Malcolm had three celebrations - one with us at home, one at school and another at home with friends. I used the remaining slices of his Thomas the Tank Engine cake as my own, with a votive candle stuck in the middle. Necessity is the mother of invention. We both got lots of cool presents, but mine are drinkable.

We've all been playing in the snow every chance we get, and we've found a nearby park with a hill made specifically for sledding. Simon makes a great seld dog, and Malcolm loves to be pulled around by him. Driving in all the snow and ice is fun. You get a feel for sliding around without crashing.

Stephanie also started her new new job recently, a place called Immediate Care, which helps seniors and others with special needs find people to help take care of them. She loves it, and is very happy she found it.

It dropped to zero the other morning as we were heading to school and work, but has since hovered around twenty-five, which does not feel very cold at all. We're told there'll be a spell in January or February when it will dip to twenty below for a few weeks, though. We won't expect many visitors.

Here's hoping you're all healthy and happy. Have a great Thanksgiving.

Love,

Us.

Birthday Shots

Here are a couple from today. His party is on Saturday.

Snow, Halloween and the Big Four

We've been busy these past few days, and I wanted to share some of our most recent pictures. Today is Malcolm's fourth birthday! He got lots of cool stuff, including butterfly wings, Thomas the Tank Engine toys, a Fender the robot doll and a set of toy knights. Shown here are also some shots of us sledding and trick-or-treating (in 19 degree weather).