Our humblest apologies. As usual, many of you have been kind enough to show your love and concern for us by gently ridiculing Brandon for not updating the blog. And, as usual, our collective life hasn't exactly allowed for the time it takes to do so. That, and Brandon's really lazy.
That being said, we've seen a lot of changes up here since our last entry: we moved, started a new school, started a new job, got another car, bought fish and have stayed busy playing, working, improving our new home and just being a family. And Stephanie turned a year older, once again reaching palindrome status. In case you forgot, our new address is 3000 Escondido Ave, Wasilla, AK 99654. Our new phone number is 907-357-2877. Our email addresses have not changed.
The house: it was Smurf blue, but that's changing to a very respectable cream color. Brandon risked life and limb to paint the exterior, by balancing on the end of a 16' ladder, which in turn was perched on the roof of the Scout. Not exactly smart, but the only way to get the job done - it's a two story house. Stephanie has been papering and taping the interior, and Brandon's been following behind with the Wagner when he's not outside. The treehouse is mostly finished, sporting a slide, ramp, "rock" wall, rope ladder and firefighter's pole, plus most of a roof. What was once a dirt and weed patch is now a soft, green lawn. Even the vegetables from our garden have begun appearing at dinner.
Chloe and Malcolm are terrific. They love their new school, and surprisingly, took to it the first day. Steph has moved offices, but stayed with the same company. She now works 5 minutes from home and the kids. Brandon still drives to Anchorage every day, about 45 minutes, but does so in the new Saab he bought. Well, it was new in 1986. But hey, it's got a sunroof, cost $700 and says SAAB on it. It makes him happy. And since there's no airbag, the kids get to ride in the front.
Apparently Simon and Jolly weren't enough, so we bought three fish and two frogs. They eat very little and don't sleep on the couch, which is more than we can say for the dog. Let's see, other wildlife... We had some birds nesting near the house, caught a big frog next to the treehouse, picked up a leech while swimming at Wasilla Lake and greeted a moose in our driveway. He walked past about 4 feet in front of Brandon. Simon wanted to hang out with him, but he wasn't having it and trotted off into the woods. We haven't seen any bears this year, but since we live in the forest now, that's probably a good thing.
We went for a drive and a picnic along the Matanuska River valley today, and shot a few pictures. The glacier that feeds the river is bright and massive. On our hike before lunch we scared a ptarmigan out of a bush. That's like a grouse or a pheasant. He looked tasty. Malcolm found a fuzzy black caterpillar and named him Charlie. All of Malcolm's bug friends are named Charlie.
Hopefully it won't be another two months till our next entry. It seems we're too busy living in Alaska to talk about living in Alaska. Next month is the state fair. And Tuckerfest. We're going to do a lot more camping before summer's out. We're also considering buying a small boat. Malcolm has really been into fishing lately. Chloe turns two on August 31. By the time Halloween rolls around, we'll be back in winter mode and loving all that comes with it. Till then, it's 20 hours of sunlight, days in the mid-70s and agonizingly short weekends. Gotta go!
2 comments:
sweet. thanks for the update all. the kids are looking huge. but i want to see some pics of the treehouse brandon. tell malcolm the war is over. charlie is not in the wire.
The kids are looking adorable, but I wanted to see Malcom driving the scout. But I'll settle for a picture of the treehouse. I'll probably be sleeping in it come Tuckerfest.
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