This is it! Here are some of the photos we took this morning of our new home in Wasilla, about 45 minutes north of Anchorage. The property is 1.2 acres, and the house sits in the northwest corner of it, facing south. The lot is surrounded by land undeveloped since at least 1982, when the home was built, so we've got forest and wetlands all around us, with our own cul-de-sac at the western terminus of East Escondido Avenue (the "avenue" is actually a sleepy residential road). The other homes in the area are all 80s-era suburban types - definitely the swankiest neighborhood we've lived in so far. We're paying 168k, but it was just assessed at 172k, so we've already made some equity. :-)The first thing to go will be the Smurf-blue paint. We've opted for a more tasteful light mocha color, but will keep the white trim. The interior will get a host of new colors: light and medium orange for Malcolm's room, light and medium teal for Chloe's, and an offwhite with light mocha trim for the rest. We'll replace the carpet too, as well as add a new fridge, washer/dryer, range and water heater. After that, we'll invest in Top Ramen for a while.There's no garage, so Brandon will be busy building a carport, as well as a backyard fence. There's a large entry mudroom (a must in Alaska), and the kitchen, dining room and living room are also big. The kids will have their own rooms for the first time, complete with Cape Cod-style windows recessed into the walls, with slanting ceilings. One bathroom with shower upstairs, one with bathtub downstairs.The front deck is huge and faces the beautiful front yard. There's a dilapidated treehouse in the front, which will be replaced with something of Brandon's cunning, but the awesome steel cable ripcord running at least 60 feet from the treehouse, across the front of the yard and into a stand of woods will certainly stay. Brandon tried it this morning, and can't wait to coax Malcolm into riding it. And for all you coming to Tuckerfest, you can rest assured we'll make good use of it at the party.We'll both be getting new jobs in the area. Stephanie has already begun applying. Brandon is staying with the state, and will commute to Anchorage until he finds a new position. We found the preschool we'll enroll the kids in this morning, too.Thank you everyone for all your recent warm wishes. We look forward to welcoming any and all guests (though there's no official guest room), especially as Alaska shows off it stuff with the coming of Summer.Love,Chloe, Malcolm, Stephanie and Brandon
When winter lasts five or six months, Spring is a pretty big deal. In Alaska the onset of Spring is referred to as "break-up", because of the thawing and melting of the snow and ice in the millions of creek, rivers, lakes and glaciers. Break-up has real effects, too. Brandon spoke with a guy by cell phone the other day who couldn't get out of his home area in the bush because of the swollen creeks surrounding him. In the town of Nenana, south of Faribanks, the Nenana Ice Classic has become the largest single gambling event in the state. It's a lottery based on when the Tanana River will start flowing during break-up. Now that the snow is mostly gone and the weather has warmed up to the 40s, everyone is out in force. RVs are again everywhere, as are motorcycles, and the spirit of getting outside is like a virus. Brandon was shoveling the last of the snow from our driveway the other day in a t-shirt and shorts.
Chloe is talking more than ever. She can say any word if she thinks about it, and understands nearly everything we tell her. She's also taken to wearing clips in her hair, and loves to show them off. Malcolm, also known as Spiderman, is much like his daddy, and loves spending time outside. Both have grown completely accustomed to the cold, and much faster than we'd expected. They're 100% Alaska kids now. Some of the photos here are from our recent second trip to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, like the San Diego Wild Animal Park of the north.
Stephanie and Brandon went house hunting again, and found what they hope to be their next home. We're not yet in escrow, so we don't want to jinx anything, but the 3 bed/2 bath house is about 1600 sq. ft. on over an acre of wooded land, at the end of its own cul-de-sac (no other houses around). In fact, standing on the property, you can only make out the silhouette of a cabin on the other side of a stand of woods, and that's it. Otherwise, it's trees and more trees, with only dense forest to the north. The kids would get their own rooms for the first time, too. And for all of you attending Tuckerfest V, the large south-facing deck and big front yard will host the best little beer festival in the Last Frontier. Wish us luck, and we'll keep you posted.
Stephanie is looking for a new position in the Mat-Su borough, where we're headed, and has already found some very promising possibilities. Brandon has started doing the same, but will stay with the state. The commute from Wasilla to Anchorage is about 45 minutes on a good day, so we'll work to find jobs closer to our new home as quickly as possible.
We miss and love you all, and hope to see many of you this summer. Take care of each other.
Our apologies it's been so long since the last entry. Malcolm and Chloe have the nerve to demand nearly all our time, as if there isn't a perfectly good couch to nap on, or books that need to be read. Alas, we've been having a great time, as you can see from the latest snapshots. Malcolm flies for Alaska Airlines in his spare time (when he's not ruling the seas as Sharkboy), and now that Chloe is walking and starting to talk, she's got more moxie than ever. We've had a couple of moose sightings on our street, which seems strange given all the traffic, houses and businesses which surround us. But the moose here are like the deer back in California. You look and point, maybe take a picture, then get back to your life. No one bothers them, and they don't seem to bother anyone in return. The photos here are taken from our front door of the mama moose in the neighbor's yard the other day. Her "baby" (all 500 pounds of him) was next door. Brandon drove past another (maybe the same adult) earlier this week eating a different neighbor's willow tree for breakfast. She had an ear tag, as we imagine most around here do.The recent heat wave brought temperatures to around 40, and threatened to cancel or delay the Iditarod for the first time in recent memory. Without snow, it's kind of tough to hold a dog sled race. But Mother Nature intervened at the last minute, and all went well. Also, Brandon recently received a promotion, rocketing up the beaureacratic ladder from Administrative Assistant II to III. Not a big deal, but more money is always appreciated.We've also begun the search for our new house in the Matanuska-Susitna ("Mat-Su") area just north of Anchorage. We'll be moving in July.Finally, we're slowly nearing our annual celebration of friends, fun and the art of craft brewing, Tuckerfest. This is TFest's fifth year, and it's sure to be special. A few Lower 48ers are even set to join us, including Ryan and Heather, and "Chilkoot" Chris Lundahl. We'd love to have the usual suspects come toast to life's pleasures with us, so please consider making the trip this August. Alaska promises to be a stunning backdrop to this annual institution.It's a bright, sunny day today, with temps hovering around 10. Perfect for ice skating. Take care everyone!
It seems the colder it gets (usually in the 10s and teens these days), the more moose come out of the woodwork. Let's see, there was the bull moose standing at the entrance to the hospital parking lot, just daring someone to get out of their car and gawk. There was the unfortunate female struck by a car (not ours, thank you) while we were driving to work. Brandon had three, a mother and two babies, loitering at his work and eating the willow bushes. The mother was wearing a big yellow tracking collar. One of the babies relieved himself of his breakfast in front of an employee entrance. There was another yesterday morning near the highway, which prompted a couple motorists to pull over and point. The best, though, was the one Brandon got all to himself. Well, for a few minutes anyway. He dropped the Subaru off for a service on MLK day. It was about 9am, and 14 degrees outside, which was actually pleasant. He decided to walk the couple miles home. Excercise never hurts. After about 30 minutes, he came upon a small park, and standing in the trees nibbling on some bushes was a fully grown female moose. Since it was morning, and a holiday (and 14 degrees), nobody was around. She checked him out for a while, and kept one eye on him as she went back to her breakfast. They were about 30 feet apart, and she couldn't have weighed less than 1000 pounds. It was amazing. And to top it off, when Grizzly Adams got home, he had an ice cube for a beard. We wish we'd taken a picture.As you can see in the photos, Chloe is walking. She can do it by herself, but she prefers to hold hands. We're really happy to have her walking more and crawling less. It's wonderful to watch, and it keeps the pet hair off her clothes. Malcolm also loves to play dress-up. If you think the cowboy outfit is cool, wait till you see him as an airline pilot. We've also had some good snow over the past few days, and were out in it today. And as you may have heard, our very own Mount St. Augustine has been exploding a bit lately. No waves of lava in Anchorage yet, though.These days it's snow, work, school, movies at home (mostly Wallace & Gromit) and the frequent and ever fascinating moose. And if you've ever been curious how BIG they are, or you think we're exaggerating a bit, imagine a horse, but taller. And wild, instead of domesticated. And often protecting their young. And sometimes with a rack six feet wide. And looking at you as if to say, try it, schmuck.We miss you all.
We've gotten an earful from everyone for not updating the blog for over a month, which I take as a compliment - it means you're reading it! At any rate, life is wonderful up here. It's not quite the frozen north you might expect. Brandon's friend Chris recently visited, and brought above-freezing temperatures with him. It hasn't been snowing much, either, but what snow does fall stays on the ground, instead of melting. So there's always plenty of sledding to go around.Our latest winter sport is skating. Malcolm got a new (used) pair of hockey skates last weekend, and he looks AWESOME in them. Stephanie and Brandon are getting some used skates this Saturday, and we're all going to the downtown rink for music, kids' games and falling on our butts. As Alaskans, we figure it's mandatory that we start learning to skate. How's Brandon going to teach Malcolm the perfect slapshot otherwise?The kids had a great Christmas. Malcolm was very excited for Santa, and even Chloe got into unwrapping presents. Otherwise, it's life as usual in the tundra. We sled A LOT, watch movies, play inside and generally enjoy being together. CHLOE IS WALKING! She stands on her own, and can take several steps before collapsing, only to push herself to a standing position again. Malcolm has started playing with friends on the weekends, and of course sledding is the activity of choice.Stephanie still loves working at Immediate Care, helping manage personal care services for the elderly and sick, and Brandon is still very happy with the State Troopers, helping out wherever he can and applying for promotions.We visited the big New Year's Eve celebration downtown during the afternoon, where several events were held for kids for free. Malcolm played his first hockey in an indoor, carpeted "rink" with other kids, and rode the ferris wheel with Daddy. The fireworks were a bit loud for him, but Chloe didn't seem to mind. She likes everything loud, especially herself. ;-)We love and miss you all, and look forward to welcoming more guests after "break-up", when the temperatures start rising above freezing (Chris and Brandon's Mom having been the only two brave or foolish enough to fly up so far). We expect to move into our new house by June or July, and would really enjoy seeing some of you. Until then, we'll keep loving every minute of life in Alaska. Happy New Year to everyone! Love always, Chloe, Malcolm, Stephanie and Brandon
This close to the North Pole (not to mention the town of North Pole), Christmas is pretty serious business around here. We've been doing our part by decorating, shopping, cooking and general merrymaking, albeit all on a tight budget, as always. In two years, when our Permanent Fund Dividends start kicking in, things will be a bit different, but until then we're only buying a few things for the kids and just enjoying being together. It's a great way to spend the holidays.Chloe and Malcolm were lucky enough to see Santa yesterday. Chloe was less than exuberant. And Malcolm rode a bucking bronco like a rodeo champ. Later today we'll go sledding, our favorite outdoor pasttime. It's about 5 degrees outside.On Wednesday our good friend Chris is flying up to visit! Starting the day in Southern California and finishing it in Anchorage will be a refreshing change for Chris, and we're very excited he's adventurous enough to join us in winter. We're taking the latter half of next week off to show him the sights, from glaciers and mountain peaks to wildlife, nightlife and everything in between. I suspect beer will be involved at some point.
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
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.
