Counting down.............

Only 35 hours till take off! Tob and I are finishing packing our stuff today and taking care of last minute details. He's actually scrubbing shoes as I blog :0) I got the better end of the deal. It's been a pretty busy week with work and packing. We started our malaria prophylaxis medication on Sunday which is a fun experience. Nojah took his pill just fine and we struggled with Lex a bit. She actually has to take a 1/4 and a 1/2 pill. Not quite as smooth as Nojah's. Miraculously they didn't seem to want to go down her throat. We tried applesauce and water and with some tears and mild patience we got them down, however that didn't stop Tob from threatening grounding if she couldn't just swallow the pill. Ha Ha, I am not sure he could be a nurse. I think we may be crushing them next time and keeping dad out of the room :0). We will be trying to update our blog on a fairly regular basis depending on time and internet availability. Please feel free to leave us comments and email us if you want. We would love to hear from everyone while we are gone!

Aneroid

Tob and I and the dogs back end at one of the privately owned cabins up at Aneroid.

Tob enjoying his pizza for lunch.

Aneroid Lake

This morning Toby and I dropped the kids off at school grabbed our snowshoes and headed up to Aneroid lake for one last winter adventure. It happened to be a perfect day for a hike. It was about 15 degree's and SUN SHINY! We left home in the fog and returned to the fog so we think we it was a great day to get out of town.

Our little Punky Brewster!

Alexyss woke me up this morning and said "MOM!! You need to come out to the living room and see what I am wearing. You are going to LOVE it! You will be so happy!" I said I would be up in a little while. Then I heard her out in the living room repeating herself multiple times to her brother "Do I look good in this?" He ignored her for probably a good 5 minutes and then finally mumbled under his breath yes. After she received Nojah's approval, she couldn't wait any longer and comes in to show me that she is wearing the dress I had bought her a year ago adorned with camo pink tights, Hannah Montana boots, a crocheted sweater vest and matching scarf. Not to mention she has done her hair all on her own. This is a dress that she had refused to wear because it is "ugly". I guess it's not so bad if accessorised properly. So here she is..........Punky Brewster at her best. A true beauty!

Sled dog racing

Yesterday Toby and I stole our kids and few extra from school and headed up to the annual sled dog races (an iditarod qualifier). It was a beautiful day, blue skies, with comfortable temps. Tob was sick and slept in the car the whole time, but myself, the kids, and grandma val had a great time. There were 8-10 teams that are competing in either a 100mile or 200mile race. One of the racers visited all the local schools with his dogs the day before and he received the most cheers I believe. Someday I'd love to do this, however I don't want a whole team of dogs. One dog, two cats, a husband, and two kids is plenty :0)

Typhoid Vaccinations

Alexyss (4) and Nojah (6) awaiting their first plane ride to Thailand. October 2006

Yesterday we all got our Typhoid vaccines in preparation for our trip to Central America. Typhoid is caused by a bacteria, usually spread from contaminated food, water, unsanitary conditions, etc. It causes symptoms such as poor appetite, headaches, aches and pains, fever, lethargy, and my favorite while traveling DIARRHEA.

We had ordered the vaccines about 2 1/2 weeks ago and the kids were believe it or not excited to have them done. Yes the public health employee's thought we were odd. Anyway, I had class yesterday so I went in early for my injection and then the kids went to in with Tob after school and from what I understand there was fighting............ "over who got to go first" :0) and since Nojah got to go first last time, Lex got to go first this time. They both said the shots "stung" but they were tough and got a drink and candy afterwards for their bravery. So all was well until last night about 3-4 hours after the injection when they realized it now hurt like H@%%. So we placed ice packs on their little arms and gave them some Motrin as little tears were streaming down their faces. I laid with Alexyss in bed for a little while as she proceeded to ask "why do we have to go on a trip that long?" "I don't wanna go for 2 reasons mama". "The shots hurt" and (as the crying becomes more hysterical) "I don't get to have valentines day and it's my FAVORITE holiday". Oh, the horrible parents we are for not thinking of that a year in advance. They aren't up yet this morning but my arm still hurts so theirs will too I am sure. Better go awaken the little buggers to see what lies ahead.

Getting things done

A random family photo last Sunday while enjoying Tob's Dolphins game. We have been busy this past week with getting prepared for our trip as I just realized it's almost time to go. I have been on the phone with pharmacy's, doctors, public health, bill company's, dog kennels, friends, family and such trying to get things in order. Other then Myah running loose, studying for a trauma course for work, and a fabulous day snowboarding life has bee a little blahzae (I made up the spelling for that word :0)

Rustic Furniture

A friend of mines husband whom I haven't had the chance to meet yet, has been finishing college as well as making rustic log furniture on the side. They are selling nightstands, mirrors, beds, etc so if you have any interest take a peak at their website or pass the word on to others you think may be interested! Just click on the rustic furniture icon on the side of my page. He does great work!

Maybe we should have named her Lucky!

Edit: A dear friend of mine pointed out that dogs only have one life as do we humans so the title of this post had to change.

I know, I know, another dog post. I believe Myah causes more trouble then our children. Yesterday we went snowboarding for the day and left miss Myah in our friend Sandy's back yard with her 3 dogs for the day, which she ensured was "dog proof". Apparently Myah didn't care for that idea because as were were driving back I received 3 messages on my phone stating first that the dog was terribly upset and has been across town at the college howling most of the day, then found by Toby's mom very upset downtown at KFC as well as another random Text message that stated "R U missing your dog?" Since we were still 1/2 hour from town at that point I tried to get a hold of Tob's mom to see if she caught her. It was a huge coincidence that she of all people would spot our dog in a town of 12-14,000 people! Unable to reach Val I called my dad and sent him out searching, as Val said she was having a hard time caching her. Then I called the lady who left the message from the college who said that she had been out on the lawn howling in distress most of the day. Then she said some lady with a red pony tail came out around 3:30 and Myah ran right up to her, the lady leashed her like she was her own and off the went. She assumed she was the owner. She then stated about an hour later she had driven past a park and again saw Myah running loose and that is when she text me. The whole way back we were SICK as it was getting dark and we live in a rural area so the chance of her being hit by a car is high as she is not use to the traffic. Anyway, to make a very long story a little shorter we called Toby's brother who said that their mom had captured her finally with some assistance and dropped her off at his house until she was done with her Dr.s Appt. Holy cow, I swear this dog stresses me out! Upon returning to Sandy's her gate was open and it appeared little miss smarty pants just went ahead and let herself out by unlatching it. Guess I should have asked it her gate was "Myah proof?" Lucky for us the other dogs stayed home. Upon finding her she had a lip puncture wound, and her gums partially separated from her teeth. It was bleeding and swollen but it didn't look like anything we needed to take her in for immediately so we are giving her an injection of Penicillin and she has a vet appt on Monday. Grrr!! Honestly I am just glad she is ok. Apparently a lot of people saw her because when Tob was at Wal-mart and sharing the story the employee said that she had seen that dog early that morning about a block away from where she was suppose to be running randomly down the road. Everyone's impression was she appeared scared so hopefully she has learned her lesson! I am just wondering why the lady with the red pony tail never called us? Huh, guess she learned her lesson too about leashing a Malamute.