Snow

We have been getting a lot more snow. Everyone says this is still nothing compared to what it should be this time of year though. We are expected to get even more snow for the next couple of months. But here are some pictures of the snow piles in town.

This is a sidewalk with snow piles behind it

Our plows

One thing I like that this city does is there is no salt, anywhere. They use dirt. So our cars dont get all gross and there is good traction where they put dirt but places they dont, like smaller streets...you slide all over the place.

Friends

We have all started to make friends here. The other night we went to our friends the McCallisters for dinner. Ate chili, visited with the missionaries, played foosball, talked, let the kids play. Peyton has a lot of friends her age here...but most of them are boys. Good thing she likes to play with boys over girls. Her 2 good friends so far are Kai and Kovai. Seth has friends that are a little older than him...all girls. He has already been kissed by 2. Aspen and Sovi. Its nice to have some couple friends here and they have kids our kids ages so we all have someone to hang out with :)

What we have been up to

We have been here for 3 months now. All settled in, getting to know more people, becoming familiar with our surroundings and whatnot.

Tairel loves his new job. He says it is a lot more laid back, people he works with are nice, he is working days now which he likes a lot more. I think working the grave shift for so long was getting to him.

I am enjoying staying at home with the kids. Its weird that all I do now is take care of the kids but I have a lot less stress and can put my entire focus on raising them and teaching them. I am grateful that Tairel can make enough to support us and allow me to stay home. I have been able to take the kids to a playgroup called Mighty Mites. There are about 15 kids and a few mothers there for me and the kids to socialize. We have only gone a couple times but we all seem to really like it.

Peyton is 100% potty trained now. I was able to finally get that done with not working anymore. She surprisingly potty trained really quick. She is even potty trained at night time. Im really proud of her.

Seth is sitting up, crawling and pulling himself up onto furniture. It will be any day now before he is walking...I cant believe how fast he is growing up.

Ever since Seth has learned to move around, Peyton has taken a lot of interest in him all of a sudden. They are little pals now. They get into everything, hide out in their room playing. Its really cute to see them playing together.

We are loving living in a small town, with no street lights, you can leave your car on and kids in the car to run into the post office or store for something quick. You can ride your snowmobiles or 4wheelers everywhere here. People we have been meeting are really nice. So far, we really enjoy it here. I just cant wait for summer. I hear its breathtaking.

Scenery we have seen so far

We arrived in Alaska in the winter so of course there is snow everywhere. People here say it has been an abnormal winter and that there should be a lot more snow than there is. As of right now, there is more snow that I have ever seen in Utah but according to everyone, its still not as much as there should be. Valdez is the snow capital of the US. We average 300 inches a year. Nothing is ever closed when it snows a lot here. In December, we only had 5 hours of daylight. In just 1 month, we gained 3 hours. In summer we are suppose to have 20 hours of daylight. That will be interesting. Anyways, here are some pictures we have been taking. It looks a lot colder than it really is. The average temperature it has been here is about 20 degrees. Sometimes it has been in the single digits and sometimes it has been almost 40.

Glacier

Frozen waterfall

Eagles

Our apartment

We dont live in the best place right now...its hard to find something in a 4,000 population while still living in Utah so we had to take what we could get. Its a cozy place, but not too crowded for the 4 of us. Its about 7 miles away from "town" which is where everything is and most people live. We hope to move into town in a year or 2. The view from our apartment is awesome though. Across the street is a river and mountains.

This is the outside of our apartment and some views across the street.

This is the inside of our apartment.

Valdez, Alaska

I have decided to start up a blog again since we now live 3,000 miles away from everyone. I am hoping that by doing this, you all can see what we are doing up here and see our kids grow up. First off, I will start by posting where we are currently living :)

Close up view.

Here are some pics of the city.

Our one and only grocery store.

Our church building.

Tairels work - the hospital.