The Holidays

We had a very quiet, simple holiday season this year...........just the way I like it! We woke up Christmas morning and the kids opened their stockings and the few gifts that they got. In the afternoon we went to Martin's parents house for dinner. Uncle Tony took Martin and the kids out snowmachining for a while, which was a treat since we don't own snowmachines.

New Years was just as simple. Our friends Allen, Tanya and their daughter, Sarah came over to ring in the New Year with us. We ate, played a game and watched the ball drop. Kev had his friends Kevin and Sara over and they were on a mission to do an all-nighter. Kev passed out in the early morning so I fed Kevin and Sara crepes around 10:00 and then they quickly passed out.

Tristan, Calista, Rylee, and myself went to Fairbanks last week for a few days. My cousin, Jason had bought a compost toilet off of Craiglist and since it was in Palmer I picked it up for him and took it up to Fairbanks. We stayed with our good friends, the Hajdukovich's, more like part of our extended family. Thursday we spent the afternoon with Jason and his new wife, Molly. It is always such a treat for me to hang out with him at his house. He lives more the lifestyle that I dream of living; simple with just the things he needs and just the amount of space he needs. It just seems when I leave there I feel centered, the way I felt when we were living in the motorhome. It was good to meet Molly and to see Jason so happy, not that he isn't all the time but he just had an extra "sparkle". Friday night Sheli made one of her BIG meals and Jimmy, Michelle and their kids and Kelly and her husband and kids came over. Always fun to hang out with that very large Hajduk family! We found out on our way back home that Jonna came down with the chicken pox so we could have a fun week next week if our kids catch them! I guess I would rather them have chicken pox now than when they are older. Kevin had a light case when he was young (we think) so he may be safe.

While we were at Jason and Molly's, Sara took Tristan out for a little dog mushing. Sara has been taking care of some husky dogs for a friend and in exchange she gets to mush them. Tristan had a good time and it was something different for him that he had never experienced before. Friday the kids spent the day jump roping and sledding while Sheli and I spent almost the entire day watching back-to-back episodes of Law and Order. We had to crawl out every so often to turn the jump rope or put some food out but it felt so good to just veg. I desperately needed my Sheli fix, especially since we haven't seen them for over a year!! That was a record for sure. We usually get to hang out with them every couple of months. We did get to see Maija when she flew down several weeks ago but she came alone so it was good to see the rest of the gang.