Snow and Napoleon Dynamite

It snowed yesterday and today. Despite the lack of warmth this summer, we instinctively turned on some Bing Crosby and watched the half-dollar sized cotton balls drop from the sky for at least 20 minutes. It was magical. The snowflakes eventually calmed down but, it was great. Tonight we carved pumpkins with the Allred Family as the snow began to stick to the roads. It begins. I am happy that warmer climes await us in the coming weeks! Aloha Oie!!

President Monson announced the building of the Rome Italy Temple on Saturday during General Conference! I was emotional for a while. Susanna and Lucy kept looking back at me. I told them I was happy but, pulled some good Napoleon "yes"es to seal the deal. I have not pictured myself returning to Italy since I had Susanna. Well, it's callin' to me now! I am happy for my brothers and sisters in Italy, to have a temple in their country. It will be a blessing to Italy. It is awesome. I am looking forward to seeing it!

Hello Winter! Check the Calendar..

The first thing Susanna said when she climbed in the car this afternoon was, "It was 23 degrees at our school today! We wrote it in our journals!"

Susanna's school is located, not at the airport where the Anchorage temperature is registered, but in the Campbell Creek area, which tends to be the coldest part of the city, the temperature variance is huge! 10 degrees or more!

Rob's Deployment to Texas

Rob was deployed to Texas on Monday September 22, to help staff make shift pharmacies there offering disaster relief. He had been preparing for the possibility for a few weeks as we'd all been watching the weather in the Gulf states. He was excited and it was impressive to see how hard he worked to be prepared. Here is his email from today.

Hello, I made it down to College Station, Texas. Things are for the most part wrapped up down here, and the residents are heading home. I am at the Reed Arena on Campus here and there are folks from Point Arthur, Beaumont and Galveston that were evacuated to this arena. They are the special needs folks who were either in assisted living centers or recieving home health visits. At one point they had over 300 patients here, but now they are down to less than 100 and more are going home today. They are real relieved to get going. Most of their homes are fine, but a few of the folks are still here because they don't have homes anymore. They do have medication needs and I think we are providing them good care. The folks here at Texas A&M have been so great and this is a real organized and secure facility. Food's good. The cot up in the hallway on the second floor of the arena is not real comfortable, gonna try sleeping on the ground tonight. I have meet some real nice folks amongst the evacuees and also the other disaster relief folks from the Public Health Service and the other agencies. Can't believe what these patients are going through as they have evacuated a couple of times this year and have had their lives' disrupted. I am sure greatful to live in the circumstances that I do. Take Care, Rob

Here is a link to a news report about the arena and Rob's mission: http://www.myfoxaustin.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7472832&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

Blueberries and Brussel Sprouts

Last week, the Boyle family headed up to Blueberry Hill, just above town and found a bush plentiful with big, dark blueberries. We had found this bush with my sister Anna, last fall, and we were happy that it was still there for the pickin' this year. We had a great time. The fall colors of the hills were spectacular, coupled with the dusting on the nearby peaks. It was a beautiful setting for a beautiful harvest. I wish there were more berry bushes in the world, people might be happier. Kuplink, Kuplank, Kuplunk. Lucy and Sue enjoyed emptying out their ziploc bags before we could get them to the freezer. :) It was amazing to see the difference it made on my spirit that day. This is our third year berry picking and each year it is enriched. The first was more recon than anything productive but still amazing, the second it developed into something approaching addiction and this year has been just sweet. My sister Anna is visiting again this week with two of her five children and I think we might just be jamming (we might just turn on some Bob Marley to enhance the experience. :) )

On the first day of Lucy's Preschool, I took a picture of her out in front of our home. A few hours later, Susanna and I were sitting on the front porch enjoying some fleeting sunny rays and working on "homework" (She loves it so far, and so do I! Let's hope we can keep it that way!) All of the sudden we noticed something different about our Brussel Sprout plant...it had been attacked! I checked the picture of Lucy in front of it and verified that it had been alive and well at 8:50am. All of the leaves had been eaten and there was a big moose hoof print in the dark soil near the base of our anticipated tower of tastiness. The sprouts were just starting to take off! We had a mixture of emotions. Last night, I dreamt I had six moose in our yard...

Joy Amidst Sorrow Post

I loved this post. Great insights.

http://leslieandaaron.blogspot.com/2008/09/challenges-you-face-growth-experiences.html

Farewell to Summer!

Despite reports that this was the 3rd coldest Alaskan summer on record, we had some good times.

Some even asked us if we'd "been outside" (meaning out of Alaska) recently, looking at the girls' color on their cheeks. No, I'd reply, we've just jumped at the chance of being outside whenever the sun was out. It wasn't often but, Alaskan winters are good motivators to make Vitamin D while, and when, the sun shines!

As we head closer and closer to 32, we look back at the days of 60s and those 3 days of 70s and say, "See you next year!!!!"

Moose in Sprinkler!

Mother moose and twin baby moose were in our friend's yard this summer while we were there. My friend, Cathy, had the great idea to turn on the sprinkler and we had our camera's rollin', she has posted her shots on you tube and it is great! Check it out!

paste into browser or go to youtube.com and look up "twin baby moose in sprinkler" http://youtube.com/watch?v=yNy9jTeolUk

The News is Out

So, it's out. We're expecting another little addition to our family. This is a new but familiar road for us, our fourth pregnancy but, first to follow Angela. We're happy and ready to have a little one to watch, hear and hold!

More information to come later. The little one's anticipated arrival is about the end of March, beginning of April.

Alaska Rhubarb Cake

This comes from our nice friends, the Marvins.

1/2 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 c. milk
1 1/2 c. rhubarb, chopped 1/2 in. slices
1 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
Cream shortening and brown sugar. Add egg and milk to mix. Stir in rhubarb and vanilla, then add flour, soda and salt (after sifting them together), into the mix.9x9 pan, 350 degrees, 35-40 min.topping:(PS I like this cake ALONE, I've never made the topping)
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. white sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped nuts
1 T. butter
combine in a bowl and sprinkle on hot, baked cake

Tasty and Easy Enchilada Recipe

Check out a tasty recipe at my sister's blog
http://rowleythetroops.blogspot.com/2008/08/enchiladas-acapulco-recipe.html

Seven Years

What a beautiful ride so far.

Dipnetting at the Kenai River

We had a great and dreadful time dipnetting at the mouth of the Kenai this year (dreadful for the fish and or our pack up job! :)). It was an adventure, our first time camping on a beach, we improvised our car mat into a tent rug entry...bad idea but, good effort! It was sunny the first day and rainy, windy and cold on the second. We were very happy to be packed up and in the car by the end. The fish run was slow but, we still managed to have the excitement of feeling a few salmon tugging in our nets. It is one of my top experiences in Alaska, seeing all of the folks lined up on the shores with their nets in the water and family and friends on the beach watching for them to pull in their nets and start the process of "processing" the fish. Some do everything there on the beach, which makes for plenty of work on the part of the seagulls. This year I saw a few people quickly filetting their salmon with ulu knives, some on coolers, wooden planks or even well-used ironing boards! I love the atmosphere, even with the fish remains (you should see those Kings!), there are a lot of families there, kids playing on the beach or helping out with the fishing. It's great. We even ran into the Elders serving in the Kenai area, one of them was in our Anchorage ward last year, Elder Bedke from Oakley, Idaho. We wore mom out, but she was great sport and the toys she brought were a big hit with the girls while they played in the tent on the second day!

Growing Up!

Susanna lost her first tooth on Saturday. We noticed a shift in the front but, just thought her jaw was growing...then, last week I noticed the tops of a tooth sticking out behind the drifting tooth!! We're still new at this whole tooth thing, you know. It was a big moment for all of us. For Susanna, she was excited about the new idea of putting the tooth under the pillow at night and finding some shiny coins there the next morning...for the parents it was a big reminder, though small evidence, of her getting older. She lost her first baby tooth!! Aye! It was a long day so I wrapped the dental floss around her tooth and Rob pulled it up just around 10:40 pm (like I said it had been a LONG day!) Notice the window behind us, the sun has come out of the clouds! It was a beautiful sunny Saturday, "divinely" perfect for our Stake's Pioneer Party at the park, mmmm...delicious dutch oven cooking! Anchorage has hit temperatures above 70s only twice this summer, the average amount of 70+ days are 15. We're hoping to have some more soon! Everyone in the Boyle house is looking forward to Grandma and Grandpa Jex's visit soon!

Why Alaska?

Fourth of July Festivities

Check out Lucy at our Friendly Fourth of July Parade at Bohman Elementary in Anchorage.

http://hottiesandtotties.blogspot.com/2008/08/hotties-and-totties-fall-and-winter.html

One year later

Angela Jex Boyle

June 15, 2007

On Saturday, we made a lady bug cake, thanks to Sharon Hamrick, and put 2 candles in it, one for each girl to blow out. On Sunday, we barbecued Copper River red salmon and some King salmon which I don't think I had ever tried. El Re was red steak, but both were, as Lucy would say, "Duh-lishis"!!
Last year, the night before we found out about Angela's death, we ate Copper River reds given to us by the Wilbur G. There was a sweet overlap in time this year, as Rob was on the Copper River getting some reds with Wilbur on that same evening that last year we were eating it. To me, it was all poetry.

We celebrated Angela's birth on Sunday coupled with Father's Day and it was a beautiful day. We drove up into the hills above Anchorage. There, Susanna and Lucy decided on a name for her bear, nameless for one full year! Her name is Sara.

At first I was worried about remembering what she looked like as we only had her with us for just a while. Thanks to photos from Laurel we have a way to look back on those moments. I am also thankful for Susanna and Lucile who remember her everyday. Michelene created an Angela song which Lucy sang spontaneously Sunday. Susanna makes sure Sara is in just the right position on the shelf. Tonight, Lucy fell asleep quick after our prayers, stories and songs, I love seeing Angela's features in Lucy's face. Thank heavens for sisters!

Life is beautiful. I am becoming a better person thanks to my third daughter. I am thankful for the roundabout way that through her, my eyes are opening and I see things differently, see life differently. And I love it!

Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve

 

We stopped for dinner on our trip to this beautiful spot in Alaska known as the McCarthy Road, 60 miles of dirt road, that leads to the abandoned Kennecott Copper Mine. It is now owned by the National Park Service. The views were spectacular all along the way. Even the flat tire we discovered as we were cooking dinner at this spot didn't completely dampen our travelling spirits!

Lucy and her First Zipline

Here is our bold daughter! Notice how far from the ground she is! The young girl running next to her is a tall teenager!

Happy Father's Day!

 

To all the fathers we love, especially our own!
Love, Em, Susanna and Lucy

Grand Canyon

We left our heart in Anchorage

San Francisco March 2008 Susanna, Lucile, Grandma Jex

Em on the Colorado River

Just below Toroweap. Blessed place.

Lamanai, Belize, June 2006