Z's show tune debut

Yes, we had yams for supper. I got out the camera hoping to catch Zoralee dancing, which she did a little of. But wait until the very end for the best part, Z's contribution.

'round here

We lived in a winter wonderland for our last few weeks in Anchorage. Everything was covered in hoar frost (why the rude name, I don't know); every natural and man-made item left outside was stricken with an ever-thickening coat of frozen crystals. The trees all looked completely fake, like they belonged in a toy world. You couldn't imagine any of them coming back to life again next spring. It was immensely beautiful, and scary.

Looking through my photos, the outdoor scenes are juxtaposed with ones of friendship and warmth.

I've mentioned my great love for irony, right? This mug of frozen tea, left overnight in the car, bears a tag that says, "Vitality, Clarity, Well-Being."

backblogged

It's the first week of January as I write, though I'm blogging month-old happenings. I just can't find it in me to skip ahead to now, even though there is so much to say. I envision this as a family journal that should be kept somewhat chronological, and I fear I might not post old stuff if I move on too soon.

There you have it.

my folks' and Rachel's visit

As I mentioned, my parents and sister flew to Alaska for Zoralee's first birthday party. One day Zoralee will be able to understand the extreme measures being taken to celebrate her existence - the first, long-awaited grandchild of my folks / niece of my siblings / great-grandchild of my maternal grandparents. She gets a few truckfuls of attention. By the time that someday comes, we'll hopefully have enough other little dudes running around that she won't become too twerpish.

Thanks, Mom, Dad, and Rach, for loving Z and us in this way!

experiencing Grandpa Larry's amazing legs

sports

wrastlin'

Brooks at one of his year-end tournaments - he later took second at state!

baby-tossin'

bundled babies make such great tossers

the all girl oatmeal gang

One morning we got to have Chloe and Lillian over for a visit while Elisha ran an errand. Chloe was gleeful to see that Zoralee had had oatmeal for breakfast. "We had oatmeal too!" she said. For the rest of the day, I thought of them as a little all girl oatmeal gang. Lillian often reminds me of a Norman Rockwell character, but here, they all look like they fell out of a painting together for a photo shoot on the couch.

Zoralee is one

Zoralee's birthday was just perfect! A group of friends and family came to my cousins' house in celebration of a whole year of life for Zoralee Rena. She opened some presents (which a few rule-breakers had brought), listened to two poems from friends, played with Tate, Luke, Gauge, Chloe, and Lillian, and spent several minutes poking at her own Z cake. Otherwise, the rest of us enjoyed snacks and cake and ice cream, and watched a short video collage of Z's birth and first couple months (made possible at the last minute by Scott's computer savviness). Elisha brought a chocolate cake which we sprinkled powder sugar onto in a zebra stripe pattern, and my mom made a coconut cake, which we sprinkled chocolate shavings onto in the same pattern.

And get this. A day or two before her birthday, I was at the thrift store looking for a funky party dress for Zoralee, and I happened across a zebra-print dress (the one you see in all the pictures). I about fell over. It was $1.99. IS IT NOT PERFECT FOR A ZEBRA PARTY? Z for zebra; Z for Zoralee, see. My mom also got her the zebra hair ribbon, and we put on her black tights. I'll you what; the whole getup was enough to make a cute-sensitive person faint.

In over-the-top gestures of love, my folks flew up from Montana for the week, and Rachel flew up from Portland for a long weekend. It was so great having them here, not only for Z's birthday but just for hanging out together. And in the case of Rachel, being pregnant together! Yippidy-dooooo!

Here are some more pictures, courtesy of Elisha and Brandon.

Rachel uploaded this video to youtube. After the singing, it's not especially exciting, but here 'tis.

Lilli-isms

As we've gotten to know each other better during this stint in Alaska, three year old Lillian has asked me some great questions. The inquiries started adding up, and I could see they deserved their own blog post. These are the four I remember:

1. [watching as I stirred guacamole]: "Is that Yoda food?"

2. [skeptically pointing at my brown undershirt and red and blue striped overshirt] "Do those match?"

3. "Why did you guys order two babies?"

- and my favorite -

4. [with a very concerned face] "When you have a baby in your tummy, is it okay to eat cheese puffs?"

fun scams in the middle of the night

If you are a contact on my sister, Rachel's, gmail or facebook, please don't respond to urgent requests for money. Some hooligan hacked into those accounts in the middle of the night, and sent mass messages about being robbed at gunpoint in London and needing help to get home. We've been getting emails from good folks wanting to make sure they're okay, and yes, they are. Just annoyed at the cleanup they're having to do. Thankfully, most people realized that the poor grammar used in the message didn't sound much like Rachel. Ha ha. Tip to scammers: brush up on your English.

What's the most fun about this is that it all happened in the middle of the night (so maybe the scammer lives across the world where it's daytime). Mom and Dad were here in Alaska with us, and spent the second half of the night receiving and sending questions and answers to friends via phone text.

Some nights when you go to sleep, you just don't know what will happen next.