-40

We took a little video of what happens to water at this temperature. At that moment it was -38. We are going to have to do it again when it is light, to see if you can see it better.

Here are also some pictures of some of the ice fog. If there is any moisture in the air, it freezes into a fog. Some days you can't see far at all, but mainly it just looks hazy out.

The forecast for Friday calls for -50! What an adventure!

North Pole

We went to North Pole, Alaska the other day. We went to the Santa Claus house and the Christmas In Ice.The city hosts a ice sculpture "contest". People come from all around the US to carve where their creation can last for months.

There are reindeer at Santa's house. The boys wondered why Rudolph was not there.

The kids were sitting in a sleigh of ice. It was -10 that day. The kids were all bundled up for the weather but Curtis and I were not. We couldn't even make it through the whole park. I honestly felt like my fingers were getting frostbite.

Shortest Daylight of the Year

We decided to show you all what the shortest "day" in Alaska looks like. I must admit that the camera did not take the best pictures of the amount of light. The dark is not as dark as it should be, and the light parts of day should turn out brighter. But at least it can give you an idea of how it is.
9 A.M. 10 A.M.

11 A.M.
12 P.M. 1 P.M.
2 P.M.
3 P.M.

Kid's Christmas Party

On Saturday we went to our squadron's Children's party. Some of the helpers f0r the party were out with a stomach bug going around(we had it last weekend) so I got roped into helping as an elf. But the kids had fun and had a chance to run around out of our little hotel room.

They made crafts and ate dinner and jumped in the bouncy castle. Then of course, Santa came. He was the old style Santa. All of the children got gifts. Jake was near the last to be called up to see Santa. He was worried out of his mind. It didn't help that we were teasing him that he must not have been good enough this year; he was almost in tears by the time they called his name! Megan had no desire to see Santa this year. She did like his gift and candy cane though!

A LIttle Spark of Excitement

Today we went to Nick's Holiday Concert. He was a good little singer. His cute little shy personality on stage reminds me of his daddy. It is cute to see.

After the concert we picked up Caleb from preschool. Right after we walked out, we saw a mama moose and her babies walked up to the school. We've been told that it is never wise to get between a mama and her babies, so we quickly got to the car.

We had the camera handy cause we'd just left the concert so we got some lucky pictures. I am glad that we can remind Caleb of the time that the moose walked right past his school!

Nothing New

I wish I had something important or interesting to post, but I do not. Not too much has changed since last time, no house, still cold, and still snowy.

Caleb did start back to preschool last week. He loves to go and we LOVE for him to go. He does well with it and enjoys the new experiences that school brings. He is ready to start Kindergarten and be with his brothers. I am excited too, but it is hard for me to bring myself to realize that I will soon have 3 in school. Wow. Where has time gone?

Megan goes back tomorrow to the Oral Surgeon for hopefully the last check up. She seems totally healed to me. No more bruise and she doesn't cry if you touch her chin. She eats completely normal and is still as sassy as ever.

Jake and Nick are enjoying school. Nick's Christmas program is Thursday. They will be singing some songs. He has been practicing and excited for it. They both can't wait to get into a house where they will have a basement to play in. I suppose that they feel just as cramped as I do.

Sorry, life is so boring, even though I kind of like it that way!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of good food and friends. We wish we were with family, but were in great company anyways. We have much to be thankful for and are grateful for all of you in our lives.

So on that thankful note, we are thankful that Megan is healing quickly. We took her back to the oral surgeon and he said that all looks well and she should be fully healed in a couple more weeks. We just have to watch her in the next few years to make sure that her jaw is growing evenly.

And we are thankful to have shelter, even if it is this miserable TLF. We thought that we would add a little clip of what Caleb does for a large part of the day. I guess it is his form of exercise in this place!

We hope you all had a good Thanksgiving too!

Something New To Post...

Well, my Dad told me the other day that I needed to post something new, and I told him that I would try to think of something to write about. So Megan helped us out with that.

We went to our ward's Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. After the meal all of the children were playing up on the stage. Megan was up there too and had been doing fine til she decided to get off all by herself(she is quite independent!) She fell head first and broke the fall with her chin. Curtis and I took her home and put her to bed thinking it was like every other fall our little ones have taken.

This morning we woke and she wouldn't eat and cried nonstop. After we called the on-call doctor and were told to take her in, we headed up to the Army Hospital up near Fairbanks. They gave her a CAT scan and found that she had a fracture in her jaw. The oral surgeon was called in and he confirmed the break, but said that we are lucky that Megan was so young. She should heal quickly but we go in next week to make sure that she didn't break the "growth plate", which would be major problems.

She is feeling better and starting to eat more(which has to be liquid or pureed for the next week). She is also on medicine to help with the pain.

We like drugs!!

Life is Slow

Well, honestly, I have no new exciting news. So I just looking through some of the pictures we took on our trip out here to find something to write about.

We are still in our TLF(temporary housing). We are hoping to move into our new house sometime around the 18-21st of December. I hope so. I am trying to stay positive about this tiny, terrible TLF. It is warm and has everything we need, and there are millions of people who live in worse conditions everyday!! With the cold temps(5 degrees right now) and not a whole lot of space to run(or move!) we are hard-pressed to find something new to do. Caleb decided to color his fingernails with a dry erase marker.

Jake came home from school upset the other day cause someone said that the Packers weren't good. He has been learning to not worry about that kind of criticism. Plus when he wears his KC Chiefs shirt, we all know they aren't any good!!During one of our stops, Bella thought that she was the boss(as usual) and was quickly shown by another dog that she wasn't. She got bit. She shook with fear for a couple of hours. I thought that she deserved it. But she has healed quickly and has resumed the position as the boss!

Please come visit us in Alaska. It is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Just don't look at the thermometer!

Name that movie

Man #1: ...are there rocks ahead?

Man #2: If there are, we all be dead.

Man #1: No more rhyming now, I mean it.

Man #2: Anybody want a peanut?

Eielson AFB

So I finally got around to taking a few pictures of the base today. They aren't anything exciting but some of the things that I am interested in when going to a new base.

The new BX will open soon. It is huge! I am excited to have a nice selection of things...such a change from Whiteman!

The club where they have all meals, yes, Whiteman girls, it serves dinner buffet every night! And Mongolian is on Thursdays!

And finally, our new house. Unfortunately someone still lives in it still. They are going to move out on the 8th of December and we move in after maintenance is through. We are looking forward to that day. We are thinking about moving into a little apartment offbase for a month and a half while we wait. Curtis and I don't know how much more of this junky, tiny TLF we can take anymore.And thank you to my brother Aaron for fixing the little plugs so that we can plug in our car at night when it gets -10(and worse yet to come!)

Day Ten

I know that it is late....

We arrived at Eielson AFB on Monday around 11 am. We were all so glad to

finally arrive. 10 days is way too long. We checked into TLF and went to the housing office. We should hear back from them soon to see how long it will be before we get into a house.

The boys started school today. They were nervous but I am sure that they are having a good time. Curtis also went to the Fire Station today to be introduced and start his inprocessing.

The base is large. We have about 6-8 inches of snow on the ground. This morning while taking the boys to school it was -10 degrees. Megan couldn't stop crying and saying "It's cold!" Everyone says that we will get acclimated but I can't imagine that anyone can get used to this weather!

I will take some pictures of the base soon. I am still trying to figure my way around this base...and concentrate on not sliding into anyone!

Movie Quote

For those of you that are not part of the Brown family you may not understand this. Lately we have been posting quotes from movies to see who and how long it takes to guess them. Anyone can answer. You do not have to be a member of the Brown family to play. I thought that I would give the movie quote thing a try. Here it goes.

person #1: You gonna order something, kid?

Person #2: Ah, yeah... Give me - Give me a Tab.

Person #1: Tab? I can't give you a tab unless you order something.

Person #2: All right, give me a Pepsi Free.

Person #1: You want a Pepsi, PAL, you're gonna pay for it.

Day Nine

We are finally in Alaska. It is a great feeling to finally be back into the states. We stopped for the night in Tok, a small town about 175 miles outside of the base. We hope to be there sometime around lunchtime. We hope to know by the afternoon how long it will be before we get into a house. I can't wait because I don't know if I can sleep in the same room with all my children for too much longer!

Day Eight

Today was another LONG day. We decided to push it a bit trying to get ahead of the weather. It was supposed to snow. It didn't snow, but it was absolutely beautiful out. This area up here is incredible. No pictures do it justice. We are already excited to drive through it in the summer.

We finally made it into the Yukon. It was a welcome sight knowing that the next border is Alaska! We have seen many wildlife along the way. Mostly caribou and buffalo. The are such huge creatures and they aren't afraid of the cars. I can't wait to get to Alaska and have them in my backyard!

P.S. We are in Whitehorse, Yukon. It is the largest city around for hundreds of miles. It has a population of 25,000. The kids were glad to see a McDonalds again.

Day Seven

Today we started down the Alaskan Highway. It was raining when we woke up in the morning, and it was about to start freezing. It was not what we wanted to hear. As we headed down the road, the temperature started dropping and the rain started freezing. The roads weren't terrible, but icy enough to keep you on edge. After about an hour, we drove past a truck off the side of the road(who had been hauling a trailer) rolled upside down, everything scattered everywhere, ruined. It was terrifying. I could not relax until afternoon when the rain finally stopped and the roads started drying out.

The more north we got, the rain had frozen to the trees and made them all white. It was absolutely gorgeous.

We finally made it to Toad River for the night. It was a hole but did the job. We slept well but when tried to shower, the smell of sulphur overwhelmed Curtis and limited our bathroom experiences!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN! Our princess is 2!

Day Six

Another day in Canada, and besides the gas prices, things are going well.

The landscape is changing the more north we go. There are very beautiful parts and some "Nebraska" looking parts.

When we finally made it to British Columbia we stopped for the night in town called Dawson Creek. It is the start of the Alaskan Highway. We are excited to started to feel so close! Only 1441 miles to go!This is a little marker they have set up to show the beginning of they highway. They say it is one of the most photographed thing along the way. So we had to make sure that we got "our" picture of it too!

Day Five

Today we left Montana and headed up towards Canada. We made it through the border without any trouble(they didn't confiscate any children!)

We made it to Red Deer, Alberta. We stopped for dinner in Calgary. There was quite a bit of traffic(not too much but more than we have encountered lately). Jake became a little nervous and said, "Oh no, the first day in all my life to be in Canada, and it's stinkin' terrible!"

The kids have been travelling very well. Some days are "longer" than others but we are surviving and HALF WAY DONE!!!