Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday Jenny!

For my birthday I really wanted to cross country ski into Barber cabin. It's on the Kenai river and followed the river for a ways. The water was a blue turquoise and I knew we would be back there in the summer to do some combat fishing for the salmon that run through there like crazy. Drew and Jennifer let us borrow some of their backpacking equipment and Drew made all the food for us that night (beef straganoff and smores for dinner and then bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, and oatmeal for breakfast). We knew we invited them for a reason. :) The trip in was 4.2 miles on skis and the trip out was a couple miles more because we detoured and hit the Resurrection waterfalls. Aaron was so sweet and carried most of our stuff so I only had to carry our toiletries, our clothes, and our sleeping pads. My pack was really light so it was an easy ride both ways. It was super fun!

Starting out

I had to take my skies off and walk a bit because there were so many dips and holes and turns and my knee was killing me. The trail was pretty tracked out for a bit and very slippery. I did not want to fall again and have to have surgery on my knee again. Our cabin was at the other edge of the lake, so we had to cross the lake to get there. I was so nervous because when we first got on there was a watery hole right next to us, but I didn't have to worry. As Aaron later found out the ice was more than a foot and a half deep.

Barber Cabin

We got the wood stove going just as the sun was setting. It was so cozy!

Sunset

Sadie had a blast playing in the snow.

We kept our eyes out for the Northern Lights, but we were too far south to pick them up.

The sky was amazingly clear and the stars were so bright and beautiful.

It is amazing to be miles and miles away from any other light source. Gorgeous!

The next morning we wanted to go ice fishing so Drew and Aaron took turns with an ice pick and an ax trying to get through the ice. They got down about a foot and a half before they gave up and we played around instead. Aaron made some snow angels and Sadie gave him a halo.

Their ice fishing hole

Showing off the mountains

Packed up and ready to leave our little cabin

There were about four different pieces of Ressurection Falls. This is one of them.

         

Kenai River

My favorite part about camping is coming home and taking a hot shower and brushing your teeth and feeling all clean again. After we were all cleaned up we met up at Jack Sprats and had some dinner. Wendy and Nathan from our branch joined us too. They sang Happy Birthday and we ate some delicious food!

Jennifer, Drew, Aaron, me, Wendy, and Nathan

Aaron and I both had the 14oz ribeye steak with potatoes and greens. YUM! It was so tender and delicious  Jack Sprats is my new favorite restaurant. It was a fabulous birthday!

Spring Skiing

Spring Skiing

I've decided spring is my favorite time of the year. We've had more sunny bluebird days in February and March than we've had all year long. It is gorgeous outside and though it is still only in the 20's and 30's the sun makes it feel so much warmer. We've been skiing in tank tops and t-shirts and the whole town is in a happy mood.

Moose Meadows is our favorite spot to go skiing. Sadie will often be found flicking the snow up with her nose and grabbing mouthfuls here and there. She is an excellent skiing partner. When I can get Aaron to go, he's a great skiing partner too.

Isn't he such a hottie!?!

Who doesn't want to go skiing through the enchanted forest?

Sadie's coat has grown out quite a bit to get accustomed to the Alaskan climate and she looks better than ever. She's such a pretty puppy, and such a good poser for her mom. I don't where I could find a better exercise partner!

It's fun to see all the fun creations out of snow. Snowmen, snow dogs, and snow caves. The Meadow dog mushers come out here to give people rides around the meadow and to practice with their dogs. It is too fun.

Sadie and I did a really hard and long ski out to Winner Creek. It was stunning. I also crashed really good and strained a tendon in my knee trying to avoid running into my dog down a hill, so this picture is extra special. She usually gets out of my way, but she was more interested in playing with a lab to pay attention to me until it was too late. Bummer. I get to play gimpy leg for a little while.

The sun has come out for these long days again. The first picture is from our backyard. I opened the curtains and felt the sun in the living room for the first time since Sept!!! I grabbed Aaron and we did a little happy dance in front of the window. The second is walking home at 9pm! It was still light outside!!! I love these long days.

The Northern Lights

The Northern Lights

This is the second large solar flare since we've been here and our clear sky scored some amazing Northern Lights. It's a little frustrating to see something so beautiful and not be able to share with everyone back at home. They look like living streams of light and they pulse and dance and are so beautiful to look at. Fortunately, Aaron just got this camera for his birthday and after adjusting the shutter speed a little, got some amazing pictures of the Northern Lights. There were red and orange intertwined in with the green this time. It was a wonder to behold. 

Aaron is loving his new camera. He's trying to figure out how to do waterfall pictures so he can take some good pictures this summer. We love living in Alaska!