Christmas is Coming.....

Haha so you know that goal I made a few months back....like almost 12 months!  The one about how I'm going to do a post....every week!  Haha Todd kindly reminded me of that a few days ago.  Then I kindly reminded him of my computer troubles and how I have some other things that I do during the day like changing diapers and wiping noses and helping Huxley not sit on Cache's head.  Yeah....the blog didn't turn out the way I had wanted but you know....I did do more than I would have if I hadn't have set the goal and that's something right?

Anyways!  Christmas is coming!  Fast actually!  I can just hear Aunt Paige's voice doing the daily countdown.  The things we'll miss this year!  We actually decided to stay in Barrow this Christmas.  It will be very different!  We'll have 2 1/2 solid weeks of staying at our own home...meaning NO. AIRPLANE. RIDES!!!  I cannot tell you how comforting that thought is!  It's sad when you get to the point where just looking at an airplane makes you want to throw up....or just stay in Barrow forever.  Don't worry family I'm almost professional at throwing up so I'll take one for the team and throw up and get on a plane so you can see my cute kids sometime! :)

Anyways!  More exciting than Christmas is......

I GET TO TALK TO MY SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!  

Do you know how long 6 months is?  

I do and let me tell you....it has not passed very quickly at all.  

Sister Kristina Hendricks is serving in the Colorado Colorado Springs Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  She's doing awesome!  She's such a great example to all of us!  And in 11 days we get to hear her voice!!!!!!  Oh what a great Christmas it will be!

Well let me tell you about our crazy little life up here.

We are SOOOO close to having the addition done!  I cannot wait to have all of my husband's brain power back!  If he's not working on it....he's thinking about it!  So as soon as we can get that done the better.  Except for the fact that Todd always needs a project so I'm just bracing myself for his next idea. Wish me luck!  We have renters that need to be in by January 1st so we're so close!

Huxley turned 2!  And boy is he thinking he's 'the stuff'!  He's so cute though!  Really!  He's a pill though!  Some of the things he comes up with I have no idea where he gets them!  I like to blame Todd.  Right now he's OBSESSED with 'caca milk'.  Or chocolate milk.  He will drink that all of the time!!!!  He can even go in the fridge and get the chocolate syrup out and walk around with it until someone takes it away and then the roof comes down with his tantrums.  I've limited it to after nap time he can have 'caca milk'.  As bad as it is that I'm giving him so much sugar....you should see how happy it makes him!  Seriously!  As soon as I give him some it's like nothing in the world could make him unhappy!  He gets almost giddy! :)  So cute!  He'll dance around and smile and laugh.  Oh!!!!

Cache....oh little Cachee!!  He's gettin big!!  He's discovered he does like food!  It only took him 8 months!  But now he's like a bottomless pit!  His favorites are paper and eggs.  He's also figured out he can pull himself up and get into the toy box!!  He gets so proud of himself and squeals so happily!!  He's starting to figure out he can walk when people hold his fingers.  He gets around really well with his little army guy crawl though.  I'm not too anxious to get him walking--I know as soon as he does it will be a whole different game at home.  Huxley will discover he has many more uses with him!!  Cache is also starting to sign!!!!  I'm so happy!  I love Signing Time (a little plug about this....I'm an instructor for them so if you ever want to buy any videos I can get you a good discount!) and it's so fun to see him trying to communicate with us!  Right now he's signing 'all done'!  Oh it makes my heart melt!  It's so rewarding to see your kids do things that you've been teaching them!  Someday he'll say a prayer and it will be even better!

Todd and I somehow keep ourselves busy!  Todd was put in the Branch Presidency as 1st Councilor-Sacrament meetings are a whole different story now!  Thank goodness for my VT companion!  :)  I was put in YW and have been juggling doing the activities and lessons as well as continue as the RS Secretary.....we stay very busy!  We want to serve the Lord though and it looks like He's helping us do that by giving us callings! :)  That's one reason we love Barrow so much.  If we were living in Utah we wouldn't have as many opportunities to share the Gospel and also just to live the Gospel.  Todd and I were talking about it and if we wanted to go inactive or even just miss a Sunday here or there...we wouldn't be able to.  Our Branch is so close and we keep such close tabs on everyone that things aren't 'missed' as they would be if we were a bigger ward somewhere else.  I don't know if that makes sense but anyways....we love Barrow and the Church! :)

Kali is doing fine!  She's a pretty good, self sufficient cat!  The only thing I haven't figured out is how to get her to change her litter box.  But she waters herself (somehow) and feeds herself (by cutting a hole in her food bag and eating out of it whenever she wants).  I don't do much to her.  We talked about getting some fish and then we decided not to because then people would have to take care of them when we leave town but then we thought we could just leave them out for Kali and then we really wouldn't have to worry about her-she'd have water in the bowl and if she got hungry enough she could eat the fish!  It's a win-win right?  Ha!  Don't worry we're not planning on taking one of our precious carry-ons and hauling a fish up here!  I say 'precious' because when you're buying all of your food 'off-slope' and bringing it all in your luggage, every pound and inch of room matters.  Don't get me wrong we like fish and would love to have some...just not here in Barrow!

Well I think that about does it!

Bye!

Henke's To The Rescue

Well we had another exciting adventure with the fish net!  

Last Saturday we went out to check it-this time in the car :)-and we had 3 fish in it

and...

A DUCK!!!!

Sad but so fun!  We got there just in time too-the poor thing was so tangled and just barely breathing.  Todd asked if we should take him home and the nurse in me said, 'heck yes, we're going to take him home!  How fun will that be to have a duck!'  Todd laughed and said we couldn't have a pet duck, they poop everywhere and they stink.  

Well so do our children!  

They just have something that catches it!

So we brought him home!  The whole car ride home Huxley kept saying 'duck' 'duck' and then I'd point up in the front seat and say, 'he's right here' and then he'd be ok for a little while.  Then he'd start looking for it all over again and the process would repeat!  Oh to have the mind of a child again!

We brought him in and I got a box and our heating pad (bad idea looking back) and a pillowcase.  We put him in the box after Huxley got a good look at him and yes...a kiss from him.  I know, the nurse in me should have freaked out but....I didn't.  My kids are going to get sick and all I can do is take care of them.  Worrying and being obsessed with the germs constantly will just make me upset.  Especially since we seem to travel on airplanes....um all of the time!

Anyways back to the duck!

We got him all settled in on a nice warm bed with some bread pieces and just waited to see what would happen!  We got everyone ready for bed and Huxley said 'night night' to it and we started to clean the fish and then we heard something scratching on the box.  We came out and the duck had moved a little bit but still wasn't looking that good so we put a lid on the box so he couldn't jump out and have Kali (our cat) harass him.   We went to bed and during the night I'd hear him jumping around and in the morning he looked good to go!  Oh and I decided his name would be 'Hank' during one of the feedings with Cache. 

Well I didn't really think we could keep the duck.  Especially after Todd kindly pointed out to me that ducks fly.  Call me blonde but that just never occurred to me!  The pet ducks I've always seen don't fly, so why would this one?  Todd then pointed out that they fly South for the winter.....ohhhh right!!   He was also right about the duck pooping and stinking-my heating pad is going to need some MAJOR disinfecting!!

So before Church we all got in the car-even Hank-and went down the street by one of the Lagoons.  We opened Huxley's door so he could watch and then we tipped the box on the side and Hank ran out! He was kind of tipsy and limped a little for a few steps but who wouldn't after being stuck in that box for 12 hours and who knows how long in the net?  We kept watching and he eventually made it down to the water!  

Yay!!!  We rescued something!! :)

Hopefully he's ok and will be able to fully recover.  He looked pretty good when we let him go!

Cute little Huxley was excited to see him move around but he kept asking where he went for probably the next day.

Someday we'll live in a place where we can really have a pet duck! :)

Don't mind my messy house...I had been sick lying on the couch all day trying my best to keep the boys safe so house cleaning was totally off of my list of to dos!

Sick I know.  What'd I tell ya?  I shouldn't have put my heating pad in there!  But, it helped him stay alive-at least that's what I tell myself! :)

Haha!  Huxley has the cutest little voice and right here he's saying 'poop' 'poop'.  So cute!

The Releasing!

Also, this is about all of the vegetation you'll see in Barrow.  And you don't see it for long and then the snow shows up!

What a Crazy World We Live In

Yesterday we went for a four wheeler ride....

all four of us....

on the same four wheeler!

My mother would have killed me!  I actually called to talk to her afterwards and she asked if anyone had helmets on....

We're pretty sure someone in Barrow riding a four wheeler had a helmet on! :)

Well we were watched over and protected and no one got hurt.

It was pretty exciting though!

It was about 35 degrees
It was pretty windy
We all had our snow outfits on

Picture this:

Huxley was on front with a balcalva and all you could see were two little eyes poking out.  He kept on making 'vroom vroom' noises and every now and then a 'beep beep'.  He'd also try and hold on to the handles.  So cute.

Then it was Todd.  My handsome husband.

Then Cache and I.  Cache was in the KozyCarrier in his cute bear snowsuit and then tucked inside my coat.  He kept making little screaming noises too and Todd kept asking 'are those happy noises?'  Yes he was fine!  He sure is a loud little thing!

On the back was a cooler for our fish we were going to pick up.

In Barrow people Subsistence hunt and fish which means they do it to survive.  What that means for us is that we can hunt some outrageous number like 7 caribou a day and we can catch and eat as much fish as we want.  So we have a fish net!  It's connected to the beach with ropes and then there's a pulley system out in the water about 60 feet that keeps the other end of the net out there.  Anyways you can ask Todd more about all that...I just know if you pull one rope it brings the net in and if you pull the other it pulls the net out.  So!  We set a net out this year to catch fish.  We go out and check it every night.  Yesterday we had one pink salmon in it.  But there were days where it had 16 in the net.  

How blessed are we?!

Anyways, our net is about 8 miles out of town so a pretty long four wheeler ride.  We stuck to the beach so that it would be safer with all of us and so we could go slower.  Personally, I'd rather ride on the beach anyways.  It's not very often you get to just watch the ocean waves come in and out plus every now and then there might be a dead animal.  Call me sick but I never get to see the walrus or seals or whales when they're alive so when they're dead and just laying there you get to have a pretty close up look at them!  They're cool animals!  So we finally got out there after two stops and turning arounds to find dropped gloves.  It was really windy then and starting to rain, Cache had woken up and was screaming at the top of his lungs to get out of my jacket and Huxley was trying to take his boots off and get in the water.  Why did I ask if we could all go out as a family and do this?  Oh yeah because it sounded like 'fun'!  

It was though.  How many families can say they did that?  I have no idea but I know my family can. These are the times that make living so far away from family and in such a remote place worth it.

If you ever want to come and visit we have room!  We can take you on a four wheeler ride too!  We won't make you have kiddos in front and behind you even! :)

What did you get to do with your family today that made everything worth it?

Our little driver

Our little bear

I should do an update.....

Well hi!  

I'm pretty sure no one follows this anymore since I'm not good at keeping it updated!  Well it's been about 5 months since I last got on here and I was trying to come up with reasons as to why it's been so long.  (Since I had that goal of writing every week....pa!)  Well I guess the biggest reason is.....I have two kids now!!  Crazy!!  Cache LaMar is 3 months old....ok he was 3 months old when I started this post but he'll turn 4 months in about a week! :)  I think we are finally getting the hang of life too!  Yeah it takes me awhile to get used to change!  Anyways!  I should introduce him a little since he's going to be a common character on this blog!

Cache LaMar was born March 25th at 8:58 pm.  He was 6 lbs. 15 oz. and 19 inches long.   He's a pretty good little kiddo!  He wakes up once at night to eat just a little-and when I say little it's like he gets up long enough for me to be awake and holding him and ready to nurse and then he's asleep again!  He goes to bed around 9 and then at 3 ish he wakes up and then sleeps until 7 or 8.  I think we got so blessed on this kiddo since we put up with Huxley for so long not sleeping!  Oh and by the way...Huxley has decided to wake up in the middle of the night again and need milk too.  Back to Cache!  He has reddish brown hair that sticks straight up!  He looks a lot like his Daddy but acts like me....slightly onery and tempermental.  He has HUGE little thighs and chubby little cheeks and loves to make noise-especially grunting and groaning noises.  He takes a binky but prefers his four fingers on either hand and sometimes his four fingers on both hands.  He loves to kick his legs and he kicks them hard!  Huxley and Cache have started playing footsie and kicking each other.  It's pretty cute.  He has some pretty cool tricks but the best ones right now are smiling and trying to laugh and yesterday he rolled over!  Onto his stomach!!  What the!?  So much fun!!  

Some things that Cache has gotten to be apart of since he was born are:

• A sinus infection-I promise I tried everything to keep him healthy but I guess sickness just happens when you have an older brother who gets into everything and likes to share binkies.
• A plane ride to Alaska-he did really well actually!  He was 2 1/2 weeks old and slept pretty much all of it.
• My Medical Coding graduation-he didn't like it at all.  Poor Todd had both kiddos by himself and it was bedtime.  What a great guy I have!
• High School graduation-Todd's taught for 3 years!!  Can ya believe it?  I kinda can't!
• A plane ride to Utah-not too bad but he did get a little overstimulated on one of the segments.
• Lots of walks-he loves the KozyCarrier and Huxley loves the stroller and I would love to lose weight so it's a win-win for everyone!
• Dropping Aunt Kristina off at the MTC-he slept but the rest of us had a good time driving her down and she even taught Huxley how to do the 'Chicken Dance' and make a pretty goofy face. Oh how I miss her!  Utah is great with all of the family but it sure isn't as great without Kristina here.  I'm proud of her though and it's been one of her biggest goals.  She'll be a great missionary!
• Going to Yellowstone-WHOA!  Haha I thought driving down from Alaska with a 6 month old was dumb and hard.  This was way harder!  Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Huxley takes only one nap a day so driving long stretches is close to torture or maybe it's because Cache is a total hog when it comes to eating and ate just about every hour to hour and a half around the clock which made it hard to do anything.  Either way we did it!  It was fun though.  I've loved going to Yellowstone growing up and I used to go just about every year with my family.  Now it's my turn to start doing that with my family and show them the things I love....I just wish it were easier! :)

Swinging in Grammy and Grampy's backyard-they have THE BEST swing set ever that my dad built when we were little.  So fun to see Huxley on it now! :)

Cousin Joshua and Grace came to visit for a few days!  So fun!!

Cache's Baby blessing!  Todd did such a great job and I know our family's enjoyed being apart of it!

Such a good big brother!!  And I wonder why Cache gets sick?!

:)  He makes me smile!

Yeah for family pics at the end of a long day!!  We look tired!

We went to an end of year party with the Henke's for the school district-lots of fun!

I wish we would have known about this room in the Anchorage airport sooner!  We spent 4 hours in here waiting for our flight to Utah.  It was AWESOME!  Quiet, enclosed and we were the only ones using it!!  SO GREAT!

Our great missionaries!  We miss them so much!  They were on fire up here in Barrow!  Huxley LOVED them!

Another 'good brother' picture! :)

Reading time with daddy!

Huxley wanted to go 'peep' and I was nursing Cache and forgot to close the bathroom door.  This is what I found.....:)  You just have to laugh at this!  Oh wow!  

The things he comes up with!  Pretty creative! :)  

He's all mine! :)  So cute!

Yeah!  We're so glad when daddy comes home!

Hahaha!  That's my child!!

His new cheeser face that I just love!

First bath together!  Cache really has onery looks!  This makes Huxley look so big too!

Playgrounds are so fun when it's warm outside!  We have lots in Barrow but it's usually too cold and windy to go and have lots of fun!

My sister and niece came from North Carolina to visit!  How fun!!

Huxley decided he loved the slide!  He was pro at it!  No injuries at all!

Auntie Kristina!  Oh we miss her!

Easter egg hunt!!  Our first one!  It was fun!

Such a cute little boy right?! :)

First family pics after Cache joined us! :)  He was about a week old! 

Huxley learned that he LOVES bike rides in the bike trailer! He also learned that it's more fun to stand up and turn around!  Such a brave kid!

Bah hahaha! :)

Learning what trees are....something we can't do in Barrow that's for sure! :)

Kristina opening her mission call!  She was called to Colorado Colorado Springs Mission.

As Baba said when he was holding him, '94 years and 4 days old....what a span'.  We just love Baba!

Our first journey in the car seat home.  He's so little!

First time meeting Cache!  Huxley was so great he just smiled and held him and was so cute!  Then he climbed into the little bassinet that Cache slept in!

Such a cute little sleeper!  This was on our Temple trip down in Anchorage.

Having a baby!  I was 7 cm here and not in any discomfort at all!  I won't post about it all since I might offend some people but if you're interested in how I prepared for Cache's birth I used Hypnobabies.   I highly recommend it!

Our little climber.  He gets into everything!!  Yup we still have the orange counters!  They do their job well though so I'm alright with them! :)

I got the bassinet out so that Huxley could get used to it!  This is how we spend a lot of afternoons....just climbing and playing in it!

Huxley and his baby.  He loved that thing!  He'd carry it around everywhere and feed it and push it in a chair around the house.   It payed off too having it!  He's such a good kiddo to Cache!

Yup I let him do that.

I also let him do this.  He's a climber and there really isn't anything I can do about that except keep the things he climbs on safe for him in case he falls.

Sick I know but really you just have to see this!!

He's a cute little keeper when we get him clean though! :)

Sister Hendricks!  Such a pretty girl!

My dad and his awesome garden...well one of them!  What a great guy he is and he helps my family so much with all his effort he puts into his gardening!  Thanks dad!

The dreaded 'drop off at the MTC' day.  I just didn't ever think about it and then it finally came.  Bittersweet.  She's fulfilling one of her life-long goals and I'm proud of her for that.  P.S. Yes I'm not in church clothes-I figured since we weren't going to get out of the car at the MTC it was ok not to be in church clothes.  However I kind of wish I had been.  It was a comfy car ride though not having to sit 'like a lady'! :)  Another p.s. I made that skirt she's wearing...pretty cute eh?? :)

Yup that's us!  You're welcome mom!  Oh and I cut my hair like oh ya know 12 inches!  I donated it!  Ok I will donate it!  I still haven't sent it in...hey I have two kids I'm busy ok! :)

Our little family went to Yellowstone!  This is Huxley in Jackson, Wyoming playing with the little chipmunks that kept popping out from underneath the boardwalks!

This is at the Lower Falls.  Pretty crazy that I'm old enough and have a family of my own now.

It was SOOO hot in Yellowstone.  So Cache pretty much lived in his PJs half way off!

Yellowstone Lake.  Huxley enjoyed the cold water and the waves.

Climbing...again.

He has the funniest looks!

:)

We went on a stagecoach ride in Yellowstone.  We all enjoyed it a lot!  There was a buffalo that we scared too and we got to watch it run...almost into a car that was driving down the road.  It was pretty cool!  I kind of wish that it had hit the car just so we could see what would have happened....yeah I'm rude I know.

Cool hat huh!

There's been TONS of other things Cache has been apart of.  He's a great trooper and lets us pack him around to do just about anything.  He's pretty easy going if he's fed and his diaper is clean but if he gets tired-boy can he scream!  Yup I've got a screamer for a kid.  My sisters have both asked me if it's normal and why does he do that...I think he just likes to be heard and doesn't want to leave any doubt with anyone that he can keep up with Huxley.

Well I think that's it for now!  I now have a computer in my home so I can blog more often than oh you know every 5 months!  :)  

Bye!

P.S.  I am enjoying this new Blogger!  It was so much easier to post pictures this time!  Way to go Blogger!