Christmas is almost here!

Here are a few pics of our house at Christmas, I just love Christmas and everything about it! The lights, the decorations, the snow, the smells, the music, and especially being with family which unfortunately we can not do this year... at least we have each other!

These are some glass wall hangings that I made in my kiln, I made the snowman and the tree about two years ago and I just barely finished the Santa after bringing my kiln on the plane with me from Utah because I forgot it when we moved up here! After all that I accidently broke my kiln and had to order a new part for it, what a pain!

Well, last of all here is a picture of our duplex. It's not the cutest place, but most of the houses in Alaska are ugly.... the inside is much nicer and I try to make it look cute! The snowman and penguins are just a couple of decorations I had to have this year, I just thought they were so cute! I also tried to do as many christmas lights as I could this year, but hopefully I can add more next year and put them up before it gets too cold! They make me happy.

We will miss everyone! I hope you all have a Happy Holiday!

MeRrY ChRiStMaS! ~LoVe BrAnDeN aNd MeLiSsA

A Bittersweet Thanksgiving...Again

So, this is the second Thanksgiving in a row that Branden I have not been able to spend together, and we won't be together next year either. I'm glad that I was able to fly home and be with family but I wish Branden was here, he didn't even get a Thanksgiving dinner and he just wanted to be here with all of his family and me! Well, that's military life for ya. At least we will be able to spend Christmas together with just the two of us because we won't be together next Christmas. Anyways, enough whining I still had a wonderful Thanksgiving with TONS of food! Here is the first Thanksgiving dinner I went to with the Jones Family, I had to put both of these pictures because my aunt Cheryl is in one and my Grandma Jackie is in the other. The Dinner was really good!

This is me and my cousin Melanie, we both love to play the piano (she is a lot better than me and has won multiple piano competitions) we love hanging out when we can!

This is our nephew Matthew who was the photographer for the day he took all of the pictures below as well of this one of his self! I thought it was pretty funny... he wanted to make sure that we didn't forget what anybody or anything looked like while we are in Alaska! Including his toy airplane!

The is the second Thanksgiving dinner I went to with the Binghams. It was amazing as well as the gormet breakfast we had earlier in the day! Branden's mom is wonder woman, I don't know how she does it all, but everything was so good including the eleven pies she made!! I am so greatful for such a wonderful family and husband, I don't know what I'd do without them!

Girls Night Out!

Me and the girls (Natalie Lowe Hansen, Ashlee Haycock Jones my sister-in-law, Tiffany Sullivan, and Erika Niederhauser soon to be Erika Rappleye ) went out to dinner last night at the Union Grill. We try to get all of us together at least once every few months. Since I am going to be living out of Utah from here on out... we decided we should probably get together whenever I am in Utah. Its always hard to plan a time when everyone can get together because we are all so busy, but in the end it is always well worth it! Its always fun to see what everybody is up to!

Bingham Family Pictures!

These pictures were taken right before we moved to Alaska. I think they turned out really cute! I'm in Utah now for the next month to visit family while Branden is training in California. I already miss him so much! It's going to be so hard when he leaves in March next year to Afghanistan! It's been nice to spend time with family and friends and get out of the extreme cold weather. It will probably be below zero when I get back!! Not to mention the all day darkness!!

A cold day at the Alaska Zoo!

Yesterday we went to the zoo with our new friends the Davis'.

This is Ryan, Dawn, and that bundle of blankets in the stoller is Britton, their cute little baby boy! We pretty much hang out with these guys all the time! We have so much fun together!

Here is a collage of the many animals that we saw at the zoo! Click on it to see a larger view... some of the pictures turned out pretty good! Based on how cold we were, we felt really bad for the animals! At least we can go back to our heated homes! Anyways, that was the extent of our day, there is not much to do when it is 20 degrees outside!

Our Home in Alaska!

I said I would post some pictures of our home in Alaska a long time ago, so here they are finally! These pictures are just of the upstairs, and I'm not completly done decorating yet, so sorry but I thought this would give you an idea.

The downstairs has two bedrooms and a bathroom, as well as a two car garage. We really like living here, its a little big for just the two of us... we pretty much just stick to the upstairs and use the downstairs for storage! I'll probably post more when/if Branden will let me decorate more!!

Missing the Family...Saying Goobye

FAMILY PICTURES

GOODBYE PARTY

Shawn and Tiffany

Ryan and Ashlee

Jenny and Justin

Trevor and Natalie

Austen, Necana, Beau, and Bryce in the back!
Me and Amber

MOVING DAY

Saying Bye to the Fam

The huge moving truck!

Keaton and us...

Keaton, mom, and us...

Keaton, Dave, and us...

We will miss our niece...
Alicey!

Cohen!

...and nephews so much!

Cohen, Branden, Matthew, and Ashton!

We're Here!...Our adventure begins!

After many months apart, not knowing where or when we were going to live together again, and a 50 hour five day drive, we are finally in Alaska! It was hard to say goodbye to all of our family and friends, and we will miss everyone more than anything. We appreciate everyone's love and support very much. Our adventure begins here! The drive was beautiful! We stayed in Idaho Falls the first night with some of my family, Calgary Canada the second night, Fort St. Johhn Canada the third night, Watson Lake Canada the fourth night, Beaver Creek Canada, the fifth night, and finally Fort Richardson. Here are some photos of our road trip!

We're moving to Alaska!

So, after eight months of putting our lives on hold we finally have a destination...... Anchorage , Alaska! We will be stationed at Fort Richardson sometime in the next month. Branden has worked his butt off these past months, and I am very proud of him and how well he did. He got his maroon beret for airborne which is one of the many berets he had hoped to get, the other ones will hopefully come in time. He is definately a hero in my eyes after all that training! We are excited that we will FINALLY be able to live together again!