The Past Few Weeks....

This is the first Christmas ever that I have not been with family which was really hard, we miss everyone so much. I'm glad that we at least got to spend Christmas with each other, its sad to think Branden will not be here next Christmas though. We also are greatful for all of the friends we have met up here that we got to spend the holidays with, I don't know what we would do with out them! They are like family now!

Here we are on Christmas Eve playing Zarahemla as usual! I'm telling you this game is addicting! We have so much fun hanging out with Ryan, Dawn and Britton. Especially when we can get the boys away from the X Box! They are addicted to that too!

This Christmas Branden got a bunch of video games so he won't be bored in Afghanistan along with some of his favorites such as easy cheese, sunflower seeds, coke, and sour patch kids, and a photo album with pistures of us and family to take with him, and I got a bunch of random things like a piano book, cd, bini, pj's, a blender, and etc, (please ignore how nasty I look in these pics, I clearly was not ready for the day) and we got a bunch of board games which is our new favorite thing to do since we can't go outside really. Branden was so excited to get the board game Zarahemla, which we have been playing non-stop with the Davis' since we met them! He also made me breakfast, pancakes and orange julius... my favorite! He's so good to me!

Christmas Morning!

Branden's friend Pete and his girfriend Kristen stayed with us for a few weeks during the holidays which made it a lot less lonely! She flew in from Georgia to visit Pete before he deploys, we wish she could have stayed it was fun having her here! There was never a dull moment with Pete around either... as you can tell!

This year for Christmas we all decided that we did not want to cook so we went to the chow hall for lunch/dinner which was actually pretty good! We might make it a tradition! No cooking or clean up! We spent the rest of the day playing games with everyone.

My visiting teacher gave us tickets to an Alaska Aces hockey game which her husband got free from his work so our friends The Davis' bought tickets and came along with us. The seats were pretty good, but the fights were the best! They lost but it was still fun, even though we were all completly numb walking to and from the car.

Alaska and I have a love hate relationship so far... I love how beautiful it is here, but -24 degrees just hurts... and it freezes your nose hair and lungs when you breathe!

So, Branden got a small raise and that is how he justified buying this.....

Which now takes up the other half of our garage. He loves Double Shot.... and so do the missionaries!

Happy New Year Everyone!

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!!