Mom and Dad Schmill Visit - Entry 1

It has been a great first few days with my family.  We’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to do a blog for some time now.  So, here is a recap on what we’ve been up to.

Mom and Dad’s flight arrived about an hour and a half late, so we picked them up around 2:00 a.m.  Being that it was a late night, we all slept in pretty late.  I then went to an orientation for being a substitute in the Fairbanks School District.  It went quite well, so we will see what I hear from them in a few days, God-willing.  While I was there, mom and dad walked around downtown Fairbanks.  A few of the pictures below will show what they saw.  All four of us went back downtown later that evening for a downtown market. 

Yesterday, we mom, dad, and myself went to Museum of the North at the University of Alaska – Fairbanks.  IT was incredible all the information they had there for us to learn.  You could spend about 8 hours there, and not have read everything.  We then came home to get Jason, and headed out to North Pole; mom and dad had to see The Santa Claus House.  After grilling out here at home, we took my parents to Hot Licks  - Alaskan handmade ice cream!  YUM! 

Today, we started our morning with a little exercise.  Jason ran really early in the morning, and then Dad ran while I biked about 4 miles.  It was a beautiful morning to get out.  Then we began our preparation for painting our accent wall in our living room.  It took a few hours, but you will see the finished product below.  Thanks mom and dad for all your help!!  We hurried to clean up in order to make it out to Silver Gulch Brewery by 3:00 for a free tour.  We were the only ones there, so we got an awesome tour and lots of free samples.  We then stayed for a bit and enjoyed some appetizers.  We met some wonderful Alaskans!  It has been fun getting to know some of the people here.  After a stop at Walmart, we arrived home, nailed our pictures back on the newly painted wall, and ate supper.  It is now time to relax, play a few games, and get ready for our trip to Anchorage tomorrow.  We will spend a day and a half down there.  We hope to see some wildlife on our drive (but not too close).

Thanks for your prayers for my Godmother, Ingrid.  She is home and doing much better.  We pray the Lord continues to bring her to full recovery.  Love ya, Ingrid.

May God bless the rest of your weeks. 

Sign by the Yukon Quest building (a dogsled race that starts in Fairbanks and ends in Yukon - February)

Plugs that are ALL over Fairbanks so you can plug in your cars during winter. 

 Beautiful weather here! We'll take it over the heat!

In Fairbanks - looking over the Alaskan range - just a bit too cloudy

 Driveway inbetween house and church

 Brown bear - 8'9" - can be found all over Alaska

 Museum of the North

View from Chena Ridge looking at Tanana and Chena Rivers in Fairbanks

 Bottling machine at brewery

 Relaxing at the brewery

 Looks cooler inside

 Mom and dad at the pipeline at Fairbanks

At North Pole  - If you visit the Grey Moose Inn, you can get your picture taken with him too!

 Living room before painting is completed

Jason getting to work on the part close to the ceiling with a q-tip.

Finished product!

Another finished product

Hope you enjoyed the pics.  More to come after our trip to Anchorage, AK.