Tis the Season!

Even though we will be spending the holidays on the tropical island of Maui, we thought that give Elsa at least a little taste of a traditional Christmas. Thanks to a surprise visit from GG, Elsa even got a little tree. So here are the only photos that you will see of us dressed in green and red and wool,  all others will be of us in shorts, skirts and swimming suits!

Keeping Busy in the Cold

Keeping busy on cold blustery days is always a challenge in these parts, but lately we've been doing a pretty good job.

One thing for sure is that finger painting with two toddlers is noting short of busy given their relative attention spans. I must admit that though fun and extremely cute, i may think twice before I pull this project out again

 One lucky day, we happened upon an injured owl release before a skiing adventure. Elsa was completely enamored with the little guy and was happy when he flew to a near by tree, so that she could  sit underneath and watch him for awhile.

 Sometimes all we really want to do is sit around and read on the couch

or maybe watch a little Sesame Street.

Though generally we like to brave the elements and play outside!

Winter's Arrival

 Winter has finally made it to the Great North and Miss Elsa couldn't be more excited. As the first flakes began to fall, Elsa raced to the window shouting "What's this, what's this?" Since then, it's been almost as hard to keep her out of the fluffy white stuff as it has been hard to keep her in a pair of gloves. Our first few outings did present some challenges when she couldn't figure out why her her little hands were so uncomfortable. Thus far, no amount of reasoning has convinced her of the virtues of the mitten. Luckily for her however, Nanna was in town to tend to cold digits keeping spirits up and smiles aplenty.

Halloween!

Thought it wasn't Elsa's first Halloween, it was the first time she really got into it. Not only was she completely enamored with the carving and lighting of the Jack O' Lanterns; she was so excited about her chicken costume, that we could hardly get it off off once it was on.

Busy Week!

 This week was an eventful one in the life of Elsa Rose. Though it didn't seem to bother her much over the past three weeks, we were all excited when the day came that Elsa was finally able to get her cast taken off. Clearly the best part of the event was getting to wear the Tiger gown.

Once the cast was of f,we all geared up to take the three airplanes necessary to attend the Gutzler family reunion in Central Oregon.  Elsa had a great time playing with her cousins, visiting with her Great-Grandfather, and feeding the fish with her GG and Grandpa Dave. Her parents were grateful to soak in some Vitamin D and to feel the warmth of the sun one last time before the long Alaskan winter.

Cast: Day 2

Things are looking up here on the second day of castdom. Thanks to the help of our neighbors, Theo, Seamus, and Beatrix Elsa's cast is bright and colorful and will complement any outfit-or lack of outfit- quite nicely. 

Rough and Tumble

Well, Miss Elsa had a little too much fun in Seldovia this weekend and ended up with a bum wing. Poor thing had to go to the emergency room where they tortured her with the x-ray machine and put a temporary cast on.

 The following day we had to visit with the Orthopedic Dr. who gave us the unfortunate news that Elsa would have to have a full arm cast for three weeks- Gone were any previously held beliefs that baby bones were too soft to break. Elsa was much braver then her mother through the whole incident and has adapted to life with one arm quite seamlessly...

    Though of course there have been some frustrations.

It's Raining it's Pouring...

No amount of water falling from the sky is going to keep this girl inside. All I can say is, thank goodness for rubber!

The Next Great Chef

Elsa, without a chef's hat available, improvised with a food bag to keep her hair out of her eyes and out of the food.

Striking out on her own...

 Once Elsa mastered the art of walking she has begun to tackle other great feats such as dressing herself, cooking her own meals, climbing trees and swinging on the big-kid swings. Just 17 months last week...I shutter to think what this means for the future.

 

Taking the Next Step

After careful observation and much consideration, Elsa Rose has decided to walk...

Memories of a State Fair...

       Today Elsa went to the Kenai Peninsula State Fair in the booming metropolis of Ninilchick, Alaska. I had high hopes for Elsa's trip to the fair as she would finally have the opportunity to get up close and personal with all the animals that we have been practicing the sounds of for the last year. Unfortunately, things got off to a rough start when the first animal that she encountered was the enormous, prize winning roster that decided to Cock-a-doodle-do right into her face as she peered into the cage. Needles to say, she was a little less than enchanted with the animals during the rest of our tour. Nonetheless, we persevered through the goats, the sheep, the cows and finally, the horses. A bit saddened that Elsa didn't love every second of the experience, we loaded into the car to make our way back home. Not long into our trip south, Elsa began chanting three words over and over again with an urgency that I could not cast off as standard backseat baby blabber. As I sat and listened, trying to figure out what she was talking about, it dawned on me- my little darling was back there telling her first story .....