October 2022

October brought us the start of Brady's first basketball season, our first snowfall in Alaska, and our first white Halloween!

{watching a moose across the street}

{Hadley's first Student Council project}

These next pictures below with Brady in short sleeves and no evidence of winter weather in the background seem absolutely bizarre because we have had snow on the ground for what feels like forever now. But prior to the snow starting to fall, I would go for a run while Brady biked. What a gift to be able to enjoy these majestic views from our neighborhood!

The next two pictures below are from our first day discovering a trail in our neighborhood to hike down to what the kids refer to as our "home beach" of Eagle River. We had so much fun exploring the river's edge, skipping rocks, and Brady even spotted an eagle in the tree (pictured in the second photo).

Derek was off for Columbus Day, but it was a regular school day for the girls. The very first snowflakes of the season started to fall about an hour or so before I picked the girls up from school. It was so surreal to be driving to pick them up in an active snowfall, and people were just out walking their dogs like it was just another day...which in Alaska, it is I guess! It was a pretty magical day for us though!

{a beautiful rainbow from our bedroom window}

We had to make a trip to Cold Stone for Boo Batter ice cream before the season was over!

One of the perks of Brady homeschooling and us being so close to base {this is the closest we have ever lived to base before} is lunch dates with Derek! On this day, we met Derek for a quick lunch and then Brady & I stopped by Crumbl for a treat on our way home.

The girls were both performing in a Halloween Choir Concert at their school. The kids were encouraged to dress up and could go trick-or-treating through the school hallways after the concert.

{new haircut for Brady courtesy of Dada!}

{Brady enlisted the help of Derek to make a wooden candy dispenser that he found the plans for in his woodworking book}

These next pictures are from our first "big" snowfall. We had about 7 inches and then another 4 inches the next night. We had so much fun watching the plows & snowblowers and seeing how Alaska handles all of the snow! 

{trick or treating at Derek's hospital}

We hiked down to our "home beach" to discover the river's edge has frozen over! The kids had so much fun exploring it.

We carved our pumpkins the night before Halloween. This is traditionally something we always did on our deck in Helotes, but this definitely needed to be an indoor activity here! Shelby carved her pumpkin entirely on her own this year for the first time & was quite proud!