Temperature in North Pole, Alaska

Currently at my house (Nov. 16 2011, 10:30 am) the temperature outside is

-43.8 (that's below zero)

The sun is rising at 9:27 am and setting at 3:40 pm

The length of the day is 6 hours and 12 minutes. Tomorrow will be 6 minutes and 24 seconds shorter.

Inside my house the temperature is 73 degrees. That's over 100 degree difference.

~Goodbye Tonsils

After having strep 5 times this year, we decided it was time to say goodbye to Noah's tonsils.

7:00 a.m. September 29, 2011

Surgery Center - Fairbanks, Alaska

Before surgery

After surgery

It was heartbreaking when they wheeled Noah out of the prep room and I couldn't go with him. He had tears in his eyes but was trying so hard to be brave. The surgery was very quick and he did just fine until he was waking up. From what the nurses told me, he got a little crazy and ripped the IV out of his hand. This happened before they could give him his next dose of pain medication. Understandably, he was not happy. They finally convinced him to swallow some other meds. When I got to him he was still upset, but calmed right down when he saw me. On the way home he threw-up, but since then has been doing okay.

~Enjoying Fall in Alaska

The men in my life!
Sweet boy, making wishes.

Dad teaching Simon how to skip rocks.

Dad retrieving the "perfect rock" that accidently got thrown in.

We throw little rocks and BIG rocks!

A few pictures of dad with his boys.

~Jett's Birthday and school projects

Since school started we've received several requests from out-of-state family members to help them with class projects. We've done postcards and letters about where we live. The latest project went to Noah. He helped his cousin, Abby, with her "Flat Abby." We took her around North Pole. We even took her to see Santa. Then we sent "Flat Abby" back with pictures and a letter about where we live.

Baby Jett Jett turned 2!
Birthday tradition...colored pancakes. Jett picked green this year!

~First Day of School

Noah was very excited for the first day of school. He is in 1st grade and his teacher is Ms. Krenzer.

Simon's first day of preschool.

He is attending 3 days a week at New Hope.

End of Summer Catch-up

One morning I realized that it was very quiet. So I went in search of Jett. This is what I found! He had gotten into my mascara. I laughed so hard. Later on I was grateful he hadn't poked his eye out. Still makes me smile.

Soccer was fun this summer. Noah did a great job.

His team name was the "Ninjas."

Uncle Shaner stayed with us for a few weeks. We LOVED having him here!

And...we really miss him.

This is how Simon felt about soccer for most of his season.
Not much soccer playing, but lots of silliness!
On one of the very few nice days we had, my friend Cheryl and I took the kids to Pioneer Park (Simon calls it "Chinese" Park). It has lots of fun things for the kids to do...train rides, carousel, miniature golf, playground equipment and places to eat.






Simon on the train


Noah, Katherine, Simon, Benjamin, Kristin and Jett

Creamer's Field Migratory Bird Refuge

Jett

Simon found this little shelter and wanted to stand inside. The bugs were attacking his head.
Noah, Simon and Jett

They all picked out their own clothes. They have great fashion sense, especially Simon!!

Summer went by so fast. The boys also took swimming lessons and we visited the lake a few times. It rained almost every day and it never got above 80 degrees. Now it's time to think about winter. Just a few more weeks until the snow comes.

Salmon Fishing Chitna Alaska

Most of the salmon Adam caught were Reds. He did pull in a few Kings though.

King Salmon
Kind of gross, but somebody's got to do the work. Thanks Marty!

Adam and his two buddies caught their limit, 30 salmon per person.

Chitna

~We had to come to Alaska to open a coconut

Survivor is one of our favorite shows this year. Yesterday when we were at the store the boys saw coconuts and really wanted to get one to drink the coconut milk...like the guys on Survivor. Sounded kinda interesting. I've never cracked a coconut so it would be a new experience for me too! So we got a few. Notice the use of a hammer and screwdriver :)

The meat, which was not very tasteful. Jett tried his hand at cracking the coconut too. He's very pleased with himself.

Simon was being camera-shy, but Noah was actually singing while working on his project. He did great! He shaved some coconut to take to his class for show-and-tell.

Adam had never cracked a coconut either. A first for everyone in the Connolly family!

~Moosie and Ice Fishing

I have a love/hate relationship with these animals. These big creatures are so much fun to watch, but when they start coming out in the open it means danger. They have nasty tempers. When they get mad, they snort and charge. Don't threaten a mama and her baby! Plus, they make the roads very dangerous. Just the other night the car in front of us, hit one. The next morning, another one was hit in almost the same spot. Very scary.

This little moose hung out in our yard for several hours, digging through the snow, eating.

It warmed up a bit so we went ice fishing a few weekends ago. We didn't catch anything, but it was a fun for a minute. Maybe we'll have better luck next time!
Noah didn't last too long, but Simon was extremely patient.
He sat on the bucket for quite a while. It was cute.

~Ice Ice Baby

For the past week it's been pretty cold. In some parts of town it dropped to -45, but here at my house we only got down to -37. When it stays that way for several days...this is what happens to some of our windows... on the inside of our house. (Someday we'll get better windows).

While the ice doesn't help with keeping the place warm, it's quite convenient if you need to chill a beverage. Just grab the pick and start chipping away! No licking though. Your tongue will stick and instant pain will ensue.

Other things we deal with during winter -

• It takes about 30-45 minutes for my car to warm up. That's after it's been plugged in all night. An hour warming-up is even better. Then the seats aren't frozen stiff.
• Noah's school recess is canceled at -20. It's quite a sight to see all these little kindergartners running around in their winter gear at 19 below. Just their little eyeballs sticking out.
• A few weeks ago we had to get our septic thawed. A steamer truck came out and charged $130 an hour to warm up the poo that was frozen inside our pipes. Luckily it only took an hour and a half to thaw. The smell lasted a lot longer though. They had to come inside the house to finish their business (haha!). It was nasty!
• Cold Weather Church Policy is, if it's -30 or colder there are no activities or meetings. Last Sunday we only had Sacrament Meeting. If it's -40 or colder on Sundays, then only the Sacrament is administered, while we leave our cars running in the parking lot.
• Coats, hats, scarfs, gloves and boots are an essential part of our wardrobe, October-May. Don't leave home without them!

This list is very small. I could go on forever about the joys of surviving an Alaskan winter, but this is all I will write for today.

~Christmas Break

Well, my boys kind of look orphanish with their dirty shirts but, this picture of Noah and Jett was so funny. They look like brothers to me!

I had to take a picture of Noah and his socks. Reminded me of the good old days.

Over the break we went to the UAF Museum.

Noah didn't want the butterfly to touch his skin so he put on his coat and very patiently waited for a butterfly. When it finally happened he was very excited!

And because the weather warmed up the boys did a little sledding!

Christmas was good. The boys all had colds, but we didn't let that stop us from making some great memories. Christmas Eve we visited Santa and went to the ice park. We ate pizza and watched Christmas movies. Christmas day was filled with opening presents and spending time with some good friends.