Final Days in Fairbanks

Oh, goodness. We've had a busy month. A REALLY busy month. We made it home to Barrow on September 12, and we've spent the last several weeks trying to get organized in our new home! It's been really wonderful living right next door to Grama and Grampa Elbert. Chase says "I'm going to go knock knock"...that means he's going to play at Grama and Grampa's house. :)

So, here's a little recap of some of our last days in Fairbanks. These are probably not in chronological order.


Wayne grew strawberries in pots on the deck this summer, so Chase and Grama Elbert spent some time picking them together. They were soooooo good!

I got the kids' Halloween costumes from Once Upon a Child...they had this giraffe costume that was pretty cute, but it ended up being to small so I just took a picture and returned it. Love that little face!

Saryn-Bear is getting CHUBBED OUT!!!

Chase wanted to nap in the laundry basket. Okay, whatever you want, Chase. This only lasted a few minutes.

I borrowed Mike and Amanda's super-sweet jogging stroller/bike trailer and totally fell in love. This thing is awesome. I'm hoping to get one in the next few months. Yes, even in Barrow. :) There is a ski attachment so you can put the trailer on skis and wear a harness to ski or walk around with them. The kicker is that it has a wind cover on it, so I would actually be able to take the kiddos out in this lovely Barrow weather!!! As it stands, it's a mad dash to the car so that Saryn will take a breath again. The wind here just makes it impossible for babies to breathe! You can dress babies for the cold...you just can't keep them out of the wind and keep them breathing at the same time. I'm hoping this stroller is the answer...for me at least.

Spencer and Holly got an indoor bouncy house for their kiddos, and Chase happened to be there for the debut! The kids loved wrestling with the stuffed animals in the bouncy house.

They were all good helpers deflating it, too. :)

"Hi. I'm cute."

"Hi. I'm a mad scientist."

Oh man. Chase LOVES to "play water". I set him up at the counter with a towel, a few bowls, and measuring spoons and cups and he is busy for 45 minutes at a time! This is THE BEST activity we've found for him when I need to make dinner or do something else that takes my full attention. So glad we discovered this love of his.

More to come.

Thank you for families

This is Chase singing a song he made up. I have never heard him do this before, but this morning he kept walking around singing this song. Adorable! We are definitely thankful for our family. :)

A little of this, a little of that.

When we were in Calgary Michelle let us visit her at work (she's a paramedic). Chase got a personalized tour of the firetruck, complete with pushing the buttons to turn on the siren and flash the lights and everything! He also got to check out the ambulance and the fire hall. Talk about HEAVEN for a 2 year old boy!

I love how Chase is looking at Saryn in this picture!

Grampa made a name badge for Chase. Chase probably spent an hour playing with it and sticking it on and off his forehead. Where are Grampa's great ideas when I'm trying to exercise or get the dishes done?!?!?!

Wayne took me out for dinner at the Calgary Tower on my birthday. Not the best picture, but our waiter wasn't very patient with taking pictures. It was really cool, the restaurant overlooks the city and it rotates slowly while you eat so you can see everything while you're there. It makes one rotation every 45 minutes. Pretty cool!

Taylor and Sar-Bear. Love them!

Grama Elbert participated in her first EVER Senior Games earlier this week.
Her first event was bocce ball, which she had never played before. She looked up the directions and studied them prior to the game, then went and totally rocked it. She won the GOLD!!! Woo-hoo! Go Grama! She made the newspaper as well. :)

Chase had his first McDonald's Playplace experience the other day. We never take him there because nursing school RUINED me and the thought of all the nasty germs in there totally grosses me out. But, I finally relented the other day and we went to play there with cousins. What happened exactly 48 hours later? Chase had a 101.5 degree temperature. Go figure. We probably won't ever go back. Sorry, Saryn, you'll never get to experience the joy of the Playplace. It's just not worth it.

Who needs the Playplace to have a happy childhood? Look at that smile! :)

Holly and her kiddos watching Grama at the bocce ball games. They were the best little cheerleaders!

And here's the Chaser-Man watching Grama play. The sponsors of the Senior Games provided Chex mix to the participants, and one of the gramas there took a liking to Chase and donated her Chex mix to him. He's a hit wherever he goes!

Harvest Time!!!

Wayne planted our first garden this year. When we lived in California, we grew a few things on the balcony of our apartment, but this is our first REAL garden. Turns out it's a lot of work...no problem for me since Wayne did it all. And it turned out GREAT!!! Unfortunately for Wayne, he had to go back to work in Barrow before it was time to harvest. He did all the work, and now the kids and I are enjoying the fruit of his labors. Thanks, Honey!

This is less than half of the garden. It was pretty big for a first attempt!

Cheesy face. It never gets old. :)

Chase and his cousins were so excited to hold the vegetables! They recognized what each vegetable was and were practically dancing in their pants waiting for me to cut them off the plant and hand them over to their eager little hands. So cute! We had a FABULOUS dinner that night with all our fresh veggies.

"We love our VEGGIES!!!!"
I will remind them of this when they are teenage boys living on pizza and Cheetos.

Part 2

These pictures are in reverse order...someday I'll blog often enough to remember to select the pictures backward so they load in the right order. In the meantime, here's our life in reverse.

Chase hanging out in the airport on the way to Calgary. It was a long trip and all of us showed up INCREDIBLY tired, but we got a good nap in before the big family dinner. I don't think I've ever seen my eyes that bloodshot...even after hours of swim practice in overly-chlorinated water. It was bad. Sharon (Wayne's mom) was an angel and stayed up with Saryn all night the first night we were in Calgary so that Wayne and I could get some sleep. That was so wonderful. :)

My little swimmer.

Baking peanut butter cookies with Aunt Jaime...yum!

Saryn's bath time...she fits just perfectly for now!

Jacob and Chase rafting at Ballaine Lake. It looks like we sent them out on the lake alone, but rest assured there is a very capable adult on the other end of that rope. :)

Saryn was napping in the life jacket bucket while the big boys went rafting.

Chase taking care of "Baby Ruby". He sat down on the mat in the corner to snuggle her to sleep.

Once again....pretty sure she's the only person in the world who thinks this is comfortable. :)

Picture Dump (part 1)

Here's a few pictures of our kiddos this summer. I've been sick for several weeks now and I'm pretty tired, so this post is mostly pictures with very little explanation. :)

Out at the Chena River one night...Chase wandered back behind these trees to "do his business"...I think he was expecting privacy but I found him with my camera. You can't tell from the picture because he had just finished and was heading back to the water, but it was pretty funny to me that he went in the trees to do it where no one was watching. He's still in diapers, I didn't think he cared yet.

Chase discovered rain boots and wore them all day...inside....with his soccer shorts. Such a cutie.

Pretty sure she's the only person who thinks this is comfortable...

Train ride at Alaskaland with G&G Henrie. Chase loves trains...and cars, and airplanes, and helicopters, and boats, and motorcycles, and firetrucks, and backhoes, and tractors, and excavators, and....

My little model.

Suddenly my little boy appears to be a GIANT. Amazing how a newborn changes your perspective. :)

Saryn was about a week or 10 days old here. Grandma Henrie made her this quilt, I love it!

Chase was practicing his balancing act with my emesis basin from the hospital. He got quite good at walking all the way across the living room without letting it fall off.

Just because he's cute. :)

Baby Time

Our little one finally arrived! She was actually born 2.5 weeks ago, I'm just slow in blogging about it. Anyone surprised out there? Didn't think you would be. :)

So, here's the info:

Saryn Joye Henrie
7 lbs. 11 oz
20 1/2 inches

She's really, really cute and a total snuggle bug. She already hates sleeping by herself...hopefully that doesn't become a big problem. Chase seems to like her quite a bit. He gets the cutest little sad and concerned look on his face whenever she cries, and immediately looks for her "plugger" to make her happy again. He's going to be a fabulous big brother, I'm sure of it. :)

These are totally out of order...I always forget that blogger loads the pictures backwards. Oh well. Also not sure why my first part is blue and underlined, but I can't get it to change and I'd rather sleep right now than try to figure it out. :)

Daddy and Saryn at the hospital.

Chase opening the present "sister" got him. :) Nothing like starting out on his good side, right?

Chase meeting Saryn for the first time.

I love her little nose and pouty lips!

One day old!

That's it for now. More to come someday. :)