What you've been asking for

I've had some requests for pictures of Alaska. Here are a few but we recently cleaned up our hard drive and I'm not sure how to get to a majority of our pictures. They really don't do any justice but it might give you an idea.

I also had some questions about the whole scar issue. Well, it all started when Carsten was six months old and he decided that he needed a horn on the top of his head, so he started to grow one right over his soft spot. By 11 months it was pretty big and needed to be removed and so they cut it off. But the stitches didn't quite hold and his head went through a large growth spurt thus creating a very large scar on the top of his head. Luckily his hair covers it up. Josette was born with a hole in her diaphragm that needed to be repaired and all organs returned to their proper place at 4 days old. So thus the battle of the scars was born. We have gotten to really know the pediatric medical community in Alaska especially since there is usually only one of a particular speciality in the whole state. I tell you if anybody wants to become a pediatric surgeon and move up here you would be set.

The other little note about Alaska is that during the winter Alaskans love to shop. The stores are always packed. The first Target will be opening up here this next fall and I will probably stay away for the first six months, just so I won't go crazy with all the crowds. A DQ opened up just this summer and I thought after being open for a month it would be safe to go, I was wrong. We waited for an hour in the drive through just to get a blizzard. We did go out on Black Friday and after Matt took the kids I tried to go into Penny's and shop a little, after 10 minutes I dropped the items I had and got Matt. I was done and wanted to go home. But...we had to get luggage and so we created our own little sight as we weaved through the store, Matt pulling two suitcases followed by Sophie, Benjamin, Carsten and me carrying Josette, each of the kids pulling a suitcase. It was great looking at everybody's face watching the little parade, I wish I had had a camera.

Carsten goes in circles Take 2

Well I guess I didn't upload the video right the first time and so we'll try this again. This was Carsten for a full 5 minutes while talking on the phone to Grandma and Grandpa. We didn't record a full 5 minutes so don't worry....

Just a Great Week

This week has been a good week all around! I got to go out on a little walk around the block, all by myself and just relax for a second. It was a winter wonderland with snow falling, I could smell somebody's good Sunday dinner and the smell of burning woodstoves. I know this sounds a bit like some fairy tale but it was just beautiful. Josette had her 2 month appointment this week and it went awesome. The first appointment since leaving the hospital that hasn't required another trip to the hospital for more tests. She put on a pound in one week!!!! That was huge since she hadn't put on any weight since she left the hospital 4 weeks ago. She is a healthy thriving baby at the moment.
My mom had to finally go home on Wednesday which was a bummer, I've really gotten used to having her around. Now I understand why everybody used to stay close to family and help each other out. All I can say is thank goodness for our extended families in wards and friends. Matt after being gone for two weeks surprised us by coming home a day early. That was so nice, I was dreading the Saturday alone and trying to entertain the kids. Then we did something we haven't done in a while, we got a babysitter and went on a date. We went shopping for new clothes for me. I hadn't done it in so long it was totally overwhelming. If Matt hadn't been there I would have left and gone into my comfort zone of getting things that the kids need. I can't even believe how awful it was going into those stores, my wardrobe is so out of date that I had no idea where to begin. But I ended up finding some things. We came home to 3 very happy kids, put them to bed and then watched Transformers. It was a great end to the week.
Another big thing is that Matt after a year and a half got released from the bishopric. It was so weird having him home right after church. It will be great to have the help on the bench again. The kids know that my arms are only so long and the bench is longer. Today's fun was flying paper airplanes to the kids behind us. I really do try but for some reason the kids seem to know when they can tag team me and church is one of those places that I can't haul them both out at the same time, though I have tried.

The white stuff

We finally have some of the white stuff falling. We have had such a brown warm winter so far, I'm not complaining about the warmth but I have been dying to get out skiing. It is so pretty when the snow starts to fall. Along with the white stuff we had a fun Saturday with Meme. While Benjamin and Sophie were at primary practice I took Carsten to get a haircut. I've given up trying to cut it and keep his scar covered. He of course was a perfect angel for the hair dresser and it took all of 2 minutes. He finally looks less like a wild child being raised by the wolves and the handsome little boy he really is. Sophie also decided to let us cut off her long locks and go back to looking like my little 6 3/4 little girl. It is great not having the hair brushing battle every morning. Meme then took us for a real treat and we went to the movie theatre to see the BEE Movie. It was a first time in a theatre for Benjamin and Carsten. They thought it was pretty cool. The kids were great. I thought that Carsten would have a hard time but he did really well. It was a fun movie. A lot like Shrek with adult humor done so that the kids don't catch it. We miss Matt lots but he is having is own little adventures in Austin.

Introducing Josette

Just looked cute in some of mommy's old clothes. Check out those lips, no botox needed here.

Sleeping angel

Her first bath at home! We have decided that her and Carsten will be able to compete over who has the bigger scar. Right now I think Josette wins but we'll see with time.

So I realized that I didn't have any pictures of the newest little Mower wonder. She is such a good baby and very patient with all the lovings she gets from Carsten. She is starting to look like she is getting some fat on her. The oil we put in the breastmilk seems to be helping. Josette is also getting more bright eyed and grabbing things now that she is off some medication. We took her to all of church today and she did great. The kids had the primary program and I didn't miss any of it. Benjamin and Sophie did their parts perfectly and Sophie sang beautifully. You could hear her hit those high notes, even when there wasn't a high note to hit. Benjamin stood everytime but I don't think I saw his mouth open once during the songs. Carsten provided entertainment for the young men behind us by trying to blow up his cheeks and then smashing the sides of his head, instead of his cheeks to let the air out. Carsten would be a total angel during church if noise and sitting on the bench wasn't an issue.

Halloween pictures round two.

It seems like everybody had problems seeing these pictures so I'll try again.

Happy Halloween

I think Carsten's style of getting the donut was best, against the rules but who cares about rules at two.

We had a great Halloween with way too much candy. The youth in our ward put on a carnival for all the primary kids and did a great job. The kids each had their own technique to get the donut off the string. Benjamin after wanting to be superman, Captain Hook and many others that I can't remember finally settled on a dinosaur. Carsten wore the Cougar costume for its 5th Halloween in a row. Except to ask him it was a Lion, I didn't have time to get a main on. Sophie was the White Witch of Narnia. The boys ran around eating everybody and Sophie would turn them to stone. It was very funny when Benjamin told Sophie to quit turning him to stone and she shot back with quit eating me! We had no snow and it was a pleasant 40 degrees on Halloween night so we had a great time trick-or-treating without all our snow/cold weather gear on. When people offered the bucket of candy to let the kids pick what they wanted, Carsten would very seriously pick one at a time until either I pulled him away or the person took the bucket back. When we got home each one had their own way of displaying their candy. Sophie, layed them out in a circular fashion on a couch cushion. Benjamin, layed his out in a line across the living room floor. Carsten, put his all back in the bucket after we checked it and started eating it as fast as he could. Carsten started of course with this huge king size dark chocolate bar, meant for Mom and Dad. Josette helped pass out candy and then had some milk, which probably had a small amount of chocolate considering how many mini- candy bars I'd eaten.