Right now we are in the middle of homeschool – the first real day since getting to Alaska. Sydney is practicing the piano (sort of) and Isaac is working on a phonics assignment (not really – I knew it would be difficult with him today).

All of our stuff was delivered fine – nothing missing! Both pianos suffered some damage though. The upright piano now has a cracked leg (we’ve had one fixed before) and the grand has a chip off the front (very fixable). My nice laminated National Geographic maps of the United States and the world were crumpled in the bottom of a box. Nice. Good thing I can just fill out the insurance paperwork and get these things taken care of (hopefully – we’ve never had to go through that process before).

I need to take an evening and transfer pictures from the camera to the computer and then take some pictures of our new house so I can post them here. We are loving this house! The basement is the most wonderful addition; everything that seems a little ghetto or is just in the way any where else goes down to the basement! There are three parks within 100 yards of our house and the kids are old enough now that I can just send them to play. What a blessing this was while unpacking our belongings all last week.

There are two other families in our cul-de-sac that are in our ward. One right next door to us and the other right across the street from us. The family across the street has twin girls Sydney’s age (and one of them is named Sydney!). They have been getting along famously since the day we moved in. Isaac has also made a friend in the ward that lives close by. Our street is bustling with kids and there are often other children playing at the parks. I think the kids are in heaven here. There are also two other families on the street that homeschool their kids. It’s nice to know I won’t just be a freak of nature around here…

It’s just beautiful here folks. I am so happy to be here and see some REAL trees (palm trees lose their charm after a couple of weeks). On nice clear days we can see all the way down to Mount Denali (at least this is what Peter claims) – the tallest mountain in North America.

For now we just have some food storage shelves and the garage to take care of so we will be finally and officially moved in!