Happy Halloween!!

Our Beautiful Halloween Butterfly

Brrrrrrr!!!!

Yesterday at 8:30am I was driving onto post and noticed my car thermometer read 3 degrees. This morning my car read 2 degrees. Yes, 2 DEGREES! It's getting cold here, but it honestly doesn't feel like 2 degrees outside. It feels more like 20 degrees....I know, odd statement. The mountains are covered in snow and the sun is shining bright in the blue skies. It really is beautiful! Our days are now 9am to 7pm. I hear they eventually go from 10am to 3pm. That will be a little bit of a change, but not too bad.

So I guess this is a little weather update from Anchorage, brought to you by the Pritchard household. :-)

Change of Command

On Wednesday October 22 Justin took command of Alpha Company. It all happened very fast....two weeks notice! We quickly put an order in at Costco for sandwich platters, fruit and veggie platters, and three crockpots of meatballs. It was yummy and we had SO MANY LEFTOVERS!

For those of you that know Justin's military past, he has ONLY been a part of Alpha Company! It's funny that we can't seem to escape it. And within the first four hours of being a commander he chaptered two guys out of the army (that means they were kicked out)! Of course this wasn't really his doing, he just happened to be their commander.

As for me, I'm excited to start back up with FRG. The previous company commander and his wife did an amazing job with the FRG and that makes me so happy! Life really is about to get busy again...I hope I'm ready for it.

The Next Mozart?

Since we've received our piano I have been putting Joelle on my lap while I play. She usually bangs on the keys and I play songs around her. Her new discovery is that she can pull herself up to the piano when I'm not with her and she can bang on the keys herself. She really thinks it's fun! And sometimes she sings along....too cute!

Winter in the Fall

Our Backyard

So I'm trying to keep the fall spirit alive with my fall tree

I think it's working!

Erin is the best!

Even when I only knew her for 7 months and then moved away she has proved to be a priceless friend. We used to live across the street from each other and we both had baby girls born two months apart. It was great to have a friend going through the same thing at the same time. We bounced so many mothering questions off of each other. Thank you Erin Crowe for still being there as a great friend and thinking of me! She put this in her blog and nominated me, now it's my turn to answer and pass it along:

Things I value:

1. My relationship with Jesus Christ. I wouldn't be who I am without Him.

2. My relationship with my husband. I love him so much and I'm so thankful for all he is and all he does.

3. My daughter. She has brought so much love as well as challenges into my life.

4. My friends. I love having friends all over the world and I am still able to call them close.

5. Service. Whether it's getting involved at church, with the Army, or in my neighborhood, I find it important to give back to those who serve me.

6. My family. Of course I wouldn't be here without them.

Things I don't:

1. Negative people. Learn to love life!

2. Complainers. If you don't like it, learn to get involved to fix it!

3. Heirlooms. The person means more than the thing. I'll take a picture over a silly object.

4. Coupons. Why should I have to buy two boxes of kleenex to save 50 cents when I only wanted one box?

5. Wealth. I value staying at home with my daughter way more than going to work to make a few extra bucks!

6. Advice that wasn't asked for. If I want it, I WILL ask for it. Otherwise you're really just bothering me.

*Whew! I was really hard to think of things I don't value.*

I nominate Danielle Boateng! She is newly pregnant with a little girl to add to the Army Engineer group (go girls!). She now lives in New Jersey while her husband is in Afghanistan.

Well, it's official....

IT'S WINTER IN ALASKA!

It snowed today for the first time in this winter season. And how strange that today is only October 3! I drove to Fred Meyer to do some grocery shopping and noticed that the rain was looking like it was trying to become snow. As I was leaving the check-out stand and heading to the doors I saw the snow falling. It probably snowed for 10 minutes, but it's not cold enough for any of it to stick. We ordered my snow tires last weekend and get them put on tomorrow....just in the nick of time! I sort of feel like I need to change my blog background to a winter theme, but that could be there for a long time. I hear winter lasts from October to April....I guess I didn't believe that until now!

it's raining birch leaves!

Fall is in full swing, and actually could be over by next week (at least that's what we hear)! Yesterday was a beautiful day with the sun shining and the temperature was 47 degrees (yes, that's a beautiful day here). So Joelle and I bundled up and we raked a ton of birch leaves in the front yard and planted flower bulbs. Of course once I got a huge pile of leaves I had to throw Joelle in and get a few pictures!

Joelle's new ride!

We just bought a baby carrier backpack for Joelle. It really is a necessity for living here since a lot of activities are outdoors. We took her out in it the other day and she really seemed to like it. She even fell asleep towards the end!

We went walking on a gorgeous day and we really discovered the beauty of Alaska and where we live. We are surrounded by the Chugach Mountains. We can see them out the front window of our house. Over the past two weeks we have seen snow at their peeks and it seems that everyday the snow creeps lower down the moutains. Winter is coming! These are pictures taken from our walk in our neighborhood and just outside the neighborhood on trails that connect all throughout the city.This one was taken down our neighborhood street:

And here's a picture of Justin with Joelle and Ben and Ellie on a trail just outside our house: