Volcano #2

Mt. Illiamna - the one directly across the street from us - the one Alicia took the sunset pictures of below - has come to life. It usually will steam a little in the spring, but the last couple days it has gone bananas. The usual vent on the north side is about 10 times larger than normal. The vent on the front that we only see every couple years has been venting non-stop and then today, she started venting right out of the top, just like a real volcano. We checked the censor report on the internet and they don't have her listed as active yet, but the censors are off the chart for activity levels. We'll keep you posted !!! Pretty exciting for us.

Brian is doing well in Nikiski. It is crazy up there - one of those stand around and hurry up and do nothing companies, but the pay is good, so we can't complain. It should only be another week or so there, then they should go to another town and do the same thing. We don't know for sure. Love to all, Charlotte

Sunset in Anchor Point

Spring is full of birds!

I'm so happy to be able to say that the spring birds showed up last night! I was passing through the kitchen last evening, and looked out on the pond and there was a pair of wild ducks there. Of course, there was only about an inch of thawed water, but still that's neat. Then a little while later we heard the sand hill cranes passing over, so went out to see them. It was a huge bunch, they had lost the air current and were circling trying to find it. Then today when we got home from church and got out of the car, we heard another group of cranes go over. We ate lunch, and went out on the deck, and another set of cranes went over. So we've probably seen at least 200 cranes in just the last 24 hours. The last batch to go over were so low and right over our heads that we could even make out the darker wing patches on them and stuff. Its so cool! The swallows should be showing up soon too. They usually are here by my birthday, which is in about 2 weeks, so anytime they should be here. It is still a little cold for them I think, not many bugs have thawed out yet, but we love when they come.

My bulb garden has mostly thawed. I went out yesterday, and about a third of it was snow-free, and I saw one little plant starting to come up (I think it was a daffodil), then today a lot more snow is gone, but no more plants yet. Still its exciting.

That's pretty much all my news. The cat is worried about dad being gone. Also, the cat is having some troubles because usually at night he throws a big fit and wants to go outside just as you turn off the lights to go to bed. So, when dad is home, we usually spend a little more time trying to entertain the cat, or staying up so that he can go out one last time before bed, because he gets really LOUD when he wants out, and he just walks around crying and yowling. But when dad isn't here we just ignore him and go to bed, because dad goes to bed earlier, and he will wake dad up, but mom and I just tune him out. So the cat was a little upset because not only is his dad gone, but his usual tricks aren't working. :)

Well we love you all. Sorry I've been too lazy to put some pictures up lately. Now that it is spring, I hope to have more pictures to put up. Even is they are just of little plants trying desperately to grow. :) Hope you have a wonderful Sunday and week ahead of you. Love you. Alicia

ps: Brian's trailer

I forgot to tell you about poor Brian's trailer. It is about 60 years old or more and smells really really really bad which is kind of weird because it is so rotted your can see through all the walls and around all the doors and window so he can't see how any smell can stay in. It is really tiny. He took up a TV - they provide the Anchorage channels and the utilities and he took up a twin mattress and a sleeping bag for a bed. He didn't think a queen mattress would fit in the room. then he bought a cheap microwave and he's all set.

Brian is off

Brian is in Nikisiki for his new job at the refinery. He called them this morning about something and they said, Oh Yeah, you start in the morning, so we all jumped out of bed and ran around, HEAd less chicken style, and packed up all the stuff for his trailer and he drove off like a maniac and went shopping for all the cleaning supplies and groceries he needed and got settled in and they called and said he needed to come over and take another class tonight and he did and then they said he is going to be working nights instead of days, so he could have spent another night at home with us, but he's already up there, so it is too late.

He ran into a couple kids from Anchor Point he knows and a kid from Wallowa county that he worked with on the ice hockey rink last year so that will be good he knows some people already, so even though he knows absolutely nothing about his job, at least he knows some of the people.

So far, we have heard that the job will last 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 6 months, and 18 months. We figured out how much money 18 months would be and got all excited about getting out of debt, but Brian was gone about 2 hours and I was blubbering about being apart and thinking it wasn't worth any amount of money, boohoo boohoo, etc. Then tonight after we had family prayer via the telephone, I really started to cry and fall apart .... and of course, on the other hand, if it is only 3 weeks, we won't have enough money to pay any bills and we won't be able to be solvent, etc., etc., so I'm just a mess and don't know what to do.

I started a new medicine and it is really hard on my system. Another one of Dr. Burgess' plans for me to lose 100 pounds. And I am teaching a lesson in Relief Society tomorrow for a woman who is out of town for a couple months for a wedding.
Keep me in your prayers, please, I really need them right now.

I'm kind of embarrassed. I promised Alicia that I wouldn't fall apart this time - that I was beyond that and that we needed the work and I was way too mature to let a little separation get to me. hehehe, boy is my face red. Oh well, nothing wrong with loving your spouse.

We got our first spring birds today. A pair of ducks tried to stop at the pond, but there is just barely an inch of water around the edge thawed so they landed and then left. Then a flock of cranes circled for a while and then we heard spruce chickens calling. YAY. The shore birds should be here this week or next, but the water is just thawing, we really need it to thaw quicker, so they have something to come back for.

Love you all, Charlotte

The Carper Family

Happy Easter ! ! !
Tonight we went into town for a Tax Day Dinner at Church. We had never had one before, so didn't know what to expect. It was quite random what folks brought. We were going to take deviled eggs on my new sky blue deviled egg plate that I just got in Anchorage, but Alicia couldn't figure out a way for the eggs to get to town without me wearing them by the time we got there, so she suggested we save that treat for tomorrow's dinner. So we just took a chocolate dessert which was very popular and very needed, there weren't very many desserts this time.

Coming home, we got to see Mt. Augustine blowing - the clearest I think I have ever got to see it. It was pretty cool. Then just before we got home, we saw something in the highway, and Brian slowed down in time for us to see a mother moose cross the highway and there was a pair of yearlings on our side of the highway, so he stopped the car and sure enough, they sprinted across the road to join her. They would have smacked right into us if he hadn't stopped. The cool thing was that we are sure they were our moose from last spring. We had several moose run over in our neighborhood this winter and we thought it was them, so it was really good to see them alive and healthy.

Brian was planning to spend his last free week fishing, but they called him today and he has to start his HAZMAT safety training on Monday morning for three days. He doesn't get paid for that. As far as we know, he starts work next Sunday.

We plan a quiet day for Easter. Just a Ham and Deviled eggs and fruit salad. The 4th of July salad is an Easter tradition Alicia started when she lived in Hawaii. It is a nice touch of spring we will enjoy during our Easter blizzard. Sigh. Happy Egg Day to you All. Charlotte

Home again, home again jiggety jig

Well, mom and I got home safe and sound. We had a lot of fun while we were there, got to do some good shopping, went to the temple, and just enjoyed relaxing. We were sad to hear that Grandpa Ted is so sick.

Dad stayed busy working while we were gone, he had a couple projects to do. Then he did some work helping a boy from church with his eagle scout project.

We're pretty excited to have some bare ground in the driveway to come home to. Its getting thick and muddy, but that is good too because it means spring is coming. We read in the paper today that they are expecting another hot dry summer, so we are going to plan for a nice garden and get our seeds ordered soon. We bought a couple blueberry plants and a cranberry plant for the yard this weekend too.

Just wanted to say we were home. Love you all. Alicia