Our home away from home

HOBL hasn't been allowed to pick our hotel rooms since the

last time when the bullet holes in the walls had us looking for

a new place to sleep in Tennessee.

Baby boy had that job and he found us a chalet on

Jade Lake that we all fell in love with.

It was an hour from Anchorage which put us also an

hour from Talkeetna which was a perfect spot in the woods.

This upper loft was where the kids slept, HOBL and I had our

own private bedroom downstairs.

The living space was blessed with a wall of windows

That looked out to this beautiful site.

There were many woods to explore behind the chalet and

the kids played out there most evenings.

This hill was the one that almost costed baby girl a broken

bone or two. Evidently she lost her bearings coming down

and tumbled to the end. Baby boy made me come out and see

it the next evening so I could "truly appreciate the fact

she wasn't hurt badly"

When exploring in the evenings the kids found many interesting

things one being the bony grave of some type of animal.

Meals on the front deck was one of my favorite parts of the Chalet.

Supper could be eaten outside at 12 midnight because it was this

light at that time. On this day we were eating the Cod we

caught on our fishing trip.

HOBL and baby boy often serenaded the meals for us.

On this day I believe the song of choice was

OH CHRISTMAS TREE

Shrimp cabobs were made for us by the kids and again,

this was at about 10:00pm, you could loose your sense of time

in a place like this where it rarely gets dark.

Kd swears she had never made these cabobs before but

they were so amazing I do think she must have practiced beforehand.

HOBL swore the sofa in the chalet was the best he has ever laid on.

So funny to see HOBL relaxing like this anywhere.

There were times that he really did relax.

We loved the chalet so much that HOBL and I spent one day

there just doing nothing but reading and watching movies

while the kids went into Anchorage for the 311 concert.

Baby boy pitting it up for the cabobs

Like I said before I left, I could have just stayed at the Chalet

all week and felt like I was on vacation.

Drinking my coffee on the deck and reading or journaling

was some of my favorite times.

Having meals all together is something I have missed with the kids

growing up. These are memories I will remember forever.