Easter 2012

It was an Easter Celebration Weekend which started on Friday.

Friday the kids participated in the USCG Base Easter Egg Scramble.  It is something we've participated in all the 4 years we've been on the island.  The staff toss candy & prize filled Easter eggs from boxes and spread them all along the basketball floor in the gym on base.  Next they call the kids out by age group and the kids scramble to collect as many eggs as possible.  Both Emily and Ethan aggressively sought after the eggs and collected enough to fill their baskets.  It was a fun Friday evening.

On Saturday we got an early visit from the Easter Bunny.  Chris had to work on Sunday, so we spoke to the Easter Bunny and he agreed to come hid eggs for the kids to collect a day early, on Saturday morning instead of Sunday.  Emily, of course, was the very first person to wake up on Saturday morning.  She eagerly ran upstairs and loudly announced to us that "The Easter Bunny was HERE!...there's eggs, and a big basket with toys and candy..."  We calmed her down a bit before we allowed her to go wake up her brother.  The kids were STOCKED with their Easter Baskets, and Ethan didn't skip a beat when playing with his toys.  His favorite toys were a small plastic golf caddy set, and a stuffed monkey...he hasn't let them out of his sight since Saturday morning.  In fact he was so distracted by his new toys that he did not want to collect Easter Eggs for the Hunt.  Emily collected and found ALL of the eggs, and then she (at her own free will) poured half of her eggs in Ethan's empty basket, explaining that Ethan didn't get a chance to collect Easter eggs so she wanted to share hers with him...she's an amazing little girl!!!!  That night we had a wonderful Easter Dinner together, as a family.  Complete with a fresh homemade strawberry pie. YUM!

Sunday we had a slow day in the morning.  Chris left for work around 7am.  We joined Chris after nap-time and brought with us a complete leftover Easter Dinner.  Chris was excited to share with the kids that the Easter Bunny had, in fact, also hidden eggs in and on one of the helicopters in the hangar.  The kids, with baskets in hand, ran toward the helos and scoured through them to find all of the Easter eggs left behind.  Once they found all the eggs we went into the Duty Lounge area and transformed the area to have a nice Easter Dinner.  In the four years we've been here this was the very first holiday Chris has had to work...and, all things considering, it was a WONDERFUL Easter.

Happy Easter to all of you back home!!

C-Moore Turns 32!

Chris celebrated his 32nd birthday on 04-01-12.

(April Fool's...no joke!)

Celebrating with the Boys at the AST Shop...mini-helos and Buzz Lightyear cake!

Welcome to Our Home!

Well...it's our last year in Alaska.  We have hosted many family and friends over the last four years, but sadly there were many others that couldn't make the long journey to our little island.  So, in preparation to put our house on the market we took some amazing panorama pictures of each room; and although it isn't exactly the same as seeing it in person, I hope these panoramas welcome you to our home in Alaska.

(you must visit http://themoorefamilyadventure.blogspot.com and have Flash enabled on your pc)
(you can click on the images to visit a full 360 view of the screen
and move the picture around, just as if you're here!)

Hunting in St. Paul

While deployed in St. Paul, Chris went hunting on his "off-day."  St. Paul is a small island in the Bering Sea where the Coast Guard sets up a detachment location to respond to potential fishing vessels in distress during crab season.

Chris says that St. Paul has no trees, and only grass for vegetation on the island.  The weather out there, with the windchill-factor, is -52 degrees!!  INSANE COLDNESS!!

The island has caribou, lots of caribou!  The caribou on the island have no natural predator, so the natives of the island encourage the Coast Guard folks to come shoot the caribou to help keep the population down.

The caribou that Chris shot was for another Coastie friend of his.  His friend's son has major allergies, and the only meet the boy can eat is game, like caribou or moose, etc.  So, Chris shot the caribou for this family and mainly for the son.  So, it's going to a good cause.

Here are some pictures of Chris' hunting trip...if you're sensitive to blood, don't look at the pictures.



(If you can't see the slideshow, click here)

'Cmon Guys, Let's Go!

Ethan was thrilled this afternoon to sit in the driver's seat & pretend to take the car for a spin.

His catch phrases included:
My Seat!!
'Cmon guys, let's go!
Ready?
Seatbelts!
My seat!!
He got to pretend to drive this afternoon while we were waiting for Emily to get out of dance class...and, when I made him give up "his seat" he threw the BIGGEST temper tantrum ever!!! His screaming ended with a bottle & a nap.

Gosh, wait till he turns 16!

Pancakes with the Twins

Emily, Ethan and I made pancakes this morning together. They sat around the island-stove while drinking their milk, and helping to stir the batter.

It's amazing how much they look alike!

Batteling Diseases

The week after we got home from California Ethan caught the Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease from school.  He actually probably caught it the first day back, but it took about a week to incubate.

I'm glad to say that the disease has finally left the house, but IT WAS A BAD ONE!

 Ethan broke out with a severe sore throat, full of puss-filled sores, than it branched to his chin, his feet, and his hands.  All of this one top of a fever and a double-ear infection.  POOR KID!

Ethan didn't eat anything for about a week, he just wanted a bottle of milk.  He would try to eat a banana, but take a few bites and then start crying because it would hurt so much to swallow.  Often he would leave his tongue out of his mouth, because that would help to ease some of his pain.
He spent a full week out of school, and laid up on the fold-out couch.  He watched just about every cartoon known-to-man, as well as the full line-up of kids' movies in our DVD collection.  Chris mostly stayed home with him, and eventually Chris got sick as well.  Luckily Chris didn't get the full-blown Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease...only a version of it.  The severe sore throat complete with the puss-filled sores all the way down his throat, and a fever.  Then Chris was laid-up on the fold out couch watching every sports show known-to-man.

Needless to say, our poor boys have been very sick since our California return.  Chis just went to the doctor yesterday and got cleared to go back to work (Feb 1...we returned Jan. 6th...an entire month!)

Its been a rough return back home, but sadly, all too typical of Kodiak.  And, even as I write this, I stayed home from work this morning because I too have caught some sort of bug.  :(

32!

I'm excited to say that I am now 32!

I think it's going to be a good year & I'm really looking forward to it.  My thirty's and I had a rough start and we got off on the wrong foot; but now that we've known each other a few years, I think 32 is going to be fun!
Amidst all of the illness that was circling this household, we simply had a nice and quiet family celebration at home on the 28th.  Chris and Emily made me a cake, Emily helped me blow out the candles, and both of the kids helped me open my presents.
I got a bunch of neat birthday presents, and some awesome gift cards! 
Thanks to everyone who remembered!!
Here are some pictures of the Big Day!



(if you have trouble viewing the slideshow, click here)

Goodbye...See You Again Soon!

Goodbye to all our family and friends.  We really enjoyed our visit, and sharing the Holidays with you all!  We will miss everyone and we look forward to seeing you again really soon!  Thank you for making our trip special...not just for Chris and I...but Emily and Ethan had a great time and they both love you all SO MUCH!  

Thank you!

Here are some random pictures we've taken along the way...

Our Last Day in Cali

The last day in Cali was full!  We ate lunch with Grandma Lauri, Grandpa John, Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Humphrey. It was a nice afternoon day at the Corner Bakery (one of my favorite spots!)

Later that evening we had dessert with Grandpa Mike and Grandma Rose...and Uncle Mike also joined in!  I think Emily nearly ate the ENTIRE Mud Pie all by herself...LOL!

And...a little bit later that evening...a surprise Mini-Birthday Celebration for Mommy. :)  

(Yep, I'm turning 27 again!)

Grammy made my most-favorite cake, with her special chocolate frosting recipe...YUM!  Thanks Mom!

Discovery Science Center

The fun continued with a trip to the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana with Grandma Lauri and Grandpa John. There was a gingerbread house exhibit, which Emily loved!  And, both the kids really enjoyed running around in the sun in the outside dino-discovery area...considering that we're in Alaska, our kids don't get to run around outside in the sun too often!


The kids had a lot of fun discovering all of the neat and interesting things with Grandma Lauri and Grandpa John.  At the end of the trip we all enjoyed some yummy sandwiches and pizzas at Schlotzsky's Deli...DELISH!

Aquarium with The Graf's

The kids went to the Long Beach Aquarium with Uncle Scott, Auntie Mel-Mel, and their cousin Grant. Scott & Mel picked them up bright and early, and they had a full day of fun in Long Beach!

Happy 2012!

This year we rang in the new year at the Rose Parade. Ethan spent the night with Grandma Lauri & Grandpa John, and Chris, Emily, and I headed out to the streets of Pasadena.  Grammy, Lisa, and David escorted us into into the depths of the city.  We were lucky this year to be able to use the bathroom in Lisa's friend's gym, which is located along Colorado Blvd.

Emily had a lot of fun!  We had a little bit of a scary night, with our street-neighbors being legitimate gangsters, and the threat of a potential gang-war.  But, when the sun came up the streets were filled with large marching bands, and beautiful flowers.  Emily loved it!