Snow fun and a big booboo

We've had warmer than normal temperatures the past week,, even up in the 20s! Thats quite balmy for North Pole in January, so the kids took advantage of it with some fun in the snow. Matthew and Dad shoveled a track on the back deck for our little Nascar driver, and he made his rounds, most of the time picking his car up and carrying it, since the track was a wee bit too narrow. :-) Another day we went sledding over on the Chena Lakes Flood dike, a popular sledding and snowmachining spot. Steve, Matthew and Stephen had a blast with Danielle and her three girls,, but Lys,, not so much! For her first (and only) run she decided the regular slope wasn't quite steep enough and went off the side of the dike. It's almost straight up and down and she found some nice sharp rocks at the bottom to cushion her fall! We are very fortunate that she wasn't hurt alot worse, but regardless, I don't think she considered the stitches in her knee anything to be thankful for. :-) She has an almost 2 inch cut on her left knee, which went thru all the skin and tissues, all the way down to the muscle! After our adventure last month with her broken foot (she dropped a tv on it) we are really learning our way around the new hospital on Fort Wainwright! The medics there are great and really kind and patient with the kids. This is pretty amazing considering many of them just returned from months in Iraq, dealing with much more than we can even imagine. Here are a few pix from the back deck, sledding and the ER.

Danyielle and Sage

Steve and Stephen
Matthew and Haley
Alyssa's knee,, gross, huh? :-)
Five big ones,,,count 'em
Lys's favorite medic...he kept us in stitches!! hahaha,,,sorry :-)
Lys's ER trip from last month,, broken bone in her foot..