Hammock Holiday

My loyal blog followers, I've decided to take a couple weeks of "holiday" time off from the blog. I will return in January with lots of new material. Please check back soon.

Happy Holidays!!! Love, The Huebel's

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iPhone Claire pics

9 month babies are so much fun!

Pulling herself up like a big girl!

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Never say Never

I went to a friends house for "Ladies Night" dinner & some catching up (thanks Kim!). One of the topics this evening was about doing things we never thought we'd do, then this commercial came up in the conversation. I hadn't seen the video, so I promptly came home and googled. I don't have State Farm insurance and it's a tad cliche, but I think you'll enjoy the video:

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Family Photo Bloopers

It takes us longer to capture that "golden moment" now that there's 4 of us, but I wouldn't have it any other way! Take a look at the journey to our family photo...

Ross helping me get my camera settings right

Accidentally fired the remote 

Claire and Dad

Roma trying to figure out if this was a game

Fail.

Roma loving Claire's petting

Owww, Mom is here

Almost...

Perfect! As good as it gets with this crowd.

Since there's not much snow in Anchorage, how about we add some?

Happy Holidays from the Huebel Family!!

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4 years in Alaska

We moved to Alaska on December 7, 2010 which means we've been living here for 4 years. Where does the time go?? We thought we'd be on our Alaska adventure 3-5 years and now we know that 4 is our magic number :) As much as we've loved living in Anchorage, we are ready to move back home to Texas.

Looking back at this blog post from when we moved up here, it made me happy to see how much more of an "outdoorsy" person I have become. The things that shocked me back then, have just become part of the routine. We will have fond memories of our time in Alaska forever!

On that note, please re-watch this video of Roma, putting on her snow boots for the first time... So funny!

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Ross's New Hobby

Ross has a new hobby. It's not that he went looking for one, but it happened anyway. Here's how it all began...

For my birthday I asked for a baking stone aka a pizza stone. Ross decided that he wanted to make more of a gift basket out of the pizza stone gift by getting me some of the tools and some literature to go with it. Ross bought a pizza peel and did some research on cookbooks and came up with "American Pie, My Search for the Perfect Pizza" by Peter Reinhart. When Ross finally gave me this present he was way more amped up about homemade pizza than I was. And a new hobby was born. I'm totally not complaining because I've been taste testing a lot of pizza. Who knew crust was such an art? I've enjoyed tasting many more adventurous toppings than we are normally privy to, even at Moose's Tooth :)

Here are the pizzas from "Alaska" themed pizza night:

Smoked Salmon Pizza with a Dill/Sour Cream sauce

Caribou Sausage pizza

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9 Month Baby!

Claire is 9 months old! She is more busy and active than ever, which means pictures are a bit more challenging. But let's be honest, Roma has prepped me well :)

OMG look at this sticker, it's so fascinating!

Sticker, Sticker, Sticker, la, la, la... I must try and eat it. Daddy fix my pom poms?

Ok I'll smile and then I'm gonna eat that sticker...

Just about done with pictures.

Love this little girl!

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We're Moving Home!!

It's been quite a journey, but I can finally share the news that Ross and I are moving back to Texas!

BP is downsizing for various reasons and opened an Expression of Interest (EOI) process to all BP Alaska employees. After much thought, Ross and I decided we should put our names in the hat. Since the passing of Ross's father last year and the birth of baby Claire in March we have felt that Houston is the place we need to be. BP indicated that they could not relocate us back to Houston for likely another 2 years, so we decided that leaving the company with the severance package would be the best for our family; the severance package includes complete relocation coverage back to Texas. 

It has been such an emotional process the last couple months because we did not know if both our EOI's would be accepted. For example, what would we have done if only my EOI was accepted and not Ross's? We found out last week that BP had accepted both our EOI's, which is what we were hoping for. 

Co-workers keep asking us if we have other jobs lined up and if we're worried that oil prices have fallen to $65/barrel. Neither of us have job offers in hand yet, though Ross has found a role that he's really interested in. Jobs have started to dry up some due to the year-end holidays and the fall of oil prices, but I'm hopeful that I'll find a job. Ideally I'd like to take some time off and enjoy life with baby before returning to work. We're planning on moving in with my parents until Ross and I land jobs. I'm so looking forward to living near family again!!

We are definitely embarking on a new journey, so stay tuned!

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Who's Got a Beard that's Long and White?

I didn't think I was going to succumb to the "Mom pressure" for the obligatory picture with Santa, but I did. It was "Santa Day" at work so I really couldn't say no... I mean Santa was in the lobby, so I had to do it...

Check out the picture progression:

Step 1: Sit in Santa's lap

Step 2: Scope out Santa's beard

Step 3: Realize Mom left me with the scary bearded man

Step 4: Done. I'll tell you my list next year Santa.

We had to wait for ~30 minutes in line for Santa and it was in the evening, so we were working against the odds. Claire wouldn't crack a smile for anything.

Mom had fun though :)

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Happy Hour at home

It's only the middle of the week, what? Why is it so hard returning from a holiday?

On another note, I thought I'd share an idea for some weekend fun...

Ross and I really enjoy cheese appetizer plates at the fancy pants restaurants. Like this one:

5 cheese plate at Crow's Nest

Now that we have a little baby girl, we don't get a chance to get out for date nights as much anymore so we thought, why not have happy hour at home? We wait for Claire to go night night at 7pm and then we assemble. Cheese, prosciutto, mole sausage, roasted nuts, fresh fruit, honey, balsamic, EVOO, fresh bread, and dried fruit.

We are lucky because we have a neat little gourmet meat/cheese store nearby. I think my all time favorite cheese is called Midnight Moon.

So go to the cheese store and start exploring the options and then invite me over for happy hour!

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iPhone Claire Pics

Need a little cutie to liven up your day?

We are trying some finger foods. It's probably not a coincidence that we usually go through 2-3 pairs of clothes on a daily basis now. Bananas will do that!

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Huebel Ranch Update

A few weeks ago we closed on the neighboring property to our ranch, making our new tract of land almost 500 acres! (Re-read the old blog post here). At the time I wasn't privy to posting the new "Huebel Ranch Rules" until they were agreed upon by all parties. I'm not sure how many emails were exchanged in the end, but it's safe to say Ross and Adam enjoyed creating this list... I'm impressed that Danielle and I are allowed to invite people to the ranch too. Girls weekend anyone? :)

Huebel Ranch Hunting Rules

1. If you see a hog you must shoot it.

2. You may shoot any whitetail spike over 3 or 4 inches long (only one side needs to be a spike).

3. You may shoot any whitetail doe (but preferably not a doe with any fawns following it).

4. You may shoot any turkey, but only one per trip.

5. You may shoot any varmints (fox, bobcat, mountain lion, coyote, porcupine, or raccoon).

6. You may not shoot any axis deer or exotic animal (doe or buck).

7. You may not shoot any whitetail bucks other than spikes.

8. If you hunt, please contribute corn or leave money for corn. We spend thousands of dollars to feed year-round and we appreciate help.

Other Rules

1. No one should be at the ranch unless Ross and/or Adam know that they are there.  People welcome to the ranch are limited to those that Ross, Liz, Danielle or Adam have invited.

2. No spotlighting is allowed for hogs or varmints during bow or rifle whitetail deer season.

3. No firearm target practice during bow or rifle whitetail deer season.

4. Never leave a fire unattended. Do not start a fire when a burn ban is in effect or away from a hose. Always put fire out completely with copious amounts of water. If you find yourself wondering if you have sprayed enough water…..spray more water.

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Thanksgiving in AK

We had a nice couple days of low-key hangout time with our little family. We ate good food, hung out with friends, and enjoyed the downtime before the crazy cycle begins. 

Charles snapped a couple family photos at the dog park :)

And now on to Christmas!

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