FurRondy Weekend

This weekend we decided to venture out into town to experience some of the annual "Fur Rondy" festivities. Fur Rondy is a big event that happens every year to celebrate and get ready for the Alaskan Iditarod. Here is a little history just in case you are interested:

Seventy-Five Years of History!

The Fur Rondy Festival is a significant part of the history and tradition of Anchorage. In the mid 1930's, Anchorage was just a small town of about 3,000 people that stretched between Park Strip and Ship Creek. There were no televisions, malls or movie theaters, no video games, ipods or computers, not even an Iditarod! Winters were brutal and stoking fires, shoveling snow and surviving the elements was the basic daily pastime in those days.
Vern Johnson, the father of the Fur Rendezvous, was a likeable, outgoing Anchorage citizen with a keen understanding of social conditions. He and his friends decided to establish a 3-day Festival to coincide with the time that the miners and trappers came to town with their winter's yield. It began as a three-day sports tournament on February 15, 16 and 17, 1935 and featured skiing, hockey, basketball, boxing and a children's sled dog race down Fourth Avenue. Nearly the entire population of Anchorage turned out for the bonfire and torchlight parade.

Since then, the Fur Rendezvous has earned national and international notoriety, and visitors from throughout the world descend on Anchorage every February.

Despite the passage of time and a multitude of modern diversions, Fur Rendezvous remains a highly anticipated time of year. There are still many Fur Rendezvous events that have withstood the test of time and continue to maintain their unique character. The Official Rondy Fur Auction has been a staple of the Festival since the beginning and the Festival was named in large part to the economic importance of the Alaskan fur trade. Given that the fur trade was Alaska's third most valuable industry in those days, incorporating the industry into the celebration was a logical idea. The Blanket Toss, an ancient Native Alaskan tradition, joined the Festival in 1950. Native Alaskans were flown into Anchorage from Nome and the Little Diomede Islands to participate in the Blanket Toss and to showcase their captivating tribal dances.

The World Championship Sled Dog Race debuted in 1946 and has become the cornerstone event of the Festival bringing teams of sled dogs and mushers to Anchorage from across Alaska and all over the world. The World Championship Dog Weight Pull began in 1967 as a bet between two dog owners to see whose animal could pull the most weight. Four decades later, dog owners are still competing against each other for the cash, notoriety and the illustrious World Champion title for the event. Other traditional Fur Rondy events include the Rondy Carnival, the Grand Parade, the uniquely Alaskan Original Men's Snowshoe Softball and the Grand Prix Auto Race, one of the oldest street races in North America.

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So on Friday I took the boys to the see the annual sled dog races. It was a lot of fun and Miles couldn't stop talking about the "doggies." On Friday we also visited this amazing bakery called Fire Island which is nestled in one of Anchorage's downtown neighborhoods. It is a family run bakery with amazing artisan breads and pastries! This will for sure be one of my most frequented spots... fireislandbread.com. On Sunday we went downtown again to take part in the running of the reindeers. It was fun, but a little stressful with the boys as you can imagine. Here are some pics from our "FurRondy" adventures!













Did I mention we live in Alaska! HA!

Our Life in Alaska

Wow, it has been a while, and I finally feel like life is somewhat normal again, which means I feel the freedom to blog. Life has changed so much for the Masons over the past 3 months. Change is so hard, but this change is proving to be really good for our family. We moved to Anchorage on December, 29th. I will always remember this because it is our anniversary. We quickly found a really great place to live with an amazing few of the mountains and ocean. Our view will never get old. We are starting to get into a routine which consists mostly of getting creative "at home" with the boys. Having two kids is a lot harder than just one. We are starting to realize we would much rather spend the night at home then try to brave it out with 2 young boys. We are starting to learn our way around town and of course I am always on the look out for new "treat places".

Miles is growing up so fast and truly is such a joy. He is talking up a storm and is really starting to understand everything we say. We really have to be careful with our words because he will copy everything we say including....ohh shoot! It's too funny. Miles has gotten really into reading. I think he would be happy if I just read to him all day every day. He has his favorites but is constantly adding new books into the mix. He also loves helping me cook. Anytime he sees me starting to cook a meal whether it be breakfast or dinner he runs for his stool and says "I wanna help mommy". I love it. He is a really good helper. In other news he is starting to be quite feisty with his little brother. I can't leave the two alone because Miles is very possessive of all of "his" toys and will very quickly let Salem know when something is his! I feel like I am just refereeing all day. Miles loves to play with Salem but at this stage he is bit rough and aggressive. I hope this stage will pass sooner than later. Everyday I must choose my battles!

Salem is 8 months old and is still my little baby. He still feels so young to me even-though he is fastly approaching one! I can't believe he will be one in 4 months. Actually I can, seeing how fast the months go by now. Salem is getting around everywhere. He is an accomplished crawler and is pulling up on everything. He is still waking up at night, and that is another story, but as far as I'm concerned he is my last so I can handle it for a bit longer. He is a great napper which makes for a nice daytime routine!

Corey is really liking his new job and is loving "going" to work again. He is gearing up for the season and starting slowly to meet with clients and preparing bids. I am really loving being at home with Miles and Salem and am thankful that I get the opportunity to do this. Life goes by so fast and the boys will only be little for so long. I am thankful that I get to be by their side right here and now. It's the little things that make it so worth it! So, I will leave you with a few of our favorite Alaska spots and what we are into these days! Many many blessings from the Masons

some of my favorite spots:
aksugarspoon.com
beartooththeatre.net
shop-bella.com
arcticplaygroundz.com
fullcirclefarm.com
our favorite music right now: the xx.....miles loves the drums, you should see him dance when we put it on
http://blogs.asburyseminary.edu/asbury-reader

I realize that most of you have seen these pictures, I am really going to try to start taking pictures everyday so that I can post more! Stay tuned!

Finally something new!

Hello friends and family,
I am so sorry that this blog has been so neglected lately... you can imagine why! I finally feel like life is a little back to normal and things are starting to slow down a little. We have had such a fun summer! Corey just returned from a 2 week trip to Alaska. He was working up there for his old boss in Anchorage. We missed him a lot but somehow managed without him. My mom and dad were here to help so that made the load a lot easier. Both Salem and Miles are growing like weeds, literally! Miles is talking up a storm which is a lot of fun even though his favorite word is NO! I think someday soon he will learn that he doesn't have to say NO to everything! Salem is almost 2 mo. old and is already weighing in at 11 pounds! He is a bruiser and quite a cute bruiser indeed! He is starting to coo and smile which makes motherhood so worth it! Well, Salem will officially be 2 mo. old this coming week so I will post his official stats once we have his checkup! For now I will leave you with pics! Cheers!

Not much time

Hello All, I don't have much free time these days so I thought I would just post some pics! Hope you enjoy!

Can't believe Salem will be 3 weeks old on Friday! He's already grown so much!! I wish I could freeze time!

Baby boy Salem is here!

Salem Lee Mason is here!

Friday, June 12 2009 @ 4:20 p.m.
Asheville, N.C.
6lbs 7oz 19 inches long

Salem's Birth Story,
Salem came with no warning at all!! I was not expecting him to come so soon, however I was excited when it all happened! I thought for sure I would be late again, since I was so late with Miles. So the story begins....I woke up Thursday night with light contractions coming every 5 minutes. They started at about 2 am and never really went away. They weren't too bad, but I knew it was different because they were so regular. I finally got out of bed at about 5:30 and put a load of Salem's clothes and bedding in. We hadn't even set up his crib yet, so I figured well if I"m in labor I better get on that! So I did a little organizing and took a shower. I got my bag packed and just started doing the normal duties for the day. My mom was at my house thank goodness. She was sleeping in MIles' room so when I awoke her with the news that "I think I'm in labor" she jumped out of bed with excitement! I kept thinking what bad timing, because this was the day she was supposed to be moving into her new rented bungalow. We were all going to help her unload her uhaul and get things set up. Oh well... plans had to change a little. So my contractions were still regular, not too painful yet, but I did have to stop and breathe through some of them. We quickly all got ready and headed to West End Bakery for a bite to eat. We then met Corey over at my mom's new house and helped unload her Uhaul. I couldn't do much because by now my contractions were a little more intense! We had to get her truck unloaded because it was due back that day. Anyway, we quickly unloaded the truck and then Corey and I decided to grab a quick bite to eat from Lenny's and then head to the hospital. I had checked in with my midwife earlier and she said I could come in whenever I was ready.

So we headed to the hospital, checked in, and I immediately got hooked up to the monitor so they could see how my contractions were progressing. My midwife joined us soon after and that's when I found out I was only dilated to 1 cm. I was pretty bummed because she said that it could just be false labor and they might subside. I couldn't imagine this because they were pretty strong. I decided to stay for 1 more hour so that she could check me again and we could make the call whether to stay or just go home and ride it out. I stayed hooked up to the monitor and I had already made up my mind that we would just go home and carry on about our day. My contractions were subsiding, so I thought for sure I would not be progressing. Jan, my midwife, came back in shortly after and checked me again and to her surprise and mine I was at 6 cm. So I had progressed 5 cm. in one hour, and my contractions had slowed down. Didn't make sense to me but I was so excited, we were going to be having a baby!!! So I quickly got checked into my labor and delivery room. My labor and delivery nurse was awesome! She was so much fun to talk to and a lot of help to me when things got intense.

So I spent the next hour on the bed just working and breathing through the contractions. I didn't progress much more that hour, so I decided to get in the tub. I was in the tub for about 2 hours. I love getting in the tub. It relaxes you and the water makes labor so much easier. Getting out of the tub was pretty intense. I was almost ready to push by the time I got out and I was having really intense pressure. So I made it to the bed with some help and got settled in there, it was almost pushing time. I spent about 30 minutes or so breathing through more contractions. They were getting really intense, I could tell he was almost here. So I continued to work through the contractions and all of a sudden I had a really big contraction and I knew it was pushing time. So I started to push and he was out in about 3 minutes. These were the longest 3 minutes of my life, it was really painful but once he was out it was amazing. They brought him right up to me, Corey got to catch him as he came out. It was a beautiful moment! The experience was so smooth! I am so thankful that everything went so smoothly and that Salem was healthy! My stay at the hospital was wonderful. I really enjoyed all my nurses and it was nice to just rest up and be served! I love being a patient. It was nice having the time to really bond with Salem. What sweet memories we made!

Today Salem is 2 weeks old. It's hard to believe that it's already been 2 weeks. Why does time go be so fast after you have babies!! He is doing great! He's growing though, I wish I could keep him from growing but I don't think that is going to happen! LIfe is good with 2! So cheers to you Salem and happy 2 week birthday! You are a joy!

Life

I can't believe I'm going to have another one of these any day now!! I am so excited to meet you! You can come out whenever you would like, we are ready!!!

Cupcake Party

A couple of weeks ago some of my friends here in Asheville threw me a little cupcake and tea party! It was a lot of fun to have a bunch of Miles friends together! All the kids had a lot of fun playing out in the yard as you can see. My friend Anomaly who owns Take the Cake, made the beautiful cupcakes! They were delicious! Tomorrow, starts the beginning of June, my birth month. It's hard to believe it's already approaching. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks until me due date, that is if I'm not late, which people are already telling me I probably will be since I was with Miles. Oh well, I've come this far I can make it an extra week if I have too! Here are some pics from the cupcake party! What fun!

The Masons come to visit

Corey's brother Paul and his wife Kristin have been in town with us over the long weekend! We had such a fun filled weekend, it was sad to see them leave this morning. They brought along their 5 mo. old Elyse, which we didn't even know she was here because she was so good! She is such a sweet baby girl! We got to do a lot of neat hikes and fun daytrips. We went to see triple falls, hooker falls, looking glass falls and crabtree meadow falls. It was so nice to get out and get in some hiking before this new baby arrives! On Sunday we got to go to the Biltmore house which was a lot of fun. Miles and Elyse were troopers the entire weekend! Here are some pics from our adventures!