Bonding with the Sitkanese

"oh dear!" says Scott, when he sees this title. That's because he knows that I am going to include a picture of him in this post where he is partially clothed. So fair warning ladies (or Steve Chandler), if you wish to avert your eyes, the aforementioned picture will be at the end of this post. But first you must indulge me as I review our trip so far...

On Sunday we looked at the weather for our drive to Sacramento. We had to drive to Sacramento in order to fly Alaska Airlines to Sitka for Christmas. This is quite convenient as our return trip will allow us to spend New Years with Scott's family. Both families in not one, but two holiday breaks = perfect planning and no family feuds due to sharing. But I digress... the weather outlook for the drive wasn't pretty. Sunday was probably the best day to leave but we both had to stay for work, especially since BYU was monitoring my hours closely this vacation. Monday the storm was moving from the coast inland, and Tuesday, the day we were planning to leave, the snow was going to be upon us and the pass would be clearing up. We decided to leave Tuesday anyway and were lucky to only have poor conditions through Wendover. We flew to Alaska on Wednesday morning, thanks to Robby Bush who gave us a ride to the airport, even though we only woke up five minutes before he came to pick us up.

It is so fun for me to be home again. In Sitka almost everyone knows who I am and vice versa. A lot of people even know who Scott is too, but not vice versa. Scott was taken aback when, at a Christmas party, someone mentioned that they still have a picture of him on their fridge. Of course, I'm sure they meant our Thank You card from our wedding (which is timeless, btw). They didn't say that though... a picture of Scott. Maybe they cut me out? Well to that person, you may really enjoy the picture at the end of this post ;)

All of my family came up to celebrate Christmas this year in Sitka, as it is possibly the last Christmas we will have the opportunity to spend in Alaska. My parents are retiring this coming summer and contemplating a move to the lower 48 to be nearer to grandchildren. We were able to take a family picture during this momentus occasion. Unlike The Kartchners, our family is best captured only during the gag pictures.


Speaking of grandkiddos, my nieces are adorable. Meghan has acquired a Southern accent from living in North Carolina for a year. She keeps saying things like, "Aye caan make tha behad masaellf, Naahna" Translation - I can make the bed myself, Nana. Or "Aye maaye woant to borrowe thaet cuup" Translation - I may want to borrow that cup. It sounds cuter in person. Mackenzie has decided to fight for the title of drama queen, an award that Meghan held as a seasoned champion up until recently. Casey on the other hand is adorable and possibly my new favorite, if I'm allowed to have a favorite Cavanaugh niece.


First of all, she naturally has a hair do like my sexy cut and doesn't even need to try at it! She has a bottomless stomach, like I sometimes have. And she likes to make random poses and only changes her pose when someone notices. She and I are destined bosom buddies.

Today we took the girls to the Hames PE center in Sitka to swim. Scott played basketball while we swam. In fact, this is around the time when I explain the picture. When we went to the gym, we saw a poster saying that there are Saturday pick up bball games between 5 30 and 7 00 pm. This is exactly what would make Scott's Christmas vacation to Sitka a success. So he scoped it out and decided to pay the cover charge to enter the weekend tourney. They started out with only a few guys, so they decided to play shirts and skins. As you can imagine, this is a once in a post missionary lifetime opportunity for Scott to play skins, and so he did.

WARNING: here comes the picture. Scott finished the competitive games this evening and said to me, "I feel one with the people of Sitka now. I could live here." I'm glad, honey, that taking your shirt off with the young men of Mt. Edgecomb boarding school helped you to connect more to my roots. He'll feel much more at ease downtown, now that he's played some ball with the locals.

Sorry, it had to be documented. Merry Christmas from Alaska!