The Adventures of Matt, Kara and baby Hunter in Kugluktuk, Nunavut

The Last Post

2008-03-05T17:01:00.002-07:00

Now the we have left Nunavut we have decided to start a new blog! We are going to leave this blog up since we have had so many people tell us how good the information was on here about Kugluktuk. So if you are on the blog to look at information on town, please go through the posts and hopefully you find some good stuff!

When I started this blog I think I was number six on Clare's list. Now there are dozens of blogs in Nunavut. I loved blogging and sharing our stories, especially once the baby arrived.

Our time in Nunavut was definitely an experience! Most of it was good, however we both had front line jobs which led to high levels of burnout. Had we had other types of jobs, I am sure we would have stayed up there longer. We made many great friends that we will miss greatly. My husband especially loved the elders up there and will miss them and their stories. Kugluktuk was where we bought our first house and had our first child. It will always hold a lot of memories.

So if you want to follow along with us and our new adventures over in the Yukon, you can find us at: http://wenttofaro.blogspot.com

Thanks to everyone in Kugluktuk! We enjoyed being part of the community! And thank you to the other northern bloggers for all of your entertaining comments and your own blog entries that entertained us on those long dark days!

If any of you are ever in the Yukon, please come to Faro for a visit. We have a huge house with many spare rooms just waiting for visitors!

Kara, Matt and baby Hunter

Made it!

2008-02-29T21:01:00.002-07:00

We finally made it to Faro after all of those delays! We arrived here on Wednesday and thought we would have two weeks before Matt had to go back to work.... but no! He is headed back to work again on Monday. So we asked around town and found some people to help us unpack, assemble, and clean. That way when Matt heads out to work I can relax- well sort of! There will still be lots to do.

Our new town is very nice. The people here are quite friendly and helpful. There is not much here for services, but that doesn't bother us at all. The view out my window is spectacular- mountains, snow and trees!!

Baby Hunter is adjusting well. A young girl from the next street over came to babysit him today so I could get some work done. He loved her and spent the whole time talking away to her. Hunter is enjoying baths in our two person soaker tub. I am looking forward to putting him to bed one night and relaxing in there with a bottle of wine! Speaking of wine... so we have a little liquor store here in town, but not much of grocery store!

I am falling way behind on blog reading and emailing! But I will get there soon, so I haven't forgot about you all!

And a big thank you to Deiss!! We have no tv yet, but I found the cd's you made for me and we are enjoying the tunes.

Hope everyone is doing well! And you are all welcome to come and visit us anytime.

February Pictures

2008-02-21T17:02:00.003-07:00

Three more sleeps and Matt will be home! Hurray! He is flying into Fort St. John on Sunday and we will run down and get him. Monday we will drive to Watson Lake, Tuesday to Whitehorse, and Wednesday to Faro. The end is finally in sight.

We have been having a great visit here in Fort Nelson. Hunter is getting to know his cousin and they are pretty cute together. I am working away on my editing and just loving it. I think I am really going to enjoy this new job. I was worried that it would be hard with the kid at home, but whenever he naps I get to work. He is still
having two long naps each day and as those end, I will probably do more work at night after he goes to bed.

So as I promised! Pictures of the growing rodent:

Playing with cousin Damon:

He loves his cheerios and even gets the odd one to his mouth!

Hi mom!

Grandma's kitten, "Weaver", just loved Hunter!

Mom, go get the phone book so I can reach the wheel!

Sled time at Grandma and Grandpa's

Riding with Uncle Travis on the quad. Hunter grinned the whole time!

His grandpa is happy that he is a John Deere kind of kid:

Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

2008-02-18T12:02:00.002-07:00

No! Now sit down and shut your trap before I turn this vehicle around!!

Yep, its true. We are not there yet!!

Matt has been extended at work for another week. He should be back to us this coming weekend (keep your fingers crossed!). I am now in Fort Nelson visiting my brother and his family. They also have high speed internet so I can get some work done! I will try and get some new pictures loaded up on here soon to give you all your baby Hunter fix! It has now been over a month since we left Kugluktuk. That is a long time to live out of a suitcase. But I guess the house isn't going anywhere, so I need to sit back and relax!

My email is working again, so I will try and get caught up on all of the emails everyone has sent our way. Hope everyone is doing great!

On the road again soon!

2008-02-12T07:26:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

Matt will be back on Thursday from his first work stint. Friday morning we will start our drive up to our new home. We will go to Fort Nelson for the weekend to visit with my brother and his family. Monday we will go to Watson Lake for the night, Tuesday we will go to Whitehorse for the night, and then hopefully (fingers crossed) we will be in Faro on Wednesday. The keys for my new house arrived last week and have been taunting me ever since!

Hunter sure has grown in the few weeks since we left Kugluktuk. He now has 5 teeth and number 6 should be through soon. He can wiggle himself around on the floor pretty good, but no signs of crawling yet. Yesterday he figured out how to flip himself backwards over a breastfeeding pillow. It was similar to a backwards summersault with a half twist! I gave him a 8.5 out of 10 for it! I will post pictures when I get real internet in the new house.

We hope everyone is doing well out there! I will keep in better contact when I get settled up in Faro. Have a great week!

One week down!

2008-01-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

Matt has been gone for one week today. It has gone pretty quickly! I have been here taking care of the circus at my folks place- 5 cats, 2 dogs, the boy and my dad. My mom has been down on Vancouver Island visiting her folks and will be back on Friday. I am looking forward to the company!

It is really peaceful out here. My parents live on 320 acres 50km from Dawson Creek. It is nice to look out my windows and just see trees and snow instead of my neighbours and their skidoo graveyard. It is feeling a bit like Nunavut though! The temperature has been around -40 for the few days. Inside with the wood furnace and wood cookstove I am nice and toasty!

Hunter is wonderful company and keeps me pretty entertained. He is finally loving bath time and has learned to splash instead of scream. So we are having baths every night. My moms new kittens play with him... well I guess they use him more like a wiggly piece of furniture. Hunter loves to pet.. errr grab them! But they don't attack him too bad for it.

Hunter has been saying dadadadada all week long. And when he gets really pissy he screams it. I think he is hoping that dad will come and rescue him soon! He is also doing something so cute it makes me giggle everytime he does it. Whenever I burp him on my shoulder, he reaches out and whacks at me with an open hand too. I guess he is trying to burp me!

I have volunteered to go into the elementary school that I attended as a kid to do a presentation on Nunavut next Tuesday. I think it is going to be a riot!! People that I went there with now have their own kids in the school. It is still just as small as when I went there. 45 kids in kindergarden through to grade 7.

I wish I could attach some pictures here, but that will have to wait until I get myself to town. I hope to go in next week and do some emailing and upload some pictures. And yes, my email for some reason won't work. I can read your emails, so please keep them coming!! But when I reply, all people can read is the subject line.

And congratulations to Jen and Jackie on the Nunies!! I am looking foward to reading your acceptance speeches.

Damn email!

2008-01-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

My folks have dial up internet! Arggg!! It is slooooww. And for some reason when I send an email in Hotmail the subject line comes through, but no email! I was just trying to let everyone know that I am waiting here at my folks place for the next month. Matt is going to work earlier than expected and there wasn't enough time to get moved into the new house. He is now working three weeks on and three weeks off. He should get back here around the 16th of February and we will haul everything to Faro then.

So with this super duper slow internet I will disapear off the face of the planet for quite a while!

You want him to start work when??

2008-01-19T08:10:00.001-07:00

We arrived safe and sounds at my folks place after leaving Kugluktuk on Monday. We shopped for two days to find all of the stuff I hadn't ordered on boxing day. We had the trailer all packed and we were ready to drive up north to take ownership of our new home on the 22nd. And then Matt asks me to check his email to see if his new employer had sent any information. Well they did. They want him to start work on the 23rd. Well that just isn't enough time to get into our new house, unload everything we bought, and then drive him into Whitehorse to catch the plane over to the NWT for work. Solution? Hunter and I are going to live at my folks place for the next month!! I haven't lived at home in 10 years! So this should be pretty interesting! Matt's new employer is going to fly him out of Grande Prairie and he is headed to an oil site north of Norman Wells for three weeks. I am sure Hunter is going to enjoy his extended vacation with his Grandparents, but I think I am going to go nuts waiting that extra month to get into my new house!

Now I have lots of time to visit with my Dawson Creek Buddies (hi Curries!!)

So if anyone wants to visit, please do! I am at my folks place until the middle of February!

2008-01-14T02:30:00.000-07:00

Well it is 2:30am.

We were just woken by an unbelievably drunk retard who nearly banged our door in. That literally scared the shit out of me.

All of the sadness that I had about leaving is seriously gone. Replaced with excitement for my new town with nil crime rate.

I love our RCMP.

Our Last Night

2008-01-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

This is it! We are leaving Nunavut tomorrow and headed to the Yukon. Exciting times ahead I tell you.

We have had a great last couple of days. Our house has been full of friends visiting and we have made the rounds around town to say our goodbyes. Last night we had a great party up here; the house was pretty busy until after midnight. It has been hard to say goodbye to the amazing friends we have made here. Tomorrow out at the airport is going to be tough. I think I will probably just bawl my eyes out.

Kugluktuk was good to us. We will always have fond memories of our time here. It is where we bought our first house, had our first child, shot our first caribou.... so many firsts! Everyone we pass on the street says it is too soon for us to leave, but we are ready for the new jobs, house and life ahead of us. We are leaving with memories and stories galore.

Thank you to all of the friends we made while we lived here in Nunavut. We felt blessed to have you all in our lives.

Updates will follow as soon as we get settled. We should arrive in Faro on the 22nd. And don't worry- we will keep blogging!

love Kara, Matthew and baby Hunter

Best Friday Ever

2008-01-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

So now you are wondering- why is this the Best Friday Ever?

Well first, the boy slept most of the night. Second, we went for bannock at the Health Centre. Third, all of the jars of jam I made last night all sealed (pictures to follow soon). Fourth, one of my favorite elders in town came running out of her house as we walked by and gave Hunter a cute pair of slippers. Fifth, we are going out for supper tonight with a great RCMP family. Sixth, we got word from the lawyers that all of our ducks are in a row for the house selling/buying. And now for the big number 7.....

Today is our last mortgage payment!! But Kara, you ask... aren't you buying a new home? Well yes, but guess what! We are paying cash for it! That is right! No more mortgage payments! We will own this new house outright and I am so proud. We have worked hard since getting out of University to pay off our huge (seriously huge, as in 6 digits) student loans. So my husband has been out of school since 2001, and myself since 2003 and we have done it. Paid off our students loans, paid off our first house and bought our second house.

Now let me tell you more about our new house. It is huge. 2300 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, attached garage, huge yard, wood fireplace, laminate flooring, ceramic tile.... Oh my it just has everything! Can you tell I am just a wee bit excited?

Living room:

Kitchen: (I am looking forward to renovating this one day!)

Downstairs:

My walk in closet in master bedroom:

Master Bedroom:

Main entrance:

Two person soaker tub in the upstairs bathroom (this sold me on the house!)

Downstairs bathroom:

Cute husband!

Our backyard. There is a playground down there!

Road our house is on:

The house!!

Faro

2008-01-09T06:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a great picture of our new town!

Now you see why I am so excited to get there?

Sleep

2008-01-09T06:07:00.000-07:00

Hunter is sleeping great. Me? Well not so much! I think I am just too excited for the move, which is only in 5 days. I have been up since 2am and it is just past 6 now. But at least I was productive. I did some editing for my new job and returned some emails.

Yesterday was Matt's last day of work and he was pretty happy about it. They had a cake for him and I went down too. He is really looking forward to the move and new employment. I think we have everything in place for the big day. It looks like both house deals are going through without a hitch (knock on wood)! Everything that we ordered for the new house on boxing day is showing up down south, just waiting for us to pick it up. I have insured the new truck and the quad trailer, lined up utilities, canceled the utilities up here, arranged hotels, signed lawyers papers.... and a million other things. I still have a long to-do list though!

The next five days are full of visiting. We have been invited out for a few suppers between now and when we leave. We are also having a big shin-dig at our place on Saturday night to say good-bye to everyone. I am sure that will be a hoot. I am going to miss so many people from Kugluktuk. Hopefully a few of them will make it to the Yukon sometime for a visit.

It is hard to believe how fast the 2 and a half years went up here. And the two years before that in the NWT. So we are off to the last Territory!

Anyone have any good advice for travelling with kitties? We drugged them to fly up here and it was horrible. The one cat got so cold I thought she was going to die, and the other one couldn't move, but meowed the entire trip. I don't think we are going to drug them this time, but if you have advice to pass along, please do! You know, I am wondering if these are the first kitties to live in all three territories!

And for your cute baby picture of the day, here is Hunter in his Roughriders outfit he got from our friends Ian and Angie down in Saskatoon.

Birthday Wishes!

2008-01-07T00:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to fellow blogger Tina!

We hope you have a great day today!

Family Pictures

2008-01-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

It finally warmed up enough today to go out and get some nice family pictures. It was only -17C with a windchill of -26C. That is the warmest it has been I think since early November!

Our friend, Amanda, walked up the hill with us to get some pictures with this inukshuk. Thanks Amanda! Now I have been playing with iphoto to tweak all of the pictures. Here are the best ones:

This one is my favorite!

Daddy's Little Boy:

The boy wasn't too happy to come out of his nice warm little home!

Arctic Sushi!

2008-01-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

Well actually, it was just my attempt at a California roll. It turned out pretty good for my first try! I saw a post from Open Head Space last year and decided that I needed to give it a try. There wasn't much in town for filling so I only had cucumber. But the best part was the smoked char that I put in it! We smoked and froze a bunch of fish this summer and that was the last of our char. I definitely need to get a better knife for cutting though!

Are we bad parents....

2008-01-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

For doing this?

Two Weeks and Counting

2007-12-31T08:29:00.001-07:00

Two weeks from today we will be leaving Nunavut! Plane tickets are booked, truck is bought, house deals are going through.... my gosh, this is actually happening!

I spent all of boxing day shopping online for everything for our new house. Between The Brick, London Drugs, Costco and Sears I have found almost everything we need. I got some great deals on our furniture and electronics. Then from London Drugs I got all of the small stuff like cleaning and baking supplies. One quick stop to Ikea in Edmonton for some shelving and a quick run into a Walmart and we are done! I am so glad I was able to shop online. Now our time can be spent with family! We have a week between the closing of this house and the closing of our new house so we will hang out in Dawson Creek and Fort Nelson with family. This is so exciting!

Here is Hunter with our Nunavut license plate for our new truck! We had to register it up here since we bought it all before we moved. I am sure there aren't many Nunavut license plates going around down south!

The Nunies Are Here!

2007-12-28T22:05:00.000-07:00

Oh this is fun!! Clare up in Arctic Bay is having a contest about Nunavut Bloggers! Here are the details:

In celebration of Blogging in Nunavut I'm introducing the Nunies in conjunction with Nunavut Blogs!. The Nunies are a simple recognition of the best that blogging in Nunavut has to offer. Here is how it works...

From now until January 21st, 2008 there will be the opportunity to nominate blogs in two categories:
1) Best Nunavut Blog
2) Best New Nunavut Blog (the blog must have started in 2007)

and a third category for...
3) Best post of 2007

To nominate blogs for the first two categories send an email to the Nunavut Blogs! email address nunavutblogs AT yahoo DOT ca. You can nominate up to five blogs but you can only make one submission. Oh yeah, The House and other Arctic musings, is ineligible to be nominated... my award, my rules.

To nominate the best post of 2007 send a link to the post to the same email address. To be eligible for the two blog categories the blog must be primarily about Nunavut, written by someone living in Nunavut, or written by an expatriot Nunavumiut now living elsewhere. The post can have the additional criteria of being a post about Nunavut, not necessarily by a blog falling into one of those other categories.

After January 21st the top five nominees will be posted and voting will open for a week, with the Winners being announced in the beginning of February. What do the winners get??? Not much really, a nifty badge to post on their blog (that I've yet to design), a little promotion of their blog, and dinner for two at the House, should they ever make it up this way. If anyone else wants to donate a prize you can let me know.

Please spread the word, so as many people as possible take part in the nominations/voting.

I am addicted to northern blogs. I check them nearly everyday. Sometimes twice a day. Good thing some people post often to keep me entertained! I just have to share my nominations. It was a tough decision cause I love you all so much! :)

Okay for #1- Best Nunavut Blog- I nominate Larry (aka. Bob for telling it like it is!), Footprints (neat to see a view on Nunavut that isn't your traditional "kablunak" experience), WayWayUp (I feel like I learn a bit of culture from Darcy- I grew up redneck so know little about classical music and history!), and Jen of Nunavut (her pictures are outstanding and I love her cat, Norman).
#2- Best New Nunavut Blog- Nunavut Uncensored. Nice for people to have an anonymous place to vent without fear of losing their job. Thanks ArcticAgent.

And for #3- well I have to nominate myself for the entry on the birth of our son. Of course I think that was the best post of the whole year!
http://wenttokugluktuk.blogspot.com/2007/06/introducing-hunter-gillis-went.html

Now I would like everyone out there to email in your nominations! And make sure you vote for the birth of our baby boy for the third category!

Happy Voting Everyone!
ps. Tina- since you aren't in Nunavut I cannot vote for you- but I love your blog! Your boys are adorable!

pps. Jen of Nunavut has a contest going on too, but I want to win it, so you cannot enter ;p

What A Great Day!

2007-12-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

It really was a great day!! We were up at 6am when Hunter got up to eat. We opened up presents and were all back down for a nap at 8am! Hunter was pretty cute trying to open up presents and eat the paper.

After the nap I got everything ready for Christmas Supper. We had 12 other people over and it was such a wonderful evening. I cooked a monstrous 27lb turkey and it was delicious. So we all ate, drank and were merry. I am really going to miss our friends here in Kugluktuk when we leave!

Our first family Christmas:

Me and my boy:

Dressed up with dad! Thanks for the present Nannie Gillis!

Our friend Lori gave him this cute Santa hat today:

Hey mom! Look at all of my presents!

Screw the present Ma, give me the paper!!

The kid could not get enough of the paper!

Adorable in Christmas pj's

Kitties love Christmas too!

Santa Claus is comin' to town!

2007-12-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

I love parades in town! I heard the sirens as they went around the lower part of town, so I got my camera ready. Once the siren seemed loud enough I ran outside and got some pictures of Santa!!

Here he comes!!

Santa has to use the fire truck to give the reindeer a rest before the big day!

A parade isn't a parade unless the cops are involved! heheheh

And there are always trucks full of people shouting well wishes!

And my favorite- the line of skidoos that grows longer and longer as the parade moves through town!

Lobster Night in Kugluktuk

2007-12-22T17:08:00.001-07:00

Matthew calls me from work on Wednesday afternoon and asked what was for supper. I said I had a nice moose roast in the crockpot. He replies with "well I really want frozen pizza!" Okay, this is weird, he never wants pizza, but ah well! So I tell him I will just use the roast for lunches and he can bring home whatever he wants for supper. Well my wonderful husband brought me home lobster!! His supervisors husband was in Nova Scotia that week and brought back a heap of live lobster and we bought a bunch of them. What a treat!

What is this thing mom??

Oh Pinchy, I love you!

I don't want to die!!! This lobster poo'ed on my floor before hitting the pot!

I didn't lose my sock mom... the lobster ate it!

More Cute Pictures...

2007-12-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

I am playing around on my Mac today and have finally just figured out how to re-size pictures so I can get them on the blog. Any one have a solution for this: when I am putting in a blog entry I add the pictures. Now all I can see is the gibberish here, but when I hit the preview I see the pictures. I am putting the pictures in as JPEG's. Is that it?

This picture is what we put on our Christmas cards. Want one? Send us your mailing address!

Here is Hunter with the beautiful stocking our friend Lori got for him.

And here is the boy in his moose hat and moose sleeper. We like moose!

Cute Pictures

2007-12-22T16:41:00.000-07:00

Hello. I am a Mac and I am a PC

2007-12-15T08:55:00.001-07:00

Guess what arrived yesterday!

After listening to all of the Nunavut bloggers talk about their love for the Mac and then my Dell dying, I decided to get myself an early Christmas present! I called My Mac Dealer in Edmonton on Wednesday. Paid on Thursday. And had my new MacBook Pro by 5pm on Friday. Unreal!

Now I just have to figure out how to use this thing.....

Censor This.

2007-12-14T12:41:00.000-07:00

With all of the grief that has been given to Nunavut bloggers lately- I just wanted to show the other side of the story. Here is an article that was posted in todays letter to the editor in Nunatsiaq news. I wonder why racist articles like this are published.

From Nunatsiaq News
December 14, 2007

NLCA benefits "white Nazis" only?
My fellow Inuit, the white man is now laughing joyously.
He wants us to fight a fight amongst ourselves.
Come and join our new fight, the fight to regain our independence and autonomy.
Yes, they will say that we cannot control our destiny and our desires because we are only good at fighting amongst ourselves.
We are saying to them that our ancestors had managed to survive for centuries upon centuries without any assistance from the nations of this planet.
My fellow Inuit, in less than a century the white man has managed with calculated motives to wipe out what held our nation and families together.
What we must now realise first and foremost is the notion that "fighting for a nation" and "running a country" are two completely seperate entities. We must not depart from this proven ideology.
The Nunavut land claims agreement is only for the benefit of the white nazis not for the Inuit nation.
Join the good fight that is coming soon.
Lootie Apak Kooneeliusie
Qikiqtarjuaq

The News!

2007-12-10T13:19:00.000-07:00

Okay everyone, here is the news!

Nope, not pregnant! I need a while to recoupe from having Hunter.

We are MOVING! I think we have shocked everyone with this news as we have been very settled over here. A number of things have brought us to this decision. Matthew needs a change of pace and I want to be a bit closer to the family. The last year with all of the suicides in our community really took a toll on both of us. Our jobs can be very stressful and we would like to feel happier all around.

On our trip that we just had to Edmonton we flew to Whitehorse and drove to Faro. It is a small community of just 400 people about 360km Northeast of Whitehorse. Our offer on a house there was accepted and our house here in Kugluktuk has buyers lined up. Faro looks like a nice change of pace. There is very little crime there- no one locks their homes or vehicles. Matt will be travelling for work and I will be working from home. So that allowed us to move anywhere we wanted. I will now be only a day and a bit drive from family and they are pretty excited. A real perk to Faro is the housing. It used to be a mining community but the mine has since closed. It went from a population of 2000 to 400. So at our nice young age, we will be mortgage free!

I have sold my sewing store to another woman in the community who will run it out of her house. All of our skidoos and quads have been sold. All of the furniture will be going with the house. We are pretty much just packing up the boy and going! Matthew also got to buy his dream truck. Well as close to his dream truck as we could get. We are planning on leaving here on the 14th of January. There is a still a lot to do between now and then so I feel like I never have a spare moment.

So that is it! Our big news!

Oh The Excitement!

2007-12-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

Okay- I have been home for a week! Sorry! I came home a week early but I have just been so busy I haven't had a minute to blog.

And sadly I won't be telling you the exciting news just yet. Well some of you know already, but I will fill everyone in this week. I promise!

Here is a picture of the boy to make you all say "awwww".

Leaving on an Adventure!!

2007-11-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

Okay folks,

You probably won't hear from me until after the 9th of December. I know, it will be okay (Tina!) the other bloggers on my sidebar should keep you all entertained!

We are off on a super adventure, but I cannot put any more details on here. I am doing that purposely to drive my friend Deiss insane.

But here is the hint for Deiss: By the time Hunter is five months and one week old he will have been to three territories and two provinces. And in two weeks he will have travelled on 8 different flights.

When I get back folks I will tell you about the HUGE changes going on! Oh yes, HUGE! For those of you who know- don't say anything! I am going to drive Deiss so crazy she will be checking into the looney bin in no time!

We will miss you all! Have a great couple of weeks everyone!

love the Wents'.

heheh Where did we go Deiss?

The other camera

2007-11-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

I just found our small digital camera and forgot that there were some pictures on it that I hadn't downloaded yet. So here are some pictures from just a couple of weeks ago.

Matt in Edmonton waiting to go to the hockey game:

Go Oilers! (Well they ended up losing, but ah well!)

Matt and Jeremy and the Father and Daughter who won the other set of tickets. They were all given Jerseys as well with the prize package.

Here is another picture of our retarded cats with the polar bear rug. This one is funny- look at the white cats tail- it looks like the bear is just about to eat it!

And here is the boy bouncing in the Jolly Jumper wearing a super cute Tigger outfit given to us by some friends here. I love the ears!!

These are a few of my favorite things....

2007-11-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

Kugluktuk has many talented craftsmen and women. We enjoy seeing new and creative items being sold around town. Many of you have asked to see pictures of items we have purchased since living here. So here is part of our collection!

My stone-faced doll! She stands about about 14" high. Her coat is made out of hikhik, rabbit and bits of wolverine. Her kamiks are made out of seal. You can pull her hood back and her hair is even carved in:
Our huge whale bone carving:
Close up of the front of the whale bone carving:

Back of the whale bone carving:

My Ravens (the one on the right is on a garbage can!):

One of Matts favorites- "Bear with Harpoon":

Another one of Matts favorites "Itchy Back": I took the antlers from the first caribou that I shot and had a local carver make a stone head for them and he also engraved many designs in the antlers:
"Seal Hunter in Kayak":

Drum Dancer:

This one is from a carver in Cambridge Bay. It is a hunter holding a goose:

This one is beautiful. It is a family in their iglu. The dogs is even there, and behind is a child sleeping. Half of the money we spent on this carving was donated by the carver to the kids cancer ward in Edmonton.

The caribou on top of the inukshuk here is done out of antler:

Another drum dancer:

A couple more of our iglus. There is so much detail and I am just not good enough with my camera to capture it all. The lids fit on each of these perfectly!

Our favorite drum dancer. It is carved from one piece of stone and has a lot of detail:

Hunter with Harpoon:

Ice Fishing on Arctic Char:

Another little fisherman:

Thanks Granny!

2007-11-19T20:26:00.001-07:00

My Mother is a seamstress-extraordinaire! We just got a parcel in the mail full of clothes she had made for Hunter. Here he is in some of his outfits:

New overalls:

New overalls and jacket:

The whole outfit including hat:

New elk pajamas:

Hat and lined pants:

Sorry Tina!

2007-11-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, after blogging like mad for a while I have gotten a bit busy (sorry Tina)!! I have started another job that I can do from home. I will be editing and making textbooks. This is a great opportunity and I am enjoying it so far. Once Hunter goes down for naps, I break out my stuff and get to work. We are headed to Edmonton in a week and I will be getting training on the software the company uses. It should make life much easier once I get the training. Also, my sewing store has been busy as ladies start making Christmas presents and winter parkas. I absolutely love having the store. I meet so many people in town in such a different capacity from my regular job. My husband and I have very stressful jobs and the store is such a nice break from that.

I am up early with Hunter this morning and letting Matt sleep in a bit. He was out for work last night even though he wasn't first or second call. I don't think he ever gets a night off! Once he gets up we have to dig out our kamotiq and load it up for a big craft bazaar today. I try to haul down as much stuff as possible to the complex for the bazaars and I always do quite well. I am not looking forward to going outside since the windchill is -38C this morning. This fall has been the so cold and everyday has been windy. The trip to Edmonton will be a nice reprieve.

And of course- the boy this week! He can now get all of his toes into his mouth and he is in love with them. I cannot keep him covered up while he sleeps since he is now Mr. Wiggly. I am going to make a fleece bag for him this weekend that I can zipper him into so he can stay warm at night. He wakes up at least once a night cause he has wiggled to the end of his crib and is cold. The cats have also gotten his attention this week. Whenever they walk by he now squeals at the top of his lungs at them. The poor cats have no clue how bad life will get for them once Hunter can walk.

And now a few pictures!

Here is the daughter of some friends of ours. Note the Elmo fabric! It came from my store and she picked it out (she is only 3). Her mom did such a good job of making it.

Hunter finally getting the toes to the mouth! "Now how do I get milk out of these things?"

The daughter of another friend visits and is giving some loving to our boy!

Can he get any cuter?

2007-11-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

Hunter is now four and a half months old and keeping us very entertained! He was in this week for a check-up and some shots. The boy weighed in at fifteen and a half pounds and a whopping 27 inches long! So he is well over the 97th percentile in height, but only the 63rd percentile for weight. He is putting all of his energy into growing tall I guess!

What he loves:

- of course the booby

- the exersaucer is the #1 choice in toys right now

- squealing as loud as possible at all times

- the little light by Matts chair

What he hates:

- bath time!

- that he can't get all the toys from his exersaucer to his mouth

- that the kitties don't come close enough to grab!

What we love:

- the constant giggles

- the new chewing action he does while he watches us eat

- that he now can sleep for almost 10 hours at a time!!

What we hate:

- the explosive poo that somehow goes all the way up to his shoulder blades....

- that he is up for the day at 6am (actually, just Matt hates this one, I love it!)

While he looks cute here, I was having to clean him up from one of those explosive poo's. What a disaster!

He hates bath time so much. The expression on his face here tells it all:

"Well if the duckie likes it.... maybe this isn't so bad."

"Thanks for rescuing me Mommy."

Me and my boy:

Brrrrr!!

2007-11-06T16:28:00.000-07:00

Glad I am inside today.

It is -23C right now and the windchill brings that down to -37C.

It has been a damn cold fall!

Daddy's Home!

2007-11-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

Lucky Duck Matt was in Edmonton all weekend with a friend on tickets that our friend won. They had a great time!

Hunter was happy to see Dad come home and was full of giggles and squeals for him. And it looks like we will be cheering for the Oilers this year:

We got a polar bear this spring from Resolute and the taxidermist just finished it. Matt brought it back up from Edmonton with him. Freak is is love with it!

And a fun picture of the boy with the bear:

Here is the whole bear. It is actually quite white when you see it.

Looking for...

2007-11-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hi there Nunavut Bloggers!

Can anyone help me on this one?

I would really like a pair of seal skin kamiks. I made myself a pair of caribou ones last year and love them, but seal skin ones are rarely made here.

Does anyone have a connection? I could send my measurements (I have horribly fat calves that are hard to fit), and money if you can get them made for me.

And if there is anything I can get for you from my end, just let me know! This community is famous for carvings like iglus where the top comes off!

Thanks!

Damn time change.

2007-11-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

I absolutely hate the time change. I grew up in one of the few spots in Canada that does not change time. Ever.

And up here- it doesn't make a difference. It is still dark all of the time!

Sunrise: 9am
Sunset: 3:48pm

Todays Pics

2007-11-03T10:40:00.000-06:00

Tweak absolutely loves the fish. She spends hours a day on the end of the sofa trying to catch them through the glass.

Last week I re-planted all of my houseplants and I really made quite the mess....

He is learning how to kick a bit now in the jolly jumper. A couple more weeks and he will be bouncing to the ceiling!

Matt is gone for the weekend, so here is our guard cat:

Matt saying goodbye to his little man. A friend of ours here won plane tickets, tickets to an Oilers/Predators game, and the hotel for 4 days. He asked Matt to go with him for a "Man Weekend"!

Halloween!

2007-10-31T21:57:00.000-06:00

I don't know how popular we are this year; we gave out toothbrushes and fruit leather! We had over 200 kids come to the door this year which is more than our other two years here. Hunter lasted about 3 minutes in his costume, but it was long enough to take some cute pictures!

Moose in the headlights impression:

Oh Mommy, I sure taste good!

Okay- you two are just pissing me off. Get me out of this thing!!!

Ooohhhhh.... and what is this.....

Must get it to mouth:

Tragedy in Kugluktuk

2007-10-29T14:13:00.000-06:00

From CBC.ca/north:

Woman dies in Kugluktuk snowmobiling accident
Husband crawled for six hours in blowing snow to find help, RCMP say

A woman in Kugluktuk, Nunavut, died Saturday night after the snowmobile she and her husband were riding on fell through river ice.
Local RCMP say Mary Jean and Jeffrey Hopkins were snowmobiling along a trail across the Coppermine River, about one kilometre outside of the hamlet, around 7:30 p.m. MT on Saturday.
"He had been travelling on the snowmobile with his wife, and the two became disorientated in the weather with some blowing snow, and they veered off the trail," detachment commander Sgt. Chris Bewsher told CBC News on Monday.
"Doing so, they came close to an open patch of water and their snowmobile subsequently broke through the ice."
The temperature in Kugluktuk Saturday evening hovered near -9 C but felt like -17 C with the wind chill, according to Environment Canada. Visibility was at about 24 kilometres.
Bewsher said Jeffrey Hopkins tried to rescue his wife by rolling on the ice to get close to her, but hypothermia set in.
"He had difficulty walking and subsequently had to crawl back from the scene of the accident to the community — which is a distance of maybe two kilometres — on his hands, by dragging his body," Bewsher said.
"It took him approximately five or six hours to do that, at which point, when he got close to the community, he was able to yell for help and somebody came to his rescue."
RCMP and a Kugluktuk search and rescue crew found the body of Mary Jean Hopkins on Sunday morning. Jeffrey Hopkins was sent by medevac to Edmonton for treatment of advanced hypothermia and frostbite.
----------------------------------------------

Matthew and I have been here for almost two and a half years and Matthew especially has had to deal with a lot of deaths. When we sat down and tried to remember them all, we were well over 20 and knew that we were forgetting some. We are finding it is really taking its toll on us. Last year one of my students at the college committed suicide. And two other students lost their partners to suicide. I don't have it half as bad as my husband and I still find it difficult to deal with. I know there are deaths whether natural/accidental/suicide wherever you are, but here when you know everyone it is very hard.

Our thoughts and prayers right now are with Jeff and the children.

Odds and Ends

2007-10-28T15:52:00.000-06:00

Well I never thought time at home could pass so quickly. I have always either been in school or working. I starting working outside of my parents home when I was 13 on another farm. The longest I went unemployed was when we moved here and I didn't have a job for 5 weeks. I worked every summer, part time during high school, and many times I picked up work while in University doing marking. It has been a bit of adjustment getting used to being home. I am definately not bored, or feeling useless. I think it is just getting used to a new schedule in life! I have to say that I am very happy that my boy is a morning baby. I love mornings and he is up early. We have the best play time before his morning nap. Being a mom is very rewarding and I do looking forward to making another wee-spawn- hopefully a wee-spawnette

Here are a couple of random pictures from this week:

Hunter talking to Daddy while jumping in the jolly jumper:

This is the view outside of our house through part of our neighbours yard. They have a beautiful dog who loves the view from the top of his dog house. We have gotten more snow since this was taken.

Hunter is fascinated with the fish tank. We can sit there together and watch the fish for at least half an hour:

Now speaking of fish.... There has been a lot of tragedy on that front. I have gone from tonnes of fish down to 6. I took the female guppies out since they were being over-sexed. They lived in another small tank until they had their babies and recovered. During that time, all of the male guppies died!! I guess they thought with no women their lives weren't worth living and they didn't want to be gay. I put the females back in the tank and kept the babies in the small tank. Well all of the large females died. The would swim at the top of the tank for a few days and their tails would get droopy, then they would not swim well and eventually get stuck on the filter intake. The same symptoms have occured in all of my Mollies. I put the babies in the tank when I thought they were large enough, but no and they were eaten by everyone else. The tank is clear, the water is good, the live plants are flourishing....... SO WHAT IS GOING ON!!!

All that is left in the tank is: 2 placostamus, 1 zebra daniol (or something like that), 2 small female guppies, and one dying molly. We are going to Edmonton in November and I am going to buy some more fish. Any suggestions on ones that won't sex each other to death?

When good toys go bad.....

2007-10-27T11:26:00.000-06:00

Hunter was entertaining himself under his little play gym and was kicking at it quite vigorously when one arm of it collapsed! It was so funny. His eyes grew huge as his dangly toys attacked him on the ground. What an event!

UHT, How I Love Thee...

2007-10-26T13:49:00.000-06:00

Alright Pav- this post is for you!!

I have had the worst luck with milk up here. Seriously. I really don't even like milk. Cereal and baking- that is it. But I always seem to get spoiled milk.

The first time I ordered milk on foodmail the boys at first air came to my house to drop off my boxes and they hand me a box that is gushing milk out the bottom onto my door step. It was summer and my steps smelled like rotten milk all week. And milk at the stores.... I buy my thing of milk, bring it home and it last two days and is bad. And I usually discover it is bad after I pour it on my cereal. It never lasts to its due date. Or it is bad as soon as I open it! Especially in summer. So I took to opening the milk at the store and smelling it. Even if it smelled good it never seemed to last for long.

So I have only been buying UHT milk. UHT stands for ultra-high temperature, it comes in tetra packs, and it is good for months. So when you open it, it isn't rotten! Hurray!

Here is my tetra pack of milk:

And check out that due date! February 2008! So it can sit on my shelf until I need it!

Four Months Old!

2007-10-25T21:23:00.000-06:00

Our Wee-Spawn is growing! Can you believe he is four months old already? He is so long that he is wearing 6-9month outfits. So far he isn't much of a butterball baby because he is putting all of his energy into growing lenthwise.

Hunter at four months old:

A baby in Carhartts. Does it get any cuter than that?

I think my boy is like a mini Mike Holmes!

Here is the boy chatting with his stuffed dog. This was actually Matts dog when he was a kid.

Meeting a Blogger!

2007-10-24T08:52:00.000-06:00

On Monday we got another welcome surprise! The first was the plebiscite happening and passing. The second was getting to meet another blogger! Jennifer from North of Nain was in town for work and took me up on an offer to stop in. We had a great visit in the afternoon and it felt like I was catching up with an old friend! She then came back that evening to meet my other half and they had a great bullshit session. It was fun to meet someone that I read about!

A Worrisome Statistic

2007-10-24T08:37:00.000-06:00

I read yesterday that we had a 51% turnout for the plebiscite. That isn't what worries me. What does is that 51% turn out is 360 persons over the age of 18. That means that in Kugluktuk there are just over 700 persons over the age of 18. There is a total population in Kugluktuk around 1400. That means there are around 700 children here. I wonder how this community will deal with such a young population. What will the community be like in 10 years?

Yogurt!

2007-10-23T13:17:00.001-06:00

This summer when I was out shopping I bought myself a present- my own yogurt maker! I made some last night and it turned out so good.

Here is my morning snack today- homemade yogurt with homemade blackberry syrup. Yummm!

More Hunter

2007-10-23T12:59:00.002-06:00

And since I haven't put up any pictures of Hunter here in a few days- here is your fix!

Our little thumb-sucking-wonderboy!

Hiding in the laundry basket!

Can he get any cuter? What a great smile!

By the way- if you missed the special last night on the alcohol problems in Kugluktuk and what the kids here are doing about it click here and watch the video on the CBC.

Looks like it's a go!

2007-10-22T22:17:00.000-06:00

Well good news folks!

Rumour has it tonight that the plebiscite has passed with a 66% yes vote to have a liquor committee in Kugluktuk to restrict the flow of alcohol. I hope that this will have a positive impact on my community and that we will see change. There was a comment on my last post stating that the young generation here is the one that will bring on change and I agree.

For those who saw tonights special on CBC the National please share your thoughts. I was very impressed with the show. So many times over shows paint an all to rosy picture of the Arctic and do not show the true issues. The special tonight did a good job of showing the some of the problems here in Kugluktuk. I do wish the CBC had talked a bit more about the social problems here in town. I was dissapointed that there was no mention about the drug and gambling addictions here in town that are destroying families as well. I usually do not discuss any of these problems on our blog because we want to share the positive in our lives. But I would like to to hear from those of you in other communities or those of you from the south.

I just hope that there is change in town. It is needed.

Watch the news on Monday!

2007-10-20T22:56:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone!

Watch CBC the National on Monday night. They are doing a special on the social problems here in Kugluktuk. It should be interesting!

Wholly Visitors Batman!

2007-10-18T10:41:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I put in a new site meter thanks to the help of Lucy from Life in YK Delta! My old meter was not working properly. I didn't think I was getting that many visitors to the site, but since yesterday morning I have gotten over 140 to the site! Now half of those might be from Tina at Just Below 63 seeing if I have posted anything new yet! hehehe So who are the rest of you?!?

I have a question for you camera people out there. I have a canon rebel xt and I am wondering how to take better pictures inside my house of Hunter. If you have any tips, please pass them on.

And talk about a growing boy! Hunter is just shy of 4 months old and he is already over 25 inches long. Pretty hard to measure a wiggly boy though!

Oh so true....

2007-10-16T11:16:00.000-06:00

The whole time I was pregnant, I refered to the fetus as "Wee-Spawn". It made me laugh anytime I said it.

My sister-in-law sent us this diaper shirt. How perfect!

16 Weeks Old

2007-10-15T13:30:00.000-06:00

Hunter is now a 16 weeks old! I have no other stats on the kid. We don't have our next appointment until sometime in November. I put him on the kitchen scale the other day it is looks like he is over 15lbs though! I think he was taking a bit of a growth spurt last week and was up between 3 and 5 times a night to eat. And then last night some relief! He was asleep by 9pm, woke up for 20 minutes around 2am to eat, and then got up for the morning at just after 8. What a great night!

He is doing a lot of new things as well. He loves sucking his thumb and I can hear him sucking his little heart out in his crib when I am in our bedroom. He has just started giggling as well. This week I put a pair of socks on him that have rattles built in and he went crazy kicking and flailing his arms and legs to listen to the rattling! Hunter can roll from side to side, but he has yet to make it over to his tummy. I think that might happen soon though. Blowing spit bubbles keeps him entertained for quite a few minutes at a time too. We set up his jolly jumper this weekend and he danced around in it and seemed to enjoy it!

Other than our boy, there is nothing much new going on! Matthew hung a new door for our house with the help of some friends. We had an evening out with an RCMP member and his family and we have had a few visitors here in the last week.

I am looking forward to voting in a local plebesite. There is a vote to control the amount of liquor coming into town through the use a liquor board. Hopefully it passes and some change happens in this community.

And only 5 and a half weeks until we take a short trip out. We are going to Edmonton just for a week break. We will do some shopping and visit some friends. There had been a seat sale on in the spring and I booked these tickets then. It should be a nice trip!

Hunter at 16 weeks sitting in Dads chair:

Hunter in his Jolly Jumper for the first time! Look at all of the chain needed to get it to the ceiling! We have 12 foot vaulted ceilings that make the house seem so big!

Enjoying the Jolly Jumper!

Mommy's kitchen helper!

*sorry Tina! I will try and post more often!! lol :)

Stat counter

2007-10-11T08:01:00.000-06:00

Can anyone out there give me idiot proof directions for installing a new stat counter on here? The one I have is not working properly!

Thanks!

Dear Granny and Grandpa Hunter...

2007-10-10T10:44:00.001-06:00

Dear Granny and Grandpa Hunter:

I really miss you. I am all ready for hunting season in my camouflage overalls. Too bad you are so far away and I can't help you this year. Maybe next hunting season.

But at least I got a moose! Maybe you will as lucky as me later in the season.

I miss you all very much. Good luck with the rest of hunting camp.

Love baby Hunter

Blizzard, Turkey and Friends

2007-10-09T10:02:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful long weekend! Winter is definitely here though. We had snow and wind all weekend and it finally blew itself up into a blizzard all day yesterday. My poor husband wanted to install our new exterior door this weekend. No such luck! The weather is supposed to improve this week so hopefully we get them up, otherwise they might have to wait until spring.

On Sunday we joined a bunch of friends for a couples night! It was such a blast. We played rummoli for pennies and ate snacks all evening. Hunter fell asleep right away and slept on our friends bed. He didn't even wake up when I packed him up and drove the quad home. What a good little man!

Then on Monday we had a great group of people over here for a turkey dinner. It was a lovely evening and we all ate until we thought we would burst! A splendid weekend all around.

This is early on in the blizzard. Our house gets some spectacular drifts around it during winter.

This picture is from about 3 in the afternoon and at points we could barely see out the window. I love a good blizzard:

And here is the 20lb turkey just before hitting the oven:

And here is the turkey after! We had already carved up half when I remembered to get a picture. I think this is my best turkey ever!

Here I am with Hunter on his first Thanksgiving:

Here is everyone enjoying our dinner together. Hunter sat in his Bumbo on the table for the whole supper! Someone suggested that we should get a lazy susan for the centre of the table and put him on that! I think that would be hilarious!

After supper Hunter got some quality time with friends! He is really looking intently at his zebra here!

Having fun with more friends!

Snazzy New Look

2007-10-06T21:36:00.000-06:00

Thanks Rob from "Just Below 63" for helping me get this snazzy new look! He also reminded me that the adventures are not just for Matt and I anymore, so Hunter was added to the title. How could we have forgotten about him!

New Bloggers

2007-10-05T10:50:00.000-06:00

I just added a few new northern bloggers to my sidebar. Go and check them out! Port town ghosts has hilarious videos of her Ookpik doing crazy things- a must see! I cannot believe how many northern bloggers there are. When I started our blog there were only a handful to read. Now to check them all out takes a bit of time! Good thing Hunter has naps so I can play on the computer.

Cute Pictures

2007-10-05T10:04:00.000-06:00

Of course we are taking about a million pictures a day. Here are a couple cute ones from this week.

Sleepy boy!

Hunter in his hoody towel, "hey mom, where are you?"

More Family Pictures

2007-10-03T21:00:00.000-06:00

I thought it was neat to see the family resemblances between our son and our family. I was able to find some more family pictures:

Here is Hunters Great, Great Grandfather Elijah holding Hunters Great Uncle Bill and the girl would have been his Great Aunt Carol but she actually passed away as a child.

Here is Hunters Great Grandfather Hugh, Great Uncle Allan (baby) and Great Uncle Frank. I cannot get over how long my Grandpa's hair is in the picture!! That seems odd for this time- this picture is from 1916 or 1917. And poor Uncle Allan in the dress! That must have been normal then because we have a lot of pictures of the baby boys dressed like this.

And the best for last!! Here is Matthew as a baby! What a grin!

Definately a Hunter

2007-10-01T09:19:00.001-06:00

My maiden name was Hunter and we got quite a few giggles when we announced our sons name! Since then we have been told by a few family members that "he sure looks like a Hunter". Well here is proof! My fathers sister, Holly, sent me a picture of her as a baby, sitting on her older sisters lap. I think that they definately look alike as babies! What do you think?

Our Adorable Boy

2007-09-30T21:48:00.000-06:00

Hunter will now stay in his Bumbo for about 5 minutes at a time. I put him in it when I am cooking in the kitchen. He now prefers his swing though over this. Tonight he was full of smiles while sitting in it:

Don't you just want to pinch these cheeks:

I think this present tops the favorite gifts received so far! They came from a neighbour of my parents and I am in love with them! I cannot wait until Hunters feet are big enough for them.

We have borrowed this jacket from my sister-in-law and Hunter is finally big enough to use it. I thought he just looked adorable in it! He liked the fur and was trying to eat it the whole time.

He was so comfy in it he fell asleep! I don't know if he can get any cuter!

These rocks are made for travelin'....

2007-09-30T18:07:00.000-06:00

Oh, the fun we have in the Arctic! This is such a fun story!

I met a great woman about a year ago who lives in Ottawa. We met on a website about pregnancy and have been chatting every since. She is originally from Australia and will be headed back there next summer. She asked for a funny favour- she wants to build an inukshuk when she gets back to Australia and would like to make it from rocks collected from every province and territory.

So I was able to help! Getting the rock from Nunavut was no problem. But I was also able to get her a rock from the Northwest Territories. A friend that I went to University with has a sister who works in Yellowknife. She came up here a little while back and I was able to get her to bring a rock!

Now to get these rocks to Ottawa.... I was just going to mail them, but gosh they are heavy! As luck would have it there was a professor visiting our community this week from the University of Ottawa!! We had her over a few times and convinced her to take the rocks back to Ottawa with her in her luggage!

So next summer watch the blog for pictures of an inukshuk in Australia! I am trying to get her a rock from the Yukon. If any readers out there are in the Yukon let me know!

Yep, it is too much guppy sex!

2007-09-28T14:20:00.000-06:00

Thanks for the input folks! So it turns out that the males are exhuasting the females in the tank. So now I have to watch the females and put them into the breeding container when they are knocked up and keep them in there for awhile.

So I guess males of any species are all the same!

:)

Guppy Help Please

2007-09-27T09:57:00.000-06:00

Okay all you readers out there... does anyone know anything about guppies?

I have a fish tank that has been up and running since last spring. I have guppies, molly's, a stripped zebra something or other, and two placastomous (sp??). The guppies and molly's are having babies like crazy. There are about 15 or so babies swimming around. I am going to donate some of them to the other fish tank in town over at the Hamlet. The water is nice and clear and I clean the tank about once a month.

So here is my problem- I have lost 4 adult guppies in the last month. So what do you think- too much guppy sex? If you know anything about guppies please let me know!

Whose the baby now?

2007-09-26T13:27:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I took Hunter into his room to change his diaper and I found Freak all curled up in the crib!! I don't think she is adjusting well to no longer being the baby of the family. I just had to take some pictures before we kicked her out.

Freak in the crib:

She looks pretty comfy!

Matt smacked her hard a few times and all she did was circle the crib and settle down inbetween the wedges! Then Matt gave her some flying lessons!

Three Months Old!

2007-09-26T10:05:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Hunter was 3 months old! As every parent says- I can't believe how much he has grown and how fast time is going. So the boy is looking nice and chunky with his big pudgy cheeks and rolly polly limbs. He has started rolling and likes to roll onto his right side. He is also getting pretty squiggly. I went into his crib this morning and he had moved quite a ways up and was out from his blankets. He has found his voice and loves to use it. He also loves to be on the go- he never wants to sit with you- he would rather you pick him up and showing him the sights and sounds of the house. He still loves his stroller, and is now staying awake a bit longer in it when we go out. My amouti should be arriving at the end of this month and that will make it nice for taking him out.

Last night he also slept! He went down at 9pm and did not wake up until 5 this morning. I woke up at 4am and panicked because he hadn't woken up yet. So I go into his room and there he is sleeping away! But by then I was wide awake so I got caught up on my emails and he started chirping at just after 5am. He got up, ate, and then went back to sleep until 8 this morning. What a great night. Then he had a nap for just over an hour this morning and is napping here again this afternoon! Does this sound normal folks?? It seems pretty wonderful to me!

And now, of course, the pictures!

Hunter at 3 months old:

Of course I have the cutest boy in the whole wide world!

A friend here in town made this parka for her own kid, but it turned out too small! So I traded more supplies from my sewing store for it and Hunter has an amazing parka for next winter. I am really looking forward to seeing his little face peek out from the fur ruff!
A boy and his cat! My husband said it should be more of a cat and his boy! hehehe

Yesterday morning the view from our front window- it's snowing!

The view from our window this morning- snow!!

A fun week!

2007-09-21T20:11:00.000-06:00

Another busy week flew by for us! Matt went back to work after having the summer off on Parental Leave. He seems to be adjusting well, but misses the boy! We got our barge supplies last weekend and we have slowly been putting everything away. The one frustrating part was getting a new table from Sears, but they didn't send enough screws to put the thing together! I called, and hopefully they will arrive this week. We also got our new skidoo, but no keys for it! We called the place in Hay River where we got the machine, and they sent a new ignition and keys up to us on First Air. Now I am looking forward to snow (which we got a bit of this week)!

Hunter had a pretty good week! He is sleeping great at night and we have gotten into a good routine during the day while Matt is at work. We get out for walks and we still get mauled by everyone that we meet. He seemed to get a touch of a stomach bug this week. All day Thursday he was throwing up, and then Friday he just slept! Today he seemed back to normal. We took him to a craft fair today so I could sell some of my sewing supplies. I think everyone that came to the complex today came over to give him some love! He seems to be finding his voice and loves to squak at the top of his lungs. Also this week he started to have some time in his exersaucer and bumbo. We have a jolly jumper being sent up as well. What a spoiled little man!

And now for this week in pictures!

Hunter and daddy enjoying a book together. We got a gift certificate from a friend here in town and I ordered one of my favorite books: "Where the Wild Things Are".

Freak having some lazy time on the sofa:

This was his first time in the exersauce and his expression here makes me laugh!

He got used to it after a while and seemed to enjoying looking at the toys. Notice the guard cat in the background!

By the end of the week he was looking pretty happy in his exersaucer!

Hunter in his bumbo on the kitchen counter. He joins me here while I cook supper and lunch! He will sit there for about 1/2 an hour at a time as long as I talk to him the whole time.

Matt rented a vehicle for a day and a half and got all of barge supplies delivered. He helped a couple of other people with their supplies as well. On this truck load, everything there is for us minus the fridge. This was the second full truck load for our house!

Here is my kitchen when I had put enough stuff away that I could get to living room to find the camera. This is only a small portion of all of the stuff we got.

And here is a lovely picture of me goofing around! This is a hoody towel and bath mitt that we got from friends for Hunter along with a little tub. I thought I looked mighty cute in this!

And oh can this boy yell! Here he is getting ready to let loose:

And here he is in a full blown squak! Still not much for hair on the little gopher yet. Maybe that is what he is mad about!

And here is Tweak hanging out in lazy mode in her cat tree:

More Pictures of Family and Such

2007-09-13T21:50:00.000-06:00

Exciting day today! The barge with our stuff on it arrived today. So we will be spending the weekend putting it all way. Too bad for Matt- it is his last weekend before going back to work on Monday. He has been off all summer with us and it has been splendid! I think I will be in for a bit of a shock to be on my own come Monday! Matt loved his summer off. We recommend that every family do it!

We are all just getting over a bit of a cold and it sure made Hunter a grumpy little guy! He was also in to the health centre this week and he has grown! He is now 13.5lbs and 62.5cm long; I know, mixing metric and imperial is annoying! :)

Here are some more pictures from the Hunter Clan visit

My folks, Matt and Hunter butchering up a caribou. We did something so tasty, we took the roasts and put bacon in the middle of them before freezing them! That is going to be damn tasty when we cook them!

I love my mom! She brought me up an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen! That is right- an ice cream cake!!! She had two coolers full of meat in addition to the 40lbs of fresh peaches and the huge bag of corn. This was the best birthday cake I have had in years:

Damon loved our front loader washing machine:

The cousins playing together in the tub. Damon is trying to share his little bath frog with Hunter:

Since we won't be near Damon for his real birthday in a few months we decided to celebrate it early! He made quite the mess of his adorable outfit within a few short minutes:

Damon also loved the dishwasher! He climbed in here all on his own and was banging the bottom rack in and out. What a racket!

And this pictures is from today! Hunter is saying good-bye to the second favorite woman in his life (I am the first since I have boobs that give out milk!). Thanks for all the cuddles and love you gave "Bird" over the summer. We can't wait to see you again!

The Hunter Clan Visits

2007-09-08T03:45:00.000-06:00

This week we were entertained by my side of the family. My parents, brother, sister-in-law and their son were here. The week went by quickly and my brother and I realized it was the most time we had spent together since I left home to go to University 10 years ago!! Hunter eyed up his cousin Damon- and Damon used Hunter as a piece of furniture to access more toys. We all had a great time and hopefully everyone will come back up again!

Travis tossing Damon to the ceiling!

Travis and his wife Corrienne at Bloody Falls. They caught a couple char and a bunch of grayling:

My brother and my dad at Bloody Falls:

Corriennes wet feet after falling into the river. Travis went to rescue her and he fell in as well! He said his escape attempt was like a wet cat trying to get out of a bathtub!

My sexy brother:

My mom taking Damon down to the grocery store:

Grizzly bear track:

The men got to get out on a boat trip this week as well with one of the RCMP officers. Matt shot a caribou while they were out:

My dad packing out the hind end:

Baby Shower!

2007-09-04T07:20:00.000-06:00

Yesterday there was a surprise baby shower held for myself and another new mother (of twins!) here in town. It was such a blast! There were games, food to feed an army and even more gifts! Our friends here have been so generous; we haven't had to buy anything other than diapers and wipes for Hunter. Thank you so much ladies!! We are really blessed to surrounded by so many good friends here in Kugluktuk!!

Hunter at 2 Months

2007-09-02T04:17:00.000-06:00

Hunter was two months old on the 25th! This summer with him was so enjoyable. I am not too sure how big he is right now; his next appointment at the health centre is in a few days. I expect him to be over 14lbs though! He is nice and chunky with some great pudgy cheeks. Today he rolled onto his side for the first time. He is in love with any toy that can dangle above him and also loves shoving his fists into his mouth. Hunter sleeps beautifully at night- he goes down around 10 and sleeps for 5 hours. After that it is only in 2 hour chunks, but I think it is wonderful!!
His grandparents (my folks) arrived on Friday. It is my moms third trip up here, but my dads first. And today I will be picking up my brother, his wife and my nephew that we have yet to meet from the airport. I am so excited!!! This week is going to be a hoot.

Here is Hunter with his two buddies. The dog is Matts from his childhood and the frog was a gift from his grandparents.

He is so handsome!! While his eyes look dark here, it looks like they are staying blue.

Barge Season!

2007-08-28T19:52:00.000-06:00

The barge arrived in town at the end of last week. It is a very exciting time for town as all of the new supplies for the next year arrive. The stores stock up on goods, especially pop! We could not count the pallets of pop that were delivered to the Northern and Coop. For the last two years, all of our goods have arrived on the first barge of the year. But this year we were not so lucky! Only one of our 11 pallets arrived. Everything else should arrive on the next barge which could arrive in the next 10 days to 3 weeks.

Here is the tug hauling three barge decks in the Coronation Gulf:

As the barge gets closer to town, the tug pushes all of the decks together to form one large platform and then it is pushed into place:

The barge travels with its own front end loaders to unload all of the seacans. There were a lot of new vehicles on the barge this year as well as equipment to build a new sewage lagoon for town:

There is a lot of supplies on here! From a distance it doesn't look like much, but when they start to unload it all, it really adds up. There are supplies on here to build a personal home as well as a few housing units:

So we will keep our fingers crossed that our stuff arrives on barge #2, and not on barge #3! We are excited to receive all of our groceries, skidoo and supplies for my sewing store!

Berry Picking Fun

2007-08-26T21:22:00.000-06:00

I absolutely love this time of the year. Berries are out, the weather is starting to cool, and it is getting dark at night! We have been going about 8km out of town to go berry picking on a regular basis. Matt puts Hunter in the snuggly to walk around the trails and I pick berries. Last year I had enough to make 10 jars of jam and I am hoping to beat that this year.

We are getting excited for our next round of visitors. My folks arrive on Friday and then my brother, sister in law and their son arrive two days later. Our house is going to be full and entertaining!

Happy parents:

Lunch time on the tundra :)

Diaper changes on our handy dandy quad turned change table:

The blueberries are everywhere! I love this berry and have been picking it almost exclusively:

There have also been lots of aqpiks this year. I have picked some to join my blueberries for jam:

Sure sign that fall is coming:

Sunset

2007-08-23T05:55:00.000-06:00

The other week I made the mistake of drinking a Mountain Dew Fuel... well I was no where close to sleeping, so at 11pm I had Matt driving me around town to take some pictures. This was only 2 weeks ago and how the sun is setting before 10pm. The change happens quickly.

Dog watching the sunset on the Coronation Gulf:

Beautiful Arctic sky:

When all the hotels are full....

2007-08-23T05:43:00.000-06:00

So a few times now since we moved here two years ago, it has happened that both the Inn and the B&B in town have been booked solid. Of course, some poor soul is stuck at the airport with nowhere to go! Good thing Matthew and I enjoy random company because we seemed to get called whenever this happens!

Our last random house guest was a junior helicopter pilot and took the following picture. Definately a view I would have never been able to get on my own! It is the Coast Guard ship in town a few weeks ago for a crew change. Town looks so small compared the size of the ship.

Oodles of Pictures!

2007-08-20T22:33:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone!

It has been a busy couple of weeks. The in-laws arrived from Cape Breton for a week in the Arctic. The mauled the baby the whole time and were some sad to leave!

Hunter is 8 weeks old today and is already about 13 pounds (I weighed him on my kitchen scale!). He has clocked about 50 kilometers on the quad and is also getting used to his stroller. He makes lots of noise and is smiling at us. I love being a mommy!

The excitement now is waiting for the barge to arrive. It sounds like it will be here by Thursday. Then we will be busy unload all of the crap we bought when we were out to have the baby. I am really looking forward to seeing new stuff on my shelves!!

And soon after the barge gets here, my clan arrives! My folks, brother, sister in law and nephew are arriving at the end of the month. This will be my first visit with my nephew who is almost 10 months old already. I love living where I do, but I do miss family a lot!

And here are the oodles of pictures from the last couple of weeks!

Matts folks arriving at the airport and meeting their Grandson for the first time:

Nanny Gillis reading to Hunter:

Matt teaching Hunter the finer points of fishing char!

Our cute little family out at Heart Lake:

Matt with his mom and step-dad:
Me learning how to pack my baby like the Inuit ladies do in town. A friend gave me this packing shirt and I am slowly getting the hang of it. But I need Matt to help me get Hunter in. Hopefully with practice I can do that myself. Getting him out so far has been no problem. And the best part of packing my baby like this is that he falls asleep instantly!

Me out berry picking! The akpiks are out and the blueberries are everywhere! Matt walks around with Hunter while I pick to my hearts content. I could pick berries everyday! Hopefully we get out enough for me to make jam like I did last summer.

And here is a nice close up of the little man! He loves to stick his tongue out!

Nanny Gillis giving the boy some loving!

Hanging out in the bouncy chair:

And hanging out with mom in the screen tent.

We just had to pose him out in the yard with his camo and some caribou antlers.

Matt and his step dad on the Coppermine River:

Les with his char!

Matt with his 6lb char. This is our third summer up here and Matts first char!

Hunter checking out some caribou meat!

Les all ready for winter in a caribou parka:

Les stuck in a great mudhole!

I don't think Les could have been any happier! A grandson and an adventure in the arctic!

Les out fishing. Matt and him were lucky enough to go for a boat ride with one of the RCMP officers here in town.

2007-07-31T21:17:00.000-06:00

Hunter was 5 weeks old yesterday and is growing! As of last Wednesday he was 10lbs and 24inches long. There is still not much of a schedule going and I really appreciate Matt being home with me for the summer. Matts folks arrive next Thursday and are excited to meet their first Grandson. Actually- excited doesn't begin to describe it!!! They both hate flying, yet they are willing to put that aside to come all of the way to the Arctic.

Here are some photos of the last couple of weeks:

Daddy and son vegging during a lazy afternoon:

Hanging out in the yard:

Am I cute or what!! Now who does he look like? Me or Matt?

Proud Daddy!

Talking to his little man:

Big yawn!!

Super cute outfit:

Bathtime with Daddy:

My new favorite toy! This thing annoys the hell out of us, but Hunter is in love with it. It plinks out little songs and lights up. If Hunter wasn't so cute with it, I would have thrown out the batteries two weeks ago. There is only so long you can have the E-I-E-I-O tune running through your skull!

Freak is a little jealous. Here she thinks if she lays on her back, all cute-like on the rug same as Hunter does, that we will send the baby back where it came from!

It is summer up here! Most flowers are ending their peak bloom time, but the Fireweed is still going strong:

And here is why I shouldn't send my husband for groceries... He loves using his bungee cords and tied the bag of groceries down nice and tight for the 2 minute ride home. Look at the centre of the loaf....

Millions of Peaches.. Peaches for Me!!

2007-07-30T20:46:00.000-06:00

Oh how I love random visitors to Kugluktuk!! Last summer a doctor and his wife came to town and she had some peaches. She was so kind to give them to me! Well she came back this summer and guess what!! She remembered me and brought me peaches! 4 glorious, juicy, perfectly ripe peaches. I ate all 4 last night. She also brought me corn on the cob and I ate 3 of them tonight!

I love living up here and meeting such a variety of people. And I love that something as simple as a few peaches can make my week!

I will give a baby Hunter update hopefully tomorrow! I have misplaced my usb cord for the camera that has all of the pictures of him!

Monsoon Season!

2007-07-24T16:21:00.000-06:00

We had 24 hours straight of rain and it created quite a mess around town. There were sink holes, roads washed away, and pilings washed away from under a house! The Coronation Gulf still looks muddy from the run off. Our only problem was a small leak around our furnace pipe that we will need to fix when the sun comes out again!

Hunter Update

2007-07-16T21:31:00.000-06:00

Hunter is 3 weeks old today! Time is flying and we are getting very little sleep. But we are still happy and loving being parents. We have been getting out almost everyday for walks, but it takes a long time to get anywhere due to what a friend of our calls "Inuit Traffic"!! We love this term- we cannot walk more than 10 steps before someone is stopping us to give us a handshake, hug and to check out the baby. And now more pictures!

Here is baby Hunter with Grandma and Grandpa Hunter:

Visiting with Great-Grandpa Ricketts:

Visiting with Great-Grandma Ricketts:

Flying home on First Air:

First bath!

Happy in a hoodie towel:

Growing baby:

Quality time with daddy in the rocking chair:

Here is Matt and me at our friends wedding!! Good thing that I did not go- I went into labour about 10 hours after this picture was taken. Matt got to make a quick drive back to Edmonton!

We made it home!

2007-07-05T22:44:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone!

We made it home yesterday and if feels so good to be in our own place again. Arriving back here in Kugluktuk was such a great experience. The airport was full of people and everyone came over to congratulate us and see Hunter. We have had lots of company and people calling to welcome us home. It is nice to feel so loved in a community that we have only been a part of for two years.

I think the best gift we have been given was from some close friends of ours here. They hired a woman to come in a clean our home before we arrived! So it was all dusted, floors cleaned, and everything all tidy. It was great to come home to our place looking so spiffy!

So now hopefully we can get ourselves into some kind of schedule. Matthew is happy to be off work- he is not going back until September 17th! I think we are going to have a great summer together.

When we were in Edmonton we got some professional pictures taken. The woman who did them was wonderful and she gives you a cd of all of the pictures! It was very reasonable and she took her time to get some good shots. If you are ever in Edmonton and want baby pictures done look this place up: http://www.littlesproutz.com/

Enjoy the pictures!

More pictures

2007-06-28T14:20:00.000-06:00

Thanks Cathy for the beautiful flowers and balloon!

Daddy and son- are they cute or what!!

I am totally in love....

Introducing Hunter Gillis Went!

2007-06-27T02:40:00.000-06:00

So the Wee-Spawn decided to arrive early! He was born on June 25th at 4:34pm and weighed 7lbs 6.5oz and was 21 inches long. So that ultrasound from early June was off in his weight and am I ever glad! He came out screaming at the top of his lungs and looking pretty handsome! I am doing fine after a hard labour and delivery and Matt is a very proud daddy! We were dischared from the hospital early in the afternoon on the 26th with clean bills of health all around. And since he arrived early we will be headed back to Kugluktuk on the 4th of July.

Any Day Now!

2007-06-22T22:27:00.000-06:00

We went to see the doctor today and it looks like the behemoth-spawn could arrive any day now! I have already dilated 2cm and my cervix is soft- all good things! Now please keep your fingers crossed for me and I will keep my legs crossed that the spawn doesn't arrive this weekend!! Matthew is over in Dawson Creek standing in our friends wedding. I am so jealous that I could not go! If I need him, he is only a 6 hour drive away.

It is 11 days until my due date, but the doctor didn't think I would last that long. Hurray!! But I was almost hoping I would make it to July 4th so I could go and see Transformers at the theatre here on the 3rd :)

The behemoth-spawn is kicking up a storm tonight! It is so odd to see my belly moving around; it still creeps me out a bit. I guess he is just trying to kick his way downstream!

Edmonton is loud and insane tonight. I am up on the 29th floor and I think I can hear ambulance and fire trucks from anywhere in the city. And when I look over my balcony I can see all of the people that come out after dark- it definately makes me stay in my hotel! I am looking forward to getting back to Kugluktuk where it is quiet in comparison!

Wee-Spawn? I Wish!!!

2007-06-16T20:40:00.000-06:00

I had an ultrasound done on June 6th. Yesterday we met with our doctor where she told us that on the 6th our baby was 7lbs 14oz. So that means that now- 10 days later- our baby is already over 8lbs. I don't think I want to let him out! I have 17 more days until my due date. I can expect the baby to gain another pound or so!!! Ouch! I am going to have a behemoth-spawn!

As for me- my weight finally went over my pre-pregnancy weight! I am now 2.5lbs above my starting weight. However, that means that I gained 4lbs in a week. So I think it is all water. My puffy hands and feet would agree. My blood pressure is still just fine and there are no worries.

We met with our doula this week and she is excellent. She spent a couple of hours with us going over what we can expect with the labour and delivery. I am glad that we have hired her. We also went for a hospital tour today. It is such a busy hospital; over 4000 women deliver there every year.

So I am hoping that I deliver early so the spawn isn't over 10lbs!!! However, my husband is postive that I will be late. I give him a death look every time he says that. :)

Belly Update!!

2007-06-14T09:23:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone!

Everything is going along pretty good! I think I have shopped out most of Edmonton already. Matt arrived last night and we have our rental vehicle now. We still have a bit of shopping left to do and friends to visit.

I was planning a trip to Dawson Creek for a wedding and to see some friends and family. But the doctor decided that I shouldn't travel- so I am stuck in Edmonton for the whole time! Matt is still going to drive down for the wedding since he is standing in it. He will be giving the speech that I was to give! I was excited about the trip because I was going to meet my nephew for the first time. But I think they are now going to travel down here to see me in early July.

Here is the updated belly picture from this morning! I am 37 weeks and 2 days. The wee-spawn is getting huge!!

Leaving the Arctic Tomorrow!!

2007-05-29T12:00:00.000-06:00

The time has come already! I am 35 weeks pregnant and head to Edmonton tomorrow to wait for the wee-spawn to arrive. The last 8 months has just flown!

Today I am at home cleaning and packing. Matt will be following me in two weeks, so until then I get to spend all of his money. :)

I am getting really excited to see what this kid looks like. And I think he is excited today as well- he has spent the last hour kicking me in the ribs!

I will try and find to time to keep everyone updated on how it all goes. And everyone please hope and pray that I have a nice, long, skinny baby :)

Dead fish in the couch....

2007-05-27T18:40:00.000-06:00

Well my title says it all today!! Remember a few weeks ago, I wrote about our cat Tweak falling into the aquarium.... So today we were vacuuming out the couches since I am in "nesting" mode and I found a dried out guppy!! I guess during the who chaos of the cat in the tank and water everywhere this little fishy took a death trip to the couch. Poor guppy!

In other news, Costco stuck to their end of the deal!! Our tv arrived today for free shipping, and the pressure washer arrived as well for $30 shipping. What a deal!

Where did this tummy come from?!?

2007-05-24T19:45:00.000-06:00

Holy Toledo! I think my tummy has really grown! So I am 34 weeks and a few days along now. I leave town to head to Edmonton in 6 days, and Wee-spawn is due in just under 6 weeks. I am still under the weight I was when I got pregnant- but only by a pound or two. I am feeling pretty good and the throwing up has gotten a bit better now that it is warmer outside. So the Ravens will have to find someone else to hover over! I am missing sleep though- I think I am waking up every hour to hour and half to empty my bladder. Wee-spawn is also kicking up a storm and it is pretty creepy to see the movement!! I am walking a bit slower now and I have a definate pregnant waddle!

We have gotten a lot of stuff for Wee-spawn already. I have hit a few good garage sales of people moving south and have rounded up a crib, play pen, toys, clothing and even laundry detergent!

Tomorrow is my last day of work and then I have four days to clean the house and get myself packed. I am sure I am going to be busy!

Random Parcels and Sun

2007-05-21T21:36:00.000-06:00

It has been pretty bright up here lately. The sun comes up at 2:57am and goes down at 12:17am. I think we are gaining about 8-9 minutes of sunlight a day. It isn't long now until the sun just makes loops in the sky for a few weeks. Being pregnant, I don't sleep that well. Last week I woke up at 3:30am, ate some cereal and watched the sun come up:

I got a parcel from my brother, sister-in-law and nephew last week and it definately entertained the post office workers as well as us! Here is the first picture of our Wee-spawn (we used to call their fetus SPOG for screaming pile of goo):

We think our wee-spawn is doomed to have red hair- and I guess according to my brother and sister-in-law he will inherit my family's redneck as well:

And they included a nice drawing of our house as well:

Thanks Townie Bastard!

2007-05-17T14:38:00.000-06:00

The other night I was doing my usual thing of checking all of the blogs across Nunavut. I will admit it- I am a junkie. But TownieBastard mentioned that he just bought a vacuum from Costco and got it shipped there for $30. I had been on the Costco website and just never believed the shipping rates; I figured they must have some fine print in regards to us nutcases living in the North.

Well low and behold! There is no fine print, but I bet there will be some soon! We have ordered a 32" tv and a pressure washer. The tv had free shipping- seriously. And the pressure washer was $30 shipping. Now lets hope that both of these items actually arrive here. They should be here by the end of next week if all goes well. I got an confirmation email from Costco saying everything was shipped. Now this might turn out like FutureShop in the near future. They used to have free shipping, but no longer. So get out there and get what you need from Costco before they catch on!

I will update everyone next week and let you know if it all arrives! And for anyone wondering why we bought a pressure washer- well I am not looking forward to changing diapers and I am just going to hose wee-spawn off. hehhee well okay, I lie. While I am dreading changing diapers the pressure washer is for the quads. :)

Tomato plants and cake

2007-05-12T19:09:00.000-06:00

When my mom got back down south she decided that I needed tomato plants for my new planter that I bought myself. I was content to not have tomatos this summer since I hadn't started any early. But mom insisted. So she came up with this idea- buy started tomato plants, stick them in a water bottle (cutting in half, and then taping together), add a little water, and put into an express post envelope. Well it worked! She put them in the mail from Dawson Creek, BC on a Tuesday and I got them 2 days later on Thursday! Canada post has never been that quick. So the plants look great and I have them planted. Perhaps I will have tomatoes this year!

Tomato plants in bottles:

Here is a tomato planted in my new planter. The tomatoes hang out the bottom!

I also baked a cake for a friends kid last weekend. It is supposed to be a dinosaur! I had fun making it and the birthday boy liked it- so that is all that matters!

Tagged....

2007-05-10T09:49:00.000-06:00

Okay, I was tagged by Open Head Space- one of my favorite northern blogs. I know, I know, he is from Quebec.... but it is the Northern part- so it is alright :)

Here are my answers:
10 years ago I was...
Getting ready to write exams to leave high school! I had early acceptance into a UNBC and I was looking for summer employment. I drove my little geo of death and felt invincible.

1 year ago I was...
Celebrating living in Nunavut for one year and trying to get pregnant.

5 snacks I enjoy...
grapefruit, apples, popcorn, gummies, and my homemade caribou mipku

5 songs you know all the lyrics to...
none. I have no brain for this sort of thing. Okay, maybe row, row, row your boat….

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire...
invest so I would not be poor in 2 years, buy land, travel, build myself a huge garden, and give to a good cause- like Deiss buying a house :)

5 bad habits...
I am addicted to gummies, I leave my socks on the living room floor, I worry about everything, I always send cards and gifts out late, and I tweak out if I don’t get to check the mail everyday.

5 things I like doing...
quading, hunting, fishing, photography, and talking to wee-spawn in my tummy

5 things I will never wear again...
neon, scrunchies, the side ponytail, huge hoop earrings, and cords

5 favorite toys...
Quad, camera, new indoor planter, skidoo, and the jolly jumper that is coming for wee-spawn! I cannot wait to see the kid bouncing away in this thing!!

And as this tagging thing goes I need to tag 5 more people!

So Deiss, Trishy, Nunablog, WayWayUp, and Arctic House.... Give it a try if you have time!

31 weeks pregnant

2007-05-01T19:22:00.000-06:00

Here I am a full 31 weeks pregnant. Only 9 more to go before we meet our wee-spawn! I cannot believe how big my tummy is. And I am now down 6.5lbs from my first pre-natal appointment. What a plan! Wee-spawn is kicking and moving a lot now and I am starting to get pretty uncomfortable. And I am still throwing up! It has been 7 months of throwing up everyday- I am really looking forward to that being over with!

Lots of pictures!

2007-05-01T18:54:00.000-06:00

It has been a busy couple of weeks! My mom was up and helped us with a whole bunch of the renovations. It was great to have her here again. When she was here in the fall she helped us install a whole new kitchen. We now have the baby room done! It looks great and I can't wait to put our wee-spawn in there. I hit a good garage sale in town of a teacher who is leaving and manged to get a crib, play pen, change pads, snowsuits and a bunch of other stuff. That really made life easy! So I will get that stuff in a month when they head out.

Baby room:

Baby room again- notice the tree in the corner! Yes folks, it is real! The old owner of the house left me two of them. The 10 foot vaulted ceiling in this room really makes it fun!

The crib will replace go here when we get it. Thanks to Deiss for the great blanket that we are using as a wall hanging:

This is one of the neatest things my mom has built in this house. From here it just looks like shelving, but it is actually a Murphy bed. Flick a latch and a bed comes down! It is perfect when we only get company a couple of times a year. I will get a picture of it down when Matt can help me with it.

I ordered myself a Mothers Day present. It is a nifty indoor planter that I can grow stuff in the top and hanging tomato plants. I had to buy some dirt in town, and that cost me an arm and leg. I think I am going to barge up dirt this year.

Here's mom all ready for an arctic skidoo ride. Wee-spawn didn't feel like going, so we stayed in.

My husband and my mom:

Mom found this caribou skull out on the tundra:

Mom brought a gift for me and wee-spawn! An aquarium! She brought this all up on the plane with her. We have only had one fish die, but that was due to Tweak falling into the aquarium one night. That made a mess and Tweak still tries to blame the fish for it. I think the guppy died of fright :)

My mom wanted me to post up a good picture of her handy-work from the fall. So here is the beautiful kitchen that she worked on so hard. Not a bad looking place for north of the arctic circle!

Week Recap

2007-04-15T20:51:00.000-06:00

It has been a beautiful week or so up here in Kugluktuk. The temperatures have been well above normal and I think it even went above zero for a day! Today it was back down to -20C, but still a pretty nice day. Matt was on call today, so he was stuck at home but I made it out for a couple of hours for a little skidoo ride. I think I shook the fetus up a bit- but it was great to get out! Here are some pictures from todays ride:

The Fort Hearne and a friends house in the background:

Self portrait:

Part of the Kugluktuk graveyard:

Me enjoying the sun:

A happy Kugluktuk dog:

Looking up the Coppermine River:

Me bundled up:

A little while ago the Northern Store brought in some beautiful flowers! This doesn't happen to often, so it is nice to treat myself! The price of the plant was $28.69. And yes, I did buy some cookies here too- but take note: They were 50% off.

Here is my plant. It is still nice a week later and it adds so much colour to my house!

And my husband is very happy! I ordered a new shotgun for him at Chtistmas, but it didn't arrive until last week. He has already taken out 6 ptarmigan with it, and is itching to do more damage to the ptarmigan population.

The tummy is growing!

2007-03-29T08:42:00.000-06:00

Well for those of you pestering me to see how big my tummy really has gotten, here you go! Now before I got pregnant, it was the boobs that were bigger, but now the tummy is really sticking out. I went to the health centre yesterday to weigh myself after being sick for those few days. Well I have lost just over 2 more pounds! So I am now 5 pounds less than what I was at my first prenatal appointment in December. These pictures are from first thing this morning.

Now I know that there is a shadow in the way, but do you see my nice foot wear in the picture below? My kamiks are all finished and I have been wearing them. I love walking with them in the snow. I have always been a big fan of barefoot as often as possible, and it feels like you are walking barefoot in the snow- but warmer! I have had lots of compliments on them. And check out that beautiful carving on the wall behind me. It is one of our favorites and it is carved out of moose.

Home Sick

2007-03-26T13:43:00.000-06:00

Well I am home sick and miserable. It started on the weekend with Matt coming down with some sort of wicked sinus/cough mess. And yesterday it started with me. And just my luck- I cannot keep any food down. I can barely hold water in. Since I got pregnant 6 months ago, I have had one day where I did not throw up- and that was just on Friday! It is a good thing I have a lot of extra weight on me- the baby is just sucking from those reserves when I am sick.

I was in for another pre-natal appointment a week ago and all is well. I have gained one pound, but I am still down two pounds from where I was at Christmas. But my tummy is really growing! My blood pressure and hemoglobin are excellent and I passed my glucose challenge test. I had been so worried when I got pregnant. I had just lost 30lbs and was feeling great. I was very concered that I would gain an excessive amount of weight and end up with high blood pressure and diabetes. I was also worried that I wouldn't fit into my parka all winter!! But all is fine. My health is good and the baby is really growing! I get the next ultrasound in two weeks and hopefully we find out if it is a boy or a girl!

I can feel the baby moving around a lot. It seems to prefer the left hand side of my body and for the first time, I saw movement on the outside of my tummy! I was sitting with some friends and I had a pillow over my stomach and the pillow was moving! So the baby is really getting big- but still making me so sick everyday!

So today I am sitting on the couch with water, crackers, kleenex, blanket, a cat and my barf bowl for when I just can't make it. I have watched The Price is Right, Oprah and Dr. Phil. I just checked out all of the northern blogs, which I am thoroughly addicted too! A nap will soon be in my future as well! I have to get the tv turned off soon- the food commercials are driving me nuts!! I want taco bell or McDonalds like nothing else. Ah well- in two months I will be out to have the baby and I can get my fast food fix.

Hopefully I have a quick recovery and can eat again soon!