So Long, Farewell! - For now

Matt and I have now officially moved out of Alaska.  We are spending a little time in Arizona for the Holiday Season (blog & pics to come) and then we will be on our way to Hawaii!  Before we left we had a going away get together with the family and the week before we left we had a truly Alaskan farewell and it snowed a TON!  

My Mother-in-Law's birthday and my birthday are just a few days apart so to celebrate we all got together and went out to dinner!  It was also one of the last times we would all be together before we headed out.  

Jen and I anxiously waiting for food to come!  Jen's birthday was just a week before ours so it was kind of a extended celebration for her too.  

Matt and Mike before the food.  We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Ronnie's is a Sushi restaurant and it has become a tradition for Matt & I and Mike & Jen to go there together.  Mike and Jen introduced us to it, and sushi in general, and now we feel lost without them.  The owners and workers recognize us and spoil us a little bit every time we go.  So naturally we wanted to go there for the Birthday celebrations!  

DJ and Kristen (Gigi is around somewhere . . . )  They are also into sushi and had never tried Ronnie's before.  I believe we pretty much converted them after that night :)  Apparently the Octopus was Awesome!

Kris and Dave!  They were gracious enough to humor us and eat sushi.  They are similar to Matt and I in that none of us are all that practiced with what is good at a sushi restaurant.  It seems like every time we go it's a new adventure! 

Some of the SUSHI!!  If I remember right this roll is one of the favorites, it's got some kind of beef on top.  

Yum  :)

Matt is excited.  It was a great night and the food was awesome!  Finding a good Sushi place in Hawaii is on our To Do list.  

Yum, Yum, Yum!  Great Birthday Dinner for sure :)

After dinner we went to watch Real Steal, Movie night with Mike and Jen!  That movie is great :)

Brr . . .  It was about 10 degrees that day.  We went out to take some family pictures for DJ & Kristen.  It was SO cold.  I don't remember how many layers I have on but it was enough to make me not able to move very well.  The trees were gorgeous from the snow that had fallen and it is a very Alaskan shot.  Complete with red noses and everything.  

The week before we flew out for Arizona the sky decided to dump on us.  We woke up the next morning to find this lovely sight out our front door.  Since we hadn't put on our snow tires on yet we got the car stuck a few times. . . Luckily there was always someone nice enough to help us out.  The first time it was some random college student with a Huge truck, the second time it was a neighbor that was working on getting his own vehicles out of the snow.  Oh were the roads dangerous that day.  We were very blessed to have made it through without too many issues.  

This is our shovel in the snow.  Yes, it really was stacked up that high.  Crazy.  Biggest snow storm I had seen in Alaska.  It was accompanied by 80-90 mph winds as well.  

We definitely got a good Alaska good bye before we left.  It also snowed softly on us the night we flew out.  Both Matt and I will miss Alaska, it was a fun time and we will have good memories from it, not to mention that is where we spent the first year of our marriage.  BUT, we will be back!  Possibly for the summer and for sure next Christmas.  Alaska is a very unique place, a place we will always have a special place for in our hearts.