A photo post

Yesterday was a bad day. And unlike most bad days I was unable to spin this one into a semi-amusing blog post that would simultaneously lift my spirits and get me to laugh about my plight. to sum it all up (because now you are curious as I would be to read such an ominous introduction) let me tell you I am now 1080 days away from leaving Alaska. Yeah, the countdown has begun.

And if JaDee gets me a fly rod for Christmas as my new friend Felicia got, I would jam it up---wait this is a family blog!

So here are some pictures in case you all forgot what we look like!


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How to puke, crawl, slide and meow for 3000 miles aka: The Moncurs move to Alaska

Part 3 0f 3 Dec 15, 2008

Cast of Characters:


Little Kitty


Champ in our beloved back yard summer 2007

Big Kitty on the front porch

Sorry part 3 has taken so long to write. We are trying to get settled into our 3 room suite, get JaDee back to work, buy a second car, drag kids to numerous houses and find time for laundry, and figure out how to find Target even though we can see it from the highway. Here is something to think about. Route 1 here in the AK is not an interstate. It is a big 3 lanes each way numerous exit HWY but not an interstate. Why? Find out at the end of this post.

Back to the saga. JaDee woke up Monday Dec 15, and got the car to ship yard and called a car service back to the hotel. I, in the meantime: fed 3 kids, faxed his Department of Defense ID, packed all of our stuff into 10 suitcases and 6 backpacks, walked the dog and fished 2 cats out from under the hide-a-bed.

When it came time to load us up in the airport shuttle it took the biggest van they had. We got our first curious stare and the observation of “wow that must be some trip you are going on.” WE ARE MOVING TO ALASKA AND WILL HAVE NOTHING UNTIL JANUARY !!!! I really wanted a sign so people would not think I was insane to be travelling with this much stuff.

In the airport JaDee had to take the pets to one line and I got the special case baggage line. That was partly because of all the bags we had and partly because of our ammunition we were carrying for JaDee's guns that the movers would not take. Carter chased Olivia and Ethan was nervous with the crowds and the unfamiliarity of all of this and stuck with me. It was a total team Moncur effort. It to 2 hours to check us in. At one point my blood sugar plummeted and I almost passed out but Carter came to the rescue and ran to the newsstand and bought a 3 musketeers and a juice for me.

A shout out to Carter who helped watch luggage, animals, took Livvy potty, hauled any one of our 3 luggage carts where it needed to go, bought food, took Ethan to the boys room, ran messages back and forth between JaDee and I, played with both kids in the empty section of the baggage check, held tickets, helped with shoes on and off at security, shared his ice cream, and as a seasoned traveler in his early years helped Ethan feel better when he was worried about crowds, getting lost or stolen, and missing our flight. Needless to say Carter was an Enormous help. We could not have done this without him.

The flight was very uneventful. Olivia watched a show on the laptop, the boys played Game boy and read. Ethan got his pretzels and was disappointed that they did not serve peanuts. Olivia flapped her arms like a bird at take off and asked “When does the airplane flap its wings?”

Then we landed and had 10 suitcases and 3 animals to retrieve, and a car to rent and load. The first thing we heard after we piled the luggage around me was the most pitiful yowling you could even imagine. Oh just thinking about it breaks my heart all over again. Our “Big Kitty” was desperate. Her eyes were rolling her mouth was slack. She had torn her carpet lining the bottom of her crate to shreds. There was nothing I could do. I was afraid she would bolt.

After JaDee took Ethan to get the rental car (pray for a suburban here) I was Bag Lady Supreme (and again wishing for a sign to answer all curious onlookers stares) with my 10 suitcases…etc piled around me. I sat on the floor next to Big Kitty and opened her crate. She slinked out and crawled into the tiniest ball possible on my lap. She stopped yowling and started purring. I could have cried. Here is my tough snotty kitty needing me. She who brings dead snakes to my porch and mice carcasses daily under the van needed me. She only likes most of the time anyway, but I was oddly comforted to know that yes she knew me and took comfort in my presence.

And then Olivia slipped and split her chin open on the slick marble floor. I had a desperate cat and an injured daughter. I shoved Big Kitty in Champ’s crate with him. We have long suspected these two of having a love affair so I hoped he would help Kitty feel at home with another part of her family. Oddly it worked long enough for me to diagnose no stitches necessary, and get Olivia asleep on my lap. Carter got kitty out for me and she too fell asleep.

So here I was Olivia across my lap. Kitty on top of Olivia. 3 carts of luggage and 3 animal crates. Champ was very thirsty but without a big dish for water we did the next best thing. Carter took him to the boys’ bathroom and he drank a toilet bowl dry. And peed in a corner for good measure. I know. We were desperate.

All the while we are wondering what the heck happened to JaDee and Ethan. Were we stuck in a Focus? Were they out of cars? Was this really Alaska or had we accidently got on a plane to Jersey? Really at this point anything was possible. I do know that never before had I felt so alone nor so solely responsible for all of these little bodies, both 2 and 4 legged. There was NOTHING I could think of that would help. I for the first time EVER was somewhere where I knew no one. Even when we lived in Delaware we were in my Grandparents old ward and I had a list of phone numbers before I got there.

I sat piled up with warm sleeping bodies, and wondered, “What have I done?” And I prayed. Instantly I felt that we would be OK. And we were.

Turns out we got a minivan but the doors were frozen shut and Ethan and JaDee had to warm up the car before the sliding doors would open.

We loaded the sleeping Olivia, freaked out animals, tired and fed up boys (this whole ordeal was another 2 hours from the time we retrieved our luggage), and navigated our way through a frost covered frozen city to find our hotel.

And we were foodless. $100 dollars later at the local Fred Meyer grocery we had soup, litter and boxes for the poor cats who had been holding it for 12 hours, water, food, milk, and on the drive home both Olivia and Ethan were out for the count with nothing but Seattle airport ice cream and a package of pretzels in their little bellies. I was so tired I let the guilt wash over me as I hid the tears from JaDee.

But that desperate prayer in the airport brought enough comfort to know I needed a good night sleep and let tomorrow come.

And there you have it. Our modern pioneer journey to the wild frontier. And the final puking was done this morning by Ethan so we should be done with that. The kitties have adjusted quite nicely to being indoor cats. They love hiding under the bed form Livs and sleeping on us at night. Champ and JaDee resumed their 5 mile runs and found a great trail system by the university that has fresh moose tracks every morning and a chance to run off the leash.

Carter and Ethan are troopers about taking Champ out, and doing our chores in the morning. They have learned how to operate a coin washing machine and are on first name basis with everyone at breakfast. Ethan would like his own hotel waffle maker when we move to our new house. Olivia loves to look at houses with our agent, Gale. She thinks he is part of the deal as we have seen him every day for a solid week and he bought her a gumball.

We have a Christmas dinner invite with our new friends from the ward we visited last Sunday (and had to turn 2 others down) and are headed to the Tuia’s tomorrow are. We each got a new game for tonight and played Trouble, Bendominos, and Connect Four tonight for Christmas Eve. Sherie and Alex gave us this awesome game called Snorta before we left and it has become a family favorite. I am just a little competitive with JaDee over it and the boys laugh at us.



Love you all and miss you TONS!

Oh, the answer to the question at the beginging is: there are no states for Alaska to "interstate" with...therefore no interstates...no blue signs...just Route 1.

How to puke, crawl, slide and meow for 3000 miles aka: The Moncurs move to Alaska

Installment 2 of 3

So we got the crawling and sliding part covered but I guess you are all wondering "When does the puke come?" That would be around the corners of Yakima, WA on day two of the trek to Seattle.

After a quick visit to my Kennewick cousins we were on the road for the last 4.5 hours to Seattle. Should be a breeze after day 1’s ordeal right. We trek longer than this on a regular basis. I have personally driven the road to Seattle 4 times in the last 7 years. Twice with my mother. We were looking forward to a home cooked meal at yet another cousin’s house (I am related to half the state I promise). Until we reached Yakima. Like an hour down the road Olivia says “I think I am going to puke.” We grab the trusty puke bucket packed along on all Moncur journeys for just such an occasion, but not before she let loose.

We pulled over on some farm exit with no services (I know my New Yorkers have no clue what a farm exit is but in the wild wild west they do exist). Stripped the poor girl, wiped up everything and threw it all in our trusty Wal-mart bags also always packed for just such occasions.
She puked a few more times but always with the bucket and we have learned to line the bucket with said Wal-mart bags so clean up is as easy as throwing it out the window at 75 mph. Kidding. We find a trash at a rest area.

We got to Cousin Brian and Bernie’s house hopeful that all was well. Until she puked in the driveway.

Gave her a bath. Used Bernie’s washer and were again hopeful. Until we ran to the closest toilet and just made it.

We were again hopeful. Until she puked on the hardwood in front of the bathroom.

Oh but we weren’t the worst mess, believe it or not. My cousins’ son and his girlfriend brought 2 little dogs with them. One was in heat and one was the stud. Champ was in the house when they got there and little stud dog got a major case of jealous and started peeing all over the house! Champ could have cared less. My cousin Tom, had Champ occupied with a serious belly rub and he was fine. But stud dog had to go to the garage.

What finally stopped the pukes? Ginger ale. Olivia sipped a glass over the course of an hour while we ate ice cream and she was great! Got her color back. Stopped puking and did great all through the flight the next day.

And that my friends is where the meowing part comes in. You won’t want to miss it so stay tuned!

when house hunting check out the people

Some of you may know I can be a little judgemental. It's a fault, I know. But it has saved my bacon several times. Like telling JaDee that I will not live in Detroit. At the time of that statement I had never been but I knew I would never live there. Then out comes Eminem and his lovely "songs" and a critically acclaimed movie "8 Mile." See. My point exactly.

While house hunting yesterday to show JaDee the 5 homes on my short list, we had to stop to eat. We chose Pizza Hut because of the buffet and my kids like pizza. We were in Wasilla. Now I actually know a person from Wasilla and NOT just Sarah P. She is great and we are friends. We are fellow Twilight Groupies and too old to really care as much as we do. In fact she is coming up from UT over the holidays and I will be seeing her (hopefully she won't read this post before she gets on the plane)! Anyway this post is not directed towards her or any of her relations.

So back to Pizza Hut. See now that we are not in UT they can serve alcohol at local eating establishments, such as Pizza Hut. And you can take your kids to a cheap easy place to eat on the first day of Christmas Break. Sounds to me like a recipe for a good time. The noise level can only be likened to that of the Delta Center when the Jazz have made it too the NBA finals. The line at the buffet was a feeding frenzy of sharks on a freshly killed sea turtle. And the bathrooms were cess pools. Really. Carter almost gagged.

Now the funniest was the couple that sat behind us right before we left. They were this cute little couple in their early 70s. Little Grandma Lady had a bun in her hair and big glasses, polyester pants and a tucked in turtleneck sweater. Little Grandpa Man had a buffalo check plaid shirt, bright blue work jeans, and a baseball cap perched on his head. They shuffled into the booth with a sliver of pizza each on their buffet plates and sat down to daintily eat their meal as only Little Grandma/Pa People can.

Until out comes the waitress with 2 huge glasses of beer and a ginormous pitcher that you can't even get that big in a sports bar. While we got our coats on Little Grandma Lady downed half of her glass and Little Grandpa Man was filling his second. Hindsight being what it is I should have asked the following three questions that came to mind: 1) Do you realize that it is noon and you are getting sloshed in a Pizza Hut full of kids? 2) Where do you live so that I can stay far away? 3) Are you really driving home?

how to puke, slide, crawl and meow for 3000 miles aka: The Moncurs move to Alaska

First installment: December 13, 2008

Do you all remember we had to take our van to Seattle? Yeah, turns out Uncle Sam doesn't ship its employee's cars from places close to home. You have to make an adventure out of it. And adventure we did. After learning that we were not receiving any early installments of our stuff the movers took. We had sent a selection of 700 lbs of clothes, boots, work stuff, tools etc that we wanted first and were told it would arrive Dec. 30. Not so. It was on the truck with our main stuff due to arrive Jan. 7.

Yes, that's right. January 7!!!

Luckily I always over pack and had 10 suit cases and 6 backpacks to go on the plane. Oh and 3 kids, 2 cats and a dog (and a partridge in a pear tree).

We said tearful good byes to family the night before. The worst was my sister Courtney, who was due December 17. (And we got word that today was in fact the day; December 17 baby Brooke was born with a full head of blond hair!).

So we woke up the morning of the 13th and had a couple of last minute things to take care of at the empty house. Holy cry fest. We were all a blubbering mess. We cried and prayed and cried some more. I can’t tell you how wonderful how life was there in our cramped little starter home. And after my first day of house hunting in the Anchorage area I may not get much bigger! (but I have high hopes for tomorrow's search).

We started off to Kennewick WA with runny noses and stuffy heads in a blizzard that lasted all the way to Snowville. Olivia refused to go potty in her pull-up and we turned her little bare bottom to the elements as she excitedly melted the snow along I-84. Twice.

Idaho was surprisingly clear. Great roads. Even needed sunglasses. If it wasn't for all those pesky Idaho drivers we would have had a great time.

Then we hit Oregon. Oregon is already annoying because they lower the speed limit and don't let you pump your own gas. They are even more annoying when it snows. We crawled our way behind paranoid Oregonians and got to Le Grande and found the interstate to be closed. Really. Are you serious?

Hundreds and I kid you not hundreds of truckers were pulled over for the night up and down the exit. All snug in there cabs with a DVD playing and bellies full of trucker food. We were looking for a hotel with room for our travelling menagerie. And the search was almost decided on when all of the sudden the main road through Le Grande turned all by itself and we ended up back on the interstate. The very one that was supposed to be closed. What the heck? Did they forget about this mysterious on ramp? With nowhere to turn around and only 2 inches of snow pack and a 3000 foot summit we figured the closed roads were for the faint of heart. Not seasoned south pass, WY travelers. Seriously, we have been stuck in Nebraska with 2 feet of snow and a raging blizzard. We know snow and this was fluff.

Until we were almost to the top and got behind the Fed ex truck waiting for his tow up and over. We stopped and had no momentum to keep moving. Alas we were in my sensible Toyota minivan (with 23 cup holders just so you know) and not the trusty beast the Tahoe. We got stuck. Yeah.

My ever resourceful husband tried in vain to reverse and start over and over again. He even scraped the pavement to bare asphalt with our ice scraper- wait. I want you to think about the significance of that last statement: "scraped the pavement to bare asphalt with our ice scraper."

What does that imply? Feet of snow and ice piling up? A sheet of ice so thick like the Hockey pond at the farm has never seen? No, it would indeed imply the fluff I was talking about earlier. And if Oregon was smart they would drop a blade on that crap and all would be well. No, instead after 40 minutes of trying to get up the last 300 feet not one but two plows drive by.

BUT THE BLADES WERE UP!!!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS!!

BEHOLD THEY WERE ONLY DUMPING GRAVEL.

A novel idea given that gravel doesn't melt snow!!!

Anyway after not too much cursing in their stupidity.... and a call to my cousin in Kennewick who likewise confirmed Oregon and later Washington's stupidity in snow... we made it. 40 miles in 2 hours. Onward to Kennewick. Which we made after 13 hours. Holy hell.

But the kids were phenomenal. I am not one to promote vehicle DVD players. We only recently got one after a 3 year sabbatical from a small VHS playing TV. We have done 3 of our 6 trips to Arkansas without in-house entertainment. But this time I will shout HURRAY from the rooftops. Not only did they blissfully watch WALL-E in the back they were completely unaware of the stress JaDee and I were under. And they didn't hear me swear...this time.

to be continued...

oh yeah, our first day in Alaska we saw 2 moose. That is two more than we saw this summer!

sea level advantages

Guess what! Because I happened to be on line at the time of this event I had to post a news flash. We are at sea level and that comes some advantages;

All of my former fellow 4500 feet residents will attest to the fact that yoplait explodes upon opening. All that release of pressure built up from transport.

not so at sea level. we can open our yogurt safely. my sweaters will be happy.

my dog snores

Yup. That is what i have learned after spending 4 nights in a hotel with him. we hopefully will only have 4 weeks of this. see all our animals have always slept outside. now we have 2 kitties walking on us all night and a snoring dog.

but we made it to Alaska!! I have a plethora of writing material over these last 3 days of travel. and I will probably document it all eventually over the next week. because of course, the blog is first and formost for posterity, and this is definitly something that posterity will want to read about.

So Long, Fair Well

Tomorrow my computer gets packed. I will not be blogging for a while. I will miss my cyber world blogging buddies. And my confession: I like my blog. I like to log on and just look at my own blog. I like my family and the pictures and stories I've written. I love seeing when I have a new comment on a post. I get a certain sense of satisfaction that I have done something online besides shop. I feel like I have contributed to the world beyond my 4 walls by simply putting my thoughts on the web. I guess I am easily amused.

So as a final Utah post I thought I should write about the things I will miss most about Perry. Now the people go without saying. Know that I love you the best. You are your own list so this one is just the things. And although they are numbered they really are in no particular order.

1. sunsets

2. our fabulous tasting water. really i don't think even Evian has it this good.

3. my nectarine tree.

4. my other fruit: grapes, peaches, blackberries, raspberries and rhubarb

5. fruit stands

6. my Christmas tree from Neilsons.

7. taking my life in my hands when i try to make a left on HWY 89.

8. the mountains right out my front door



and my backyard


9. Idle Isle

10. Maddox fried chicken (sorry it is the only thing I like there)

11. my kids' great teachers (but the school system itself sucks)

12. The Box Elder News Journal for 2 reasons
a. the editorials that make me mad
b. the promontory point news: how will I get on without knowing if Winnie ever masters the cello or if they ate at Golden Corral. I will have to subscribe on line for the answers to those burning questions.

13. My keys that I leave in the car.

14. A wal-mart that is not crowded

15. movie tickets that are still $6 and so close that I can leave at the start time and not even miss a preview. And sometimes Sherie and i had the whole theater to ourselves so that we could crack ourselves up with our own stupid humor about the movie more so than the plot.

16. being able to make an entire grocery list waiting at our only stop light on 1100 south because I missed the turn arrow.

17. yogurt factory

18. Snow that actually melts

19. the neighborhood slip n slide (thanks Brent!)

20. park parties (every Thursday June, July, August, September and this year into October our entire neighborhood holds a pot luck at our park. It never fails that one night a season everyone brings a dessert, thus we have dubbed it Spontaneous Dessert Night.)

21. And the Ladies of the Club...my book club of over 5 years, of which I am an original member. I plan on reading the books with you all and posting a response on this here blog.

22. that I personally know everyone who delivers the mail and that they give me stamps, take packages, and wave to me.

23. neighborhood shovelling. The men here take care of the widows and single gals on our block by keeping their driveways shovelled and clear. But we miss Brother Jones and his tractor to clean up what perry city forgot to plow.

24. walking to church

25. my routes that i run and know how long they all are.

26. my sweet little starter home that was supposed to only last 3-5 years that ended up lasting almost 9. 2 babies were brought home here. our yard was sweated out and we brought forth the bounty of the harvest. it has become part of our family as all my little kids have left hand prints and bitemarks all over it. i feel like we are abandoning it as no one has bought it yet. We still had so many plans for our little home; an addition this summer, a bigger driveway next year, more trees and a new fence. but alas, we move on and really Nicole, It is not HUMAN so dry your tears and have all those fond family memories stored in your thoughts and not in the walls. But we did leave our mark under the carpet in the new family room in the northeast corner. lest anyone need to know who loved and lived here.

3 cheers for Mom!

Yesterday I got a stadning ovation when I went potty. Not many people can say that. Ever. And nobody has a cuter cheering section than me!

Got milk?

It is now December and I must be blogged out because I haven't written any posts since I finished up my marathon of thanks. So here are some thoughts.

We have 7 days until our house is empty and I start my life as Sarah Palin's new best friend because I want a spot in her cabinet in 2013. My mantra has been "no crying until the house is empty" and that day is steadily approaching. I will weep.

Jen and Sarah threw a sweet good-bye lunch for me and all our friends. We had such a good time and it will always be one of my happiest memories to have such good friends. Thanks you guys for being so awesome!

Sharon is setting us up with a good-by open house Sunday night. So thanks ahead of time for that. You are awesome too!

To all of you who have promised a visit...we are holding you to it. Check out this link to the latest house we found. (then type #08-14003 in the MLS box). It is in the boonies but that has its positives. For example, I want chickens. Lots of houses we have found have chicken coops and I found a breed that is extremely cold tolerant. After Carter's experience raising his chicks form school last year I'd say we are pro's at this.

Now brother in law Jeff would like a milk cow. As would red headed sister CaMee who is home on the farm. she tried to convince her husband, Travis to go catch her the cow in the pasture that had just weaned its calf. She has 6 kids and spend like $25 a week on milk! But she has chickens and has banned cereal form her house because they use too much milk. For breakfast it is eggs or cracked wheat.

Anyway, back to Jeff. He lives in Vail Valley, CO and is our host to a number of grand adventures. He does not exactly have room for a cow. But while at the farm over Thanksgiving he ran into a friend of theirs. She was hurrying home to milk her cow. Well not her cow exactly, but one she was borrowing. See she was thinking about getting a cow and decided to borrow her neighbor's to see if she could handle the milkings. In other words, she was test driving a dairy cow.

but get this, she was getting 8 gallons a day! Jeff was ready to move back to farm, catch that cow for CaMee, and share milking duties and all the product.

I am starting with my chickens if we get a place with animal rights. Then when we move to the farm, I will join in milk cow co-op with Jeff and CaMee.

In the mean time I will pay my $4 a gallon for milk in the great white north.