Things I'm thankful for during Alaska's winters...

1. The city of Anchorage does an excellent job clearing streets. Even our neighborhood streets get cleared very promptly.
   
2. Two words...studded tires...they are wonderful!
   
3. Nate does such a great job keeping our driveway shoveled...seriously he is quite particular about it...it must be shoveled before we drive on it!
4. Warm, tall boots...I have quite the collection these days...I used to never wear boots but now I wear them almost daily.
5. The few peaks of sunshine we see. We don't see the sun too often these days, but the few times we do are SO wonderful...

I haven't had a very thankful heart these days, living through the dark cold winter up here. I'm not a huge fan of the Winter season, and to live somewhere that has Winter at least half the year has been well, quite an adjustment for me. So, today I decided to start thinking about the positives and this was the list I came up with...

Austin's Party...

Austin opening his birthday presents...
Looks like Nate was doing more of the unwrapping. :)
Cupcakes...
Austin, not sure what to do... :)
Some of his little friends that came to the party...
The birthday banner...

We had Austin's party last Saturday morning. He had a great time (besides the few meltdowns) and got lots of great presents. We tried to keep it small, since he is quite shy these days, and ended up with 7 kids total, which was the perfect amount for him. We started out with lunch, played for a while, then had cupcakes and ice cream, and finally the presents! Overall it was a success, and quite the experience for this newby party thrower.
The biggest hit was the balloons tied to each chair...who knew how much entertainment they could provide?? Certainly not I!