Best laid plans....

So Bret and I had great plans of writing a silly Christmas poem to post on the blog before he went back to the slope. He left Friday, and as you can see....no poem. So I'm afraid you're stuck with me again lol lol

Our Christmas break this year was oooooh soooo quiet and ooooooh soooo relaxing. We pretty much did nothing. We went to a couple movies....ate out a few times.....window shopped....slept in....played games with friends....and it was the best xmas ever. We had big plans of going off somewhere, but we really just enjoyed hanging out at home, we even did some home organizing type stuff???? wierd huh. Alas, reality has come back to our lives, Bret went back to work Friday....I had the stomach flu (ick) all weekend and then went back to work today, sigh. The good news is that Lee comes home tomorrow so things should be back to normal soon. Although the little rascal doesn't have to go back to school until next Monday.....oooooh to be 12 years old again.....NOT!

We've got a good foot of snow on the ground now so it's starting to feel like winter, we even made it through the winter solstice, so now we're just gaining light everyday! Yipppeee! I'm hoping to get Lee up to the hill for some more boarding this week, it works great getting off at 12:30, because that's the perfect time for him to get to the hill, so i'll just pick him up on my way. I'm sure he'll be excited to see all of our snow.

That's all I really have to say...I'll write more once Lee gets home and have him update you on his Xmas Holiday in the lower 48....

Happy New Year!

jan

Update

So the search for the helicopter has officially been called off. At this point the belief is that it went down in the fjord which is over 600 feet deep, much too deep for divers. I think there are still some private people who continue to search but at this point it seems that it's over.
This is a very sad day for the famillies most of all but also for LifeGuard, Providence, and Alaska as a whole.

On lighter news we are finally getting some more snow, our first accumulation melted away a long time ago. Today though we've gotten a good 2 inches and it's still falling like crazy. Lee is up on Hilltop as I write this, taking advantage of the new snow and hopefully learning some new skills. Needless to say, he is one happy camper.

The sudden realization that Xmas is only days away, has left me somewhat dazed. Yikes, where the hell has the year gone? It still feels more like Sept. or Oct. to me? Wasn't last Christmas only a couple of months ago? Man if time flies when your having fun, I must be deleriously happy! We will be sending out our usual Calanders again this year, but I fear they may not make it in time for the big day, but we'll try!

As I've mentioned before Lee is going to his Mom and Bruce's for the holidays so Bret and I are just gonna lay low. We always have big plans of going somewhere but in the end money and time bite us in the butt. We've been tossing around the idea that we may go somewhere like Hawaii or Disney World next year and send out a global invite to anyone who wants to join us. I know that we come up with some cool plans and never follow through, but I think this one would be worth the effort....we'll keep you posted, but as I've seen a year can go by in the blink of an eye, so it's comming sooner than I'd like to think.

Bret will be home on Friday. He has a horrible cold right now, so he's really looking forward to getting home for some rest. Hopefully I'll be able to coax him onto the blog to send you all some info,....i'm sure it gets old listening to me prattle on....lol

So that's all for now. I'm just trying to be thankful for everything I have right now, given what the famillies of the missing helo crew are going through!

we love you all!

jan

The body of one of the missing crew members and the back left door of the helicopter were found washed ashore, close to Whittier today.

please say a prayer for the families....the search will continue Sunday for the remaining crew members and patient.

jan

Missing LifeGuard Helo (see previous post)

So the search continues, with clearing weather and more and more services and people joining the search. There has been some discussion about them being near a glacier between Portage and Whittier and the railroad avalanche team are out on their snow machines investigating.

We found out today that they have a weeks worth of survival gear on board so let's keep hope alive for the families. There are several candle light vigils that will be held at 5:18 pm, which was the time of their last known position, and contact with dispatch.

Keep them in your prayers, and all I ask is that only POSITIVE comments be left, as there have been several nay sayers writing in to the Anchorage Daily Newspaper site.

If you want to track what's happening go to

adn.com

and you can see the story as it continues and is updated 24/7. Keep up the faith folks, this has hit Alaska, and Providence very hard, we're a close knit community!

thanks for the thoughts and prayers, I know the famillies appreciate it.

jan

To family and friends

I work at Providence Alaska Medical Center and we are the only level 3 trauma center for the state. We have a flight service by the name of Life Guard, and they have several helicopters and fixed wings that they transport patients with. Monday night a BK 117 helicopter was transporting a patient from Cordova to Anchorage, it had the pilot, a flight nurse, a paramedic and of course the patient on board. The helicopters call in every 10 minutes to acknowledge their location and how the flight is going. Twenty seven minutes before the helicopter was due to arrive at Providence, they missed 2 ten minute checks. Their last known location was over Prince William Sound, just south of Esther island and within minutes of Whittier. There has been no communication from them since their last check in, at which point everything was status quo. Due to poor weather the search has been very limited, but the the fog/clouds did break today for a bit. The army researve, air force reserve, the coast guard as well as several good samaritin fishing boats are out looking for the helicopter as I write this. The emergency locating device was not activated/or can't be picked up. Please keep these folks and their families in your thoughts and your prayers!!!!
While it's been 48 hours, the helicopter is equipped with survival gear and their wilderness training is very intensive. Having a brother that is a helicopter pilot, and having several years of EMS experience myself, this hits close to home. So all I can ask is that you think of them and their loved ones, who are hoping for their safe return.

Thanks soooo much.....give everyone you love a hug today and let them know that you love them. To all those that read this blog, know that we love you all more than words can say, and appreciate you all greatly for being in our lives.

Take GOOD care!

jan

I finally got to go snowboarding!

I went snowboarding yesterday on my new snowboard! We don't have much snow down by our house, but actually there is alot of snow up on the hill in some places. We can only go down one run right now, there's actually four in total. At first I fell for about 2 runs, then I went inside to get a bite to eat, which helped alot. After that I was able to turn better and go faster.

We went through some of the snow makers, because they were right in the middle of the run. The run that we could go on had a bunch of jumps, which at first I wasn't very good at doing them. The people that had been boarding for the past 2 weeks, were getting lots of air and practically jumping over me. By the end of the day, I was going off the jumps myself and getting some air.

I heard some people cheering "go little dude! you can do it!" and when I fell I would hear them say "oooooooh soooooo close"!

I spent most of the day up on the hill. We were thinking about going up at 9 am but it was only 15', so Jan went back to sleep until 12:00, and then we left. I was up there from noon to about 8:30 at night, which was pretty cool. I can't wait to find out who my new teacher is this year! I go up for lessons on Tuesday's and Thursdays. Hopefully I can inform you on how my lessons are going, on Friday.

I'm gonna be taught how to do a 180' and 360' in the air, yahooooo! Can't wait to be taught that.

Love you all! and I'll write to you soon!

lee

Lee must "ride"

So on my last post were pictures of snow everywhere. Now, just 2 weeks later most if not all of the snow has melted and gone away! Lucky for Lee though, "HillTop" where he snowboards, has a good base and they are making snow 24/7. The first 2 weekends Lee had his board he didn't get to try it out due to numerous missing assignments at school. This week however, he caught up on everything and a "riding" he did go!

I dropped him off at the hill shortly after noon yesterday...and honestly I kind of expected him to call by 3 or 4 pm to be picked up. Well by 8pm when I hadn't heard from him, I decided to go up to the hill and see how he was doing. When I found him, and let him know it was 8:30....he simply replied...."I know".....toooo funny! He had a blast and was just doing his thing, it's sooooo exciting to see him take to an activity this strongly. It was a high, yesterday of 28' and the sun is going down around 4:30. We had him dressed to the hilt and he said he stayed warm, which is quite impressive given his "rail-like" build! Today we decided against going as the wind is howling at about 40 miles per hour....it's 35' but it feels alot colder, so he's not out today. He starts his "hot doggers" classes on Tuesday night. He will be going from 4:30 to 6:30 every Tues and Thurs.....I'm hoping he can meet some friends there that he can board with on the weekends, since most of his school friends don't ski or board. We'll keep you posted. Hopefully I can coax him on the blog this week so you can hear it from him....

Bret was home and is now gone again. His new crew is really starting to gel really well together, and it sounds like they all work well together. Despite his grandiose comments about the long hours and cold weather, He really does LOVE this work, and it seems to be suiting him really well. I think he gets back on the 14th and then Lee leaves for Christmas with his mom and Bruce on the 19th...actually like 1 am on the 20th. He's really excited about going to PA to spend time with them, and it's nice the Bret and Lee will have a few days together before Lee leaves, since Bret will be back on the slope when Lee gets home from PA.

As for Christmas for Bret and I, we're not totally sure what we're going to do. I've taken a 9 days off, and we'd like to maybe take a train trip up north to check out the northern lights (which I've still not seen), but other than that we're just going to spend some nice quiet alone time together, which is nice once and awhile.

Work is going really well for me right now. I can't say enough about how great my hours work with life at home with a 12 year old, and physically with the fibromyalgia. My focus has always been to get a "black belt" position with the hospital...but I think i'll postpone that for a year or so, just to get my health on track and Lee settled into Middle school. I hope everyone is well, and we're so greatful that people tune in to see how the Williamson/Carmichael clan is doing. It makes it feel like we're not so very far away. On the flip side of that though, is that you are all welcome to come visit anytime! Our door is always open to anyone who wants to come up here. It is simply the most beautiful place you will ever see (nope no bias here) :)

hugs and kisses to all!


jan