Happy New Year 2009!

I am enjoying COLD temperatures here - the temperature is 10 to 15 below 0 and the wind chills are at 30 below 0 - but I wanted to wish all my blog readers a very Happy New Year!

Happy 2009!

December 2008

I am very, very excited today! After visiting with Santa and Mrs. Claus, at the North Pole this summer, I actually received a LETTER right from Santa Claus! I will post photos of me and my letter below! My letter even says that I am on Santa's GOOD list! I was so happy! I just knew I would be on his good list! So, here are the photos that were taken today, December 5, 2008!
Happy Holidays!



OK, so here is me with my special
letter direct from the North Pole!



You can see it's even addressed to ME!



You can see my letter is part of "Santa's Official Mail"!

Soon......Christmas!

Can you believe it? It's only a short time until Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving! We always fix a big turkey with stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie! I especially like the pumpkin pie because I get to pile on the whipped topping!

But, then, it will be Christmas! This year is even more special since, last summer, I got to sit on Santa's lap at the North Pole! I even met Mrs. Claus! She was such a nice lady and could even knit and crochet while we talked! I even got to see some of his reindeer!! I told Santa Claus everything to bring me on Christmas Day. He reminded me, though, I need to be on his "nice" list and NOT on his "naughty" list! Boy oh boy! I sure hope I can be nice that long! I know I'll do it and then on Christmas morning I'll be so happy! We are all flying into Anchorage right before Christmas for a week. We are staying at the faniest hotel there and staying in an ultra fancy suite! I am so excited, I can hardly wait!

I will show you my picture of me and Santa Claus!

Stay tuned for more updates!
Budda Budda



Here is a giant Santa Claus at the North Pole!



The giant Santa Claus at the North Pole.


Here is me in the grip of this huge Polar bear!


I am being SO brave letting this polar bear hold
me at the North Pole!


Here is me, Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and Dog Claus
at the North Pole! I'm telling Santa everything I want
for Christmas!


Here is me and the Claus' at the North Pole!


Here I am outside in the North Pole!


Ooh, here was a big reindeer!


This reindeer is hot and losing his fur!


I was so brave to be so close to those reindeer!
It was so much fun! I love my trip to the North Pole!

Budda Budda's Jack O' Lantern 2008

Here is Budda Budda's Jack O' Lantern this year:

Halloween Night 2008

Happy Howl-o-ween to Everybody!
I am in my scary Lion costume and have my scary Jack O' Lantern
all carved. It is on the front porch now with a candle in it. When it
gets dark, later, I will take a picture of it and you can see how scary
it is, too!

Trick or treat!!



Me and my scary Jack O' Lantern!
We like sitting on Mom's stove top!



Here is another picture of me and my Jack O' Lantern!




Budda Budda (that's ME) and my Jack O' Lantern!
Roar! I'm a hungry LION and I will eat you all!
Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!

Halloween 2008

It's Halloween time again! I am SO excited as I am dressing up as a LION for Halloween!
You can see me in my very special LION costume below! I can't wait to see all the kids
who come to my house for trick or treating, too! I am going to hand out candy, eat candy
and be a LION! I'm a LION! Roar!!!!



Here I am with the pumpkin I will help carve into a
very scary Jack O'Lantern! I'm a LION!



Here is a REAL LION!! Oooooh, a scary lion!



Here I am deciding just how I will carve my
pumpkin this year - who knows? Maybe I will
carve it into a LION! Roar!



I LOVE my LION costume! I
never want to take it off! Roar!

Winter is arriving early, or so it seems

Wow! It's only October 15th and already the Kuskokwim River is beginning to freeze up! We can't believe it! Anyway, I went down to the river this evening and took these pictures for my blog! Our low temperature last night was 8 or 9 degrees and we were having a -10 degree wind chill. Brrrr, it makes me cold just to think about it!


You can see the chunks of ice starting to form.



This is ME in my Halloween Costume - I'm a LION! Roar!



This is me again, just in case you couldn't tell who
it was with my Lion head on!



Here are some really big ice chunks - almost as
big as a small car!



Here I am, again, in full Lion Costume! Roar!
I love my Halloween costume and I'm not
taking it off! (Plus, it's warm!)

Fall 2008

Here it is Fall already! It just seems like yesterday we were cruising in ARVY all over Alaska and the Yukon! I will throw some pictures up on my blog and, hopefully, have more time over the coming winter to do a better job! I'm looking forward to Halloween and am going to be a "lion" this year! My faithful blog readers will have to come back in November to see me in my costume! I've already worn it several times - I'm a LION! ROAR!
Anyway, enjoy these few new photos for now - more will be posted later! Have a nice Fall!


Here we are watching a movie inside a train,
in a museum in Whitehorse, Canada! I'm very
attentive, you'll notice!


Here is the view from when you enter
Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. It's pretty!



This is in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. It's
the worlds longest, wooden fish ladder!


This is me at the fish ladder in Whitehorse, Canada!



This is me, in my snappy "Lil' Firecracker" clothes,
hiking the Chilkoot Trail! Brrrr! I was so cold!!!
If I'd had known hiking the Chilkoot was on the
agenda, I'd have worn a parka and boots!



Just south of North Pole, Alaska. Here I am
on one of their "burl" animals! Whee!


This is the sign we saw when we left Alaska
and entered into the Yukon!


This is the sign we saw when we left the Yukon
and entered back into the United States!


This was a bear! Oooh, how scary - a bear!


This was me at the very, very pretty Kluane
Lake in the Yukon. They even had a bear who
kept bothering the RVers and campers! It is
just so gorgeous here, I could have just stayed here!

Beginning of Summer 2008!

Here it is June 1st already! Budda Budda is getting SO excited to fly to Anchorage and begin traveling around Alaska and the Yukon in her "ARVY". She hopes to have a nice visit with
her "Uncle" Wayne and "Aunt" Marilyn as they drive around with us, in a rental RV. Budda Budda will take plenty of photos and post some of them in late summer or early fall. So, to all our faithful blog readers, we probably won't blog much until after our vacation! But, stayed tune! We'll be back and share our trip photos with you!

How to get to Bethel, Alaska

If you ever REALLY wanted to know how to actually
get to Bethel, Alaska, we have written an eHow
article. Here's the link! Enjoy!

http://www.ehow.com/how_2254598_bethel-alaska.html

Budda Budda likes this eHow article and hopes
we write more! We will - stay tuned!

End of April

The end of April is upon us already! Soon, the last remnants of snow will be gone and our Alaskan summer will begin. Naturally, Budda Budda can ONLY talk about her "ARVY" and how many days until we get to go out again in ARVY! She looks forward to spending three long weeks with her "Uncle" Wayne and "Aunt" Marilyn as we take two Class C RV's all around Alaska and into the Yukon, as far as Whitehorse, and back. Although we won't be traveling 10,000 miles like we did last summer - when we saw 5 Canadian Provinces and 14 United States - we still expect this to be another great adventure. We will start out from Anchorage in mid June before heading up to Denali National Park to, hopefully, see Mount McKinley ("Denali") and all kinds of wildlife. Budda Budda loves seeing wildlife and taking pictures to share here on her blog! We will take a shuttle bus into Denali Park and spend an entire day there. We then head off to Fairbanks - one of our favorite places in Alaska. It was at the University of Alaska Fairbanks where "Mom" Mona earned her Bachelor of Arts degree way back in 2001! We'll be sure and visit the campus while we're there and see the world-class museum there, too. We will cruise on the Riverboat Discovery on the Chena River and get to see many neat things including getting up close and personal with an Iditarod mushers sled dogs. From Fairbanks, we head to Tok, then to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, after a quick stop at the huge, and very beautiful Kluane Lake. In Whitehorse, we hope to see the longest, all wooden fish ladder as well as several other unique things. (Starr's favorite thing is putting the "loonie" - a Canadian dollar - into the carts at the store in order to get a shopping cart. When you return your cart, you get your loonie back!) We will soon head back to Tok and then down towards Glenallen where we will stay and get to visit, right up close,with one of Alaska's many glaciers. This one is next to the road so it's very easy to get to. After we leave this area, we are going to Seward where we will board one of the cruise ships and tour the Kenai Fjords for 6 hours. We hope to see whales, glaciers and many other exciting sites that day, too. From Seward, we take a rather long drive to Homer, known as the Halibut Capital of the World. Although we won't be doing any halibut fishing this trip, we still plan to take the "Gull Island" lunch cruise where we'll pass a small island filled with puffins, seals, and many other Alaskan creatures. To end our trip, we head back up to Anchorage where we will see the sites of Anchorage including Mona's favorite, Earthquake Park. The views from this park, looking out over the huge Cook Inlet, are awe inspiring! All in all, it should be a "trip of a lifetime" for Budda Budda's "Uncle" Wayne and "Aunt" Marilyn from Missouri! Stay tuned for photos next month of how Budda Budda spent May in her home here in the great state of Alaska!

Happy Easter to All Our Blog Readers!

Budda Budda has been busy coloring her Easter eggs. She
even tried to get "her" Easter bunny, Nanook the Holland
Eared Lop rabbit, to hide them!

Budda Budda wants to wish all her family and friends
a very Happy Easter 2008! Here are a few photos of
her egg coloring fun! Enjoy!


















Budda Budda is all set to begin coloring her eggs!

























Mona teaches her how to hold her egg dipper!
























She finally masters the egg dipper!
























Budda Budda is enthralled at the coloring process!
























Wow! The white egg is now colored! Amazing!



Just LOOK at all those pretty eggs!



Budda Budda loves her eggs and her
egg dipper!



In fact, Budda Budda doesn't want to give
up her egg dipper!



Now, Budda Budda is ready for the Easter bunny!

Budda Budda's Winnebago Chalet RV or ARVY as she calls it

Budda Budda's ARVY in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada.



















Budda Budda, her dog, Nuni, and Scout, her eagle, in Whitehorse.



















Some of the "in your face" wildlife seen in the Yukon.




















Here is Budda Budda & Starr (middle) on the Alaska
Highway at Toad River, a popular stop to get gas and eat.



















Here is Budda Budda, her dog, Nuni with Scout, the
eagle on top of Nuni's head. They are standing on
the back of the couch in "ARVY," somewhere in Canada.