The Bottle Washing Fairy made a special banner for Slate's birthday.

Sister helped to clean up for the party.

Dad made cheeseburgers and his famous French fries.

Slate hammed it up with grandma.

Jade tried to be brave but all of the attention on Slate took it's toll.

Slate enjoyed his cake.

Grandma made things better.

Birthday presents!

It felt a little like Christmas morning.

But Grandma leaves tomorrow so the party was a little bit bitter sweet.

Denali as seen from the top of our road.

The wife of the weatherman next door said this has been the coldest January on Murphy Dome in all of the 15 years that she has lived here. The thermometer reads minus 21 degrees below zero as I sit here typing at the dining room table, a granite table and it’s cool to the touch despite the roaring fire in the nearby wood stove. I have a blanket draped over my shoulders. Today it was colder on the hill than it was in town. It’s supposed to be warmer at this elevation. That’s why we all put up with the 20-mile commute to town involved with living here.

So, in the spirit comfort and happiness, we booked a family trip to Maui. I think we stumbled onto the last available condo on the island next month. The place is totally booked. I spent hours on the Internet looking for a place to stay, and we were resigned to having to stay in one condo for a few days and than move our family to another condo when there was a cancellation and we snapped it up. I am so excited that I am already packed. And I’ve started doing abdominal exercises every night with hopes it will tighten up my flabby belly.

Tomorrow is Slate’s birthday. He turns 1. We plan to celebrate with cheeseburgers, French fries, balloons, presents, and a white cake with almond flavoring that I like and I hope Slate likes it too. He’s a sweet boy. He still likes getting kisses and loving from his mama and I am grateful for that because I hear from some of my mama friends that boys don’t like a lot of kisses and hugs.

Lucky helped me wrap up his presents, a dinosaur puzzle, a school bus with little people and a dump truck. I didn’t mean to buy so much because we are wallowing in toys around here from Christmas but I couldn’t help myself. Slate also has a box from Grandma Carolyn that came in the mail today. And the Bottle Washing Fairy will be here to celebrate and she has presents as well. Maybe I will put some toys away in a box for a few weeks. The kids will be more excited to play with toys they haven’t seen in awhile.

The day after tomorrow we say good-bye to the Bottle Washing Fairy after a long visit. I was getting used to having her around and I have a feeling it’s going to feel like a member of the family moved away. But there is talk of a long visit in Oregon at her hoped-for house near the beach this summer.

There is supposed to be an epic northern lights display tonight, and I keep looking out the window but I see nothing. No moon. No stars. Just a black abyss. Stupid clouds. Wait. I think I can make that into a haiku.

I look for the lights,
but I see nothing, no moon,
no stars, just abyss.

My first haiku!

Me and Alec out hiking on Murphy Dome.

My little painter.

Mostly, I’ve been raising two little kids. My girl, age 4, is working hard on properly pronouncing her words. Her grandma (the Bottle Washing Fairy) is helping. My boy, who turns 1 next week, is working on walking. He is so proud when he takes several consecutive steps.

The children’s father is getting ready for an adventure. Alec is returning to Nepal for a climb this spring.

And I would like to introduce a new family member, Carolyn Simpson, Alec’s birth mom. She came to visit us in December. To meet us. And to get her hands on Alec. She hadn’t touched him since he was six-or-seven-months-old and she felt a pressing need to get her hands on him after months of talking on the phone. She’s funny and spunky and hard-working and she fits in nicely around here.

I feel like I should give you more. If you are still reading Murphy Dome Diaries after four months of silence, you deserve more than a few paragraphs. But I have two kids begging me for lunch and to go outside. They haven’t played outside in a week because of temperatures of 20-to-40-degrees below zero. Today, it’s hovering around zero at our place. It’s colder in town. I promise I’ll be back soon. We’re making Play-doh this afternoon. I’ll let you know how it goes.

The ink wasn’t dry on my list of things I know for sure when I had a string of bad luck, which I handled less than gracefully, making me think I don’t know jack. So the list has been sitting.

But I’m feeling a little better now. So here goes.

Ten things I know for sure

1) Egyptian cotton sheets are totally worth the money.
2) You teach people how to treat you.
3) Learn to forgive and let go. It’s more for you than the other person.
4) There are few things more satisfying then creating something with your own hands.
5) Make time for live music. Music lifts the spirits.
6) Tending a garden is relaxing.
7) People losing an argument or debate will make things personal or throw out red herrings. Be watchful and don’t be led down that path.
8)) A tree makes a nice gift.
9) Buy renters insurance. Good coverage costs about the same per month as a couple of movie tickets.
10) Turn off your computer and go outside. You won’t regret it.

Alec and Slate check out a new part for the wood-cutting truck.

Alec found his birth mother. As if his life weren’t interesting enough.

The search began late last year when we hired Search Quest America, a Florida company who helped reunite a Fairbanks woman with her long lost son. I wrote a story about this reunion and decided to see if they could help Alec with his quest.

We wrote away to the county where Alec was adopted for some old files. The files arrived a few weeks ago and there was an address that led to his birth mother, a medical worker in California.

It’s not the first search Alec has made but it’s the first one to lead to this.

On Saturday, Alec downed a few beers and poured out his heart to his birth mom in a letter. He is eagerly waiting for her reply.

They have been communicating through a go-between, Patty, our investigator, and have decided to take it slow. I think Alec is hoping this culminates in a face-to-face meeting and possibly she will be a part of his life. Our lives.

Jade playing at the park in Ester.

Me on July 4 at the Ester Independence Day parade.

This week, we decorated T-shirts using an easy technique involving acrylic paint and Elmer’s glue.

It’s a two-day process but it’s worth it because the results are pretty.

First, find a white T-shirt or any light-colored shirt. Place some cardboard inside the shirt and dabble it with Elmer’s glue. Let the shirt dry overnight.

Once the glue is dry, brush over the front with multiple colors of acrylic paint. Make designs. Do it however you want.

Once the paint is dry, wash and dry the shirt and enjoy wearing your own custom-made design.

Alec Turner on the summit of Denali two days before solstice in 2011.

Alec is riding a personal high after reaching the top of North America’s tallest peak earlier this month. I like seeing him this happy, which is why I feel a little like a bitch when I say things like, “Honey, can you peel yourself away from Facebook for a few minutes and change the baby’s diaper so I can continue cooking dinner?”

He’s not quite dialed back into our crazy household, and I don’t blame him for trying to linger in the Land of Me. I used to live there myself, and it’s crazy laid back. You get to sleep when you’re tired, eat when you’re hungry and listen to whatever you want on the radio.

Slate Patrick Turner the week before he turns 5 months old.

I like this picture of Slate. You can see his dad in him. People say he mostly looks like me. And I agree. He does share my features. But his mouth is all Alec, whose mouth I haven’t seen in two weeks. On June 6, he left to climb Denali. He reached the top on Saturday. He’s presently at Base Camp waiting for the sky to clear so the small planes can fly people to and from the Alaska Range. His team, which includes climbers from South Africa, two of whom he met while climbing Mt. Everest, is first on the list to leave Base Camp.

From the outside looking in, the expedition appears to have run smoothly. They reached the top and descended the mountain in less than two weeks. That’s much shorter than Alec’s first two expeditions, which he did with a guiding service. Bad weather and equipment problems dogged those climbs. The third expedition, with a friend, fell apart in less than a week. The friend got really sick and abruptly left.

The South Africans, who made up most of the team for this fourth expedition, seemed strong and focused when I met them during their brief stay in Fairbanks.

I’ve enjoyed Alec’s absence by seeing more of my friends and keeping dinner time relaxing and low key. (One night, we ate cinnamon toast for dinner.) But I haven’t liked Saturday and Sunday mornings. Big breakfasts on the weekends are my favorite part of family life. It’s not the same without Alec.

When I see him next, he’ll be skinny. I won’t. I had planned to workout and avoid eating too much while Alec was gone. I’m afraid I didn’t do a very good job reaching that goal. I still eat like I work in farm fields.

I’ve downgraded my plan to hike the Chilkoot Trail this summer. This year, it’s going to have to be Granite Tors, a 15-mile loop not far from Fairbanks. It’s more realistic considering my ability and my responsibilities at home.

I’m a little sad about putting off the Chilkoot hike, but I have some cool hiking partners lined up who are interested in making it happen next summer.

A picture of Lucky on a Scrabble tile made by a crafter in Idaho.

Many nights I am satisfied just to look at the items, handmade lace wedding dresses, hats knitted from wool, fairy dolls for grownups or silk hair ornaments. Sometimes I can’t resist an item and I buy, which is the case with the necklace in the picture.

Several of my friends have asked me where I had the necklace made. I stumbled on this cute and clever shop, Frilly Chili, not long ago and I gave it a try. I’m glad I did. I love my new necklace with a picture of my best girl on a Scrabble tile.

It cost only $12 and came in a tiny padded envelope with sweet little stamps featuring tea pots, Zeus and a wedding cake.

One of the reasons I love shopping on Etsy is the customer service and this seller did not disappoint. I heard from the seller within a day after paying for the item via PayPal.

The seller was kind enough to compliment the picture of Lucky and sent me a draft of how the picture might be cropped. I asked for a change and it was promptly made.

I wish I had made this post before Fathers Day because I think a personalized necklace is a potential Fathers Day gift idea, but it’s not too late for Grandparents Day, which falls on Sept. 11 this year.

By the way, the Scrabble tile necklaces need not be personalized. Check out this one with a tree. I have my eye on it.

Every mom has some tales to tell about kids and bathrooms. This one is by a Fairbanks mom who is raising two girls in the woods with a pit privy. It’s hilarious.