Fairbanks, Alaska, September 20, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Alaska Time~

Dear Journal~

Now that I have put Maverick James down for his nap, I can at least get a little writing time in my journal.  I know you have been wondering what has become of us, since Frank last wrote back in June.

I was then a little over two months away from delivering our second child.  Another boy.  Maverick James.  My husband is a western show freak, and so this was how his name came about.  If it had been a girl, she would have been named Paisley Louisiana.  

I am happy to say Maverick came into the world, screaming his fool head off.  Nothing wrong with HIS lungs!  Ten perfect little fingers and toes, facial features all intact: no sign of defect or disability.  Perfectly healthy.  Answered prayers!

Maverick is a good baby.  He looks a lot like Frank: balder than a cue ball!  So easy to love and care for!  He is a little over two weeks old.  He weighed five pounds and six ounces at birth.

Big brother, Frank, Jr. is jealous, but daddy and I are making sure we give him lots of extra lovin' time.  We keep telling him that we love him just as much as his new baby brother, but seeing that Mavreick is a baby, he will need a lot of care and attention until he is a little oder.  Then Junior can help out and he will soon find out that being a big brother isn't going to be so bad.  

Frank, Jr. will be three years old on November 1, 2011.  We plan on giving him a third birthday party at his favorite hangout, Chuck E. Cheese's (only he doesn't know about that yet; it's a surprise).  We know he's had a hard time of it with me being pregnant and then the baby arriving; now he has to cope with his parents not spending as much time with him as we used to.

Frank, Jr. has grown into a beautiful little boy.  He has my Cajun coloring: dark brown hair, dark, snapping eyes, and olive skin tone.  Maverick, meanwile, will probably take after Frank: his coloring is fair and he has some fuzz for hair.  He is going to have bright carrot-red hair, just like his daddy did before he went gray (and before his hair fell out).  

Both boys are absolutely beautiful.

Frank says I make very beautiful children. :)

The weather here has been rainy this week: not much opportunity for watching auroras.  We do see them on occasion winking through the clear patches in the clouds, but more often than not, we've been inundated by cloud cover and/or chances of rain.  Very miserable weather: not fit for man or beast.  Perfect time to stay in and try to entertain the kids while Frank goes out and brings home the bacon.

He still has his used car business.  And he continues to do well.  I pray that continues.  He sells Jeeps.  He used to sell Hummers, but since the price of gas has gone up steadily, he had to resort to Jeeps because they're not as hard on mileage or fuel costs like the Hummers are.

We did have our orange Hummer H2, but we sold it and we got a Jeep Liberty instead.  It's olive green.  Very easy on gas and on road trips.  Smaller than the Hummer, but still has a lot of room for us and the boys combined.  We really like our Jeep.  We got it last year and we're happy with it.

Frank and I are still busy with church, but we have been lax in going.  Since Maverick arrived, we haven't really done anything special because I have been tied up with Maverick and Frank has been tied up with Frank, Jr. when he's not working.  Thank God for our neighbor, who comes watch the kids whenever Frank and myself want to steal some time for ourselves!  We owe our nieghbor an awful lot of thanks!  She is a godsend!

Well, Maverick is crying, so I'd best tend to him.  I will write in here again soon.  Until later, this is Katrina signing off!  Take care and may God bless you always!

~Katrina.