my first big quilt top




exit glacier/seward



william's goat


william's first black bear


my first bear

MUSKY

nunivak island AK


musky




W and musky

painted "Judy" yay



wm leaving on his musk ox hunt




my sweet bud!

school craze/daze

So, it's school time again and our lives are going by in a whirlwind. And honestly, I haven't been up to blogging much lately. Email me sometime and keep up that way for now til I get back in to blogger.
BTW: Little miss is enjoying big girl school and little man has gotten so big this year. We've made friends here, settled in a bit, painted the exterior of the house, done a ton of fishing and really enjoyed the company that came to visit this summer.
Like I told my dear s-i-l today, in Alaska people don't spring clean because it is time to get out and play after a LOOOONG winter, so now is the time for fall cleaning out closets and cupboards. William is off hunting and really enjoying Alaska==it is a man haven up here! I may start him a hunting blog if he keeps a journal for this hunt. If so, I will let you know.

We love when our visitors entertain the kids!! Jim swinging with them



Jim and Sara silver salmon fishing out of Seward



sweet sea otters



after a nice long day of Halibut fishing out of anchor Point

When I go to tuck the little ones in bed at night, I keep finding this one in our bed. It is so sweet!



Swimswimswim...has consumed our days...



We took the marine ferry from Whittier to Cordova last weekend.
The water fountain was a great source of entertainment for John.




The view from our harbor front room in Cordova. It is tiny little fishing village that has NO ROAD to it and that's how they want to keep things.





We spent a few hours looking at all the docked boats. This was my favorite.





Gorgeous Alaska!




An old shipwreck



Happy birthday Nana. John picked you a daisy!

Catching more fish

Shelley, my friend, caught the big one this weekend--sooooooo fun! About 60lbs.




Aurora and John on the boat.



The captain and a halibut.



We camped with Shelley, dan and Aurora this weekend at Anchor Point and it was my first time to tent camp in Alaska. I was to say the least a little afraid of bears eating me alive in my tent, but it didn't happen obviously. It was fun and a beautiful setting--that is the ocean just past the boat. So, the kids loved having extra time to frolic on the beach, so did we!




John at VBS



Cowgirl Julia at VBS



William and I are teaching the 4-5 yr olds class at VBS. It has been great AND a LOT of work as well. The theme is a cowboy dude ranch. YEE HAW. The children have been precious!

wait no more boat pic is up

Well, there she is. She remains unnamed, but I am sure we will come up with one soon.




This was a week or so ago in Seward just out of Resurrection Bay. It was a beautiful trip out to the Kenai Fjords.




Little freckles on the boat. Love close ups of my sweet ones. They are getting too big. Tonight, I went to tuck them in and couldn't find Julia--but I knew the first place to look...in my bed. There she was beautiful and content - fast asleep.




The waterfalls are so gorgeous here after the snow melts away.

Family Fun

Reeling them in...


Halibut good time!



At sea



Memorial day cookout at the beach, john flying a kite.


...We had a lovely visit with family this last week. The men kept us on the boat a lot of the time. We did have one day at the beach where we made a mini bonfire and had hot dogs and smores. It is always like having withdrawls when visitors go, since there is no easy way out of the last frontier.

Birthdays and Ballerinas

Tonight a very special little girl helped me blow out all the candles on my cake.



Here she is prima ballerina. She is in a class this year with 8&9yr olds and it is so sweet to watch them dance together. The older girls protect her and take her into their fold and help her learn new things.
Tomorrow night is her recital. The practices have been intense this week.
Night night.

just for the halibut

L-R:Smokey, Sam, Silas, Don
The men went on Willie's Halibut Charter today and had a grand ole time!



Isn't this fish a giant!!

Well, since it was a boy fishing excursion, the girls met at the playgorund and enjoyed a really beautiful afternoon. Then, when we got the call that the men were home, we ditched our restaurant plans and came home to fry up the halibut with the guys. YUM!

Pre K Graduation

Julia's last day of preschool was today. She needed to celebrate all that hard work so we had a graduation of our own at home. She really wanted a cap and gown as well, but settled for a little chocolate cake!
We are so very proud of all her dedication to learning this past few years in preschool. We have been extremely blessed to have had amazing teachers to guide her along. Starting with Amy who has an amazing way of connecting with small children and teaching them an incredible amount at such a young age. Julia just adored her and it helped spark her love and enthusiasm for school time.




Above are her teachers at Read's Primary from this past year. Ms. Pam, Ms Trudy, and Ms Cherrie. In a little bitty school house of 2 rooms, they work so hard as a team to educate little growing minds.
Julia will move onto Kindergarden before we know it and she got into 'Aurora Borealis' which is a small charter school in our area. She had her testing last week and did a fantastic job. We had only neglected to teach her where her knuckles are, she didn't know that one apparently. Now she does -LOL!
Little Bubba , John, will go to Read's Primary this next fall to start a 2 day a week half day preschool. He is so excited!
It is hard to know what Julia and John will remember from their preschools.
All I remember about my preschool was the painting (oh, how I loved paints) and when we finished snack we poured all our remaining juice in a big bucket so it wouldn't spill out in our backpacks. I can still remember how cool all the juice colors looked as they blended together. I hope my parents didn't pay too much for that!!
Well, if you're still reading, I thought it was spring and then old man winter return this week--BRRRRRRRR. I write that a lot on here since we moved to the artic tundra!!! BRRRRRRRRRR! I need some sweltering hot Arkansas/Tennessee sunshine!
Send me some NOW!

Spring sprung

Wilson is still nipping around the house--so sweet. He even now has a nickname-- Wilsee.



one of my favorite faces of John at 3.




We've put out a few wildflower seeds to learn about gardening and growing. They love to water them. Our snow melted last week. I was so excited to see the ground below.





To add to the fun a trampoline--creates crazy hair and lots of outside fun!




John the rockstar/ Julia with a sweet smile

still here

We are still here, we've just been adjusting to spring in Alaska. Daylight from 5am sunset at 11pm and high of 40F. We got a boat a few weeks ago and took it out of Seward last weekend for its maiden voyage. Julia and puppy Wilson both got seasick. The boat went well and the seas were relatively calm, so it made for a fun trip out. We had some porpoises swim along side us and we also saw quite a few sea otters.
The snow is starting to thaw and it is pretty muddy now. John got stuck in the front yard and I got stuck trying to get him out the other morning. We both just had to pull our feet out of our boots and go back inside for more boots. I have learned that you need multiple boots and coats!
Julia is nearly out of Pre K and we have no set activites planned for summer. I have a feeling the summer will be much like last--full of fishing and playing at the many different playgrounds around town. Little farmers markets get started soon and all the RV's start meandering their way in from other parts of Alaska and the lower 48.
The community is huge in the summer compared to the rest of the year due to tourism.
I could easily adjust to life in Alaska if it was just for the summers.

the wooly musk ox

Well, the permit results are in for Alaska and William is getting a musk ox tag for this fall. This, people, is one of those things that is once in a lifetime oppourtunity. Alaskan hunters put in for a musk ox all their lives and some never get a permit. You can imagine...we are hearing of nothing but...and I am convinced that it needs to be full body mounted and put in the livingroom for the kids to ride on.LOL.
To me they look like some prehistoric wooly mammoth. He has to go to the end of the earth to hunt this thing as well (as if we're not already there!!) Some island west of Bethel. Craziness, sheer madness, what have I gotten myself into?
I am dreaming of a warm Caribean cruise! Snow in the forecast for tomorrow--BRRRRRR.