Snow in the South

Well, little did we know we would have so much snow once we moved to the South. The children are loving having another snow day off school. Outside playing til their little sock get so wet they run in for hot cocoa. We are busy busy busy getting the office ready for patients. No date set, but it should be very soon. We are blessed by the warmth of our home and the little roof over our heads. HAPPY 2013 to all!

Moving south

Well, we re up to our next big adventure. Moving from Alaska to Arkansas . Julia is already there basking in the record breaking heat and sunshine . John and I leave tomorrow and William in a month . Let the new chapter begin ...

helloooo...

anyone still out there, i totally forgot about the blog. life gets hectic here in the summers. how is everyone??

super long time

Wow, I haven't blogged on here for so long.
The children are growing up way too fast and we just went to our second parent teacher conference tonight. Julia is more than half way through kindergarden and is just as bubbly and energetic as ever. Her and I had a mother daughter date this morning. We had her precious little nails painted at a nail salon and then ate breakfast together at the airport dinner. We watched tiny little planes take off and land for an hour while she got syrup and egg yolk in her hair. I just look at her amazed that she is nearly 6 yrs old.
After breakfast we walked around Wal Mart and she thought she wanted to get her ears pierced but after talking to the jewelry lady she turned all shades of blue and asked if we could go now almost breathless. I reassured her that she never has to have her ears pierced and can do it if and when she decides the time is right.

Well, our winter has been full of snow and darkness, but we are begining to gain light at a rate of 5 minutes a day :). We shovel our driveway nearly daily. John asks pretty much everyday when the snow will be gone. He is ready for summer!

We have spent a lot of the winter working on "Judy"(the house) We tiled most of the downstairs, entryway and upstairs bathroom and have a whole new appreciation for tile floors and the work behind putting them in.

We are excited about the upcoming summer and looking forward to lots of company!!!

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!