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Ok so a couple weeks ago, Autumn had one of her many, many drama break down moments...This one was, of course, right at bedtime. She was crying about not having a sister. She was crying about Jofa (our girl dog) not liking to sleep with her. And she said...Mama, maybe if I had a LITTLE dog...It could be LIKE my sister. SHE would like to sleep with me, I could play with her. Will you at least talk to Papa before you say no????
ENTER IN CINDY (short for Cinderella). Needless to say, both Jon and my heartstrings were tugged enough that we bought a Yorkie. She is absolutely adorable, not TOO big of a pest and loves to sleep with Autumn at night. Our big dogs have decided that they will tolerate her and not try to eat her. Here are some of her first day home pictures....
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What a wonderful time this was...Autumn and I were both in the wedding. It was such a blessing to be able to be included in Erika and Darrin's special day. This was especially special for me, because Erika was in our youth group when we were leaders in Homer.
Because of INCREDIBLY insane plane tickets from Anchorage to San Diego, we decided to fly to Seattle and drive to San Diego. Due to Jon's work schedule...we had about a day and 1/2 to do this....It is a LONG way from Seattle to San Diego. The kids did great in the car considering we left Anchorage at 1am on Wednesday night, got into Seattle at 6 am and didn't stop driving until midnight Thursday.
We had about 350 miles left of our journey and figured we would have PLENTY of time to get to the hotel, take a shower and possibly even take a dip in the pool before dress rehersal which started at 4pm on Friday......
We did not conceive that it could possibly take us THREE HOURS to get through LA. But we were able to pull into the church parking lot just in time. The theme of the rehersal was "old" 80's prom with a Hawaiin flare...(scary because I was going to prom in the 80s.....)
Rehersal dinner was a blast--Autumn had "the most fun of her life dancing with all the girls"
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Yesterday I had one of those days where I left the house at 8:30 am and didn't get home until 5. I had a meeting, dentist appointment, and several errands to run. I know I accomplished a lot, but I really don't like being away from home all day. I went to costco to pick up 5 rolls of film I had dropped off there. They were returned to me all blank--nothing on them! I am distraught!! 3 of the rolls were some of the most beautiful glacier pictures, mountain pictures, Kennicott mine--our trip to Valdez. The costco man says it can't be due to processing..but I wonder. We have a relatively nice camera and this has never happened before. Two of the rolls were back from a trip I did to San Diego in February (AND I have already developed a roll from that same trip, same camera) so the processing bit sounds fishy. I am just so sad about those pictures. Oh well, at least they aren't of something irreplaceable. We have our annual cul de sac BBQ tomorrow and it is POURING rain outside. This is very discouraging. I am praying for blue skies and NO RAIN!!! |
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We normally go dipnetting on the Kenai River as a family. This year was a bad run, and the fishery was closed early...so Jon decided to give the Chitna River a chance. This is a trip that kids would not be allowed on, because it is a really dangerous river (even with life jackets) Most people tie either their nets or their bodies (or both) off to a tree at the top of the cliffs. The river runs through a canyon and is VERY fast and deep.
To get to the fishing site, he went a ways on a "road"
Then he and our friend Robert climbed down to a good spot. They basically stick their nets straight down into the water and wait until a fish hits the net. Then pull the fish up to where they are, kill it, and string it--Hard work! This wasn't the best return we have had (they only got 7 reds compared to our 65 in Kenai last year) but he had a great time...
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In February this year, we took a much needed family vacation. 12 wonderful days in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
After being attacked by all of the people selling time shares, we amazingly enough found our car rental place and drove to our hotel. The kids immediatly wanted to go swimming in the pool and then the ocean and then the pool, even though they had just been on an airplane for over 12 hours. Maybe for the kids that should be ESPECIALLY since they had been on an airplane for 12 hours...Jon and I were tired and wanted a nap, but the ocean won.
We quickly realized that Autumn's hair was going to be consistantly in her face so we got her hair braided. She REALLY wanted mama to get her's done too...so we both sat for an hour while our hair was braided. Autumn loved it!!
Due to our "Alaskan tan's" we were all rather red after the first day--except for Autumn...she was the only one who didn't burn AT ALL the entire trip.
Playing around at the pool
Hmmmm, I wonder how long they would stay here.....naaaaaaah. (Just kidding Grandma)
Here are my boys on a pirate ship
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Ever since we have moved up to Anchorage (5 years now) Jon has been eyeing a mountain peak named Wolverine peak. He had "heard" that it was one of the easier walk up peaks in the area. He had "heard" that it was about an 8 mile round trip. So, because I love my husband...I said OK that sounds like a good day trip.........
Everyone is in great spirits as we head off. About a couple hundred yards in from the trail head there is a wonderful sign....BEAR sightings. Mama bear with 3 cubs. The date of the sign?? 2 days earlier. My dear husband says, that's PLENTY of time for them to have gone somewhere else...ha ha ha Now I am not a total coward when it comes to bears, but I am not that brave either...so from that point on, every twig snap or breeze rustle, and I was sure I was seconds away from being mauled. Thankfully, our kids were their normal extrememly loud selves. BUT...my 10 year old had a stream of bear questions. Mama, what would you do if a bear jumped inbetween Papa (who had the pistol) and you and then jumped over you and started attacking me. Mama, what would you do if a bear came charging out of the woods right by that tree right there. Mama, who would win...a bear or a rhino...a mama bear or a triceratops...a mama bear or our dog....a mama bear (you get the picture). So although this did nothing to distill my fears, it did make the time hiking through the brush go by faster. Now it didn't help that we passed about 6 different groups coming back down from the summit that had "just seen the bears down in the valley". So of course as I am answering 6 million bear questions, my mind is starting the what if day dream...planning the run out to get to cell reception to call in the troopers, planning the hospital visits, the funeral etc (pathetic I know) and all of a sudden Autumn breaks into my thoughts....Mama? We're resting on Jesus' foot. And look...I'm sitting on his big toe!! What a great break in my thoughts of a painful death...but I still kept my eye's scanning the horizon. Here is a picture of Jesus' foot.
About 1/2 hour after we left Jesus' foot, we broke out of tree line and it was amazing. The bugs were much less pesky and I could see for a very long distance in all directions. Our next break was at a carin at ridge line...amazingly enough, everyone is still in relatively good spirits. The trail on the left of the picture heads up to the "false summit" and then you follow the ridge up to the right a little and you can see the summit.
This last leg of the journey was very hard--more just steep then anything else. It was a little too much for Autumn. She was crying and saying that she wanted to sit down and die right here. (have i mentioned she has a bit of a drama issue?) So I took the backpack from Jon and he and the boys continued--at a much faster pace--up to the summit. Autumn and I took our time and our new goal was the false summit. As she was struggling up the mountain, she looked up and saw a rock and immediately her face lit up...MAMA look!!! It's God's thumb!! That means His hand is up there somewhere and He can just PULL us up!! We spent the rest of the hike pretending we are being pulled up the mountain. This is actually very difficult with a heavy pack on, but I figured it was better than tears and drama. It was so beautiful once we got there and rested on God's thumb while we watched/waited for the boys to finish their climb. My anxiety about the bears was rapidly leaving...mainly because I knew that only a bear out of it's mind would make a hike up the hill like we had just done. We saw a mama moose down in a valley with two babies. After I told her the story of "The princess and the pea", which was the promised reward for making to our top, she gave a happy sigh and said something that just blew me away... Mama, see??? You had nothing to worry about with the bears. The whole time if a bear came out at us God was waiting to either stomp on it or smuush it with His thumb. What a precious gentle way for God to say...I've gotcha Cassie..you can trust me. Here are the boys at the summit
Needless to say, the hike down was much more pleasant as far as bear concerns were and EVERY hiker we met on the trail that day had seen the bears--except for us. By this time, the kids and I are really starting to get tired. My knees are killing me (downhill does it every time) and everyone is starting to drag. I am thinking to myself...there is no way that this was only 8 miles. After talking to Jon, he agreed. The way back was pretty uneventful and quiet--mostly because all energy was being used to just breathe and walk. We all got a HUGE ice cream sundae on our way home and I promptly went to the trusty pc to look up the hike. Turns out, the person who Jon had "heard" from was only guessing on the distance. The total round trip was 12 (T W E L V E) miles. I am shocked, amazed and proud my kids were able to make that!! And now we can say we've climbed Wolverine...and everyone except Jon is good with mountain tops for a while...lol
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Every year for Justin's birthday we head down to Seward, AK to go to the Sealife Center and hike at Exit Glacier. The glacier had actually grown this year (global warming??) and the kids were excited to be able to tell a difference from last year.
It was a great trip and other than the fact that I was bittersweet about my first son hitting double digits, everyone was very excited about the big 10. On the way back we stopped off at Portage glacier and hiked up the road (which was still closed due to snow) towards Byron Glacier. Here are some pics from this. Keep in mind that Justin's birthday is May 30.
The picture with Jon and I is about 1/2 mile further back in the valley--notice how much more snow is still there?? |
