Trace Turns 7!

It is so amazing how quickly our children grow up. I can't believe Trace turned 7! He had no idea what he was getting for his birthday. Saije distracted Trace long enough for Lars to get the 4 wheeler into the living room. Then we covered it with a blanket and called in the Muck. When Trace came in Lars had a coaster hidden behind his back and Lars had him pick a hand and when he showed him what was in that hand Trace was quite upset. But then we uncovered his gift and this picture says it all! He was speechless! Happy Birthday Trace, We love you!

Saije is elected to be Class VP!

Saije ran for School President and got elected, but the Seniors realized that they didn't have anyone run in their class so the teacher had to have a re-election. Saije decided to ran for Vice President and got it! She went to Anchorage for 5 days and stayed at the Millennium Hotel and got to see Elyse and Neisha while she was there! She met some new friends and brought back some valuable skills to help her make school worthy decisions. Go Saije!

Halibut fishing on Miss Molly with James Gould

This morning we dressed for cold weather along with a lot of rain. We took the Miss Molly out to catch some Halibut. When we got out of the Harbor a nice storm hit and slowed the fishing. Trace got some driving lessons and kept us in the right direction for quite a while. Lars and I got to do some fishing but the wind was against us so we came home with out fish, but with a smile! What an adventure. Saije, Trace and I have never been out on the ocean fishing before. At first we got a little sea sick, but we didn't get sick. Saije and Trace rode on top for a while then we hunkered down while the waves engulfed the small vessel. We each got a chance to drive the boat, just to see how it felt. I ended up driving the whole way back, and the next day my arms were killing me.
Thanks Jim for taking us on the Miss Molly, it was quite an experience!

Pavlof Volcano

Yes, We are close to Pavlof Volcano. Luckily we have straight up & down mountains and water all around us so we are protected. Now if the ash causes it to rain we get to stay in and out of the acid rain. Fun? This picture is taken looking from our house toward looking toward the airport. We get a lot of earthquakes and will keep getting them until she either runs out of steam or blows. Today we had one where all the kids in Lars' class had to get under their desks. Trace said that he didn't even ask when his teacher yelled, GET UNDER YOUR DESK NOW! Good boy, way to use your listening ears. I was across the street at the playground with the Head Start kids and we didn't feel a thing. One of the kids were walking across the balance beam and actually leaned completely to the left as if to fall off but swayed back like a rubber band straight back up. We didn't know at the time there had been an earthquake and were quite disturbed by what we saw. But after learning about the earthquake, it then made sense. Kind of? We hoped that we could make it at least 3 years in the bush and we did. Now it is time to leave!