Christmas Vacation 2008

After two days at the Seattle,WA airport; the girls finally made it to Yakutat, Ak.

There is a sign on the side of the road that says Yakutat 5 (for miles from airport to Yakutat) So it was a must to get the girls to stand next to it since we have 5! We had a great visit, we painted shirts, bear bread (it is a fungi that grows on the pine trees, you pull it off and then dry it out) & canvas, made hemp necklaces & bracelets, ate tons of good food which included cookies from the cookie exchange at Yakutat LDS Church, We sang Christmas Carols at the Native Christmas Program ( thanks again girls). It was last minuet and they were asked if they wanted to participate and they said yes, Neisha just lip sank it was awesome! Trace cut us an perfect tree, we all helped out on the trimming and Lars topped it with the Angel. This Christmas is going down in the books for The Best Christmas Ever!!! We love you all and hope that you make it to visit us in Yakutat someday. Take care, Love & Peace! The Larsen Family

Student of the month!

News Flash! Yup, Trace was the "Student of the Month" for the month of October. We just found out yesterday. Yes it is December, but for some reason we were never informed by even Trace Muck himself. This is what they posted below his picture on the poster:

Trace Larsen. Trace has made a seamless transition to our classroom this year. He is respectful, responsible, and super popular. Trace often makes helpful suggestions and is on top of the many teacher corrections that's needed daily. Trace is an excellent artist and we enjoy his creativity.

Keep up the good work Trace!

Thanksgiving Day Fishing

The kids were taking a nap and Lars wanted to go fishing & hunting. The last day for the Black Tail deer hunt is Nov. 30th and we still haven't seen an animal with horns. As we combed the back roads we came to a 4 wheeler trail that had a bridge go over a small stream filled with spawning Salmon. Lars quickly gave up on the lure, they were pretty spawned out so not much fighting was going on. But when Lars hooked one below the fin, the fish gave it his all.

Red Bull Athletes Surf Sweet Waves in Yakutat, AK

The Red Bull Athletes and camera crew arrived by plane Monday November 24, 2008 to surf one of Alaska's well know swells. Surfer's from Australlia, Tahiti, New Zealand and Brazil hit the waves at Grave Yard Beach in Yakutat, AK. in 30 degree temperatures through the week. We were able to video a few shots of the surfer's catching sweet waves. My mom took Trace and I to the school one night to watch a slide show they put together. They included a bunch of cool shots from around the world. They would surf in the morning walk up to the fire, hang their wet suits to dry and a helicopter wound land on the beach, pick them and their snowboards up and go boarding for the afternoon then return in time to grab their surf boards and get back in the helicopter and jump out to catch the waves. Check out these recordings!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We woke up this morning asking ourselves, "What are we thankful for?" Walking slowly through the house, rinsing the soap from our eyes, brushing our teeth, draging a comb through our hair & being thankful for water and toothpaste. Getting dressed up in our Sunday's best to gather around the table and share our final thoughts. Sitting around the carefully prepared meal that has made it hard not to sample, we begin with the blessing. As we pass the food around and pile our plates high, Trace begins: I'm thankful for my friends, my toys & my family. Saije follows: I'm thankful for my Family, house, food, friends, bed, music, dancing, school, and just about everything else. Dad was up next: I'm thankful for Mom, Elyse, Amanda, Neisha, Jocelyn, Saije, and Trace, our house & food. Now it was my turn: I have so many things to be thankful for. I am so very thankful for my healthy family that love me, that I am able to be a part of their lives, to be blessed with so many talents and to have found my soul mate to share this life with.

"May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by the ones you love".

Trace & Saije Sing?

Trace and Saije have a little too much time on their hands! This is what they do when they are all jacked up on Mountain Dew!

Saije makes us PROUD!

Man, Saije has been busy. She and I just got back from Juneau, we attended a Careers Connection workshop for Juniors and Seniors. I took five students and we stayed at a Hostel, which was like renting our own house, it was sweet! The students got to visit with about 10 to 12 different employers including UAS(University of Alaska Juneau). They talked with people from The Union, Keningston Mine, Fish Hatchery's, Bartlet Hospital, Engineer's, Carpentry, Transportation, just to name a few. Saije signed up for a internship and she hopes that she get to work in the Salmon Dept.

While we were in Juneau, Andrew told Saije her great news. She made not just the Honor Roll, which is 3.0 to 3.5, she made the "Special Honor Roll" 3.5 to 4.0! Go Saije! Before we left for Juneau Saije also applied to be inducted into the Honor Society and Andrew received the letter of her acceptance while we were away. Way to go Birdie! For Saije to do that she had to be her own advocate and write a letter of application and include all of her accomplishments in school. We are so proud of her for all the hard work she has put in to succeed toward her High School experience.

Black Tail Deer Hunt

Opening day of the deer hunt Saije's boyfriend got a nice 4 point, weighing in at about as much as copper with just as much meat. So Lars, Trace and I borrowed a skiff and hunted all the small Islands. It was so awesome! I have never seen so much sea life ever. And the waterfowl was outrageous! I don't think that a deer will feed our family more than one or two meals, so we are focusing on the birds!!! You can actually shoot up to 3 swans a year, if Lars is correct. There is more meat on one of those than a deer. You can actually shoot a crane and they say that those are fabulous! I will have to make sure Lars cleans it and everything before I see it, or I won't be able to eat it. Oh Lars just informed me that they no longer have Tundra Swan season here in Yakutat, only on the Bristol Bay side. So we won't be eating any Swan. I am very, very glad because I think that they are so beautiful and I am glad they are protected! Anyway there have been 4 deer taken so far and we will still be on the prowl. Lars is a die hard. I just want someone to give us one! hehe! Thanksgiving is approaching and hopefully it will be a goose and not a crane for dinner! Ta Ta, Cherie

Happy Halloween!

I can't believe it is that time of year already. Well our festivities began with the Native Youth Olympic Hallow's Eve Carnival. Trace entered his pumpkin in the carving contest and won 1st place! ($10) Go Muck! Trace and Saije made their way through the different booths, winning pencils, soda pop, and paper airplanes only to mention a few. Then Trace got in line to do the softball throw that the chief of police had bravely volunteered to do. Trace was the 2nd in line and yes he dunked the chief. He has a pretty good arm. You can also pay a ticket to pull the lever to dunk the chief and he did that too! I think the chief had been dunked a total of 15 times! Then the wrestling and basketball teams showed up from practice and got in line and that was when the chief called it quits! I felt sorry for the guy. After trying to get rid of all of the 45 tickets they had we gave up and went home. Then on Halloween Saije decorated the gym for the Halloween dance and the get-to-gether for the State Champion of the NYO. They had a raffle ticket drawing and Saije's ticket got pulled and won a sweater. One of the drawings were for a round trip ticket to Anchorage. She really wished she could have got that, but hey it's winter and she'll use the sweater! For Halloween Trace was a toy army man, you know with the green base that they are standing on? Everyone loved his costume. Saije was Bella off Twilight. She had some awesome fangs and blood gushing from her mouth to her waist. It was pretty gruesome. They trick-r-treated until they could no longer pack their pillowcase full of candy.
Saije did say that she knocked at one house and they offered her a band-aid instead of candy, she was a mess!!! Yuck! On Saturday night they had the Halloween Dance, and Saije got all dressed up and danced the night away. To this day she still can't walk. Her legs are killing her!
All the festivities were a lot of fun. Trace is already searching the Internet for next years costume. Give it up Muck! Love ya all, Cherie

Saije is on the Cheerleading squad!

When Andy had first got the Art job in Yakutat, we began to check into what the district had to offer and cheerleading was one. When we arrived in yakutat, Saije was talking to one of the cheerleaders that graduated last year and she had mentioned that she was going to be the assistant coach and encouraged Saije to join the squad. After a few weeks of school they had enough girls recruited to have a squad. Saije is a flyer. Neisha has given her some tips and Saije has begun practicing. She will cheer at all the home games and go to region and state to support the team! She has taken on quite a few jobs here in Yakutat and has also become quite an advocate for her education. It is also time to send in letters of application for The Honor Society.
Like I said, she has been very busy. We will keep you up dated. Love to you all, Cherie

Some Pictures of Yakutat

View of St. Elias, the boat harbor, & out toward the Dangerous River,

Saije Runs for School VP!

Ya, Saije is back in the runnings for Student Vice President. She is 16 and a Junior at Yakutat High School in Yakutat, Ak. She enjoys playing drums, dancing, painting and hanging out with her friends and family. She has held many class positions and feels confident about herself as Vice President of the student body. She gave her speach on Friday and the total votes are as follows:
Her Apponant-16
Saije Marie Bowler-35!
Woohoo! Go Saije!

Moose hunting in Yakutat

The season opened Wed. Oct. 8th. We have been road hunting for the last few days. We are still not familiar wtih our surroundings. There are alot of roads to drive down and 4 wheeler trails. On Sunday we were invited by one of the teachers to drive out on the 4 wheelers to the Middle Dangerous River Cabin. We headed out at 7:00am. We had a horrible storm the last 2 days and it cleared up about 2:00am. So we met at her house and took off. We arrived and the rain was unstopable. We got off the wheelers, I climbed a tree and they did a sweep, but no animals. After a while we headed up the trail. The water was so deep from all the rain that we floated most of the way. It was insane to float on a 4wheeler, those machines are amazing. We road to the end of the trail and checked out the cabin and found the journal and read about a guy that was there opening day and got a decent bull. Lars was out by the river taking cover by the shed and found a moose head. (the guy in the journals) So Lars cut off the horns and brought them back for decoration. "I use antlers in all of my d-e-c-o-r-a-t-i-n-g!" He is going to hang them on the porch. We hunted a prime meadow to find out once again, no moose. The sun came out and we waited patiently and soaked in the sun. At 2:30pm we headed home and recieved alot of thumbs up on our antlers strapped to the 4 wheeler. (smile) The fish and game hastled us at first, they thought we really got a moose. I wish! I am so glad that one of the locals takes us out to learn the area. Well, we are going to keep trying. Way to go Nick on your Elk! There are no Elk in these parts, but there is Black Tail Deer and we got invited to float the river to get a deer. Well keep you up to date!

Esker Stream, Day 4

I finally got to sleep in! We hung around and read for a while and packed up. There was a cabin log that asks all visitors to sign, date and the reason for visiting. I added our names and read the whole book. When I came upon the Date Sept. 27 to 30, 2208! Hunter's were there 2 days before we were. No wonder why we didn't see anything!!! They took home a moose and 2 bears! Well so much for bringing home a Moose! We left the cozy little cabin to drop off our gear on the beach. When we began our hike it started to rain and rain and rain. I took cover in the deep grass beneath a small willow (not much cover) and Lars tried to fish. The wind picked up so he took cover beside me and before long he knew that I was going to kill him if he didn't take me back to the cabin. So, we left our gear on the beach and headed back to the cabin until we heard the plane coming. Our ride back to Yakutat was crazy! The pilot Hans said, that they had been waiting for clearance for take off to come retrieve us, but the weather was bad. At the last min. there was a break in the weather. (we would have been stuck there for a week!) Our hunt was not successful but our date was long overdue, I am glad that we came even though there were no moose. Maybe next time and preferably in September!

Esker Stream, Day 3

The alarm went off at 6:30 am and we both went back to sleep. At 7:30 am we got up and ate the same ol' oatmeal and coffee, geared up and headed out. It was a beautiful day. We headed up the trail which came to a quick dead end as it came to a deep stream that couldn't be crossed only floated. We tried another trail that took off out past the outhouse. It was prime moose country. (we guessed, we have never hunted for moose before. If I were a moose I would hang out there) So we hiked around and found alot of moose sign, but no moose. Made our way back to the cabin around 2:30 pm. We ate lunch and I took a nap. Lars went down to the stream that was slowly becoming clearer and caught a few more Coho. We walked the south beach for an evening hunt or you could call it a romantic stroll on the beach at gun point. (just kidding) We came back and packed up our things . Hans was going to pick us up at 2:30pm on Sunday. The tide has been going out around 10:30 am so we will pack out and do a morning hunt before the plan lands. This has been a great experience, I love seeing different country. We are definately going to come again next year.

Esker Stream, Day 2

It poured long and hard all night. Like an alarm clock, 6:30 am the rain stopped. We heated up some water, had oatmeal and coffee and began our trek to locate a Moose. As we made our way down the trail the rain picked back up. It's a good thing that we brought our waders, that was the only thing we wore. We headed south along the beach to the next drainage & then headed west. We came across alot of moose and bear sign, but no animals. We walked a 2 mile radius back to the beach. On our way back to the creek, I layed on a beached Iceberg and iced my soar back. I picked up one that fit in my backpack to use later on. 12:30 pm We ate some lunch, grabbed the poles and headed down to fish. The water was pretty muddy, but the fish were there. Andy caught a Coho that we couldn't eat. Went back to the cabin, geared up and headed north along the beach. We zigzagged west along Cabin Creek and came up empty handed. As we were hicking I thought we were hearing distant gun shots, but found out that it was ice breaking off the glacier up against St. Elias in Disenchantment Bay. On our way back we saw an iceberg that looked like the Lockness Monster. We followed tracks along the beach of a small bear. But lost the trail as it went back into the forest. My feet were officially killing me! Lars rescued me by letting me rest and carring my gun. (walking in waders for 2 days is not recommended) We arrived back at the cabin at 5:00pm. I heated up some stew & dried off by the fire. Lars took off and checked out a trail that headed west from the cabin for our hunt in the morning. When he came back we ate and I iced my back and hit the sack.

Moose hunting on Esker Creek- Day 1

Day 1 - Oct.2, 2008 6:00pm: We headed to the airport and checked in with our pilot Hans (yes CJ, Hans) at Yakutat Costal Airlines. We loaded our 2 backpacks ( I am begining to like the backpack idea) 3 guns, 1 fishing pole and provisons. We headed North toward Esker Creek in to Disenchantment Bay which is up against the magestic St. Elias. We flew over many small islands, Khantaak & Johnstone passage and a huge stretch of water. Hans circled around the area to give us a look at where we were hunting and the where abouts of the cabin. No wildlife in sight. We landed 13 min. later on the beach. A smoothe ride and landing. We got our gear and Hans took off. We trudged up the beach and came across some huge wolf tracks. (great,! not just bears but wolf too) We came to the creek Lars went first, Andy turned around expecting me to be right behind, but I was froze stiff! All I could do was think about the wolf, the bear, and now the swift water that was up to his backpack. He tells me to come on and relized that I am not going anywhere. He unloads his gear and wades back to get me and relieve me of some gear. (ya, I was freakin out) We hiked up a small hill which felt like Mt. St. Helens with my pack on. The grass was up around my waist. Anything could be laying down in it waiting to eat me. So, I have my gun loaded and on safety when Andy steps on a twig and I go into kill mode thinking something is attacking us. Andy turns to find me with this crazy look in my eye and a loaded gun in my hand. All he could do is calmly ask, Is the safety on? Then we crossed a smaller creek & went up a trail while I was yelling hello bears, we are here! I thought Andy was going to shoot me. We came into a clearing and found our cabin. I was so happy to have arrived alive. I thought for sure that we were bear treats. We never saw any wildlife. Whew! We opened up the cabin door to find it quite nice. 2 bunkbeds, a propane furnace, & a kitchen table with propane stoves. Sweet! I was ready to stay there and let Lars do the hunting! We unpacked, got the furnace going and heated up some water for cup-o-noodles. There were many provisions already there, so our uneeded provision will be staying here also. I didn't relize how cold it was until I found me scooting my chair closer to the fire. At 9:00pm we hit the sack!

Fishing on the lower Situk

Today we went fishing with one of the teachers for some silvers. We took out her skiff and gill netted. We were able to get quite a few fish and almost a seal. It was beautiful! I got to show Lars just how to fillet a fish! JK!

The first day of school in Yakutat, AK.

Saije and Trace were very nervous about the whole new school , new friends thing. They were welcomed with warm smiles. Lars was excited to finally teach what he has always wanted, ART!

The first week went by quick, 8:00am to 1:45pm. I stayed home trying to sort out a path from our front door to the rest of the rooms. Andy still ask me why I pack all this crap around with me. He says all we need is a backpack. Each have a sleepingbag, pillow, canteen, mess kit, tp, tooth brush, soap, towel, washcloth, two changes of clothes, 5 underpants, 5 socks, brush, bug spray & sunblock. Well I am not quite ready to give up my bed and I am sure it won't be in the near future either. But I do have to admit he is on to something. Especially after moving 5 times in the past 3 years. Ya, 5 times in 3 years!!!! I better rethink the backpack idea. Saije has already got girls giving her compliments on her dressing skills. She has also been given some direction to stay away from certain kids. Thursday was Traces swim day. He asked if I would go with him, I am guessing because I am so cool. I went and he showed the life guard that he can swim accross the pool and back without any help so that he could swim in the deep end. He did awesome! He puts on those little flippers and he goes everywhere at top speed. I taught him how to dive for weights in the deep end. We both had goggles on so we could see, about half way down he looked at me with this panic look in his eyes and I shoved him back to the surface. When he caught his breath he said, I need a bigger breath than that next time. So we took a break and tried again and he succeded! He is so cute, strong and growing like a weed. He does need help on the diving, that belly flop has got to hurt!

When Friday came we took a load to the dump and got to see 11 bears. They are everywhere! Black bears, brown bears & grizzly bears. They just sit and wait for the trash so they can go through it. I am glad I cut up my credit cards before I threw them out.

The Ferry ride to Yakutat, our new home.

We had a beautiful ride to Homer. It felt like we took half of King Cove with us. A few families were going out for their vacation or to the Palmer Fair. Trace got to ride all the way to Yakutat with his friend Alex. They were headed to Sitka.
The second day of the Ferry, Trace wanted to go to the vending machine to get a drink and witnessed a fight which ended up in blood and handcuffs. When we reach Kodiak the police came and took the man off the boat and straight to jail. It is good to know that there are officers on the boats to protect people. We took copper for a walk and got some McDonald's for breakfast. The next day we arrived in Homer and began our trip on the road system to Whittier. As we approached the top of the hill on the way out of Homer, we heard a bad sound and saw smoke. I quickly pulled over and figured out that I needed to get to a mechanic asap! I took the truck out of low gear and continued to drive slowly until we hit the nearest gas station. I went inside and tried to get ahold of Lars, who was not at home but at school. So I asked the attendant if I could look at their phone book to look up a shop in Ninilchick. While I was standing there a gentleman with hair longer than mine came to purchase some jerky and water. I asked myself if asking him for help was a good idea, and I said to myself, he reminds me of Jesus so I introduced myself and asked for his help. He was glad to look under the truck to see if anything was missing. He found out that there was nothing serious and offered to follow me to Ninilchick were a friend of ours works. We safely got there and when I looked back to wave thanks, he was gone. God is so amazing, I love him so much! I then found our friend Mike and he took a look at it and found that I popped a u-joint on the front right wheel. He advised me to drive as slow as possible and I would get to Whittier just fine and Andy could fix it when I got home.

When we arrived in Whittier it was 9:00 pm and not a soul around. We locked the doors and tried to get as much sleep as one could in a chair. We were the last to get on the Ferry, 12 hrs. later. I found out that we will be the first to get off. I sat there watching car after truck after Motorhome go one and noticed that they were having the motorhome and truck/trailers back down this steep incline to get on the boat. My heart was racing, I began to get sick. I was trying to figure out how I was going to this with such a heavy load, going down hill Backwards!!! I thought about offering to pay someone to drive, but I didn't want anyone to wreck my sweet suburban. Saije kept trying to calm me down and reassure me that I was the best mom ever! And that I could do it! It came my turn, I slowly proceded and began to make a wide turn and the guide rushed toward me waving his hands and pointing to the other direction. I got to drive down front wards! Yipee! I was so happy and once again thank the Lord for staying with us. We made it to our cabin and took a nap. We ate at the cafateria and Trace hung out with Alex at the arcade. It was a short trip, we arrived 22 hrs. later. Not much for sight seeing, we were pretty far off the beach and rainy. When we tied up to the dock, there stood a man with the look of worry in his eyes. Lars was so relieved to see me waving that he came on to the boat and gave me a hug. When we pulled off the boat Andy got in the suburban and showed us the way to the house. We were finally home!!!!! It is a nice home on the hill with neighbors all around us and a beautiful view of the bay. I hope that you may all see it someday soon! Here are some photos of yakutat. Grizzly Bear, Situk River & Ice Berg on Harleqin Lake.

Saying goodbye to King Cove

It was very hard to say goodbye to everyone in King Cove. I am so glad that we were able to be apart of the community for the last three years. Thank you all for coming to say goodbye. Hey don't worry it is a small world and we will probably run into you in Anchorage.

On befalf on the Pheonix, behold the Gibson.....

Jocelyn & Amanda were given a guitar from their father, Andrew. They recently got it restored. Mean while, Lars has been doing something similar. I had recieved an electric Mandolin for Christmas in 2004 and Lars' Mando needed some electronics, so he did his magic to his Gibson....

"Let The Music Live On".

Lars & Trace building a deck onto the beach house.

The owner of the house has asked if Lars would put a deck on the back of the house before he left fishing. He worked for 4 days straight drilling, sawing & nailing with Traces help of course. Here is the completed project! I will sure enjoy it through the summer. We also hung our hammock and built a fire pit. We had a nice BBQ and got out the Kayak and took a row out on the Bay. We saw Sea Lions and 3 nice Killer Whales feeding on the Salmon that are getting ready to run. I love living in Alaska!

Fishin' out on Pat's skiff.

Dad got a phone call to go fishing for Halibut and asked if I could go also. So we took off in the skiff with life jackets, jerky, and bait. As we set out, it was a little freaky being in such a small boat out on the big beautiful body of water. As we came to Pat's fishing hole we prepped the poles with octopus. Lars and Pat dropped their poles and came up with Skulpen. Yuck! I put my pole in and came out with a Star Fish? I finally got a nice tug and pulled out a 35 pound Cod. I could barely get it in the boat for Lars to wack over the head. Did you know that the only part of the Cod that you eat is the tail? Who knew? I sure didn't! Next Lars and Pat pulled in the same, but Lars' was a 2 pounder and Pat's was about a 30 pounder. After bringing in a few more smaller ones we headed back in. We got our first sunburn of the summer, it felt good!

Our Family Picture Clock!

Before we moved to Alaska we had a family photo taken in Heber, UT. 2005.

While we have been in King Cove we have met many talented people.

One being a clock maker, Mr. Barney Mack. He has made many awesome clocks, even one out of a crab shell!

So, we had him make one for us.

We gave him our family photo and this his masterpiece. We Love It, Thanks Barney!

(the picture looks like it is in a fish bowl, but not in real life)

Our new view!

We finally got moved into our new beach house. This is the view from our living room window.

It is so nice to listen to the waves crashing while drifting off to sleep. The past week has been rainy and of course windy. But ya know it isn't as bad as living across the bay in the bushes. The wind dosen't sound like it is going to rip off the roof! Trace really likes being able to ride his bike and play basketball with the neighbor kids. I love being able to walk every where. Being on the board walk rocks!

Saije Goes to 2008 Prom

It is Prom time! Saije went to Prom and danced the night away. Her and her friends had a great time. The boy in the picture is Charley, her best "guy" friend. She looked so pretty! I can't believe how tall she has grown. Trace got to go to mini-prom they have it the day after the big kids and keep up all the decorations and the little kids get to dance. We found out he takes after his uncle Gordon. John Travolta all over again! "Stayin' Alive, Stayin' Alive!" He was mauled by all the girls and actually had one crying because he wasn't ready to dance yet. He came home with 4 dollars and he would have came home with 5 but he paid his little phillipino girlfriend 1 dollar to dance with him. He takes care of his girls, and that scares me!

It was so dark & may camera kept doing tracers because of the lights so I didn't get a picture of Trace. I will try and get one from a friend and put it on later.

Dad goes to the teaching fair in Anchorage

Hello Y'all! Well we got to spend three years in King Cove, AK. fishing, hunting, hiking and riding 4 wheelers. We have met some lifetime friends and will take many memories with us.

Andy didn't get rehired for the 08-09 school year so he is going to Anchorage to find another awesome place to live.

After being in Anchorage for a few days and meeting with different School Districts, Andy got a job teaching Art & Music in Yakutat, Ak. which is located in the South East of Alaska. We will be traveling to our new home Aug. 27.

We are very excited to see a new place in Alaska. There is great fishing, hunting & surfing there. Yes, surfing! They are holding a surfing extravaganza there in Yakutat during the month of June. I looks like we may get to learn how to surf!

We will take alot of pictures and let you see how our new home is. Take care! The Larsen's