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