Summer of the Larsen Men

From walking along the beaches of Harlequin Lake full of Ice Bergs, building sand castles on Cannon Beach in their boxers too target practicing with their bows to ready themselves, for the season for killing is almost upon us. They have had a great summer and hope to continue through the Fall. Well keep you updated on their adventures!

Sweet Independence & Tart Treats

while Trace is constantly in his Army mode, he took time to buy his own 52" American Flag. He was unable to bring the flag pole with him back from Sitka so he rigged up a flag pole using an old Halibut fishing pole. I think we are the only house that waves a flag from the porch, so Trace is very proud of it. I bet Grandma L. would love it! Trace was out berry picking and found this HUGE Salmonberry. I can't wait to make jelly! Yummy!

Sitka Farmers Market

Today Saije and I headed down to the Farmers Market. I remember the good 'ol days when Lars used to play at the Farmers Market there in Midway, UT. Good times...Good times. Anyhow, there were so many types of vegtables. I sampled what they call Sea Asparagus, it grows in the mud flats when the tide goes out. Delicious! You can cook it with olive oil, garlic, pecans, currents and agave syrup. Oh my gosh, I just love learning about the food that grows right outside our front door! Someday I will never have to go to the store again! Well.....unless I can figure out how to make my own toilet paper. (ewww, guess I could use some old sheets and just re-wash them, oh how my family will hate me after that change) Sorry about that! So, while Saije and I were a samplin', the band "Medicine for The People" showed up as the entertainment, yea! It was the Hope's birthday (the drummer) She asked Saije if she wanted to get up there and play the durms with them, so I got a pic of her jammin'. I swear she should have been born in the 60's! She one of my little flower children.

Hiking Mosquito Cove

Today a friend of mine called and asked f Saije and I would like to go hiking so we headed out to Mosquito Cove. It is about 1 mile hike along the shore line of the bay. It was a nice day, and no mosquitos either, whew! Saije enjoyed the solitude but was complaining of some knee pain from head banging in the mosh pit last night. Dang that girl can dance! We saw this freaky little, I mean huge ugly slug....... I swear they have been mutating! Along the way we crossed carved bridges and climbed some more of those damn man made stairs! We were definately feeling the burn. I am so glad that Andrew(my husband), Saije and Trace came to visit me! I Love You!

2010 Home Skillet Music Festival Sitka, AK

Saije graduates from Rural Alaska Honors Institute with 8 credits toward her first semester of College! On her way home from Fairbanks, AK. she stopped by to see her mommy. I purchased us a 3 day pass to the music festival to see about 20 bands, from the Blues to Hip Hop. We decided on a few favorites; Medicine for the People(Hawaii), Breathe Owl Breathe(Michigan), Jed Delong(Kotzebue), Mad Rad(Seattle) and Strummin' Dog(Sitka). The boy crowd surfing in the pic was the son of Phonetic's lead singer. He rapped a little and then jumped out in the crowd! I could totally see Trace doing that! A lot of these Garage Bands had some excellent songs......"It All Starts to Make Sense"and" I Wish I was Swimming". I hope that we hear from them in the future!

4th of July in Sitka, AK 2010

Another rainy day....although it didn't seem to slow anything down. We headed off to the booths, Trace shot up the town at the pellet hand gun booth, winning more tickets than anyone. We sampled the food booths which ranged from the famous Hot dog to Phillipino foods. I ended up with a humongous Navajo Taco. (so much food and so little time) Lars had a great time watching Trace throw a softball and dunking the guy 7 times in a row. What an arm!

For the parade we got front row seats. Trace loved the black powder guns carried by the Confederate Army (supporting Alaska Day) The gals in the golf cart were called the Coho Queens, and a gas car that was converted into an electric car (go green!) And Traces favorite & the high light of our day..... the US Army troop! He had me pull one of the gentlemen aside so he could show him some well deserved respect! I cried of course, I am so proud that he is MY son!

After the parade they let all the kids line up and the fire trucks soaked them with the fire hose.

I hope that ya'all had a great 4th.

It's my party and I'll cry if I want too.....

Yup, once again it's my day to shine! We started out our day at the Fortress of The Bears.

Kilsum and Chieek (not sure of the spelling) are male bears 3 1/2 years old and were abandoned by their mother as young cubs. The fortress takes the abandoned bears in and gets them in good health, both physically and mentally. They do some training like...putting their paws on certain levels of rock to take a closer look at there paws & bodies to check for any injuries or infections from their playful fighting. They also train them to open their mouths and check for any dental or throat problems. The trainers call there names and have them climb up on the logs and wave, very cute!
After that we went to the Matinee and saw Eclipse. Lars and Trace liked the fighting but, Trace could have done without the romance. Next, we set off to the hardware store and bought a machete, in Ak. everyone that loves to hike needs one to clear the trail of Devils Club. (very mean stuff, although after boiled down is good for arthritis)
My gift from my sweetie was replacing my diamond on my wedding band with a Glacier Diamond, I can't wait to get it back next week! Trace picked out a chocolate cake with Grandmas Cake Batter Ice Cream. Yes....it tastes just like cake mix. It has frosting, sprinkles and cream cheese. Girls you have got to try it. It reminds me of how you would eat cake mix with water at Grandma Larsen's house! Love to you all!

Trace caught his first Chinook (king) Salmon!

Lars woke up and asked Trace if he wanted to go fishin' in the boat or on the river today. Trace voted to fish the Situk river..... it was a little rainy but who cares, we live in AK. They headed out and on their way to Nine Mile Trace saw a rabbit and looked over at his dad and said, "I have a good feeling about today dad."

When they got there they saw a few Germans fishing so they moved down stream. (after bush whackin' a few hundred feet) They came upon a nice deep hole, they caught about 30 Coho but only landed 5 or 6.

It was beginning to really pour and Lars was ready to go when Trace asked if he could cast a few more times. Trace casted about 6 times and the next was lucky number 7! He had been trying to get a nice Chinook to take the bait, and sure enough it took it hook, line and sinker!

Trace starts saying "dad it took my hook, I got it on!" Lars continued to gather fish as he looked to the side of him and saw this Chinook race past him with line attached. Lars couldn't believe it. Trace started gettin' excited and was afraid he'd loose him, so he asked his dad if he would help him out. Lars looked at his son with a gleam in his eye (and jealousy) and said "Son, you got this one!, remember give him the line and tire him out." So Muck starts playin' the fish. The Chinook runs up stream and then down stream. He circles Trace a few times, because Trace is knee deep in the river. The Chinook takes another trip up stream and his dad yells out, "You gotta turn him son!" and Trace puts on the breaks and starts fightin' him and all the sudden the Chinook is done!

He reels it in..... and it turns out to be a 42 pd 2.5 ft girth and 42.5 inch. length "NICE-ASS" Chinook... caught on 15 pd. test with a little spin rod that Uncle Nick bought at Cabella's!

Yeee Haw! We are going to get it mounted for his 10th Birthday!

Hiking Indian River Trail- Sitka, AK.

Happy Fathers Day to all you fabulous Fathers! This morning I woke up and headed out with the girls and hit the trail. What a nice hike. The trail ran along the Indian River then back and forth across a few times on huge trees made into bridges. Way Cool! We came across a nice 5 foot deep water hole with a rope swing hanging from a tree. This brings back a funny memory; I took the 5 girls when they were around the ages of 11 to 15 to the water hole at the bottom of Provo canyon. We had hiked up Bridal Veil Falls and decided to go try the rope swing across the freeway. Elyse and Amanda went together and Elyse lost hold and down she went! When she hit the water all you could hear was her screaming obscenities and dog paddling like crazy for the shore. Holy cow Elyse, I am so sorry that I laughed so hard, but it just couldn't be helped. I was there for you the whole way! Anyway......so the gals and I decided that we need to come back in the afternoon and try it after we have hiked our butts off and need to cool off, so maybe next time. I will definitely bring Lars and Trace, they will love it!
With all of this new exercise that I have been getting we started talking about building our core muscles. I was telling them how Neisha started hula-hooping, one gal said that she wanted to try Belly-dancing, another said that she wanted to get into pole dancing! Yes you heard me right, Pole Dancing! I just about peed my pants. She claims it builds the core muscles too..... can you imagine what her husband is going to say when he comes home and there's a pole installed in their bedroom? I told her she better go see her Dr. and get on Birth Control!
One our way back I was telling the gals that I had attended that Tlingit beach gathering and learned that the Skunk Cabbage is used to cook fish. So we gathered some cabbage and were hiking out when we were approached by two ladies. They turned up their noses at us and asked "What are you doing with Skunk Cabbage?" I turned around and said we are taking it home so we can roll it up and smoke it! No way was I going to give this new learned secret away to just anyone! Suya Quasatine!

Enjoying the Tlingit Culture

Listening to the song was entrancing, very cool!

Suya Quasatine! (goodbye in Tlingit)

Tlinget gathering on the beach - Sitka,AK.

I was with some clients and we were invited to come down to the beach and be apart of the natives traditions. The Tlingit people were so very kind and generous, not only did they make us feel welcome, they even shared their smoked fish, yum! We began by digging holes in the beach to cook the fish. We then gathered flat rocks to line the pits with and then build a fire. Once their were coals we gathered skunk cabbage ( it didn't smell like a skunk...huh?) and got them set in the sea. Then we layed them over the coals and placed the Salmon that was garnished with lemon, peppers, onions, butter and seasonings then rolled in a cabbage leaf onto the layered leafs in the fire pit. Layering again the cabbage and placing more coals on top then waiting while it cooks! I didn't get to stay around to sample the Salmon, but I did get to enjoy a few peices of smoked salmon (middle pic) Delicious! Goonecheesh! (that mean thank you in Tlingit!)

Hiking Thimbleberry Trail-Sitka,AK.

This hike starts off right from the road and ends up at a lake that has a small dock that you can jump off and cool off in. On our way up we passed several piles of bear scat. I was wondering if this was the sign to turn around and go back! We had our trusty bear protection Lance and Simon but, I decided to use our "back up device" my marine whistle! Ya, I blew my whistle the whole way up and the whole way back. It kind of ruined the ambience but no bear problems. Thank goodness! Oh how I love the Great Outdoors!

Hiking Herring Cove - Sitka,AK.

Wow! I have never hiked that many stairs in all my life put together! Whew! I am not sure if I have noodles for legs or none at all! It was amazing. The lakes, the cool rocks that form tunnels with trees growing out of them. Once you make it to the top 3 miles up, you can see forever!, and bigger mountains. Tons of flowers and ferns, Beautiful and not one Bear! (Knock on wood) Those are my friends guard dogs that are in the pictures Kia, Lance and Simon, they swam more that did any protecting. I wish Copper could have been there. He may not have made it up those flights of stairs, it was crazy. And if you noticed I didn't take any photos on the way up or down because I couln't steady the camera with all my heavy breathing! I definately want to hike that trail again, that is when I get a little better conditioned!

Hello from Sitka!

I arrived in Sitka and have finally settled in. I live in a quint little apartment next door to my job. If I don't show up for work they just knock on my door and then I get up. JK! I bet it would work though, well maybe once.....I had better not. I love being in the mountains and relaxing on the beach. Sitka has tons to do, but I wish my boys could be here with me to do it all. Andrew and Trace are trying to take the Ferry for my b-day next month. I will be in Sitka until somewhere around the first week of Aug. I have my weekends off to stroll around and watch the boats come and go. When the huge cruise ships come in this place gets crazy, people are everywhere! It is really good for the local economy. There are amazing peices of Art that I want to put in my house.There are theater shows playing next week put on by an Artist that uses expressions through Masks. I am hoping to be able to see one of them. I will keep you up to date if I do anything fun. Bye!

I'm baaack!

Ya, I know it has been quite awhile, but hey I'm here not aren't I?
Actually I am in Sitka, AK for the summer for training for my new position as Behavioral Health Technician which I will take back with me to Yakutat and implement into the school.
I will shadow those children that use our services, which are confidential, and work with them to utilize learned skills to be a productive citizen. I am in the begining stages of the program so I may have a different definition when I get done with training. :)
So, I live in a little 2 bedroom apt. in a 4 plex. the downstairs is joined and is the Family Center. Upstairs in one apt. is our offices, and the other apt. is mine. I do share it with another gal that comes in 1 a month then she is back out in the field, so I am living alone.
I have some great co-workers that love to hike and enjoy the out doors.
We are getting ready to hike Mnt. Edgecomb, a dormant volcano next weekend. We will be hiking small trails in the evening to prepare ourselves. I am sooo excited. And yes I will post pictures.
Andrew and Trace are back in Yakutat catching tons of Halibut and are putting the net backin the water now that the Sockeye are running. I am bummed that I won't be there. Yesterday Trace said the he was tired, they brought in 4 Halibut and a 200 pound Halibut followed up the one he caught and tried to swallow the weight! Yea, it took off with the wieght and along with the hooked Halibut so Andy took the pole and fought it back to the surface an hour later and the 200 pounder was gone thank goodness!
The boys will be coming in on the Ferry for my birthday in July. We will get to celebrate the 4th in Sitka this year. I can't wait for them to get here, I miss them like crazy!
Saije graduated in May! She is in Fairbanks for the summer. She applied for RAHI, Rural Alaska Honors Institute which is a science program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She is staying in the dorms, which gives her a taste of how housing will work next year when she attends the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, AK. She is taking two classes in Molecular Biology and leave with 9 credits toward her college degree. They also provide activities like waterskiing, hiking, kyaking along with dances and BBQ's. I spoke with her after her 1 week and she is having fun and getting alot of support with her studies.
The most recent news: Andy's oldest daughter Amanda is engaged! Yes, she is getting married some time in August. We are so excited for her! We don't know much about him, but hope to get to meet him soon.
I will try to keep you posted on my adventures in Sitka, Bye!

Our hike into Situk Lake

and hiked into the Situk Lake at the end of May. Trace came and brought along his buddy Thomas. This is a shot of them kyaking out on Situk Lake with St. Elias in the back ground.
We took a group of teens

Saije graduates!

Well the day has finally arrived! Grandpa and Grandma Larsen flew in to graciously support our Babie Bird. Friends and family gathered at one of our dear friends house for a Chicken Fettucini diner in her honor. Saije requested my homemade Carmel Pecan Cheese Cake and Key Lime Pie. I think we all gained 10 glorious pounds! (and it was worth it) We also attended the awards assembly which Saije recieved 2 scholarships toward her college and another scholarship to attend Rural Alaska Honors Institute for the summer. She will recieve 9 credits upon completion in Molecular Biology and a bunch of new relationships along with a dorm life experience. She has been hiking, kyaking, taking a swimming class to prepare her for the Coast Guard someday and how to kick it Alaska Style!

Saije has been accepted has been accepted to UAS in Juneau, AK. She is Majoring in Science and going to a Minor in Art. We are so glad that she is so close to home, we will miss you Saije!

For entertainment, Marilyn and Lowell got to watch Trace cross the finish line in the 100 and 200 yd dash. He took the 100 yd dash with no problem. In the 200yd dash he raced against a 6th grader, the boys were neck in neck and Trace's foot crossed the line 1st! He is quite the athlete. Go Muckster!

Tour De Yakutat

Trace has been involved in a newly organized race that will be held annually. Trace is in 3rd grade and competed against 4, 5 and 6th graders. There were 4 days and 4 different terrains and Trace the MIGHTY MUCKSTER took them all. He won a gold medal and a new bike! After he completed the final track, he continued on to try and out ride the High Schoolers, which he did give them a run for their money (bike!) Trace has great endurance, stamina and sportsmanship! And we get to try and keep up with him. We are so proud of you Trace!