Girls Work and Hike Out

Two weeks ago my friend Dana invited me to come down to Cantwell with her and fly out to Seoul Lake to paint a friends cabin with her and spend the rest of the day hiking. It wasn't the best weather, we never seem to get great weather, but we didn't care. It was wonderful to be in that beautiful area and to have a whole day with no crying, interuptions, or diaper changing. We flew out first thing in the morning and after about three and a half hours we finished painting the cabin and outhouse. The only reason why it took us that long is because we listened to Dana's husband Lance who told us we wouldn't need a roller. Women, just follow your own instincts, we could have been done in an hour! Even with that the painting was still enjoyable because we were able to work, again with no interuptions, and have three hours of fun girl talk. Then after the work was the play and we went on a great hike up two canyons by the cabin. It was a very refreshing, wonderful day with by great friend! I can't wait for MANY more!

Flying in Ray's plane out to the cabin

Ray taking off from Seoul Lake

The fruits of our hard work, and beautifully brown painted cabin and outhouse

A hiking we will go, and go, and go

Thanks Dana for inviting me along, I love our adventures, you're the best!

The Camping

Two weeks ago we went on our first camping trip of the summer with my brother Brandon and his friend Matt that are staying with us and working this summer in Fairbanks. We went to a new place we had never been before out by Chatanika. Other then donating blood for two days we had a great time camping, fishing, and hiking. It was also a good trial run to see how camping with four kids, now that the boys are older would go. It went great except the night, new arrangements will definately have to be made before our two week camping/fishing trip on the Kenai. We'll keep you posted on how that's going.

Fun around the campfire cooking hotdogs and smores.

Two cute boys, Brando and Canyon.
Two cute girls, Ali and Saige.

Hayden and Canyon getting their first tastes of Capri Suns and loving it.

The Fishing

Part of our trip we spent fishing in the Chatanika River and caught some real whoppers. Actually we caught some very small grayling and Brando won the prive by catching the smallest, wierdest fish we had ever seen.

It takes a skilled fisherman to actually catch this fish with a hook!

Saiger and her grayling, thanks to the help of dad. Below Saiger getting close and personal with her catch, pucker up buttercup!

The whole kit and caboodle showing off their trophies, minus Matt and Brandon who threw theirs back.

The Hiking

We found a great new place to go hiking, it's called Nome Creek and it was a beautiful hike and place to camp for the future. Below is the gang getting ready to head out-Ali, Matt, Brando, Saige, Jeff with Hayden, and not pictured is myself and Canyon.

Who says princesses don't wear hiking boots, in our family they do!!!

What can I say, I try!

A rare family shot on top of a beautiful ridge. If it looks like fun, come and join us!

Happy Birthday To My Boys

Pre-birthday bottles, making sure we have the energy to open all those presents!

I can't belive it has been a year since I was soooo miserable waiting for these two little rug rats to get here and now look at them. They have grown so fast and have been such a wonderful addition to our family. It has been fun watching their personalities develop and they are every bit as much different in their personalities as they are in looks. We had a "we survived the first year party" and I made my favorite chocolate cake for me. I would say the first year was a lot of work but mostly because of dealing with sleep deprivation. We have now overcome that obstacle but have moved on to others. Regardless of the work, it has been a great joy to have these sweet wonderful boys in our life and we would not change a single day. We love you Hayden and Canyon and are so thankful you were able to come to our family!

Hikes, Races, Games

Ali, number 2, running the 100m at a kids track day. After waiting in the rain for 2 hours she finally got to run and came in third in her first heat and fourth in the finals. She was disappointed because the top three got a medal and she had gotten her hopes up because she came in third in the first heat.

Ali is also playing soccer this summer for the first time and loves it. She is very fast and is catching on quickly. This may just be her sport!

A few weeks ago we went on a fun hike with my friend Tammy and her two boys, Hunter and Chance, in the White Mountains. My brother Brandon and his friend, Matt, that are living with us this summer came along to help witht he packing. The whole gang, big and small, hiked over four miles that day, what a hike!

Just a dang cute picture of Brandon and Hayden!

The lucky man Hunter with two cute girls, Ali and Saige

A Beautiful Denali Weekend

A few weeks ago the kids and I went down to Denali while Jeff was teaching a two week class to hang out with our great friends and spend some time in the beautiful Denali that we love. We spend two days with our fun friends the Williams and went on a great hike behind their house.

Canyon loving riding in the backpack and watching the kids.The gang of our adventure hikers

Hayden asleep in the backpack

We played in the water and mud of the Nenana River with our great Denali friends!

When dad joined us we went on a fun hike up to our favorite lookout rock on Mt. Healy. It was our first real hike of the summer and the girls did great and the boys need a little more practice sleeping in the backpacks.

We also said goodbye to our wonderful friends, the Clarks, who are leaving Alaksa for New Hampshire. We will miss them terribly, they were just like family, but we wish them the best of luck and speedy return visits to Alaska.

Saiger's Graduation

Here's a few pictures of Saiger and her graduation from preschool. It was cute they had them wear little cap and gowns and the whole bit. We're going to miss her preschool and all her friends and teacher but she is excited for kindergarten and to ride the bus with her sister.