Fall trip "Outside" as we say in Alaska

Mount Readout

 We planned a trip to VA this fall.  Warren's 25th high school reunion was the second week in Oct.  It was a beautiful day as we drove to Anchorage.  The mountains were majestic and the leaves were so bright as we drove into the mountains above Sterling. In Cooper Landing we stopped to watch the Dall sheep dotting the mountain sides. At the Seward turn off, the lake was just beginning to freeze over.  The Swans were so graceful until they went bottoms up eating, then we laughed and laughed at them.  The red salmon were still traveling around in huge schools after spawning.  What a Creative God we serve!


Swans at the Seward turn-off



Look hard, there are fish in the water.

We went to my parents in WV after Warren's reunion.   The kids love all the animals; goats, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, dogs and cats. Helping Aunt Malinda with the guinea pigs and Grandpa with the goats is the highlight of every day.

 The rest of the days are filled with hikes and walks, climbing trees and playing on the hammock.  Jayce and Warren helped Grandpa work on remodeling Aunt Malinda's house. 


Going on an "expedition in the mountains".

One afternoon we went for a drive and found this beautiful valley farm.  The house and buildings were in pretty good shape and the leaves on the tree were flaming red and gold. Warren and I thought maybe we could live in a place like that, someday. 


Old barn



A box turtle we found traveling along the road.


 Warren and Jayce cut down a couple trees for Aunt Malinda.  The girls picked up all the sticks and brush and we had hot dogs for supper.  We did have to wait a while until the flames subsided!

 Here is a picture of Mom and Dad's house.  I helped Mom clean out the garden and flower beds.  Their house is so nice.  Dad built a guest cabin on the other side of the carport for us to stay in.  My pictures of their place didn't turnout so this is from Aunt Malinda.

Mom and Dad's dining room and kitchen

Cabin downstairs, behind the ladder is the bath

cabin loft and bed

Fall Birthdays



Emerald is ready to enjoy her favorite blueberry pie.



Our fall is filled with birthdays and this year the girls all wanted pie instead of cake.  We had a mermaid party at the pool with all their friends the Saturday between Emerald's birthday and the twins.  I forgot the my camera and all the other ones there were out of batteries, so no pictures to share of that event.

 

Alectra wanted apple.



Alexis favorite is PUMPKIN!



Warren and I got the girls new Bibles this year.



Summer Fun!

We did it!  We actually made time to play this summer! Fishing and camping between rain showers made the sunny days all the more enjoyable.  Warren always had lots of volunteers to go fishing, any day he mentioned it.  Jayce learned to be a great crewman, rigging and baiting the gear.  Mom learned to drive the boat and try to keep the gear "in the fish".  We got to see humpback whales, otter, and birds as well as catching lots of yummy fish and having fun together.  The Red salmon were running in Tutka Bay while Grandpa Dave's were here so we got them some fish

Grandma Brenda fished until her arm wore out.

Nice bunch of Reds!

Alectra reeling in a fish, "It sure is hard work!"

We went four-wheeing one evening to look at the ranch with Grandpa and Grandma.  The mushrooms were huge and we saw lots of bunny and moose tracks. Grandma was glad we didn't see any bear sign and we didn't get stuck in the mud.

Alexis and Alectra ridin' with Dad

We went camping at Hidden Lake with our friends the Veldstra's and the Germain's, the first week in August.  It was our first time there and we had a great time exploring. The tradition is to go swimming right after breakfast, rain or shine.  The kids don't seem to notice the 50 degree water for the first hour they are in it. Then their lips, hands, and feet turn blue and they are ready to get out and warm up.

The three A's, Alexis Alectra and Alyssum

Emerald, Alyssum and Kailee "motor" around the lake

After they were warmed up, they found various forms of entertainment, with 19 kids there is always someone to do something with.  Joziah taught everyone how to make pop can stoves (Boy Scout stuff) and they had a competition to see who could boil water fastest.

Joziah, Jayce and Levi

 We stayed warm and dry in our tent even though it rained most of the night. We went hiking and walking and played games.  It was the year of the hornet in Alaska so a few of the kids got stung. The boys got to try out their first aid skills on the victims.

We had a wild game of kickball, which Steve's team won.  We took over the end of the campground and dodged the cars that come to turn around.  Doughboys were the perfect ending to a great day.  We miss the Veldstra's who are now in the Philippines having new adventures every day.

Summer Work Projects

Warren stayed busy most of the summer working for other people. But while his parents were here he took time to be with them and work on the ranch. I've wanted a clothesline for years but when you're changing houses every two years it just isn't worth the effort. Grandpa Dave put one up for me. They also built a little bridge over the ditch between the house and the schoolroom. Warren and Dave poured a slab in the carport and the house stays three times cleaner.

The biggest project was building a 30' X 96' hoop house to put my garden in.  It was a two week project and a lot more work than we thought it was going to be.  I'm really looking forward to seeing what I'll be able to grow. Connie and Ron stopped by and pounded a few ground posts in.  Isn't it beautiful.  We set it behind the shop so I
 can't see it from the house.  I'm hoping to get another six weeks of growing season and maybe I'll be able to grow some tomatoes and green beans. Yum!

Warren's other big project wasn't on the ranch but on the spit.  The yacht he has been working on over the last 9 years moved closer to the water.  They had to take it through town and out onto the spit.  The police made them move it between 8:30 and 10:00 am on a Tues morning.  The phone and electric lines had to be moved and the traffic was backed up for several miles but all went well.  The kids and I rode bikes on the spit trail and enjoyed the excitement.  They are hoping to get it in the water sometime soon.
My work this summer was mostly weeding, weeding and more weeding.  Turning a grass patch into a garden is always hard work and then add to it rain 32 out of 49 days and it is a loosing battle.  We managed to harvest a few things but it was a lot of work.  I made lots of jelly and did my usual summer ministries of Kid's Church and Family Camp.  We had the most beautiful August and September which made up for all the rain. God is good.

Summer 2010

Summer in Alaska is always busy but this summer was amazing. It rained for weeks but we still managed to get lots of work done and play a little bit. To continue the saga of the animals; the kittens grew quickly and we are so lucky to have such good friends. Three of the kittens went to friends homes and we get to see them grow. We kept two that were the favorites and they are great pets but not such good mousers. Rosie is a big dog that isn't the brightest bulb in the pack but she is happy and loves to have someone walk with her. The bees didn't do so well, one hive was killed off by hornets and the other hive caught something and all died in 24 hours. It was grim. The chickens are great! The meat chickens are tasty and the other ladies are cranking out 20 eggs a day. Since it is impossible to get fish to stock our pond we tried an experiment, 40 goldfish. We haven't seen any since we dumped them in but it is a lot of water for 40 tiny fish. Wenge is into her second batch of kitten born close to Halloween, just three this time. Anybody want a Kitten?

Sorry about the lack of pictures.  Between my computer dying and a new blog layout I am having a hard time making the pictures do what I want them to.  I'll start a different post and see if I can figure it out.

A What!

Would you believe on Saturday on the way home from town Warren and I brought home a puppy!There was a note on the bulletin board at the Wagon Wheel, a garden/pet store saying "free puppies, too many to choose from". So we decided to check it out. The place was at the end of the road through three junk yards. Warren went in the "house", a 12' by 14' cabin, the man opened the side door and 14 puppies and 2 moms flooded out. It was incredible. The guy's two dogs had 8 puppies each a week apart and he had only gotten rid of two of them so far. We picked the smallest puppy from the smallest mom. Emerald promptly named her Rose, and she is about 9 weeks old. It is so cute to watch her running after everyone. One trip to the chicken house and she needs a nap. She likes to stay outside and runs to the door to be let out. She still cries all night, I gave her a stuffed rabbit and she snuggles with that when she gets lonely.
Wenge's kittens are doing great. She doesn't not like Rose and staunchly defends the house by turning into attack cat if she catches Rose inside.

We are having a lot of fun with this farm thing, but it has been a busy week, 58 baby chicks on Monday, 5 kittens on Friday, and a puppy on Saturday. The chicks are doing great, only one died so far, the bees are humming, and the garden is happy. Spring has sprung at White Mountain Ranch!

What a Day!

Friday, May 28th will be remembered for a long time. We rolled out of bed at 4:30 to go trolling for Kings. The water was calm and the sky was overcast but it was warm with no breeze. The gear was in the water by 6:30 and we caught a 25 lb king by 7. She was a beautiful fish, Yummy! We hooked a pollack, but we don't eat those so we threw it back. We didn't catch anything else for a while so Warren moved the gear down to the bottom and we picked up a little halibut.Then I drove us into an old buoy and line which we managed to untangle ourselves from without loosing any equipment. The 1/2 inch rope was covered with these creepy crawly things with hooks on the ends of their legs. They were so thick on the rope it was as big around as Warren's wrist. I have no idea what they are called, but they are weird. They reminded me of tiny scorpions. We trolled around for another hour and then when it was almost time to leave, we hooked into a nice sized halibut.Well you can't leave when the fish are biting so we made one more pass and got another halibut. Trolling for halibut is a lot more fun than bottom fishing for them. Alectra helped reel this one in, look at that effort.Another nice halibut, they both were around 30 lbs. Behind Warren you can see the buoy we cut off with the bugs all over it. Emerald kept washing the boat down to keep them from crawling around.
As we headed back to the spit we passed huge rafts of Sea Otters. Several had pups. They are so cute, they look like little people watching as you pass. This raft had at least 70 animals in it.Back at the harbor we had lots of visits from people that didn't catch anything. What a great looking bunch of kids and fish. Here is a picture of the boat all cleaned up and ready for the next trip. Who wants to join us?We got home and woke up from our naps to 5 new family members, Wenge had kittens! They are pretty cute. She killed a sparrow and took it in the box for an after labor snack, I guess.White Mountain Ranch is growing quickly this spring. Kitties and chicks, what fun!