Big Kitty!

This lynx was sitting in the front yard behind the car waiting for a snack.  Warren grabbed the 22, opened the front door and he never moved.

What a beautiful pelt.

 

Halloween Costumes

Alectra decided she wanted to be a genie this year. Thank goodness for scrap boxes!
 

Alexis was a shadow.

 

The medieval lady reappeared but she fainted when her picture was taken. 

I didn't manage to get picture of Warren, Jayce or I.  Jayce always goes as the ever cool Jayce Miller and we always go as Robin Hood and Maid Mariann.  Our church does a community outreach and we had over 1000 people come to it this year. Warren does an Marshmallow bow booth and we have a line for the entire event.  It is a lot of fun. 

Fall Birthdays

Emerald is 12. She had a couple friends over and they spent the day playing dress-up, horses and we taught them how to crochet.

The first of October Warren and Emerald both fell and had to have x-rays.  Emerald's neck was fine, it just needed several adjustments and lots of ice. Warren severely sprained his ankle and he spent a few weeks on the couch.  Thank God for miracles.  He fell with a set of stairs off a deck and they landed all mixed up. 

Alexis and Alectra had an ice skating/penguin party with lots of friends. It was a lot of fun.

Ice cream icebergs, goldfish and worms are good snacks for penguins.

Doing the Penguin Polka!

Emerald made me delicious brownies.  Yummy!

  

Livingood Camping Trip

We took a week to explore a little bit of "The Great Land" this fall.  Livingood is almost as far north as you can drive on asphalt.  Above Fairbanks an hour and a half is the dirt road turnoff to Minto Flats.  The weather was beautiful, clear and warm during the day with hard frost at night. The scenery was amazing and big.  There aren't many places you can drive 18 hours and still be in the same state. 



Denali was it's majestic self.

Looking down over Minto Flats toward Denali.  You can't see it in the picture but we could see Denali over 200 miles away.

We borrowed a camper from some friends and it was so nice to have a stove to cook on and a heater in the mornings.  The kids slept in the camper and Warren and I made a bed in the Suburban.  Warren did a little bit of hunting but it was mostly a fun trip.

Right behind the trailer was the Tolvana River.  The girls spent hours playing in it until a Brown bear wandered by one night.  That cut down the time spent in the river.

Alectra

The last day we decided to drive to Manley to the old hot springs roadhouse.  We made it about 30 miles and had a flat tire on a brand new tire.  So we turned around and drove 100 miles to Fairbanks for a new tire. 

We took a field trip to the Pipeline on the way back to camp.

They were repaving parts of the road.  The belly dump semi would open up and lay a trail down the lane, then the grader would level it out and the roller would press it.  They went right over whatever was there, holes, gravel, splits, you name it.  They had done 20 miles in half a day, from the trip in to our return trip.  We understood then why the road was so rough!

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord.  Ps. 98:4,8
 

 

Emerald and Horses

Emerald joined Pony Club last winter and spent this summer taking lessons every week.  She learned a lot and waiting patiently for her parents to get the fence built so she can bring a horse home. 

Pegasus, her lesson horse.

At the "Youngest Rider Day" clinic.

Waiting for the eventing to begin.

Halloween party at the Cottonwood Horse park.  Emerald and Lacy as a "medieval lady and mount".

More Summer Fun!

The high tunnel was beautiful again this in spite of the cool, wet summer.  We enjoyed several meals of corn, lots of tomatoes, squash, onions, and sweet potatoes.  Everyone works together and enjoys the harvest. 



Alectra between the peppers and sweet potatoes.

Harvest bandits!

Broccoli and peas in the background.

Yummm!

It is always warm enough to play in the water.  You just have to take a hot shower when your teeth start to chatter too much!

summer

Sliding in the rain is fun but messy!

The girls wanted to try softball this summer so they signed up for Little League. There aren't enough girls for two teams so they did a lot of practicing. It was fun to see them learn new skills and only one widow got broken.

Alexis working on her balance.

Alectra waiting for the pitch.

The high tunnel did its crazy thing with more food than I knew what to do with.  Thsi cabbage was 10 inches in diameter and when I cut into it it split open like a ripe watermelon. 

 

We canned 40 qts of beans this summer, they are so yummy!
 

Dipenet fishery on the Kenai river.  The red salmon were running and we went to try our luck. The kids are old enough that we don't have to worry so much.  The glacier silt is slippery and so messy it is hard to stand or walk on. We didn't catch very many.
 

Warren celebrating on the river.
 

Later that week we went across the bay to China Poot and spent the day loading up!

Looking up the creek, it is so beautiful.

Jayce lands another one!

Alectra with her fish.
 

An otter followed us out into the bay as we went home.

Our Limit? How many? I don't know, but it looks like enough work for one day!