Out Of Service

I'm not sure when it's going to happen, but my father-in-law was tired of fighting with our phone/cable/Internet company. Soooooo, he told them to shut it off he was done dealing with them. I'm not sure why I'm still online...but I am. So please be advised that we will be out of touch for awhile. If you need to contact us my father-in-law still has his cell phones. You can call me on his Alaska cell. He says he doesn't mind.
Wish us luck we're going unplugged!
-K33 39

Ta Da!

After 6 mo's of trying getting close, then regressing... Faith is finally potty trained!!!!!! WooHoo! She kept getting so close, then Dad left, then we moved and she would go back just quit trying. The difference was finally getting her Elmo potty seat and stool up here. So she's doing it all by herself. That's fine by me after changing diapers for 4 straight years I am ready to be finished. I have glee :)

Enough Unpacking...Let's go Fishing!

The Kenai River one beautiful, warm, sunny day.

No where near finished with our unpacking, we heard a school of salmon had come in and they were biting. So we played hookie and went fishing.

I'm not sure who was more excited, TJ or his Dad. For some reason TJ kept referring to the fish he was reeling in as a naughty boy, he's hilarious.

Like father like son.

TJ & Dad caught these "naughty boys." We almost lost them when the tide started coming in. The water on the bank of the river rose so quickly we completely lost sight of them. My husband asked me what I'd done with the fish. Luckily I could see a bright spot in the water Grandpa had his waders so he climbed in and retrieved them...tricky fish!

Aww... this is the life!

The kids were pretty excited to try out their new poles. TJ got to use real bate but the girls just reeled their casting fish in over and over all day. poor girls.

Mud cake on a rock, Thanks Grace.

Grandpa's little sidekick, they make quite the pair.

I know I should have helped her up instead of pausing to snap a photo. But I just couldn't resist. I'm sorry baby.

The water in the River came up so quickly that we almost lost Faith too. She was in water into her waste and started slipping when she decided to get out. I also had to rescue her shoes...twice.

She just can't resist dipping her to in. (She reminds me of my Aunt Sharon)

Thank You, to the Peless Family

Tuesday evening a new friend who I've made in my ward, showed up at my house asking if she could help with the unpacking. She said she had read my blog, and felt like she needed to come help me. I was surprised and excited that she came. She helped me till late and we had a great visit. I cried after she left because I didn't expect anyone to come running to my aide ...Not now that I'm so far from home.
Today she and her husband took my kids all day so I could work uninterrupted. Then her husband and another ward member stopped by, and took a load of boxes to the dump for me. What amazing and kind people there are living here in Alaska. My new ward really has been so wonderful. It's enough to make me think, maybe I can learn to like it here.
Thank You So Much, for hearing, for caring, and for showing up with willing hearts and helping hands.

Help I'm Burried in Boxes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What the Heck? Gracie asked. Where did all this stuff come from?

After living a rather sparce existence, comparable to indoor camping...I can't help but wondering Where did all this stuff come from? Yikes!!! Where am I going to put it all?

This would be the point back home where I would call my mommy in tears. That call would be answered with several beloved volunteers showing up at my house with loving hearts, and willing hands. -Don't worry, I'm not crying just remembering how nice it was.

Well I better dig in, this is going to take awhile!

The Things That I'm Missing

Life in Alaska so far has had it's ups and downs. Some days I'm bound and determined to make this work no matter what it takes. Some days, I find myself looking back missing what I left behind. Today, I missed the blessing of my baby niece Evy. Everyone else made it for the special event (my family is so awesome!) I'm sure they had a great time, I sure wish I could have been there. It's hard for me to miss stuff like that. I'm afraid I'll become the Auntie who lives in Alaska, who the kids don't know or care about. I liked feeling like the favorite Aunt.

Congrats! Heather, Keola and Baby Evy! I love you, I miss you, and I was thinking about you!!!!!!!!!! My heart was with you guys!

BooHoo's aside. I'm missing my house hold goods still. (So it's not too late to vote. ) When my kids ask where their missing toys are, I tell them they're on a slow boat. Their beds? slow boat. Books, clothes, games, movies?...slow boat. When I went to the DMV & tried to get my Alaska drivers license, they wouldn't give it to me without my marriage license, I told them...It's on a Slow Boat! Oh where, oh where has that slow, slow boat gone? ....cross my fingers, maybe we'll hear something about it tomorrow!!!!

No More Grass Poles

Moved to compassion after watching the kids try to fish with grass poles, we invested in kiddie poles.
Yes, Faith's is a spider man pole. I tried hard to get her to pick Barbie like Grace, but she wanted to "get Pie Man" -how do you say no to that?
Apparently she sat on Grandpa's lap the night before and watched spider man with him. He said she was upset when the bad guys were beating pie man... -Now the pie man pole makes sense! I think Faith is Grandpa's special little friend.

Strong Juice

The kids firmly believe that the water in Dad's cup when he's working out is "Strong Juice". Specially made by Dad. TJ really wants big muscles and keeps asking if he's stronger than Dad. Yesterday he asked if he could change his name to Wolf, his favorite American Gladiator. -Keep working buddy!

Our Rafting Trip on the Kasilof River

We took the kids on their 1st river rafting trip, down the Kasilof River.

They were so excited, they couldn't wait to go! Grandpa didn't want to come, he said Grandpa's don't float.

Faith was a little scary, she kept trying to crawl over the side of the raft. Finally we made her a little leash; so we wouldn't loose her if she did go over....baby's don't float either.

-Gracie kept telling us there was grass floating in the water. I looked but couldn't see any pieces. Finally we realized she was talking about this little grass covered island in the middle of the river.

-Everytime we floated past a big rock, she would ask if it was a Hippopatamous. Finally we just told her yes. Then our raft rubbed against a rock making a noise...she told everyone on the dock that the hippo farted on our raft.