Fremont Foremans Visit Kodiak

It's hard to believe that summer has come to an end. It seems I spend most of the year thinking about summer and wondering and even worrying that everything will work out. However before the close of the summer we had some visitors. Stephen's parents made their third trip to Kodiak. It was wonderful having some family in Kodiak, and so much got done around our house. Stephen was getting ready to head back to school so they got so see where he works as well as our summer program at KBM in full swing.
Ft Abercrombie - In the winter Stephen and I like to ice skate and cross country ski here, but it sure is beautiful in the summer!
This is Stephen after his haircut. He looks so different!
We enjoyed a lot of beautiful weather while the Foremans were here! This is out at one of the boat harbors.
We took a road trip on Saturday out to the end of the road. It was a little chilly, but the fog was beautiful over the mountains. The dogs enjoyed running around and we even did a little fishing.
So this is Stephen before his haircut. He hadn't cut it since last April I think.

South Africa III

We enjoyed a lot of random things as well. We went to the Boma which was a restaurant where you could try some interesting food. I wasn't so much into the interesting food, but it was a really great restaurant. Stephen of course was and he had a very restless stomach that night.

We went to the Monte Casino (I think that's right). It felt like we were outside inside.
Stephen and Daniel had to play a little tennis. Stephen lost, I'm pretty sure. He blamed it on the racket.
Johannesburg in the evening.

South Africa II

Here are some more pictures from our day at the National Park. We saw so many animals and had a wonderful time. It was a long day, but well worth the trip. We ended up driving part of the way home in the dark. Not normally a big deal, but with no street lights and people randomly crossing the road, oh and the whole part of Daniel having to drive on the wrong side of the road on the wrong side of the van with the stick shift on the wrong side (okay, I say wrong, but it's right there, I'm just not use to it). Anyway, I'm thankful Daniel is a great driver!

A family of elephants
As you can see Stephen's hair is very long. I though he looked a lot like a Lion.
Can you tell what this is?
The whole group!

Trip to South Africa

So there's nothing like waiting until the end of the summer to post the happenings of the rest of our summer. As you can see by the pictures we did indeed make it to South Africa. We had a wonderful time with Daniel, Allison,Lucas and Alexis. We saw a lot of wildlife as well. We went to crocodile and lion park as well as a National Park.

This picture was at the Lion park of course. I was a little uptight here. There was one occasion that I thought a lion was getting a little to close to the van, but other than that it was great. Sunday was feeding day so there was quite a bit of action.

It seems that I normally close my eyes or end up trying to keep them open and squinting. So I thought I go ahead and close them right away. We all had a nice picnic before driving through the Lion Park.
I never knew that giraffes were really that tall. We stood up on a platform to feed them. Alexis was fearless!
Speaking of being fearless. Most of you know my extreme fear of snakes, well of course my husband wasn't the least bit hesitant to hold this snake. He kept moving the head around like this huge snake was a toy.
Stephen is holding a baby crocodile.
Our first night we gave Lucas and Alexis some Kodiak gifts. It was nice how quickly we got use to each other. Lucas loved to talk about Uncle Stephen's beard, and the Huskers!

These are from our trip to the National Park. Stephen decided it would be fun to run after the wild boars. I stayed close to the car. Then the bird. We were having another picnic and this bird was very interested in our food. It really a little creepy.

Washington DC

I always thought the trip to and from Kodiak took a long time. But after traveling to South Africa I will never complain again (or at least not as much). Stephen and I began our travels on Sunday afternoon and made it to Seattle by midnight. We spent the night and had a late morning flight Monday morning arriving in Washington DC that evening. We spent an entire day in DC taking in all the sights. It was my first time there and I found myself in awe of everything. I have heard countless stories from my Great Grandpa Glen and Grandpa Charles about the wars and I truly enjoyed walking through the memorials. Stephen got a bit confused and was sure his dad was in the Korean War. I think we worked it all out though.

It of course was much warmer than Stephen and I are use to, but nothing that a nice tree and a little water couldn't remedy. At one point in the day I became incredibly tired, so we found a nice tree and some open grass and took a nap.

We enjoyed taking the metro (a much less expensive option than renting a car) and at the end of the day I was amazed at all we had done. We had a great supper before calling it a night. The next morning we made an early departure to the airport and took a short trip to Atlanta. Stephen was able to get a lot of his school work done. I've never met someone that can focus anywhere at anytime like he can.

We finally boarded our plane and settled in for our 16 hour flight. Needless to say we caught up on our movies. Neither of us have ever been very good at sleeping on planes. Although we noticed that we seemed to be the only people, everyone else was all cuddled in their seats fast asleep.

4th of July in Kodiak

This was Stephen and my first 4th of July in Kodiak ever!  The day

 started on midnight with the fireworks display.  We went out on the skiff with the Jones family and enjoyed the display from the water.  It's so different watching and listening to fireworks in Kodiak.  The echo off the mountains is incredible and I think the water absorbs a lot of the big sounds.  Anyway, Gus dislikes fireworks so much he slept right between Stephen and me all night with his head buried under the covers.  

We had a great relaxing day, we went out for breakfast with Cindy and Evan, then off for a hike to one of our favorite lakes.  It as a wonderful and relaxing day! 

The Amazing 2009 Summer Staff

I feel extremely blessed this summer!  Only the Lord could orchestrate a group of individuals to work, live and serve so well together.  This group of young adults come from all over the lower 48.  Some have just graduated from college, others are just starting that adventure, we have teachers, musicians, athletes but most importantly they all share a passionate love for Jesus Christ.  They work with the same fervor that they play with.  

Tonight Stephen and I were serenaded by a group of these amazing young people.  They wrote this song to commemorate their staff backpacking trip.  

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!