Saturday, August 11, 2012

Pitbull Comes to Kodiak


Well for being an island in the middle of nowhere Kodiak sure has been making the news lately.  Pitbull a famous musician (if that's what you call it), was sent to Kodiak as part of a prank.  The Kodiak Walmart got the most "likes" on facebook and he then had to come to Kodiak as part of a publicity thing for Sheets Strips (not really sure what those are either).  
Either way it was a HUGE blessing to our food bank.  Walmart gave the food bank a grant (that was suppose to be 1,000) for $10,000.  Stephen excepted the award and we had fun taking my dad out to the event. 




Kodiak! Home!

They made it to Kodiak!  Greyson was so excited to see Dad, Grandpa and his jeep.  He calls it "My Jeep"  all the time. It was very nice that Greyson knew right away that Grandpa was at his home.  He kept giving Stephen and Grandpa lots of hugs and couldn't get close enough to them. 


We got to work pretty quickly getting everything unloaded before it started to rain.  We were able to get everything in the house, and we are still trying to organize and find places for everything.  But it is wonderful having my pots, pans, and baking dishes. 


 What a huge blessing to have so much help to make this trip possible.  From buying the jeep, getting it to Kearney, finding our things, getting them into the jeep and then safely up to Kodiak.  What a huge trip!
Corey spent a lot of time entertaining the boys while we were organizing things.  She left at the beginning of August and we miss her very much!

ALCAN Trip

Day one
Kearney to billings montana
Stopped at Cabelas



Day two
Billings to Spokane
Fun driving across  montana. Bozeman definitely my favorite. Stayed with Evan and Cindy.


Day Three
Spokane to Prince George British Columbia
Long day 16 hours in vehicle many many scenery changes and road conditions slept in empty tenting area it was wet and muddy. Saw Grand Coulee Dam, ate fresh cherries, crossed the border ark and foggy last30miles a little intimit got really intimidating especially since I was tired. Lots of timber plants and industry throughout British Columbia


Day four
Prince George to Liard Hot Springs
 Oil change in Prince George. Accident along way had to sit on  highway for 5 hours. Contemplated driving through the night. After 5 hours it was around 5:30 pm already and authorities said it might be till 9. At this point I began walking around the crash scene to evaluate my options one truck had successfully navigated the ditch on the right side of the accident most others made it about halfway and turned back just before their truck rolled. It didn't think this was the way to go for the new jeep. I had heard rumors that cars were getting around via a private roadway on the other side. Don and I decided to give up our place in line and see what we could find. There were no good alternatives. We headed back and turned into a parking lot that had a line up of pick up trucks facing a dirt cliff.  I found out what the were waiting for when I saw a convoy of 4X4 trucks careening off the cliff ever so slowly to make it to the other side. These trucks were from the other side of the accident scene. There was a way! However, I had a jeep and I was in a line with some full size trucks no others vehicle even would attempt. I followed the truck as if I knew what I was doing engaged the  four wheel drive and headed up a sixty degree dirt cliff. We made it! The jeep earned it first Alaskan vehicle points that day. Despite us leaving before all the rest of the traffic we still had a  considerable drive ahead of us. After twisting and turning we took a shortcut to St. George and avoided Dawson across the peace river ( very scenic)to save time we reached the official Alaskan highway at mile marker 10. I took over the reigns of the vehicle at about 10 pm and with the help of two red bulls,  one five hour energy, good music, steep mountain cliffs and wildlife demanding my attention we reached our destination at 3:30 am , Liard Hot Springs. Wildlife spotted: moose, coyote, baby coyote, mule deer, and elk.


Day Five
Liard Hot Springs, BC through Yukon to Tok, Alaska
Woke up at eight after four hours of sleep. Don and I walked the wooden planked trail to hot springs and enjoyed it for about an hour. Neither of us wanted to move once we were settled in the water, too hot! We then got in the vehicle around 10. I began driving and realized we had just enough fuel to get to Watson Lake and after 5 miles of the car telling us we had zero fuel left we rolled into a gas station. Don and I then checked out the famous signs at watson lake, ate a little food, and headed for Whitehorse. Along the way to Watson Lake we saw two black bears. The second bear we saw on the right side of the highway was big! About a mile down the rode we saw a biker walking his bike on the same side, we both wished him well. The road from Destruction bay to Beaver Creek was rough! It didn't help that it as rainy and gloomy. Pothole, pothole, real hole, jump! Border crossing was easy and happened at 12:45 am. 

Day Six
Tok, Alaska to Homer, Alaska.
Stopped in Anchorage to grab a few supplies before finishing the drive to Homer.  We were able to camp out at the YWAM base there with some friends before getting on the ferry to head to Kodiak.

Day Seven - Homer to Kodiak!
We made it!




Saturday, July 28, 2012

Staying Busy While Dad was Away

Well we sure have missed Stephen here, but we've been staying busy for sure.  It has made the time go quicker and it has been fun to hear about Stephen and my dad's progress along the ALCAN.

You don't see any of us without the other. 

Greyson doing a little Kodiak swimming in the ocean with Corey. 

He loves climbing the rocks and doing lots of things that make me hold my tongue and just pray that he doesn't get hurt.  He's such a tough, daring little man.

Landry is happier and happier.
 
Greyson loves all wheeled objects.  With 1st grade biking camp came a bunch of bikes closer to his size.  he had a great time getting on and off the bike and putting his helmet on and off. 

Greyson loves playing the guitar and will do it every chance he gets.  We have  alot of fun going to kids chapel time each day and singing songs. 

Greyson's first bee sting and of course it happened when Stephen was gone. We ended up having a bee hive under our deck, but not anymore.  Oh, and by the next morning Greyson looked back to normal.

 And we thought the deer were eating all the flowers, turns out it was just Greyson.
The first Salmon berry of the summer and he LOVED it! Lots more to come.

Greyson taking Roscoe for a walk. 


Painting!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Landry is 3 Months Old!!!

More smiles, laughter, and happy sitting is what Landry has been up to lately.  While he still isn't the happiest baby and will not sleep alone he sure is getting better.  He loves to look around at what is going on and Greyson can always make him smile very quickly. 

Greyson loves Landry so much and always wants to hug, kiss and hold him.  This can be good, but bad too.  Greyson can be  alittle overwhelming at times.  But Landry sure will be a tough little boy because of it.



Family Outing to Ft. Abercrombie





Summer Camp!

Every afternoon we have counselor challenge with the kids.  Stephen of course always makes them fun and crazy! 

A beautiful picture Stephen took with his phone, while out fishing.


2012 summer staff

greyson loves the carrots from the garden

 a young eagle came to visit the playing field one afternoon
he sure does love the puppets

can you find greyson?  He sure does love to come and play with the kids.  They really like him too and are always trying to take care of him or get him to come play with them.  This day he joined the 1st graders for story time.