To say the least- we have been very busy.....and I was very distraught over the fact that we got more snow on April 25th!!! I had "Spring fever" and the 28" of snow in less than 6 hours just about topped the cake!!
Good News- we got out of town for a few weeks of vacation.
In the month of May, we visited 4 States in the lower 48 in 4 weeks! Yes- a visit to all relatives in Washington, California, Iowa and South Dakota.
A visit to Marysville, Wa see Casey and Star and their lovely dog- Lola. What a nice little "Puggle". To all of us- a mutt but to the dog world, she is a cross between a Pug and a Beagle. Easier to handle and alot of fun. Casey entertained us with his Karoke skills and lawn antics while the rest of us just laughed. A visit to the Seattle Art Museum was enjoyed by all of us.
Off to San Diego to visit Brady and Jeanette and their (2) boy animals- Dylan and Travis! Now those guys are a hand full. Full of energy, questions and talk, talk, talk, talk.......Really nice kids just really busy....now I know why you want to have your kids when you are young!! Brady was getting ready to take off on a 6 month cruise. His ship arranged for a family day cruise so we were able to spend the day cruising the waters around San Diego. Unfortunately Mike was sick with the flu so he had to stay home. Jeanette and I got to shoot the big gun!! What fun - a real day in the sun!
Then it was off to Des Moines to visit with Justine and her fiance- Justin. They have been busy with their home- painting, carpeting and updating. What a great home they have made....I'm ready to move in- it is so uptown classic! They also have a cutie dog kid- Lyric who is a world class jumper (from one couch to another)! I can never get a picture of her because she is always on the run. Both Justine and Justin are busy with their banking careers as well as planning the big Wedding day for May 16, 2008!
Then off to Melbourne, Ia to visit with Mom Barb and Brian's family. Mike got alot of tractor time in and helped out Brian getting the crops planted. Mom had a wine/cheese party for us to see all of the friends and family that we otherwise might not be able to see. Fun to spend time with the cousins, aunts and uncles!
Brandon's Graduation party had everyone involved. Mike made his famous beans. I skipped out of the "work day" for a fun day with Justine to go wedding dress "looking". Wedding dresses are still the same- white, ruffles or lace and very pretty! I know Justine has been dreaming of this day since she was 6 years old when she was watching Cinderella. She definitely has her own ideas on the style of wedding she envisions. I am so glad I don't have to think that all through! I am not very good at that fashionista stuff.
That Saturday evening we all had a great party for Brandon- lots of people and a nice time. Sunday was graduation/commencement day at the high school gym. It was nice to see some of my old classmates. Most looked the same and acted the same as well....hard to change that I guess.
South Dakota was calling so Mom drove us to Kennebec. She stayed overnight at Mom Eva's house and left the next day. Eva kept us busy with a family wedding, cooking and relaxing with the rest of the family. All the cousins were in Kennebec for the wedding so it was fun to meet all of their kids/husbands/ grandkids! KJ and Kenda visited with us each evening so we had a great time catching up. From here we left for home- back to Alaska.
We were hoping that the "Weather" would be better than while we were gone. At each of our vacation spots- we had only one day of sun- the rest of the visit was rain, overcast, cloudy and cold. I kept thinking that I could have that kind of weather in Alaska!! I did not need it on vacation too!
The Weather in Alaska has been rainy, cloudy, rainy, overcast, cold, rainy, misty,.....did I say rainy? Our first guest arrived June 1st. Mom Barb came up to visit right after we got home. I know she was freezing as it was much warmer in Iowa! In Alaska the month of June was rainy, cloudy, overcast, cold, rainy....you get the picture. During the week she was here, we had one day of sunshine for a limited amount of time. We still had a good time- relaxing, planting garden and making my binders for work.
The "Garden Planting" was loosey, goosey....we just kind of threw the seeds in the ground in a kind of straight line. Remarkably- the plants that are growing really don't care if the line is straight or that I just barely covered them up with dirt! We have our first real garden and it is growing like crazy!
While Mom was here, the slough was full of water. Our first ducks arrived- one mother duck and eight ducklings paddled their way around the slough. It was fun to watch them from the house- she had quite a job keeping the little ones gathered up. The day Mom left- the slough started to go down and the ducks left too. I guess the mother duck wanted to have deeper waters to paddle in.
In June Mike started his "Toy Shed"......a needed 12 x 20 building since he purchased a four wheeler. The big debate- where to locate the "Shed" without blocking the view from our living room windows. The last thing we wanted was to block the view to the slough or the acreage. It was finally located right behind the fuel tanks. Less than four weeks later- the shed is finished! Complete with locking double doors and crank out windows (used those I ordered wrong for the house)....we decided it would make a great cabin. Actually it is nicer/bigger than most people's houses in this area!
Finally July 4th- summer arrived! We had a neighborhood potluck at our garage/driveway. Mike cooked up ribs and all kinds of goodies. Combined with the really good cooks in the neighborhood- we had a great July 4th gathering.
Summer stayed another day so Mike and I went fishing for kings with Mike Stevens from Byers Creek Lodge. The four wheeler came in handy- the path to the fishing hole was 2 miles away and all down hill to the river. Mike Stevens and his brother in law caught the Kings while I caught a rainbow trout. Mike Miller caught absolutely nothing but a couple of mosquito bites bLots of fish/trout to pack out so the four wheeler hauled the gear and the fish back up the 2 mile hill to the trucks. What a great day!
