The summer (that never arrived) is over.....

.............. Cooler temperatures and no sun....now the challenge is on.

.............. The four wheeler has been an extremely handy tool for getting "out there" in the woods to fish and track the bears. Mike and friend- Steve have been riding along the river in hopes of finding the big one. So far all they have had is a close encounter at the fishing hole with one bear that was not happy that someone else was fishing in his river. No guns were fired and the bear and guys survived without a scratch. But as you can see in the picture below- there are tracks along the river that could really scare you. Bear Track- bigger than two men's size 12 boots put together and indented into sand that is so hard packed that a 250lb man does not imprint it. That is one big bear! Of course we know he is watching us and we cannot see him. All the more reason for a 2009 addition to our home- a dog is in our future.

.......... Silver Salmon fishing on the river has been great! 15-17 lb salmon that really put up a fight are fun to catch. They are bright silver and just arrivedfrom the ocean in late August. The only problem is figuring out how to spend the rest of your time on the river because you limit out so fast. Regardless of what you decide to do- it will put a smile on your face.

We had a little visitor at our house. A very small bear wandered in the yard and had a snack of cranberry bushes in our driveway. Rumor has it that someone made a bear rug out of him later (our neighbors' visiting relatives shot him). Sad as he was not big, not a problem and fun to watch.

......... Finally a sunny day arrived! Terry and Arlene invited us for a drive through Hatcher Pass. What beautiful colors...it is hard to believe that soon this will all be covered in snow.What a nice way to spend the day- good weather and bright fall colors! Terry and I did a bit of rock hopping. Got all the way there and missed the mark- I stepped right into the river

........... OK- so now for some serious stuff-

MY GARDEN or lack there of....now I have to admit.....I just threw the seeds in the ground and hoped for the best. Needless to say- there are some things that grew very well and others are non existent. My cauliflower went crazy- these two heads weighed over 20 lbs together. They are headed for pickling. Our cabbage is still in the ground growing like crazy as are the potatoes and turnips. Our successful lettuce bed is still growing as the frost has not hit yet.

.......... Sadly- my green beans did not make much crop. Here you can see my peas (only pods and no peas) and the few green beans that I was lucky to get . Next year we will do something different to get more out of the garden.

On September 3rd, Mike's mom arrived from South Dakota to visit all of us. Right away- the boys (Mike and Terry) decided to take their mom to see grandson- Tyler in Fairbanks. Perfect timing as I had been planning a surprise BIRTHDAY party for Mike since I knew his Mom was coming up. I was busy getting all of that organized while they headed to Fairbanks. When they got back on Saturday evening....we had over 25 guests for the Surprise party in our garage. Finally I got to get one on Mike- he always surprises me and this time he had no clue.

First and foremost- I had to get a cake ready. It's not like I can just go to the store and buy a cake....too far. So I put my limited skills to work making a birthday cake that said Mike all over it. Between the box cake (easy) and the hundreds of rolled out sugar cookies (not so easy)....I was very busy. Of course he calls me at 9:30 pm and asks what I'm doing...making cookies- he thinks that's wierd but then again....it's Julie.

............. Here you see the baked cookies lining the table for easy frosting and the cake with a big hole in it (future lake).

........ The end result of many cookies attached to the cake, a few toys for the birthday boy and a reminder of how old he is.....

.......... Waiting for Mike, Terry and their Mom to arrive.

Happy Birthday!!!

............... Friends and family helped in the big surprise! Since Mike always likes to be early to everything...it was only appropriate that his birthday party be early as well. On October 2nd we will have another reason to celebrate!