#WYFF Routine Life

See? It's not ALWAYS bears! This is the only "wildlife" I saw today. He greeted me when I opened the RV door. I sort of prefer his greeting over that of the bear.....

#WYFF - outside the Gherkins RV

Michael and the boys spent a few hours shopping for needed salmon poles, waders and such. They are heading out for an overnight fishing trip early tomorrow morning.

Stacia and I hung out at home. We worked on laundry, a bit of organizing and cleaning. In the afternoon a friend, from when we were assigned here in 2002-2005, came over and found us at the Travel Camp.  I got to know Darshia when she attended the women's Bible studies.  Darshia brought MJ with her. Stacia was 8 months in utero when we left Alaska. MJ was 3.  I didn't take a picture of the two them.  It was pleasant to listen to them get to know each other.

 I thoroughly enjoyed my chat with Darshia. We only scratched the surface of the things we could have covered - but we got started! I look forward to renewing this friendship. I snapped this selfie just as they were leaving...next time I will grab some of the girls too.

Friday night is pizza and movie night. Michael brought some pizza home from the commissary and we ate and watched Mary Poppins and Megamind.

It's fun to end a post with the latest photo our mighty, little warrior! Gideon is now 7 weeks old. 2 weeks past his due date.....he's blossoming. We can't wait for him to get up here the end of this month.

As this is FRIDAY - I'll go ahead and label this #WYFF.

Fourth of July Thoughts

I have been thinking about America's Independence Day. Every year on the fourth of July, we celebrate the day we declared to all of mankind the reasons we "dissolved the political bands" which connected the American colonies to Great Britain. 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..."

These words have spoken powerfully throughout our 241 years of existence, but within these words, the true foundation of our right to be and to exist as a free and independent nation are seldom caught. Four times in this declaration there are references to God - Nature's God, Creator, Supreme Judge and Divine Providence. The first three references declare in some means or manner the recognition that we derive our authority and the right to separate ourselves from England because of the nature and character of God. The fourth reference is a declaration of our "firm reliance" upon God for protection knowing full well the trouble that was coming.

Inasmuch as this document is known as the Declaration of Independence, it is also our Declaration of Dependence - we declare our dependence upon God to stand as our own nation; we declare that we are all created equal with rights that no man has the right to take away; we appeal to God, the Supreme Judge, to uphold the rightness of our claim to be a free and equal nation; and we declare our need for Almighty God to protect us in the inevitable conflict to come.

Unfortunately, many do not understand or want to acknowledge this reliance upon God. History has given us countless examples where nations have declared themselves to be independent of God. There was a nation roughly during this same time as the American Revolution that had a revolution of its own but refused to recognize God's authority or, for many, to even acknowledge God's existence. This was the French Revolution - a time better known for the guillotine, torture and imprisonment rather than Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. There was the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Perhaps 100 million died while this government existed - 35 million alone under the rule of Josef Stalin. There was Mao and the takeover of China by the Chinese Communists - perhaps another 100 million deaths. It would be easy to speak of Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, and hundreds of others who have declared their independence from God and inflicted unspeakable suffering and death upon their own people and those who live around them.

The question at hand is this: are we willing to declare, again, our dependence upon God and thence enjoy the benefits of the Liberty our forefathers bequeathed upon us?, or are we becoming a nation that exists independent of God and thence will reap the bitter fruits of bondage and despair that countless other nations have endured after turning their backs on God?

Fishing and Wildlife

Look who came to Quiet Time this morning. 

I'm not sure they'll ever solve the "bear problem" in the campground. They've learned it's easy food.....and they aren't worried about people at all. People aren't too worried about them either.....but in a year or two....it will be a different story. Rest easy, *I* am not running up to them to take photos...this was from INSIDE the RV - with a 300mm  lens. LOL 

Jamin had the day off today and dropped by to help Michael with projects and visit. We set him up online with one of the required permits to be able to sign in and visit the rec areas on JBER. He, Michael and the Gherkins left to explore. They fished in a lake and drove around. They didn't catch anything. Ah well, they had fun.

I stayed at the RV to get dinner ready. The plan was for them to fish, come have dinner, pick up Josiah and I, and all go out again after dinner.

Josiah got off work early. He took his FINAL test to be a manager at Walmart today. He's done....I think he has 2 more weeks of training in his specific area. I'm telling you - they train WELL..... He is off until Monday......we visited and the others showed up.

Ate dinner and ran for the lakes.....our goal was trout. I signed in saying "Wildlife viewing/Photos" was my mission. The others were fishing.  I scored. The others not so much. The lake was overly crowded. We had thought there would only be one person,  as only one was signed in....hmmm....something isn't working quite right with their system.

Stacia

 My first catch 

 Beautiful spot to fish even if the trout elude one's grasp 

These will be beautiful when they are all open

Alex 

My second catch 

Michael, Josiah, Stacia

 I couldn't quite see if this were an eagle but snapped a few shots anyway. It was...a young one. 

Face of a fisherwoman

 Michael caught this one

 The reds are supposed to start running in the Russian River this weekend. They're planning to meet them. I support this plan. Stay tuned....

At this point we got a call from our realtor, the elder Gherkins left; Michael and I talked house things.

There's a BEAR in the Camp

I used to think driving in San Antonio was the last, great, legal adrenalin rush.....and then we moved to Alaska. We did not see ANY bears, in the wild, while here for those 3 years. We DID go camping and hiking! Of course, we had 8 kids with us...lots of bear warning humans are on the way. We have been here three weeks and this is our 4th sighting. All this while going about our NORMAL day and not looking for them at all. 

With recent bear maulings on base, I realized I shouldn't go hiking the trails alone. I was thinking today, I would just walk around the campground and that should be fine......and then Nolan was looking out the window.....he thought he saw a Black Lab in our campsite. 

No....."There's a bear by the picnic table." 

We grabbed cameras and crowded around the windows. 

The bear moved and we rushed out to follow.  He wasn't very big. Turns out he's a yearling. There is a sow around with a couple of cubs, a yearling and a 2 year old or two. Um - whew. 

Taking out the garbage has a new zing to it

He's heading for the shower house 

He continued to walk the loop - back to our loop. He seemed to be looking for something to eat.....

It frustrates me. There are signs EVERYWHERE and still someone left a can of Apple Pie filling at their site. They must have been making campfire desserts.  This is not good! He is not worried at all about people and as he grows this could cause problems for him and for the humans who surprise him. 

Today, he was just a cute reminder to go buy some bear spray!  Either that, or stay in the RV forever and ever......he also gave us insight into Yuuki's odd whining at the door. 

I commented he and his family presence in the area does add a bit of excitement to making s'mores.  That's all the family needed.

"Doing s'mores might be a bear."

"I couldn't bear the thought of not doing s'mores."

"I wonder if s'mores are actually a bear necessity of life."

"I can't bear the idea of losing my s'mores."

These two spent an hour, or so, prepping their fishing kits....fun times ahead. 

4th of July in Oregon

Meanwhile, back in Oregon, our grandblessings celebrated the 4th with fireworks and friends. It's been their tradition to do fireworks up at the cross on New Hope. 

Every girl needs a big brother like Dakota! 

Dakota, Bella (almost 15 months)

Gideon - 6 weeks?

Loves her chalk 

Cory, Arielle and Baby S

Baby S - all four GrandBlessings in one location. 

Uncle Cory is great fun 

Izaak, Bella and Cory 

 Look at the grip Bella has on Dakota when the fireworks began! 😊

I'm imagining the group we'll have in AK next 4th.....wow.

4th of July in Alaska

We drove out to JaRissa's to celebrate the 4th and to retrieve our kids. We had a lazy start and Jamin had to go to work as we arrived.  Josiah was at work, but arrived as we grilled. 

Alex, Jared, Michael, Nolan

 Larissa made her famous guacamole and a wonderful potato salad. This gal shines with Southern Hospitality. 

With our tummies full, we set out to create some family memories. We made tie dye shirts.....

Rissa certainly knew more about HOW to do this than any of us

Success

 

Michael and I were a bit messy. This truth will assist you well, "Never open the bottle of dye with your teeth."  Enough said. 

We had a great day with the Gherkins who are here.  I will say there were no fireworks. NONE. Fireworks are not allowed in the Matsu Borough. We saw no stands.  We did hear a few bangs....but well it's LIGHT.  They did put on a display at the Eagle River Lion's Club at midnight.  This has been our one disappointment to date with our new home state. LOL

Heading home

Risk Marathon - Date Night

I believe Jamin was the motivation behind Risk Marathon. We began to get texts suggesting the boys come over to play Risk, spend the night, and we'd pick them up on the 4th. The plan morphed, until Stacia was going over for dinner and shopping with Larissa and spending the night too. 

Woot! This provided Michael and I time ALONE. We found a new Mexican restaurant, which we loved, and ate in leisure. The service was some of the best we've had. We enjoyed  a sappy movie together and the chance to talk deeply without six other ears in our tiny home. 

THIS is what the boys look like at 0330 on the 4th - an all night marathon

Gideon looks like he is not impressed with the service he's receiving. LOL