Prep Week

 As I'm blogging backwards...you may not realize we have had out of state company. On Monday, the 18th, Kent and Maria moved to JBER to spend the week with Luke and Krista. This allowed us to focus on Fish Camp prep this week. I am going to load it all into this one post....Quite honestly, Michael was busy all week with prep - but as we were running on two separate tracks, I'm not 100% sure of everything he did. I do know the RV; fishing gear and people were all ready to go Friday mornings...which means we all were "doing our things." 

Monday - July 18th. We hit the ground running. I cleaned out the RV, laundered the sheets and sleeping bags while Michael changed the oil.  I also seem to remember him pulling tubs of fishing supplies down from the rafters. 

My big prep job was to check how much salmon was left from last year in the salmon freezer. While this may look significant - it really isn't. We are nearly out of canned salmon and this will can up and be used rather quickly. 

The day ended with a cleaned and empty freezer. 

Tuesday, July 19th. I headed to CoRielle's to spend the morning with the boys. We whipped up cookies. Alas, rumor has it Arielle and the boys laid down for a nap and Cory ate all the cookies. It's a good thing they did significant "taste testing" before their naps. 

I ran home and watched Grandpa while Michael ran to a chiropractor appointment. I've been trying to get the girls and I in for pedicures and it's NOT easy to get 3 seats at the same time.  It landed in the middle of prep week. I got a call saying they could only fit two of us in...no brainer. I wanted to pamper the girls. 

Truthfully, they set me up in the massage chair, with my book and a hot drink and I felt quite pampered as well. 

We took Allie to work, then Stacia and I went to Three Bears to buy breakfast and lunch supplies for the trip. I usually shop and prep the dinner meals for everyone - but the girls are doing that this year as I'm not going on the trip. This made the shopping trip much easier. Each group is bringing their own breakfast and lunch foods. 

Michael and Alex moved the freezer into the RV. 

Wednesday, July 20th  - We didn't get a lot done towards prep today. I had a haircut in the morning, Stacia had Japanese, Allie went into work early, we had a follow up doctor appointment for Grandpa, and finally made it home. Josiah drove out and he and Michael pulled out nets, repaired them and stowed some away. 

Stacia and I made oodles of cookies for all to munch. 

Thursday, July 21st - what a CRAZY day!  It began with the girls and I at Sophia's for our ongoing study.  We ran to Freddies (Kroger) for Grandpa's new meds, and to pick up surprises to keep the kids happy even if it rains all weekend at the beach. 

 We came home and the girls packed, I loaded things out to the RV...and then Stacia and I ran across town to be fingerprinted. Yep.  We are going to be providing back up care for a foster family and OCS requires we both have background checks. 

We were leisurely moving things to the RV when my phone popped up an alert. I had forgotten we had an appointment to get our eyebrows waxed. We planned to be properly groomed and polished at the beach. ::snort::  I began yelling for the girls, causing mild alarm. Allie grabbed her uniform and Stacia quickly joined us in the van.  We called the salon and they said to come on in and they may be ale to fit 3 in...they did. 

We headed BACK to Freddies to get the girls' fishing licences...and then we had 30 min to sit at Starbucks and sip drinks before taking Allie to work. We needed to sit. I believe Stacia needed a bit less caffeine and sugar. 

Allie was dropped at work...we raced home to find CoRielle and the boys at our house. They had brought their stuff to load into our truck, and Cory helped Michael load the truck with all the "stuff", check tires etc. 

Danny decided this was his seat. 

Benny was happy to help me make the bed in the RV for papa. 

Stacia and I excused ourselves to pull together Smokey Salmon Chowder, salad, bread and cookies for a mission team that spent the week working at the church. 

And after dinner was done, the RV packed etc...I laid out the children's surprises and communicated the plan to Michael. 

It was a full week, but everything is ready. We love this week of family fun.  It all got done. Next year, I don't think we'll allow quite so many extras onto the calendar for the week before Fish Camp. 

Sonight Box Day

Did you miss the momentous occurrence? Sonlight Box Day across Alaska!  There was no fanfare when the box arrived at our home. I opened the door and tripped over the box....but when I brought it inside....we celebrated...we remembered...all the feels. 

It's a small box this year. One class for one student...years past we'd receive five or six boxes. This is our very last Sonlight Box Day. Contained inside this simple box is Stacia's SENIOR Classical Lit curriculum. That's it. The final credit she needs to graduate (though she is taking 4 1/2 other credits of her choosing).  Yes, this is the start of our 34th year of homeschooling...and it is the senior year of our baby. 

Her shirt: American on the outside; Japanese on the inside

Benny happened to be at the house and was excited to point out the drawings on the INSIDE of the box! 

This is fantastic! Our box becomes a shuttle! What a great way to build excitement in small ones for their schoolbooks to arrive. Kudos to Sonlight's marketing team. 

How did Benny know this? It appears it's been Box Day all over our little town. Benny's pre-school/kinder materials arrived on THEIR porch too! TWO boxes! Our very LAST Sonlight Box Day and Benny's very FIRST Sonlight Box Day.  Is anyone breaking into a rousing chorus of "Circle of Life"?

And next door to Benny, TWO more Sonlight boxes arrived at BreZaak's. Bella and Gideons 1st and Kinder materials - their second year with Sonlight! 

Annie, Gideon and Bella 

A fun tidbit? Bre (Bella's Mommy) and I REMEMBER using this book back when I was teaching itty bitty kids from Sonlight. Now the grands.... Who would have guessed?  While I was a tad bit sad to see the last box arrive, watching these grands begin their educational journey is exciting. So many memories to be made! 

I wonder if these moms are having the trouble we are having - NOT STARTING THE BOOKS UNTIL SCHOOL STARTS!  ::wink::  

When I visited CoRielle Benny was quick to show me his Sonlight box. HIS had turned into a castle...and Stacia sent hers home with him where it had become a shuttle with a bit of help from his daddy. 

Look at the faces! I love the first day of school...even though I've never been able to go out with the girls for coffee on the first day of school. ::snort:: Maybe, Mike and I will pick up a subbing gig next year. LOL 

Family Celebration - and FINALLY - A RING!

We missed June's Family Celebration. We decided from now on to simply say they will be on the 3rd Saturday of the month...and realize that not all will be able to make it...

Kent came in this a.m. and gave me the ring to sequester. He said he was doing it today - at the family celebration. I am fairly certain Maria will not be expecting it. 

Here we are in July, celebrating June and July's birthdays....and singing....

Father's Day...and singing

And Krista and Luke's first anniversary...and singing

At this point I said something like, "So, we are celebrating Krista and Maria's birthday, Father's Day and Luke and Krista's anniversary. Is there anything else we are celebrating that I'm forgetting?" 

Kent stepped forward and said how much Maria loved our family...and then took her hand...

Got on his knee...WITH THE RING...

And surprised her!

She said yes!

Thanks to Arielle and Carrie for taking photos. The funny thing is that I forgot to clue Carrie in as to why I asked her to video....so she turned the camera off AFTER the anniversary song and didn't know how to turn it back on when she realized Kent was proposing. We tried. LOL  

We really need to practice this singing bit as we do it so often. LOL 

Birthdays

Special Occasions

Anniversaries

Every time we celebrate, we are remember Rev. Harvey, the Gospel Explosion, people we loved and lessons we learned at Elmendorf AFB...circa 2002 - 2005. 

Annie - "I'm 3." 

A long week for Cory. 

Benny & Livie

The kids are old enough now to love playing with Papa. He's in heaven. 

There were some gifts too. 

Grandpa Update

 So...Dad has been having trouble with his blood pressure. He began to exhibit other symptoms. We had a couple of rough months. He didn't sleep at night but slept all day. He quit eating. He said his stomach hurt. He was weak and falling quite often.  He had seen the doctor in May and they kept telling me they were aware of his high blood pressure when I called. Finally, I called and told them I wanted him seen. 

It turns out dad's heart is enlarged and his labs showed he was in heart failure. They wanted us to go to the hospital immediately - but dad is Comfort 1. He is DNR and DNI and when I asked what they would do that we couldn't do at home - there was nothing they would do.  The doc didn't think things looked good. Nate was in OR and had a weekend between moving...he flew up, arrived late Friday night, spent Saturday and Sunday and left on Monday. By the time he got here Dad was already rallying. I think the combination of seeing Nate and adding meds was a winning combo. 

I KNOW seeing Nate rallied our spirits!

They opted to add 4 new meds...which are administered based on his blood pressure readings....He had a cardiac ultrasound this week. We are waiting for the results. He appears much better. I think he is out of imminent danger...but we're fully aware of the journey we are on. 

Overnight with the Boys

 A benefit of being behind in writing is I can write with a bit of freedom looking back.... we were expecting C to move into CoRielle's home the day after dip-netting. This is a big step, will bring transition and less "couple time" for Cory and Arielle. They've not gone away together since Benny was born. They asked if I would be willing to spend a night with the boys so they could go away.  We knew we would have company, but this is important and needed to happen before dip-netting. Stacia decided to come and spend the night too. 

Thursday afternoon I headed over to their home. When the boys were ready, we commenced to play! We went to a river park...where we discovered Danny does NOT like dirt or sand on his hands. He'd climb a step and then hold out his hands to one of us to brush them off. 

We walked through a campground and along the river trail. We called Maria and suggested she and Kent come walk that trail as there was a break in the rain. They did...and then they went ahead and climbed the Butte as well. No ring was presented. 

Danny LOVED leading the way! 

A grandma at the park told us another park was much better for little ones. I do not agree - but at the time it sounded good. I decided to get gas first....and while I was pumping gas Benny sweetly said, "Baachan - we could get ice cream." 

He wasn't wrong. 

We stopped in at the local ice cream parlor and filled the boys up. For future trips - ONE kids dish is plenty big enough for two....and half of Benny's ice cream fell on the ground. We took Danny's leftovers home for the freezer.

Properly fortified we headed to the next park. 

Not exactly the look I was going for, Stacia. 

Next up was dinner - and boo boo repair. 

We sent photos to CoRielle along the way to ease their concerns at being apart. They sent photos back. They had a lovely Air BnB - one I need to find. They went axe-throwing too. 

Right outside their Air BnB.

Friday started with early morning snuggles! I do miss toddler snuggles! 

When both boys were fed and ready to begin the day, we headed back to the last park we had been at. We wanted to try it when it wasn't busy. We were the ONLY ones at the park, and it WAS much more fun - much easier to keep track of the boys. 

And then a bee flew into Danny's ear....

Bachan, Auntie Stacia, Danny & Benny 

CoRielle got home, put the boys down for naps and then came to our house and picked up Kent and Maria. They took them back to Hatcher's Pass to show them some of their favorite hikes. They got a lot of great photos; no ring was presented. LOL 

Rainy Hatcher's Pass

 Tuesday, I watched CoRielle's boys and worked at Co-op. Kent and Maria worked on school. We vegged. 

Wednesday, we headed to Hather's Pass. We thought for SURE there would be good views here to present the ring...and Maria loves Hatcher's Pass. Kent took the ring with him.  Somehow, we got the idea Maria would not be surprised...and he wanted to surprise her.  It was RAINING....beautiful  in it's own way, but the majestic views were fogged in. 

 It was a fun outing. We enjoyed being together.