Sixth Colony Days Parade

We converged at BreZaak's. Izaak had homework...but Bre and the kids were ready for the Colony Days Parade. CoRielle and their three boys, Bre and her five children, Jamin, Allie, Stacia and I walked on down to the parade. It felt fantastic to be out and about in our lovely town. How fun to see people we know in the parade and along the route. Facebook tells me it's been 6 years since we entered Alaska today. This is the longest I've EVER lived one place in my entire life. It is also the longest we've lived in one place in our married life.  I spent a bit of time reflecting on our first parade and who was and wasn't  born at that time. Our family has sure grown in these 6 years. I can't wait to see what the next six years bring. 

Jamin, Allie, Arielle, Cory, Little Buddy*, Jojo, Stacia

Arielle holding Danny, Benny (in panther outfit), Bella, Gideon
Annie and Trudy in the first twin stroller

The Berenise Mountain Dogs were one of our favorites! 

The candy is also a favorite. Tip to parade goers - don't sit right over the manhole. I didn't hear Stacia offer her umbrella to cover it. That was a great idea. 

A photo of Allie because we were happy Allie was off work and college and able to join us!!! 

The tractors - especially the GREEN TRACTOR - was a favorite with this Bachan and Danny and Little Buddy. They LOVE that book. Here is a long line of tractors...

Jojo would be happy to take some candy. 

📷by Bre

📷by Bre

Sweet Trudy. 

📷by Bre

Annie was contained. She would have loved to be chasing candy down the street...but she did GREAT staying in the stroller without complaining. 

📷by Bre

The kids were TERRIBLY excited to see the fire trucks and the fire dog at the top of the truck. 

📷by Bre

📷by Bre

After the parade the rest went to explore the food trucks and bouncy houses. Since we'd done that yesterday, and Allie had to work this evening...we opted to run by Freddies for some milk and head home to RELAX....VIBE....

I threw some steaks in the oven...and cooked them slow...YUMM.  We had a salad, beans and a bit of dirt cake left...easy dinner. Michael took care of clean up so Stacia and I could run to the church to set up the Red Door coffee corner. 

Michael, Stacia and I took all the inputs we have and got all the dates on the calendar for next week. It's going to be busy. I think we can. I even think we should. 

Everyone is having a bit of down time and I did a bit of ministry paperwork and decided to blog. Now I will rest....but the sun won't go down until 11:30 p.m. and I'm sure to pop awake before 3 a.m. when it starts lightening. I AM starting to appreciate parts of our winters. 

*RE Little Buddy and the heart stickers. I know if you are new to the blog, it may seem odd. Why do you reveal names and faces of all but one? Is one of your children nervous about posting their child on the blog?  Why are you posting this child if his parents are nervous? I do get questions. All the kids you see are grandchildren...or children of Mike and I. Little Buddy is Cory and Arielle's foster son. We won't reveal his name or face as long as he is a foster child. He is one month older than Danny and has lived with them since July 2022. He's precious to us. 

Fantastic Friday

Bre had an unfortunate accident Sunday afternoon, and they are down to one vehicle for a bit of time. Today is Bre's birthday. She wanted to take the kids down to Friday Fling for an ice cream....Allie had to go to work at the time we headed over to Bre's house. Stacia and I walked downtown with Bre and the kids.  Annie had a huge blister from previous walks and needed to be in the stroller. 

Double stroller - Jojo and Trudy, Annie (stroller) Bella & Gideon
Bre's kids 📷by Bre

Our library parking lot was FULL of bouncy houses! Food vendors were EVERYWHERE. Vendors galore. It was glorious.  The skies were beautiful. The sun was shining. It was a great day to be out in Alaska. 

The kids each had $5 to spend. Annie and Gideon wanted to spend their $ immediately at the bouncie houses - which they did. 

📷by Bre

📷by Bre

Bella opted to be spoiled by Grandma and check out vendors. She was on a mission to explore the options for her $5. We started with a milk shake from Soda Jerk. Stacia treated us to dumplings and steamed rolls from Grandma Wei's. They were yummy. 

The bouncers joined Jojo, Trudy, Bella and us...we watched them set up for music while the kids enjoyed their pretzel. 

We walked all over the venue and made our way back to the bouncy house. Bella had decided bouncing was the best bet for spending her $ after all. Annie and Gideon were happy to play in the other bouncy houses while Bella and Jojo went into the BIG one. Bre ended up going inside the house to help Jojo navigate the clmbs and slides. This is quite the slide. 

📷by Bre

I love BOTH of their expressions. 

We gathered kids and possessions and walked back to Bre's house.  Stacia and I hurried home and picked up Dad and Michael. We headed into Eagle River and met up at Cy and Carrie's (CyRi) house for dinner and visiting. Jared, Larissa and Noah were there as well. Livie made us some fantastic brownies for dessert. She was excited to share them with us. I cannot believe I neglected getting a photo of Livie. I was off my game. 

"Safe with Bachan!" 📷by Larissa 

CyRi's house has many levels of stairs. It's a darling house. The boys held GG as he walked up and down the stairs. He didn't realize how much help they were giving him. We made it work. It was a fun night out. 

The Untilted Post

 Allie and I ran across to Wasilla and got the oil in her car changed this morning. We had thought we could drop it off, go do Bible study, and pick the car back up.  But it was one of the "get in line and stay in your car places."  It's o.k.  Allie is working so many hours this summer we haven't connected as much as I'd like to. It was fun to steal those moments away in her car.  After study - I was wiped out and took a nap. 

The girls took Millie and headed out for a bit of fun in the wind and sun.  This was a training run for Millie. Stacia wants her to learn how to be well-mannered when I have to take her places. Allie sat in the back with her and trained, while Stacia drove. 

Noah got all dressed up and went to his Daddy's office party today! He's pretty cute too. 

I want to title this "cuteness overload" but I'm afraid the girls would not like that title. LOL  Two girls and a boy...nah...Hmmm...

Life Group

 Look at this group! We love the melding of ages and viewpoints. It's been a good thing. There were 27 of us tonight.  We have one more meeting before we take a bit of a break. Summer is so very short; we want to get out and enjoy it. 

We begin with a potluck and an hour of visiting. 

I love that we have youth, college age, single, young married, 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's in the group. We learn from each other. Hearing perspectives across the generations challenges us not to get "stuck" in our ways. LOL 

We are currently spending about 40 - 45 minutes discussing how to apply one of the recent sermons we've heard at church. We meet every other week. We end with prayer. 

And just sometimes...it's the men that are talking at the end and holding up the exit. ::snort::

I do love this group! 

Dandelion Tea Party

 Benny brought me a HUGE bouquet of dandelions when they were over mowing our yard. I like the dandelions - Michael not so much. I made him promise not to kill them all until I could have a dandelion tea party. I did NOT know one can MAKE dandelion tea, and I'm not sure I'm ever going to try it. We've made dandelion salve...but I think the tea party may be the best way to put the dandelions to good use. A festive decorative touch. It's all in your perspective. 

The idea took hold. We knew exactly who we wanted to invite to our first dandelion tea party. I texted Joelle and told her I could offer lots of things for the kids to play on and tea treats as well. We had hoped to grab Jenni too - but she has a 9-5 job. Sadly, Allie is also working tons of hours this summer. We missed Allie and Jenni. 

Joelle, Lucy, Stacia, Hudson, Lucas, Hope

Waiting for people

We tried for candy dandelions, but the sticks weren't cooperating. Stacia said let's make more mature dandelions and it worked! LOL The recipe for the dirt cake made SO MUCH we're going to have to take dirt cake to life group tomorrow. 

We did have fun. The car and wagon came out as well. 

Lucy and Millie loved each other. It was cute to watch. Lucy was calling her "mimmie" until she heard Stacia call her "mil"...

It didn't take Hudson and Lucas long to figure out the wagon provided a fun diversion if one started in the high end of the yard with a big push. I laughed and told Stacia THIS is the fun we'll have when all our boys are a couple of years older. 

GG let me know I needed to wash the windows yesterday. I realized how much time he spends sitting in one chair and looking out the window. I cleaned them. I also set up the chairs and table. This may keep the dog from jumping up on the window. BUT we are making a concerted effort to get GG outside on the deck when the weather is nice. Even if he is not sure he wants to be outside. He did enjoy watching the activity in the yard today. 

Michael got a second coat of primer on the roof and painted the trim pieces of the playhouse. It's going to be cute. 

The chickens were quite fascinated with all the new activity. 

Joelle and the kids had to leave. I sent leftovers to youth group. Stacia tried a new creation. She was not impressed. I think she needs to tweak it and try again. Chocolate shells with graham cracker crumbs and marshmallow cream. She had piped the cream and sprinkled crumbs on top. They were darling; but they collapsed. Maybe adding some cream cheese or powdered sugar would help them hold their shape?

We all loaded into the car and went to church. We have enjoyed a set aside time to gather and pray. The guys came home to their crockpot dinner. Allie and Stacia went to youth group. I headed down to women's Bible study. 

Here are a few more food pics with thoughts so I corral them for the next outside tea party - which is bound to happen. We were blessed with sunshine at the exact time for us to be able to outside playing. 

Tiny cookies (big hit), chocolate flowers and lady bugs, brownie bites and mini cupcakes. We had WAY too many treats. 

Pots of mature dandelions (dirt cake). I made one recipe and it was WAY too much. Next time - 1/2 the recipe.  I was told these (below) would look like dandelions. Not so much but they tasted o.k. and were colorful and easy. Kid friendly. 

The plate of tea sandwiches was a good addition. Next time scones. Always scones. How did I forget the scones? I have some blueberry scones in the freezer.