Friday, August 16, 2019

Stacia has a Birthday

It is nearly impossible to believe our baby - OUR BABY - is FOURTEEN and entering HIGH SCHOOL. 😏 We have four short years of homeschooling left. We have NEVER started school before her birthday - it just seems it should be a holiday. 

Stacia asked for Yakisoba for dinner. This is a favorite of hers - not so much with the men-folk.  I stopped at the commissary and picked up ingredients we can't find locally. We were able to use carrots, cauliflower and broccoli from the garden.  It looked yummy.....but um...when Krista doesn't add Sriracha sauce one KNOWS it's spicy! 

We gave it a valiant effort. We tried all the "cut the heat" tricks any of us had heard...we drank milk, plugged our noses and at pickles with it. I finally mixed mine with mashed potatoes and that tamed the heat a bit. Our lips burned. Krista said it was just a step below ghost peppers.  I served it on paper plates. I am NOT making this up. When we moved the plates it had taken the varnish off the table.

I have promised to make it again - and to be SURE to cut the heat! LOL

Josiah and Jamin came over after dinner. Bre, Donna and the kids came over. The S's came upstairs for dessert and cards.
Auntie and Sweet Bella
Cory has two short weeks left until he is FINISHED with his college degree! We're proud of all the hard work he's put in to make this happen. It would have been easy to  be derailed with the move, Benny joining their family,  and his full-time job. He often has to stay downstairs and "focus" - but he joined us for Stacia's birthday and it made just that much more special of an event. Benny was impressed Daddy can make noise with his noise maker. Benny can't. 

Unfortunately, the cake photos were blurry. Michael made a yummy Mint Moose Track ice cream cake....and then we moved the fun outside. Adults played disc golf  or visited, while the kids enjoyed the play structure.
Oops - Gideon is tough

Note I have added a bit of a padding at the bottom of the kami-kazi slide. 

It remains a blast to give Stacia gifts.  Alex got her more pieces for looms. 

 CoRielle and Nolan get her a DVD which should be here soon....and we've been warned we'll have to expect a Descendants marathon.

Krista gave her a DQ card and Gpa gave her a bit of spending money.

She had requested an adult Bible. Specifically, she asked for one with adult language rather than a 3rd grade reading ability. (Did I mention we are shocked she's going into HIGH SCHOOL? She's our baby.) Um - that would be New American (high school level). She was happy with her engraved name on the front. 


It was a fun day of reflection and celebration for the blessing Stacia is to our family.

Berry Picking with the Girls

We've been wanting to go blueberry picking. I had scheduled an event for the women's ministry at church - but it was the week school began and many of our ladies were  back at work. It didn't happen. TODAY is Stacia's birthday. Krista had to work and Bre had other plans; but  Arielle, Stacia and I decided to make this happen. Stacia wanted to do it for her birthday - a free gift we could give her - time.  It was "Girl's Day plus 1."

Stacia and I were sure to grab the bear spray. Unfortunately, neither of us realized we couldn't wear the can without a belt.😜 It may have been a bit more effective if we'd worn belts. We tried to post the name of the trail and where we were for safety reasons - but it didn't post until we were out of the mountains. ::snort::

Arielle brought Cory's gun. She wasn't 100% sure how to wear it - but we were happy to have a back up if the spray didn't work and back up was needed. Yes, she knows how to shoot. 

We GREATLY over-estimated how many berries we would get! ::snort:: We got about a quart all together.  Once we figured out the bushes on the ground were berry bushes - we set to work.

Benny did not understand why we'd put "boo barrys" in the container rather than eating them. LOL 

"The hills are alive...with the sound of...music." 


It was a beautiful day to be out in nature. It was quiet and we had to remind ourselves to make noise....When we worked up the rise to the point where we no longer had a sweeping view of the mountain - we left. It was eerie not to be able to scan far for bears. 

Iconic Alaskan Photos....Benny on her back and a gun on her front.


This was our maiden voyage with Benny's new car seat. Arielle had assured us it would make it easy to take Benny on adventures in my van. It did. 

We couldn't help noticing that the Fireweed is blooming out. 

When we were done picking we set out to find a fun place to eat our lunch. We usually stop at Gold Mint Trailhead and it's nice....but we drove on to Government Peak Trailhead this time. I think I liked it even better. It was a very easy walk down to the water.
14 years old today! 


We ate, visited, threw rocks, and played pooh sticks. 

Before any of us were quite ready - it was time to head back to town. We had birthday prep to finish. It was a great day. I think we need to have more outings like this.