1,2,3... cheese!

Ryan posing at a birthday party in her party dress. How she loves to dress up! She just had to look "pretty" for this party

Missionary transfer

We have some great missionaries in Sitka right now, Elder Hawkes (on the left) and Elder Murphy (the right). Elder Murphy is transferring today and Elder Hawkes is finishing his mission with us in Sitka. I have been helping them teach lessons to Brandi. The missionaries tracked into her and the kids and I have been helping teach at her house. The kids play with her daughter and we have lessons. It has been great! She is amazing. When they asked if she thought Joseph Smith was a prophet, after watching a wonderful video about hime, she simply said, "Yes." I was surprised. It was very simple for her, just like it is for me. She is now struggling with the commitment of coming to church every week. She believes the doctrine to be true, but is scared more with the culture. I am sure hanging out with us Relief Society women will cure her of that in no time. But whether she ends up with us or not, this has been another great missionary experience.

Still some Sunday playing

Here is Ryan finding "bombs" and then blowing up different areas of the yard.

This is a really big bomb.

Here she is blowing up the rock wall with a hidden explosive.

And now that she is done with her bombing, she is going to take her new little "Beary" on a pleasant stroll in the sunshine. Ryan has many different talents!

Sabbath Day Kiteflying, Fishing, and Bombing!

We had a beautiful Sunday! We haven't had a lot of those in the last two years so the kids and I came straight home from playing on the church lawn after Stake conference to a picnic on the front lawn. After we all went upstairs to get on our play clothes, I came down and Seth had out the crackers and spray cheese and was already speading the peanut butter on our PB&J sandwiches. I walked in and he said, "Mom, could you hand me the honey and could you sprinkle the sugar so I don't spill it, please." (OK, so they were PB&honey and PB&sugar sandwiches) He was just so grown up and helpful. He does the same thing with cereal in the morning. I come down and he has out all the bowls, spoons, cereal and milk just waiting for us. What a great helper!
Anyway, we went out for our picnic and did a little kite-flying and then out of nowhere, Seth calls from the top window and he has his fishing pole sticking out dropping down the jig. After bouncing it around everywhere, of course, he eventually got his stuffed animals and put them on the end so Ryan could get them. The two of them are quite the team.

Here fishy, fishy, fishy!

Passing notes again!

This is a return note from Andrew Brevik, Seth's Coastie friend. He and his friends are so generous with their things. They trade toys all the time. Sometimes Seth comes home with new legos that he traded with his friends. I hope he keeps this easy feeling with worldly stuff.

Seth's swim ribbons and silly pics

Seth got his first ribbons from his first swim time trials. How we got through those is a different story, but this story starts with the ribbons, the kids, and a camera... ...and ends with these. Ryan, nice pics!

Warning Note

Adam and I came home from a date to this note on top of a blanket fort that the kids had built with their babysitter.

Urban-Rural Exchange Students

Michelle and Vicaden are staying with us from Dutch Harbor/Unalaska, an island of 5000 on the Aleutian chain. In this urban/rural exchange, we in Sitka are the urban. Hahaha! Again, you gotta love Alaska. These girls are not what I expected. They seem straight out of any city. Their teacher explained that Unalaska is not really a village. The girls are adorable. They are Philipino instead of native. The one really interesting thing is what kind of students you can tell all 5 of them are. Compared to the alternative highschool Sitka students (who seem pretty typical of what you would expect from an alternative high school), these kids seemed top notch. When I asked their teacher if this was typical of their school or were these the exception, she said it was pretty typical. In response to my surprise that such a small town would have such exceptional and well-mannered students, her theory was that their parents had come to Dutch Harbor for work in the fish industry. These parents have a great work ethic and care about education. What a great example for our society that is failing in both areas.
I will be excited to hear what they think about Sitka and Sitkans compared to their community. That is part of their project- comparing cultures. They were already amazed at the size of our house. They shared tonight that the first thing they noticed about their host family (us) was that house was big and cozy. I was glad that she thought it was cozy and not just big. They loved the painting in Seth's and Ryan's room. They were also telling their friends how cute the kids were, how nice Adam was, and how pretty I was- at which point Ryan Hill (our friend from church and the teacher at the alternative HS) told them about me being in the Mrs. Alaska pageant. I was proud again to have tried to represent such a great state.
I love getting to house these different kids and these two are spectacular. I hope we do get to learn different things about each other and our cultures.

Sandlot

After swim, Seth and his friend, Dominic, played across the street at the ball field. First they just sat around in the dugout, but then they got onto the field, one on the pitchers mound and one at bat, and played pretend baseball. They pitched, swung, and ran around the bases. It was like "Sandlot" just the two of them.

Preschool with Ryan

Ryan and I playing with babies-- her favorite! And she loves taking pictures of me too. She had to make sure the babies were just right so she could see them both.

The kids got to watch the truck dump in all the new mulch for the playground. And of course, they had to be king and queen of the mountain.

Swinging has always been Ryan's absolute favorite thing to do at a playground. She is very proud that she knows how to pump now. But, she still loves a good under-dog from Mom or Dad. She also loves to jump off the swing. I'm not sure if Seth taught her or she taught him.

Camping Trip

While playing on the bed with Daddy, they were "packing" for a camping trip. At bedtime, I set up the pop-up fire truck with a sheet over it and they were ready for a campout in their Seth's room. Here they are...

...packed and ready to go.Their hike to the campsite.Getting their lights ready. The moon-(night)light is already on. Unpacking and getting ready for bed.They left a "campfire" going for warmth. Good night! We love you!

Leftovers

Just fixing some leftovers from Ryan's Bday!

Passing notes already!

Seth handed this to his friend Dominic as he was heading home from a day of playing at our house. I quickly grabbed it back and took some pics. I am already sad that someday the kids will say and write everything the "right" way and I'll miss these fun individual "interpretations". So, here are Seth's first notes to a friend-- "All the secret notes I have written to you, Dominic"

"Dominic, what are your favorite pies? Mine is pumpkin pie."

"Dominic, my favorite breakfast is McDonald's, what is yours?"

"I am glad that you are my friend. My phone number is 747-6833"

"Dominic, do you like chocolate cake, I do."

Seth experimenting at school!

Seth wants to be a scientist which is good because he loves experimenting,

but he also loves painting. Another great activity at Baranof. The school brought it an Alaskan aritist who helped the kids paint sea creatures to hang on their palyground fence. Every month they bring in musicians, painters, authors, weavers... to teach the kids art. For being a science boy, he has really likes learning from these artists.

2nd Annual "Christmas Tree Burning" Youth Activity...

... at the Merrill firepit, followed by a little Rock Band, the YMs favorite activity and Seth's. His favorite song to belt out is "Eye of the Tiger"! Ryan likes to team-drum, but usually she bails about halfway through to dance to the music!

I love Frank

Just called Daddy and let him know who was kicked off American Idol. The rocker guy that we love this year (kinda modern Elvis-y) is soooo sweet! His voice is awesome. He reminds me of Steven Tyler of Aerosmith who reminds me of Frank. Frank and I both loved Aerosmith when I was in highschool. And I thought it was cool that they were the only band that I could consistently pick out on the radio. Plus, I loved having something in common with my brother.

In high school, I loved going to visit Frank at the fire station. We visited and he took me on a ride along once. I'm sorry that we don't get the chance to do as much together anymore, but that comes with the territory of growing up. Now the kids love going to visit him when he makes them snow cones, gets them a candy bar from the machine and rides ithem in the truck. They are enjoying the same things with Frank that I did. I hope their kids will get to know how fun he is too!