Summer Transition

After Mother's Day, our school year began winding down.  The kids did a great job working hard to finish early, and they were very proud of themselves.  

The weekend of Mother's Day was also prom for students, and that means Young Life hosts the after party, which is usually loads of fun.  This year was no different.  We helped haul some fun toys from the airport over to the gym, and Cara was pretty excited the mechanical Salmon got to ride in the back of our truck.  I guess most places offer a mechanical bull, but, hey, this is Alaska, we ride the mechanical salmon.

There was a special end of the year Kids Club, and it was special because the kids got to play with all the inflatable toys that were for after prom.  Fun!

The tooth fairy has been visiting our house more frequently.  Cara pulled her first tooth, all by herself.  Clint and Preston have also lost 2 each.

Break up this year was beautiful and uneventful.  The ice went out in a slush, and we got to spend an afternoon watching it go by.

May also is the time to finish up getting the wood pile cut, split, and stacked to dry for next winter.  We got a late start on splitting, but the boys were motivated to help a lot because they couldn't go out beaver hunting until the wood was completely finished.

Another outdoor project was building the chicken yard.  The chickens are very happy now, and the kids were too.  We recently adopted Daniel's chickens, 5 of them, so we're up to 7 chickens now.

Another outdoor project in May was getting drift wood.  Most of the wood collected went to the church wood pile, but some of it Chris took to the saw mill for lumber, and some went to our friends, Doug and Heidi.  Drift came down perfectly this year.  There was tons of it, and a slow breeze was blowing it up against the bank on our side...perfect!  Chris was happy to use our new fork boom to get most of the wood out of the water and onto the trailer.  

Chris and the boys did finish the wood, and they did go on a few Beaver hunting trips.  I didn't get a pic of any of their beaver or musk rats, but Preston shot his first duck and I made sure to get one of him with his duck.  Its an American Wigeon.  

Cara also wanted her picture taken with Preston's duck.

On one of the boys beaver hunting trips, they met Jason and Daniel out at the moose camp and spent the night out there.  They had a great time, and Cara and I had fun while they were away too.  The flowers were just beginning to bloom, and Cara so badly wanted to go on a drive to find as many different kinds as she could.  So we drove all over, and found lots of different kinds.

Summer is in full swing, and half over already! The kids have been outside most of their waking hours.  We got 25 chicks for meat, and they are growing fast.  Our greenhouse and raised beds are full of tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce, and zucchini and most of the plants are just beginning to produce.  Chris is working hard on repairing the house we bought next door to us, so that our friends, Doug and Heidi will be able to move into it this Fall.  Chris and I went to Bethel for a week to serve alongside Samaritan's Purse as they build a seminary for the Moravian church. It was great!