Dip Netting Pics - Day 2

Here are some more dip netting pictures. This was our 2nd time out, and we took the Early's friend Leah with us. She loved it, and caught her first fish ever on this trip. The waves were really big, so people were out there actually having to jump over them while dip netting just to stay dry.

Dip Netting - 1st Time Out

Emma loves watching mommy and daddy catch fish. We went out to Kasilof Beach 3 times to go dip netting in the past two weeks. Between them, almost 40 red salmon were caught. Here are some pictures of the first trip out. Emma would stand by the water yelling "mommy, get some fish!" or "way to go, daddy!". It was adorable. Alli did well also, as long as I had her in the front pack and was moving. She fell asleep almost instantly each time we put her in it. A little heavy after awhile, but it was worth it to keep her happy. 

Homer Kiddos

Emma is at the stage where she copies anything and everything we say, in her adorable, kid way. Here are a few of my favorites:

"Emma, say 'pumpernickel!'"

(Emma) "Punker-pickle!"

(me) "oh me oh my, oh my oh me"

(Emma) "oh my oh me?"

"Emma, be sweet to your sister"

(Emma) "I tiss baby Alli." as she leans over and kisses her.

A few of her favorite lines are "you do it? No, I do it!" (she is a very independent little girl), "o-tay" (okay), "milka, milka" (pronounced very much like "mocha, mocha"), "cacker?" (cracker), "I run!", "the pwince is coming!" (the prince) or "bad guy!" (with an 'oh no!' look on her face). 

She loves princess stories, Enchanted being her absolute favorite. "So close" from that movie is her favorite song, and one way to keep her quiet is to listen to it over and over again. Alli, on the other hand generally calms right down with white noise. We'll put the hairdryer on, turn the radio to static, or shhh her. She loves the front pack, and Emma the stroller, so walks are a good thing. :)

Both girls are a handful sometimes, but such good kids!

Pictures From Homer - The Early Family (Matt, Tracy, Emma, and Allison)

Homer, Alaska

When I got to Homer, I saw Matt and Tracy's girls for the first time. Emma (2) and Allison (2 months) are adorable! It didn't take Emma long to warm up to me, and I think she enjoys having another person to play with. We have done so much this past week. Emma loves the stroller and Alli goes right to sleep in the front pack, so Tracy and I have taken them on several fairly long walks. The beach is right by their house, so I have gone down there on walks as well. It's peaceful and relaxing to walk along the beach, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. One evening we had a barbecue with a few people from their small group, and another day Tracy and I took the girls to Kenai/Soldotna with another Homer gal to go shopping for the day. Chris had the afternoon off of work, so he drove down from Anchorage to join us. Matt met us at the beach, and we spent the rest of the evening dip netting. A late night, but lots of fun.
This weekend was also a busy one. The Early's church was having family camp, so we drove out to join them for the evening on Friday. Chris came down for the weekend as well, so he joined the adventures of the last few days.
On Saturday we headed out with Tom on his boat to Halibut Cove and Gull Island. When we got back to the house, we turned around as quickly as we could and headed out dip netting again (Kasilof is over an hour drive from Homer and the commercial opening was starting, so we wanted to get out there before the fish were gone). Since I'm not a resident, I can't dip net, so I had Alli in the front pack for most of the time. Emma also did well, as long as we let her 'see daddy' a lot. She loved to go stand at the edge of the water and wave at Matt and Tracy. We had two nets, so Matt, Tracy, Chris, and Leah (a high school student from their church that we took along), took turns. Between them, we took home about 24 reds. Upon arriving home, Tracy put the kids to bed while the rest of us filleted the salmon, and then we processed it. Yet another late night, turning in about 1:30am or later.

Matt stayed home with the kids Sunday morning while his dad (Tom) took us out deep sea fishing on his boat. We spent all day out there, and had a blast. Tom and Sandy's friends were in town, so they came as well. Patty brought in both of her halibut right away, then Tracy got one. John didn't bring any halibut in, but he did a good job of finding the sculpins (otherwise known as uglies). I think he caught 6 of them, each one progressively bigger. Chris caught a tiny halibut, as well as a flounder, but nothing big enough to keep. I had a lot of nibbles, but didn't catch anything till the end of the day. I got a sculpin, and then, as I was getting discouraged (I only had a day license and we were about done), Tom told us to reel in our lines cause it was time to go. As I brought it in, a halibut took the bait, and after a bit of a fight, I brought him in. It wasn't a big one, but not too small either. Tom thinks maybe about 20-25 lbs. We fished a little more, and then Patty and I went up front to watch some whales that had come pretty close to the boat. There were a bunch of them, and while some went on by, others stayed right nearby feeding. It was fun to watch them blow, roll over, and dive right there in front of us. What a show! I loved our time out there, and even though it was overcast and kept drizzling, the water was calm for the most part, and it was beautiful. I always hate to see days on the water end. :) Now I have some fresh halibut to send back to NY, and I'll be bringing some salmon also. Mmm!

Today was a catch up day from the busyness of the weekend. I walked to a local coffee shop, and also spent some time down on the beach. Matt wants to go dip netting again tomorrow, but it'll depend on the weather and how much energy we have.

Alaska Is In My Blood!

I stepped off the plane in Anchorage Alaska on July 9th, 2010, to the feeling of finally coming home. Yep, I love this land. Every day since then has confirmed that opinion more. There are pros and cons to every place, including Alaska, but the beauty and majesty of God's creation here is breathtaking! As most of you know, I've wanted to come back for a long time now. So when I found myself without a job or anything tying me down to NY this summer, I decided to take a couple months and see Alaska. Only this time, I will see it from the perspective of an adult, rather than the 16yr old kid I was when I lived here. I thought I would come and realize that things weren't as big or beautiful as they seemed back then, but I was wrong. God never ceases to amaze me - the mountains, ocean, moose and other wildlife, and everything else I see is amazing and wonderful.

So, my trip so far has been great. I began with a super long plane ride from upstate NY to Anchorage, AK. I spent a good portion of that time talking with a girl I met on the plane, who happened to be going to Anchorage to meet her husband (they were married a couple weeks before, and he had to leave immediately after) who is in the Army based in Anchorage for the next 3 yrs. They are a Christian couple, she and I share many of the same interests, so we had plenty to talk about. Another couple guys near us were headed to Kodiak on a mission trip to work on a church there, so of course that was cool, too.

It was strange to go to bed at 1:30am with it still light outside, but I'm getting used to it. It's not hard to forget about bed till midnight or later, and then sleep in in the morning because of waking up so many times at night due to the light.

On Saturday, I met my friend Paula, her husband Michea, and their kids Kylar and Kael for lunch at Moose's Tooth, and then took the kids for a walk along the Coastal Trail. Beautiful, but the mosquitos were out in full force, and literally ate me alive! Yep, I came back with welts all over my face. :) It was still early, so there was still time for a hike up Flattop Mountain. I haven't hiked a real mountain in ages! I loved it, and the view was incredible. The pictures don't do it justice, and definitely don't show the incline to be as steep as it actually was. Wow! Talk about an amazing Creator! When we reached the base of Flattop at about 10:45pm, it was still very light.

Matt's mom, Sandy, was up in Anchorage, and I caught a ride with her down to Homer early afternoon on Sunday. It was a beautiful day, and the drive was beautiful. The mountains were breathtaking as usual, and I loved the drive down. The only disappointing part was that The Moose Is Loose bakery was closed, so we couldn't get donuts and cookies from the best bakery on earth. And no, I'm not exaggerating, it IS the best I've ever tasted!

Countdown To ALASKA!!!!!

31 hours, 11 min till take-off; 47 hours, 9 min till touchdown in Anchorage! Not that I'm excited or anything. Plans are starting to take shape, and I can't wait to begin! However, things here in NY aren't going as quickly or as smoothly as I'd hoped. I started packing tonight, and tomorrow I'm going to have to finish, in and around a million other things I have to do and places I have to be. It will come together, but at the moment I'm not sure how.
So, for the next couple months, I'll be writing about "Life in Alaska". Hope you can enjoy the trip with me through this blog. Almost as good as being there...well, not really. If you get a chance you still need to go there and experience it for yourself. But until then...

Independence Day

I love so many things about this holiday! People are everywhere. Picnics, boating, barbecues, kids playing frisbee on the grass, fireworks, etc. Everyone is relaxed and enjoying spending time with family and friends. For those of us who have family members and good friends in the military, particulary ones who are overseas and the ones who paid for our freedom with their lives, the reason we celebrate the holiday hits home a lot harder than for most. Freedom that was bought through the shed blood of American soldiers. Thank you to all who serve in each and every branch of our military.
Tonight I spent the evening taking care of two wonderful girls - Sis and a 9 year old girl from NYC who is staying with Phippens (part of the 'fresh air' program). The evening was filled with dinner, playing games, reading books, and trying to figure out what to do about one of their heifers who had escaped from the pasture. Yep, life in the country. :)
I agreed to work two days this week for a friend doing office work, which was probably pretty stupid considering I have too much to do in too little time already! Still, it'll be interesting.

NYC - Hanging Out

When we weren't out and about seeing the city, we generally congregated at Vic's house. He had a couple big screen tvs that were perfect for the guys to play Halo 3 and Guitar Hero on (I was impressed that with 12 gamers hanging out together for over a week, they only played one afternoon, and spent all the rest of the time chatting, hanging out with me and Jeff's family). There was a pool out back, and a canopy over a goodsized table, so we could enjoy the weather while watching the kids play. The kids got me to go swimming once, and I pushed Joey 'Avacado' in the first day we were there, but for the most part, the kiddos were the ones who swam most. While it was great to go see the city, I loved those down times in the evenings after we got back when we just hung out. Joey and Jeff had their cigars, Joey introduced us the fine points of good wine and cheeses, Mindy and I (mostly her) made cookies (3 batches that disappeared in a couple days), all of us playing with Samantha, Michael, and Matthew, and just having fun! So many memories made this trip. Pizza and Chinese were ordered a few times, Jeff was a pro with the grill, and Joey made some delicious pasta one day. Yep, we certainly ate well. :)