That’s what I (don’t) love about Sunday
Sunday used to be one of our favorite days, now it is a painful day. You see Sunday is the day Jo has to go away for the week, every Sunday for ….. ever? We still believe that a miracle will occur and that she will be with us, but until then it is very hard to take a little girl you love with all your heart, who is crying and begging not to go, and give her to someone that you don’t think loves her as much as you do, or will care for her like you.
Yet every Sunday afternoon we do just that. It gives us a knot in the bottom of our stomach and a fist in our throat. We do our best not to think about it, but sometimes it just sneaks up on you and you realize the gravity of the situation and the pawns we have become in that struggle that is her life. Further, instead of getting easier as the weeks pass by, the pain increases, and the reality of the weeks and months that we have missed weigh heavy on our souls and cloud our minds.
We pray, try to lighten the mood, and encourage her telling her that she will be back, and maybe, just maybe next time it will be for ever. So from the time we pick her up on Friday to Sunday, we try to make the most of our time, and that is just what we did this Fourth of July weekend.
We started the weekend with a 2 hr. parade, yes 2 hours! An hour and a half of it were Harley riders and wrecked race cars. But the kids got tons of free candy, and after all isn’t that what Independence Day is all about?
Jo loving the deer. He better be glad hunting season is still a month a way.
candy hounds, this is how the spent 90% of the parade. I don't think they saw but 2 floats.
Jo took a picture of daddy
After the parade we boogied down to Clam Gulch and hung out at the beach all day. The weather was absolutely perfect and we staked claim to a great section of beach. The kids played in the freezing water, the miry clay, the unstable bluff and had a great time. If we hadn’t forgot the hot dogs, it would’ve been perfect. Good thing Tra thought to pack some meat for hamburgers and saved the day.
every day at the beach must include rock throwing
Ok, the water's a little colder than I thought
Hmmmm, looks like she does at home.
hmmm, looks like he does at home ( minus the cool shades & fire)
you know how I feel about cameras!!
I don't remember painting red, white and blue on my toes... I thought I went with straight blue.
Olivia and Jake
Jake and Jo
The warrior with the farmer tan, Ben.
No hot dogs, no problem
From the clan of ignorant fools.
Sunday was another beautiful day, and after church and a fried chicken lunch, the slip-n-slide was calling my name. I didn’t answer it, but the kids did.
Jake prepping the slide for maximum slippage.
Jake in action, and yes this is a redneck slip-n-slide.
Livy in action
uhhh, Kassie in action?
a redneck slide must have a redneck fort
- Jeremy building something I am sure, as always.
sisters forever
this is how you do it.
spray action
Jo eating something that is probably not meant to be eaten
Bradley Clipperhands vs. Goldilocks
You never know the events that will take place when a rambunctious 9 year old and his uncle have time on their hands. I was fortunate to catch this rare interaction on video and I thought I would share it with you. Oh yeah, we didn’t tell his mom about this either. Love ya honey and hope you like it.
Had some youtube problems, so we used dailymotion this time. I hope you can hear it.
Kenai River Fun and Nicotine laced popcorn
Twas an interesting day today; sunny yet windy, warm yet slightly cool, and an ever present weather change on the horizon. So we decided to venture out to one of our local annual events, the Kenai River Festival. Basically it celebrates….. well it uhhhh, hmmmm not sure what it celebrates, but it has something to do with the Kenai River, and people sell things.
You know we could be fishing.
Complete concentration at the fish painting table.
I can't work under such scrutiny
Kassie, a true artist at heart
It is a lot of fun for the kids. They have free face painting by very amateur local volunteer artists. Jo’s butterfly actually looked a little like a butterfly, well done. They also had a lot of FREE crafts for the kiddos. Several of the kids painted a wooden salmon on a stick, and no it was not edible. I have never so many glitter covered purple fish in my whole life. It reminded me of a bad prom theme. Then they went on to make birdhouses, again for free. Now I won’t say who, but one of our kid’s wood working skills resemble Dorian’s ( see previous post wood working 101) but for the most part the bird houses weren’t bad, good enough for the birds in our neighborhood at least; they’re not snobby birds, and not particularly bright as evidenced by the barrage of bird attacks on our windows.
butterfly girl
Finally, after two 10 gallon garbage bags full of kettle corn, we saw some rockets red glare blasting through the sky. Immediately the kids honed in on this activity and it was rocket building time. Jo, Jeremy and Ben all built their own rockets and then had a launching competition. Lest you think we let the kids play with rocket fuel, these were air powered rockets built strictly out of construction paper. I must admit, I was very impressed with the elevation those pieces of paper could reach, and yes Jo’s rocket went the highest!
That is one brave assistant!
good enough for Kenai River festival work!
that my friends is talent, hammer in one hand hair in the other. She is going to make someone a great wife someday!
Look closely at the bruises on her fingernails, all from Ben.
Big brother lending a hand to Jake.
I think the kids, other than Alli on crutches had a good time. I know I had a good time watching the kids, seeing some old friends and eating popcorn, until I got a stomach ache from sugar laced popcorn. Why can’t I ever quit eating popcorn when it is put in front me? Perhaps they lace it with nicotine along with the sugar. I can see popcorn regulations and warning labels in the near future.
Jake's bear. I think it is a black bear.
Exhausted from carrying around 30 pound bags of popcorn, we had to take a break.
There were a lot of unique shops and fish related activities. Perhaps this is a clue as to the purpose of this yearly fair. Next year I will make it my mission to find out, and maybe we will see you out there too, we can have a kettle corn eating competition till the death.
Rocket builders unlimited
Jo you got some kind of bug on your face, said Jake as he attempted to slap it off her.
Ben's birhouse
Jeremy's birdhouse
Livy's birdhouse, for purple loving birds
told you it was Livy's.
A Clammy Memorial Day
For Memorial Day 2009 we decided to take advantage of the tides coinciding with the holiday to go to Clam Gulch and dig us some clams. After all a man has to be the hunter gatherer for his family. After loading up the van, we headed s0uth with a brief stop at Freddy’s for some last minute supplies, including another clam shovel and clam gun. I feared we were running a little late, for tide waits for no man, and tide protects the elusive razor clam. But alas, my fears were unfounded as we showed up to a nearly empty beach void of water and fantastic sunny weather. Now I am a man of few clams, meaning I don’t like cleaning em, but I do like digging em, so I limit me and boys to around 40 clams total. The limit is 60 per person, and we never breach that.
Unpacking, and ready for action
Dad's not starting that fire right is he?
Our camp
For those of you that have not done it, clamming is hard work, especially when you are not good at it like us. In fact the last time we went we clammed for hours and I think we almost had 50. As hard as digging em is, cleaning is even more so, especially on an old man’s back. So I have learned from my past ways and have limited our take. This time I wanted only 40. After about 90 minutes I figured we were there. I was very impressed at the increased clam digging prowess of the boys, they were up to their armpits in the sand battling those little mollusks to the bitter end. Even though the razors were out weighed by well over 200 pounds, they still had home-court advantage, and they knew how to use it. They would tease us, just leaving a little portion of their shell or neck out so that we could feel it with our frozen fingertips, but not enough to grip them and break the bionic suction that their size 13 foot was able to create. But persistence often paid off and we were all able to contribute to the pot.
Heading out to the digging fields
the hunter gatherers in action
going for all the clams
check out those great looking toes
So while the girls sat by the campfire cooking and relaxing, the men battled for every morsel, encrusting sand in every nook of our hands, arms, and even teeth. When we were dripping with sweat, with back spasms and sliced up hands we felt we had enough. As we trudged up to the campsite, I glanced into the buckets and I surmised we had about 60 clams, a little more than I wanted to clean, but they were small so I was happy. At camp we started rinsing out the razors and I began counting, when I stopped I had said 100, yes 100. That is quite a few more than I wanted, and way more than I anticipated. I started to sweat again anticipating the work ahead. Fortunately, when we got home and I started to clean, the boys were eager to join in, and with knives in hand they began to slicing and chopping with the skill of a Samurai, a two year old Samurai. Eventually they got the hang of it and between the four of us and our cleaning chain, we got the task done in about 2 hours. So ultimate victory against the great razor was ours. We came, we dug, we rinsed, we cleaned and we conquered. It was a great day. The only way it could have been better is if 1. You had been there. 2. You had cleaned all the clams for us. But even as it was, it was an awesome family day, with some world class smores on display at the campfire.
Jerms and Alii on the rock
bluff climbing, this is not dangerous at all
Wading in Alaska glacier water... that's our kids
Ben & jake in action
Jake paying Ben back for making him look like a sissy in the last picture
Missing Jo, but the rest of the crew on the rock.
P.S. Although I thought we conquered the raucous razors, as I sit and write this and feel the cuts on my hands, the pain under my finger nails, and the aches throughout my body, I am not sure who had the last laugh. Perhaps I will feel better after some chowder and fritters.
The smaller rock, and the smaller crew
the cleaning crew doing what they do
Our prize trophies. Olivia wanted to keep em as pets, go figure.
When it’s spring time in alaska it’s 40 below…. NOT!!
As a child, I can recall long drives from Tok to Anchorage. I remember laying all the seats down in the back of the station wagon, a tassle of blankets and pillows with all of us kids strewn about in them (long before the seatbelt law of course, perhaps prior to seatbelts period). But most of all I remember the music, music from the 8-Track, and mom and dad, well mostly dad singing their heads off. One of the many songs I remember was “When It’s Spring Time in Alaska it’s Forty Below”, by Johnny Horton. Well Johnny…Not this year!
Miss Chloe tending to her crying baby. She was probably too hot
all eyes on the one opening the presents
I've never seen so many smiles.
I have blogged about how spring time here several times, Kudos to the Kiddos and What\’ Up Homey, and probably mentioned it several other times. However this year has been truly phenomenal. We always try to take advantage of any sunny spring day, and this year have almost all been warm and sunny. In fact I am sure we have spent more time laying in the sun this spring than all of last summer combined.
guess who?
Let Auntie get your bathing suit on you.
Because of the long dark winters, most Alaskans feel guilty wasting sunshine, especially unexpected sunshine, such as spring sunshine. So we do as much as we can outside for as long as we can. We eat, we sleep, we party, we play, we clean, and then we clean again,we try to blog but you can’t see the screen in the sun. You see we do not want to waste a precious minute of that liquid gold, even more so when it is 70 degrees out.
He had the best sunbathing outfit of us all
Jake, a true Alaskan hanging in the shade.
We have enjoyed a birthday party that involved sitting in the sun for four hours, we have played basketball and cleaned out the van, the garage and much more. We have been loving it and trying to take advantage of the 16 hour days, and I must tell you, it can be very exhausting trying to have all that fun. And all this before the kings or red salmon even show up!
- what is he looking at? Hey he’s not looking he’s……..
So this blog is dedicated to the best spring that I can remember, and I hope and pray the summer is the same. If so, then we will be so exhausted we may hibernate through the winter.
Piano Performance and Recital 2009
For the regular readers of this blog, you know that I did a post on piano recitals not too long ago. If you need a refresher, you can read it here http://akgodfreys.com/2008/10/25/piano-recital2/
All smiles pre-recital
However, last night we had the real recital, the once of year gathering of proud paying parents from the peninsula, and we were the proudest. Okay, maybe not the proudest, there were a couple of parents there that brought the camera crew from NBC Nightly News, must be their first recital. Sad part is, when it is your first recital, it lasts about as long as it takes to take one picture.
Concentrating Kassie
Bee-bopping Ben
As I have mentioned before, recitals would be great if it were just your kids doing the reciting. But even for a family our size, we were only 10% of the act. To say it was torturous to sit through everyone else playing would definitely be an exaggeration, to say it was like being waterboarded, that would be more accurate. Don’t get me wrong, there were some great moments, like the little girl singing a solo and messing up and grunting in frustration; classic. Or the very mature lady, very mature, taking 6 minutes to play a one minute song. Now you may think I am being a little harsh, but let me ask you this, who was she playing for? Her parents? Remember, she is very very mature, much more so than me. ” That is not hard” I know I can hear you all screaming at the computer right now.
Jamming Jeremy
Octave Olivia
None-the-less, I enjoyed seeing my kids perform, nary a smile between the four of them. They have performed before, but not in front of a crowd of this magnitude. I estimate 3,000 to 4,000 people, oops added a couple zeros there, maybe 40 (including the performers) in attendance. Our kids were concentrating so hard, that they forgot to smile. But immediately, once they were done and their nerves relaxed, they could not help but smile. So at the request of our friends and relatives unable to attend (those poor souls) I have posted a video of all four kids. They were awesome, the best, and the video is only a few minutes long. Please enjoy.
Kudos to the kiddos
Today I had to go to Homer and conduct sea trials on one of our new patrol boats. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera to get some shots of our new Prince William Sound vessel, the Sound Justice. The sea trials went well and when I finished, I headed straight north to home. By the time I got back to the office it was almost time to pick up Jeremy from soccer practice at 7:30 so I went directly there.
When I finally got home I was surprised to see how great the house looked. You see spring in Alaska is not a pretty time of year. The dirt so coveted for traction on driveways and roads in the winter becomes, well just stinking dirt. And dirt is dirty, go figure. Furthermore, there is a lot of dirt everywhere and the grass is not greener, and I almost always amazed at the prizes revealed buried underneath the winter snow; boots, gloves, scooters,balls, moose and more. I am shocked we have not yet thawed out a kid.
The tools of labor resting after a long day's work.
Kids playing hard after working hard.
The end result, a yellow lawn leaf free, and leaf free trees too. Maybe we won't have to rake next year.
Upon walking into home sweet home, I was quickly informed that the kids had helped mom for over four hours raking, washing, cleaning and just getting the house ready for summer. Tra informed me that they did this all without complaining and that they all worked very hard. In fact, believe it or not, Alli and Ben even got a sunburn on their arms and shoulders, from the sun, the actual sun!! Maybe it truly is spring in Alaska.
A beautiful clean driveway, next to a clean garage, every man's dream.
Never too tired to jump at, not even at 9:30.
The amazing part was that Tra was so sore she could not go do her nightly workout , and although the kids swore they were sore, they stayed outside playing until well after 9 pm. So this blog is a THANK YOU to Tra and the kiddos for their excellent work. Now if they would only drag the dead moose carcasses into the woods we could be done.
Kassie showing off her moves, I just hope she didn't land on Jake.
1/2 the kids around the house, including a few of the neighbor kids, who didn't help clean.
What’s up homey? It’s always something.
Ever notice that when you own a home there is always something that needs to be done? Since we have been married, Tra and I have owned four homes two of them have been brand new. I have learned that no matter if your home is brand new or older there is always something that needs to be done. It can be as huge as new floors or as simple as new lights, there is always something. You may wonder why I would bring this up, with spring comes projects and we have a lot of em to get done. When you have 8 kids running around your house, and sometimes as many as 20, things get broke, and they get broke well. So spring always seem to motivate me to get to that endless list of projects.
Eagle River home living room
Outside of Eaglr River home
But, you see I have a problem, I love to start big jobs, remodel rooms, put in new floors, build walls and closets, add outlets and much more. What’ s the problem? Well I don’t like particularly finishing jobs. Once it is good enough to function it’s good enough for Glenn. I was warned of this by my good friend Ryan when I moved into the home we are currently in.
Our first Soldotna house being built
Inside the Soldotna house
Finished Soldotna house
When we first moved into this house, we lived downstairs for a couple months while we completely remodeled the upstairs, and I mean remodel. We tore up the floors to the joists, we tore down walls, we put up walls and much more. It was a filthy mess. Finally we came very close to completion, we just needed new vent covers and window sills, so we decided to move up stairs and I could finish it all over the weekends. Ryan prudently counceled me not to do it, he begs me not to move in until is completely done. What does he know? I am one motivated individual. Well last week I put in most of the vent covers, and the window sills…… well I’m going to get to them soon I promise. Since then I have done probably a dozen other huge projects, none of them 100% complete. Oh and for those of you that are not aware, we moved upstairs over three years ago.
Current Soldotna / Sterling home. Hmmmm, looks like it needs a deck upgrade!
So now I am overwhelmed with what I hate most, a whole bunch of mini projects that need to get done. I have dedicated myself to completing at least two mini-projects each week and this week it was Alli’s door and the vent covers. Next week, I think I would like to remodel our bathroom. Does that count as a mini project?
Goooooaaaaaalllllllllllll
Tis the season for soccer. I know we still have snow afoot, in fact if I am not mistaken, we had one of our biggest blizzards of the year last night. But here in the AK you gotta make it work, and you gotta be ready for when the fields melt and you can start practicing in the plains of mud. So this past weekend we had soccer tryouts for Ben and Jeremy. Last year they both played comp soccer, which basically means the parents pay more $$ for fancier uniforms, and the parents pay $$ for matching backpacks, socks and water bottles and the parents pay more $$ for trips, and the parents pay $$ to travel to Fairbanks and Anchorage at least 3 times. You gotta love comp soccer!
When is soccer tryouts?
We had a great time with it last year. It gave us a chance to go visit my wayward sister in Fairbanks and enjoy a real summer. Last year it was about 106 degrees in the land of the midnight sun, and we spent most of our evenings at the lake. The downside, the kids had to play soccer in the heat. When you are used to playing with a jacket or under armour or sweater on, adjusting to about a 40 degree temperature swing can be challenging, even to a 9 year old. I saw a lot of red faces matching the hue of their bright red uniforms, but the redest face of them all was on the sidelines cheering with reckless abandon, me.
I always warn the boys to get in shape before tryouts, and they usually listen…. the day before tryouts. This year was no different.
getting in shape for tryouts
stretching the goal scoring leg
I wonder if he knows he doesn't have to use his chest in soccer?
Both of the boys did great and were excited to make the team. Ben’s team took second in state, which is quite an accomplishment I am told, over and over and over…
Hey, I should be kicking a soccer ball while I run.
We still have not received notice of whether or not the boys made the teams this year as there was a significant increase in the amount of participants; they must’ve heard about summer in Fairbanks. But if they do, it will be days of fun I am sure, if they don’t it means a few less road trips and a few more fishing trips, either way it is a win for us.
A sno-go Sunday
It has been difficult to blog since we have come home from Costa Rica. It just does not seem as exciting or interesting, and the material has somehow lost its luster. But we will persevere and fight through and together we can get back in the groove. So if there is something you want to know about, let me know and I will offer up a blog on it.
First an update on Jo. Recently I realized that I had not updated all of you as to the status, that is because the status is quo. We pick up Jo on Friday at 5 pm and then drop her off Sunday at 5 pm. This has been going on since before we left for vacation and will continue until????? We have still seen signs that cause us concern, so please continue to pray.
Her last weekend here we took the opportunity to go out on our snowmachine, a machine given to us by some extremely giving people. I took most of the kids out and let them drive me around, and they had a blast. You may recall, about 4 years ago Dorian had a little “incident” on a snowmachine a few years back and we haven’t gone out much since.
Now hold on tight!!!
Ben tended to get a little throttle happy, and at one point I thought he was determined to jump the Sterling Highway, and not on purpose. His second time out he seemed to have the hang of it.
Ready for takeoff
Olivia was a natural. She has the touch and went just the right speed for dad’s taste.
Livy scaring daddy
Kassie too seemed to have a great touch and as usual her smile never left her face, which in turn made me smile.
Ben waiting patiently for his second turn
Jake and Jo loved it. Though a little apprehensive at first, they soon warmed up to the adventure and the next thing I knew they had their hands on the throttle and apparently thought that I should go a little faster.
If we are not back in 5 minutes, send out the Troopers.
I thought we were going on a hay ride.
The next thing I knew, 2 hours had flown by and it was time to get ready for Sunday night church. Now if I could only get mom to come out for a ride, then I would have accomplished something. She has this “thing” about outside activities in the winter. My true Alaskan woman.
Jo showing daddy how to go faster
Bethel to Dutch in a Caddy? Really, in a Caddy?
I wasn’t going to post until tomorrow, but I had to share something with you. As I was driving tonight to pick up Alli from dance ( incidentally the third time at that blasted studio today) I was listening to the radio and one of them quirky fun filled 60 second spots came on. You know the ones, they tell a cute or interesting story about a person, animal, or place, like a mini Paul Harvey story. I have gathered much knowledge from those 60 second spots over the years. Perhaps most of it useless, but knowledge none the less.
Well tonight I was listening and I turned it up because they were talking about Alaska. The female host told the audience they may have heard of Dutch Harbor due to the Deadliest Catch show. She went on to say that an entrepreneur had purchased a Cadillac Limo, the first in Dutch. To get it to Dutch he had it shipped somewhere closer…. Bethel. I almost drove off the road at that point, “Did she say Bethel?” Who ships anything to Bethel to get it closer to anywhere. Then she went on.. he then drove the car through communities with high employment rates to Dutch. Now, for those of you that do not live here, Dutch Harbor is in the Aleutian chain. The Aleutian chain is a chain of Islands, and it is nowhere near Bethel. And, furthermore, the only way to get to Dutch is by plane or boat, usually out of Homer or Anchorage etc. Not Bethel; Bethel is not even on the coast, it is on the Kuskokwim river. And they reported all this as fact. You cannot drive to or from Bethel, unless you drive on the Kuskokwim river when it is frozen in the winter, and most people use snow-machines or four wheel drive.
After hearing this, the rest of the story did not make sense, and instead of making me feel good like it was intended to do, I started to question all the useless knowledge I had garnered over the years. So now does that mean my planned drive from Kaui to Maui is off? I hope not cause that lady on the radio said it is very scenic.
