2011 Christmas Letter
The 2011 Christmas letter is done. It is not short, it is not sweet, but it does contain over 100 pictures and I know a lot of you just look at the pictures (Tra). All you need to do is click the link at the top that says “2011 Christmas Letter” it is in the black border. It is a page so it will stay on here forever. That way for those of you that got a new ipad for Christmas, you can read it over and over during your “ahem” private time, or on your thinking throne.
May God bless you and prosper you and draw you closer to him in this upcoming new year. God Bless, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
The Alaska Grown Costa Rican Ripened Godfreys.
Thanksgiving Costa Rica Style
You know they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here? It is just like any other Thursday, except hotter. Okay, we knew the holidays would be much different, that traditions would change, that our perception of what a holiday was would likely change, we were right. For as long as I can remember, Thanksgiving has been major tradition at our house, old friends and family we only see once a year, basketball games, fried turkey, same old side dishes, new dishes, dozens of pies, naps, games and then Black Friday, Tracy’s favorite holiday. That is what we did, every year. No questions asked as you can see from these past posts. (Tradition GAS Holiday Roads )Well now, at least this year, it was quite different. This year we attended a big feast and gathering at our church. There was a lot of turkey,side dishes, desserts, some games and a lot of fellow-shipping. It was certainly fun, but it wasn’t tradition. It was new, it was hot and it didn’t feel like “Thanksgiving”. It felt more like a very fun church potluck. Plus, there were no pies, other than the single serving apple pies Tra made.
some traditions can never go away! Speedy Buns Rule!!!
If you could only smell the finished product, your keyboard would be drenched in drool.
do you see any pies on this dessert table?
Furthermore, as I stated before, Costa Rica obviously does not celebrate Thanksgiving, so it was just a normal day. No festivities, lots of people at the beach, surfing, swimming, shopping etc. etc. Just like every other day. It appears that they did have their version of Black Friday in San Jose, but it was limited to a few stores. Besides it’s not really Black Friday if you aren’t freezing to death waiting to get inside the store. And 50% off of “way to expensive” is not really that great of a deal. However, I took the time to teach our friend and guard how to say Happy Thanksgiving in English, and told him to tell every Americano he sees. Within an hour he was stuffed. After two days he told me “too much Happy Thanksgiving” signaling that he could not eat another bite, as he held up yet another meal on a paper plate. It may take some time, but I will soon teach him the ways of the over indulging Americanos.
Now this looks traditional. It was very yummy as well!
Dave Olsen keeping the kids happy. There are no fiestas in Costa Rica without a Pinata.
one view of BCC with over 100 guests. Note BCC Feud playing on the screen.
another view.
Kassie patiently waiting for food.
Mom and Alli waiting to eat.
Kids table playing the feud.
So we had fun, but it wasn’t the traditional frenzied weekend that we have become accustomed to loving. It was quite relaxing, maybe a little too Pura Vida for our American souls. Perhaps over time we will change our view of Thanksgiving and become accustomed to wearing t-shirts and shorts, and spending the evening watching the sunset on the beach, as we did this year. Perhaps that will be our new tradition. One thing for sure, no matter what, next time there must be pie.
Here are some shots of our Thanksgiving late afternoon and evening at Flamingo Beach.
Jeremy waiting on one last wave
Jake and KassieKassieFlamingo
Dad and Dorian having a Thanksgiving boogie board battle.
Jeremy and Dad battling it out
Kassie
Alli searching for jewelry prospects.
Flamingo Breaker
Ben working hard on Thanksgiving for a wave with all that extra turkey weight.
Ben
Dad swimming hard
Never spent Thanksgiving in the Pacific Ocean before.
Any reason to party?
Back in the states Halloween was a pretty big deal. In fact, if I recall correctly, the very first date Tra and I ever went on was near that very holiday, at a harvest fest type of event. I recall having to be prepared every Halloween for the slew of kids to come parading through the neighborhood. With every open door a shot of cold air would rush across our skin, and handfuls of candy would be dropped in the bags of ghouls, ghosts, goblins and ???. In Costa Rica there is no Halloween. Perhaps it is because they have a plethora of other holidays, or perhaps it is because it was created by the candy moguls in America, or perhaps it is because chocolate can be very hard to come by for the locals. Either way we didn’t expect much of anything, we were wrong.
a rock star from NOW, an American army guy, and a flapper
Ben from "Not of the World" Note the tat.
Jeremy and his first victim of the night.
Ben and Brockzilla, two rock stars from different sides of the track, not standing out at all in a packed La Paz gym.
There is a pretty large contingent of Ex-Pats in this area, and they hold on to their American / Canadian traditions very strongly, as we are quickly learning. If there is a slight reason to celebrate or party, they will gather in droves. Superbowl, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Columbus Day, doesn’t matter, if it connects them to home, they embrace it. Halloween, other than being a floating holiday is no different.
our flapper girl
Kassie and Jake harvesting some subsistence candy.
In the area we live there are three primary english schools, La Paz, Country Day, and Gold Coast Academy. All three private schools, all full of Americans, Canadians and French ( don’t ask me). All three of them held festivities on Friday night.
Livy in her award-winning costume, the one in white.
all about the candy
Our evening began right at sunset; humidity still thick in the air, the hot night air enveloping those in monkey suits, ghost sheets and more. I saw more sweat stains than at a July jalapeno chili bake in Texas. We hit La Paz first, the school had a special area for candy gathering, and it seems every english speaking kid in the country was there, adding to the humidity. As we weaved our way through the blue mat maze of on-air conditioned classrooms, we were met by princess’s, gold people, Lego’s and many more homemade costumes. There is no Wal-Mart, so creativity had to be high. Although sheer torture for the camera wielding adults caught in the never-ending snake of children, it was fun for the kids as their bags weighed down under the girth of the mixed tico candy. The school also had a small haunted house, and a gym full of games for the kiddos with prizes and awards. To top it off they had a bake sale and hamburgers and hotdogs off the grill. It was an all out event that required traffic control and parking on an empty over grown lot next to the school.
still waiting in line for some more loot.
Like, who's this creeper pretending to be Shaggy? ( a good friend, the real creeper is over his right shoulder)
Next we made our way to Country Day School, where they had a similar event going on. However, their highlight was the haunted house, and that is what we set our sights on, at least those of us brave enough to endure the close tight humid quarters. As we made our way through the draping of dark plastic we were assaulted by every creature imaginable from every angle, our feet, our heads, straight on, they were everywhere, and it appears that they were heavily dehydrated. It was a fun adventure with blue lights, water , at least we hope it was water, and much more. And talking to some of the creatures afterward, it was labor intensive, hot and draining, but they did not complain, instead they did their best to elicit screams and cries, and I am sure I heard a few, even from within our own party. Again, there were games for the kids, bake sales and some BBQ pork sandwiches. Lots of decorations, and balloons that were getting heavily assaulted by anyone under 4 foot tall.
no parking on the dance floor baby!
We finished the evening as chaperones at the Freaky Tiki, and event semi-coordinated by Alli as the event planner for her school. The event was made for the older kids as a costume dance event. Now I don’t know what qualifies as a good dance, but if it is a bloody red pool and fountain, lots of sweaty kids dancing all together, loud never-ending music, pizza and very loud never-ending music, then this was a successful dance. Again, it seems every english speaking kid from every local school was there. Apparently things have changed form when I used to go to dances. In my day you asked a girl to dance, you went out to the floor together and danced next to your buds, making funny faces and did your best to be cool. What we witnessed was just a glob of people all dancing together. I never did see two people dancing. The smallest group was six. However, I could’ve been hallucinating because between the unbearable thumping, heat, strobe light, and extra curricular lightning storm, I am not totally sure what we witnessed. But I am pretty sure there were no nefarious on goings nor any grinding going on during our watch! The dance went from 7-11 and was thumping the whole time.
a pool of blood surrounded by tombstones.
The fountain of blood, created by Mr. S. the demented.
strobe light limbo.
It was pretty much packed like this the whole night.
The freaks come out at night.
I have never been so exhausted after a Halloween night. I am convinced that we met every Ex-Pat in the area on that Friday night, even the ones without kids. And the best part, Halloween is tonight. I have no idea what to expect, but we will be prepared with some melted chocolates for our little prettys, just in case. Can’t wait to see what Thanksgiving will be like. I plan to get a nap before that one.
A Christmas to remember
Over the last few years we have molded our own Christmas tradition, friends over the night before Christmas, Church on Christmas Eve, a light dinner, the kids open presents from each other and from their grandparents, sleep in until 9 or 10 ( yep, it’s true our kids are NOT early risers) have some cinnamon rolls or dad makes eggs, read the Bible, take turns opening presents, and then play with any electronics as dad mumbles in frustration to himself trying to open plastic wrapped toys and wire ties. The afternoon is spent cooking a Prime Rib dinner while dad attempts to program, set up and debug all electronics while mom collects the leftovers of her endless hours wrapping perfection. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but it is ours. It is comforting, relaxing, stress free and fits us like a brand new Snuggie, with feet.
The Eve of Christmas Eve gathering.
Jo on the eve of Christmas eve gets a visit from Glanta
Jo concentrating for the 32 seconds it took for her to open pressies.
Jake loving the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
nephew Levi sporting a tie at church
This year Mom invited us back to Anchorage to celebrate Christmas at her house. Considering that this may be our last Christmas in AK for a while, we accepted. This changes things a little. You see my mom does not do small and relaxing. My mom does big and grand. So I knew there would be excessive food and excessive people. Further, we had to load up the van with all the gifts and all the gear required for a Christmas weekend.
Action!
Jace n Jake sporting their Jammies
ripping time
Kassie and Callie and their American Girls. Too many women for me!
Now this is more my speed!
Upon arrival I quickly learned that I was not wrong, nor was I disappointed, there were about a dozen pies, several turkeys, lots of sides, home-made egg nog ( another of my favorite cholesterol fat inducing traditions) french onion soup and yes my french dip. Christmas eve included a candle light service ( and no Shine Jesus Shine) with an exchanging of a few gifts. The house was full of food, fun and folks. It went very well with a relatively early bed time. Christmas Day was another story.
Nana's girls posing for her Christmas present
Callie, Tiara, Kassie, Olivia, Alli and Bella
It started well, we slept in until we could her our little nephews and nieces pitter pattering around the house. Tracy and I eventually made our way downstairs clothed in our traditional Christmas Jammies. I should haveknown it was going to be a little off day when I went to make a cup of coffee and the Kuerig was stingy with the water. Something was amiss. Desperate, I ran a solution of vinegar and water through the system, to no avail. Glenn without his traditional cup of Christmas morning sludge is unacceptable to most and unbearable to all. So after cleansing the system I tried again. It dribbled out about 8 ounces of joe, at least it was something. However one sip let me know that the system was still full of vinegar as I puckered in disgust looking for a place to spit my sip, the definition of a sourpuss. It never did give up any acceptable joe.
Kinect Action
uncle Brad showing us how its done. He beat daddy in track and field.
So we decided to start the gift opening, with no coffee. Unfortunately we did not calculate the time it would take with the extra four openers in the flock. You see we open one present at a time, but we had 11 kids in the mix. About 4 presents in we decided that everyone should open one present at a time, but in unison, adapt and survive. Perhaps I was impatient due to the lack O joe, but it seemed to be an effective and efficient method and by my calculations we would have been un-wrapping until New Year’s Eve.
Christmas in the dark
Christmas dinner in the dark.......
..... and charades in the dark, best you don't see what's happening here.
Once the presents were opened, Uncle Brad and I were off in search of coffee, of which we found a couple of smart stands open for business. Needless to say a big tip was in order. The afternoon did not fair any better as minutes into the frying of the turkey and prior to the cooking of the sides, the power went out. The same power that we lost on Thanksgiving ( and we later learned was lost on New Year’s Day). Do you think somebody may be bucking for some Holiday OT over at the Chugach Electric Company? Once again we improvised and brought the remainder of the food over to Val’s to cook, and made do with what was already done. The power stayed off until 3 am the next morning, so in the interim we slept ( okay I may have dozed off on the couch) ate, played charades, played cards, talked and sat by the fire in an attempt to stay warm. The poor kids had to wait forever to play their new electronic games, including the new Kinect which eventually dad and uncle Brad broke in for them. However, all in all it certainly was a Christmas to remember.
THE 2010 CHRISTMAS LETTER IS DONE!
I finally finished the 2010 Christmas letter. I apologize for being so far behind, but the last month has been exceedingly busy. That being said, my New Year’s resolution is to do at least a blog a week. However, I don’t work well under a deadline, so the pressure may be far too much to bear, and if that is the case I may modify it to one a month or even one a year.
Merry Christmas, and if you click the link at the top named “Christmas 2010″ you can read our Christmas letter for this year. We failed to send out cards because, ummmmm, we are trying to save trees? If you are extremely lazy, you can click this LINK and go right to it. And if you are super duper lazy, just call Tracy and have her read it to you.
Mickey D’s and Mother’s Day
I had a great mother’s day. I know, I know, who cares how my Mother’s Day was, how was Tracy’s? Well that is the point, for me to have a good Mother’s Day, Tra has to have a great Mother’s Day. I think she did.
The day started with great service in church, and Tra leading the morning worship, which I thought was pretty great. Then again I may have some biases, but I think even Simon Cowell would agree with me. After church we ran home, well we actually drove home as it is about 15 miles away, and changed for lunch. Changed for lunch? You ask. Yes Change. I know we have our Sunday best on, but that is far too dressy for this fishing town. Further, our lunch was coming via a drive thru, and I don’t want anyone spilling ketchup or special sauce on their Sunday best.
Present Time!
Dude how do we end up here every year?
I don't know, but this is what Mother's Day is all about
So after changing we headed out the door to McDonald’s, and I must admit I was shocked to see it wasn’t packed. I mean it was Mother’s Day, people should be taking their mom’s out to chow, and let em pig out a little. I can’t think of anywhere better to pig out the McDonald’s. I guess we are just an exceptional family.
Jo and Amber with her 5th cup of coffee
Peyton chilling at mom's feet
I hope this is not one of my boys
Yes we did go to McDonald’s, but the reason is that we have developed a tradition over the last few years for Mother’s Day, and McDonald’s is a key part of that tradition. Once we get through the drive thru, which is no small feat when you are ordering for 10, then we head south to Homer.
For the last three Mother’s Day we have driven to Homer to spend the day after church. We shop, play on the windiest beach in America, go to the park, and eat, after Mickey D’s wears off.
I smell trouble
Throughout the day you rarely see mom without her camera. I don’t know how we survived before digital cameras. I would have to budget 1/3 of our income just to buy and process film. I truly think her favorite part of the trip is to take pictures all day long. So we let her snap away, posing as she wishes, and gritting our teeth to keep them from chattering.
Mom and Jo
Mom and Jake
Ben with his slave
monkey boy
Finally, when we get to my favorite part, the food, we actually eat at a sit down restaurant, with tablecloths, silverware and waiters. This year we went with a whole bunch of friends, so we were a party of 22, and man our waitress at Fat Olives was very excited to see us. I mean she yelled the whole time we were there. Stuff like ” that’s impossible”, “We absolutely cannot do that”, ” We don’t do separate checks” for a minute I thought she was going to take Angie out, but Amber had her back. She was great, and made for fun conversation! I’m guessing she was a mom and her family didn’t take her to McDonald’s.
Ben's present, and he paid for it all himself
Jo beaching it
Sisters
Kassie the kollector
I can't say who the old guy on the swing is
But even with our cheery, loud, New York accented, negative waitress, we still managed to have a great time. But what made the day best for Mother Tracy was that Jo got to go with us. And not just for Mother’s Day, but the whole weekend! You can’t get a gift better than that, unless you count the “clunky” jewelry the kids picked out for her. So my advice to you husbands and sons out there, if you want to have a great Mother’s Day, start it with some McDonald’s to go, there is never a wait on Mother’s Day.
Angie and her brood
8/10 of Tra and Glenn Make 10
All I want for Christmas are…… socks!
Quick, what did you get for Christmas this year? What did you get for Christmas last year?
I don’t know if I can name a favorite gift from every Christmas, but I know I can name one from my last two Christmases. I got the same thing, this year and last year but I don’t want it next year that’s for sure. Yet, if I do get it, it will be the best present once again. Have I piqued your interest yet?
Happy to see her bros and sis's
Ben gets one of the first hugs on the way to momma
Finally made it into momma's arms
daddy, Jo, Jake, Kassie busting a move down the hill of death
hurry up, let's do it again!
paused for a minute to get a pic of the whole gang again
I didn't need a workout after the 47th "I wanna do it again".
Livy and Jo with a little winter swinging, that usually drops the wind chill by about 15 degrees.
Jake and Jo in their current favorite outfits
a little art time making ornaments
Present time! I love my new hat!
Excuse me sir, can I please take your order?
Peppernuts
Now, as an outsider, when you read the title of this post I can only imagine what you must be thinking. However, it is again about tradition and food, two of my favorite things. You see since as long as I can remember peppernuts have been a part of my life. They bring back memories of some of the most simple and pleasurable seasons of my childhood. For you to understand, first you must have an idea what they are; a cookie. Yes, a cookie. But not just any cookie. They are a very small, very hard, very gingery type of cookie. That may not sound so special, but to me it is very special.
the log of dough, not so appetizing in this form
Peppernuts have a very distinct smell, a spicy, ginger snap odor that when heated, fills the house and instantly screams Christmas. The only time we have peppernuts is Christmas time, and we have a lot of them. Mom, or now Tra will make a 10 pound log of peppernut dough, wrap it in Saran wrap, and store it in the fridge. Then, when the urge strikes there will be a rolling party. The rolling is the forming of the peppernut cookie, and it almost always involves a group of kids, gathered around the kitchen taking quarter size pieces of the dough into their thoroughly washed hands, and then rolling them in their palms until they form a perfect circle. Then the ball is placed on a cookie sheet, evenly ( not so much) spaced and ready for cooking. Once placed in the oven, magic happens. The cookies come out dark brown and shaped like a teeny dome, rock hard and perfect.
Shyla wants in on this peppernut rolling party
I wonder if Alli knew there was a camera near?
“A rock hard cookie?” I hear you screaming. But that is the beauty of the peppernut. It is not meant just to plop in your mouth, although that is quite enjoyable that way, but it is meant to be dunked. It is an activity food, like the fondue of cookies.
This is where the memories come in. I remember, as a child, the kitchen full of baking goodies, a fresh batch of peppernuts, and the four of us kids sitting around the table dunking our peppernuts in warm milk.I remember many times, me with my warm milk, grandpa or my dad with his coffee and cream ( enough cream sometimes that it looked like milk) sitting together at the table dunking peppernuts. There is something so perfect about the mixed aroma of peppernuts and coffee. I remember, year after year being taught the proper way to dunk and then eat a peppernut, even though by age 10 I considered myself an expert. Yet I never interjected, I just sat and watched the same presentation I had seen the year or week before, enjoying every minute of it.
brown buttons
a mound of heaven and spices
Now you can’t just throw them in the milk, there is a definite skill involved. You see the dome shape is made for dunking. the flat part of the cookie should be on the top of your dunking medium of choice, and you should let it sit there until it just about looses its buoyancy, and slowly began to sink. At that exact moment, you save it from the grasp of the certain death, and gently slide your spoon under the treat. IF you wait just a second too long, the dome will sink, and recovery of an intact cookie is as rare as the Godfrey home with no kids in it. Unless, of course you have years of training and skills, much like myself. More often than not, the sunk cookie will disintegrate, leaving chunks of mush in your beverage, which is pleasant for no one. But if you do it right, then from the cup, to your mouth, memories in cookie form.
getting ready for a dunk in some hot coffee, with hardly any milk in it.
the drop
Perfect time for the retrieval! I can smell the mixture of ginger, cinnamon, coffee and pure yumminess.
So there is very little that makes me happier than coming home from work and seeing my family gathered around the kitchen counter rolling peppernuts as fast as their little hands can move. I become instantly excited that soon I will be sitting at the table, dunking peppernuts and explaining for the dozenth time the essence of the perfect dunk to anyone who will listen, and even to those that won’t. Although I am sure they think they are experts.
oops, guess I'll have to eat the ones I spilled. Good thing they are carb, fat, and sugar-free!
Our version of the fruitcake
Holiday’s are filled with tradition, they themselves are tradition. Not all traditions are great however. Take for instance the 24 hour salad. The 24 hour salad is our families version of a fruitcake. It shows up every Thanksgiving and sits right in the middle of the table beckoning out for someone to scoop its unmatched combination of fruit, jello, marshmallows, vegetables and more onto their plate. I am not that man. To be fair, I think my mom, Uncle Mort and one other person actually eats the stuff every year. But their taste buds are old and worn out. In fact in the last 20 years I don’t think I have ever seen the bottom of the dish that stuff is melded in.
The 24 hour salad before dinner was served.
My main issue with it is celery. Why in the world is there celery in a gelatin dish? Then combine that with nuts. I don’t know about you, but it takes a lot for me to eat Jello with fruit in it, that is about the extent of the texture I enjoy in my gelatin. When you put nuts and celery in it, it is akin to drinking milk with chunks, your throat will not accept it. Believe me, I have tried. Yet year after year there it sits, usually right in front of me ( very funny mother). It always makes its way to the main table, because if it was on the buffet line no one would take it.
The 24 hour salad after dinner
However, I must admit I am comforted by it. If it was gone, I would miss it, and would ask about it and I would insist it be made, or we could just pull out the original batch from 19?? buried deep inside the deep freeze. Either way, I wouldn’t eat it, but I need it to ground me and to be the tradition that will unite Thanksgiving from 19?? to eternity, for that’s how long it last. Oh, I know you are wondering why it is called 24 hour salad, well I have several theories: 1. That’s how long it takes to make it. 2. That’s how long it takes to gain the courage to eat it. 3. That’s how long it takes to chew it. We accept all other answers or thoughts in the comments section.
I am not trying it, you try it! Where's Mikey?
four turkeys ( five if you count Sean) and no 24 hour salad. It has to be on the main table.
Holiday Roads
Traveling is always a chore with a large family. Shoot, it takes us 25 minutes to figure out how we are getting to church every Sunday, and we go every Sunday! Are we taking the van or two cars? Do you need to be there early? Do we have any extra kids? Who is riding with dad? Are you getting a coffee? No, you can’t all ride with mom! No you can’t all go in later! Where are we going to eat? Where did all these extra kids come from?
Now imagine trying to take a vacation. Just finding 10 seats is daunting, but then try and use your handy-dandy super simple companion fare in combination with you Alaska Airlines miles and find the cheapest fare. This always leads to a conversation with a ticket agent ( yes they still exist, near extinction, but those still alive have managed to maintain the skills their ancestors have passed down to them)explaining my fate and frustration of attempting to bring it all together. The result is always at least two separate flights. Two long separate flights arriving several hours apart, and arriving late, always.
Traveling is definitely a chore for a family our size, but it is almost always worth it. Our last family trip was to Orlando, and the end result was great, even though it did involve two travel teams changing planes twice each way and going through different cities and arriving at different times. I think it must be somewhat like childbirth. You forget the crying, the vomiting ( in the aisle of the plane), the nasty smells ( usually sitting by the bathroom) and the kicking and screaming in desire of breaking free from captivity, and then you have worry about the kids too. But alas, all that goes away as soon as you lay your head on the lounge chair by the pool.
I write this as we get ready to head to Anchorage for Thanksgiving, our yearly tradition. The kids love staying with Nana, going to the shootout, shopping, hitting up old Charles E. Fromage, and maybe even making an appearance at H2Oasis, a great place for a hairy old overweight man like myself to hang out. Alas, I have to keep this short because we are getting ready to leave and I need to open an Excel spreadsheet to figure out who is going to ride with who and who gets to bring what laptop, and who gets to sit in what seat, and where we will stop and potty, and where Tracy will want to stop and take some pictures…… oops we were suppose to leave an hour ago.
Have a great Thanksgiving weekend, and don’t forget to whom you are thankful.
Labor day weekend part I. Dorian and Goliath.
Three days to commemorate this summer and we decide to spend them south, as far south as we can drive that is. We spent the Labor Day weekend in Homer, camping errr cabining and fishing. We found a quaint little, and I mean little, cabin down near Homer to hang our hats for the weekend. But first, Dorian and I had to venture down ahead of the rest of the crew to do a little fish scouting. So we embarked from Homer, as we have done several times, hoping to tempt the giants of the deep; the Homer Halibut. As we headed out on the shimmering, sunny flat calm day, we had no idea if we would be fighting off sharks or pulling up slabs of white tender meat, but either way, we were going to try.
a glass flat calm day
Within one hour Dorian had landed a nice 20 pound halibut, dad had zero. Within another 1/2 hour Dorian’s rod started peeling line as he was loosely holding it on his lap, and he reared back hard to set the hook. The rod tip never even moved up. Then he began reeling, and reeling and reeling. Finally, while I waited with gaff in hand, he said “dad I need help. I need the belt”. I was sure he had a solid 50 pounder on the line. So I took the rod so he could get the belt and I felt the tug. Now I have caught a few halibut in my day so I consider myself a good judge of size. This was way more than 50 pounds. “Dorian grab the harpoon while you are at it” I yelled. Knowing I would need much more than a gaff if I wanted to maintain the bone structure in my arms. Just then my rod goes down, as we had left it unattended while we dealt with rod one. Not sure what I had, I left it be while we dealt with the rod at hand.
the tamed beast
Finally with the fighting belt in place with many minutes and many tugs, he managed to get it near the surface. In the water I estimated it to be over 5 feet long, but I didn’t sit back and look, I immediately began debating whether or not we should keep it, and that lasted for about 1/10th of a second as I reared back and harpooned the flat giant. It did not like that. It thrashed hard against the boat drenching both of us with the glittery gold water, which to be honest was a refreshing welcome, as my heart was pounding and I was dripping sweat in anticipation. I loaded up again and put another in her, concerned that she may break free. That settled her down and we both realized that Dorian had just landed a trophy, likely a once in a lifetime fish. I then rushed over and tended to my rod. As I reeled up my pole, the 30 pounder felt like a feather compared to what we had just dealt with. None-the-less, I swallowed my pride and landed it happy to have the meat.
We had no one to take pictures of us loading this hog, so this is after we got her on board.
We left the trophy in the water as it would’ve taken up the whole deck, while I finished fishing. The bite was on and we wanted to catch our final fish, which would have limited us both out. I was getting bites and decided that my bait had been decimated, and as I was reeling up to check, I did my little reel pause just in case. Now the reel pause has worked once, maybe twice ever in my lifetime, just enough for me to keep doing it. Well this day was the third time as 70 feet below the surface my reel spooled line like Usain Bolt was running the 100 yard dash with it. I could tell it was a nice fish, but not like we had just dealt with. After a few minutes, I managed to get it to the surface and realized it too would need a harpoon, but those were still hanging in the other fish. I handed the rod to Dorian and quickly ( at least the way I remember it was quickly. Dorian has other memories) removed one harpoon head from the trophy halibut, loaded it up and had Dorian gently lift its head, careful to keep it in the water. Slam, perfect shot. We had limited out. Now to get Dorian’s fish on the boat.
Dorian posing with the day's catch. Guess which one he caught. Notice there is about 6 inches of tail flat against the ground.
The both of us, pausing for some photos from several different groups of people. And yes I did not notice the pulley until after some nice guy helped me get the But hung.
With some creative engineering, we rigged up a large tie up line through her gills, and after clearing the deck of all remnants of gear, we both gave her the old heave ho. I knew if we didn’t get her the first time we would have to go to plan B. Plan B involve a long slow ride back to the harbor with But in tow. We managed to wiggle the head over the rail and we both fell backwards as we slid her on deck. Success.
Kassie posing, even with tail flat it is still taller than her.
Jake, Ben and Kassie wondering if we could keep her as another pet. Just what we need, another pet.
Unbeknownst to me, getting her on the boat was the easy part. Upon arriving at the harbor, we then had to transfer that slab off the boat onto a Costco type flatbed trailer, without dropping her back in the water. No small feat, but one accomplished. The next trick, pulling that trophy loaded trailer up the ramp to the cleaning station. Now if you have never been in a boat harbor, then you might not realize that harbors float. They rise and fall with the tide. So the ramp rises and falls as well. At high tide in Homer, it is almost as flat as Missouri. At low tide it is closer to Mt. McKinley. By the grace of God, we were closer to Missouri. As we motored our way over to the ramp, amidst the oohs and ahhs of the clients disembarking from their charter boats with their limit of 20 lb. halibut, I knew we would once again have only one shot at getting up the ramp. If we stop, if we rested, we were likely done. We decided that dad would pull and Dorian would push. In hindsight, probably not the best strategy for if I was to slip, Dorian would be run over by the near 200 pounds of fish and steel. Alas, we made with dad’s checks beat red as the blood from the fish, huffing and puffing all the way.
a little more ingenuity to get her on the cleaning table.
Dr. Godfrey getting ready to work his magic.
other than a piece of someone elses bait, the only other thing in her stomach was this full size dungeness crab. I was ready to cook it up, but no one else was game.
At the top of the ramp we, with some help from the myriad of onlookers, were able to get the fish up on the picture hooks and snap some shots. Tracy showed up just as we were finishing up and all the kids got to see Dorian’s pride and joy. After another hour of fish cleaning, and an over flowing cooler, we were off to dinner and onto the cabin to check out our digs for the weekend. That was day one. Stay tuned for day two.
Dorian is about 5'8", or 68 inches. We figure the But at about 70" or 165 lbs.
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
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.
Happy Mother’s Day
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms out there. I know of no one that worries more, loves more, works more, prays more, cries more, stresses more, or is more proud of their kids. I know in my house growing up and in my house now, mom is the glue, nay the concrete that keeps the family together. I know as the kids in our house grow older they navigate closer to mom, they trust mom and mom is their comforter. I really don’t know what the heck I am even doing here? Blogging? Maybe that’s my role.
We always try to make Mother’s Day special for Tra, but it seems to me that special to her is spending time with her family, driving, dining and just chilling. So one of our traditions is to drive to Homer, walk the beach, play in the park and eat of course. It is usually a relaxing and enjoyable day for mom, no dishes no mess. Unfortunately today we could not because today is the day we have to drop Jo off for her visit, a terrible Mother’s Day event. However Tra did not let that dampen her day, except for maybe a few moments.
We love ya mommy!
Mommy's favorite Mother's Day activity.
I know we have a lot of moms that read this blog, perhaps wondering about a family of ten and how they do it. But perhaps being a mother of one can be just as difficult if not more than being a mother of eight. Remember the rules of percentage! Rules of Percentage Although we may be a somewhat unique family in America, we are just a family much like all of you doing the very best we can by putting God as the center of our life and by trusting him to guide us in the raising of our kids. It is truly enjoyable to share our life experiences with all of you and to all you mothers out there, my hat is off to you and I truly do not know how you do it. May God Bless you on this your day, oh and maybe the kids can clean the house for you today, ours did. (with a little prodding from dad… hey that’s another role for me!)
Mom's House
It’s so close…..
It is so close I can taste it, and it tastes fruity. It is so close I can smell it, and it smells like coconut ( of course that could be because I just got out of the tanning bed). It is so close I can feel it, and it feels like warmth. It is so close I can see it, and it looks like heaven, and no I am not looking in a mirror, but thanks anyway. What is it? It is vacation and vacation is in Costa Rica! We leave home tomorrow and will be in Costa by Friday, and there we will stay for 17 days.
I feel like a child at Christmas, you dare not think about it because the more you think about it, the farther away it seems. So until today I have not been thinking about it too much. But as I was making my “what to bring” and “what to do” lists, in honor of my bff Jason, I got the bug, and I am not talking about malaria. I am ready, ready to go. I love this town, our friends, my kids, my work all of it, but there comes a time when one just has to get away, an that time is now.
So for the next few days we will be traveling and I do not know when I will be able to blog again. But I promise to blog from Costa as much as I can, every day if possible. And I will include as many pictures as possible, preferably of me and Tra doing cool things, zip lines, hot springs, horsey riding, and snorkeling, fishing, snoozing by our pool. So be watching. Until then, I give you this video of a huge dead snake found in Costa. Even this does not deter me nor scare me, but I would love to get a video like this guy did. I think they said it ate monkeys, I say it ate apes. It certainly made Tra a wee bit nervous. Check it out.
It’s so close I can feel it!
Happy Valentine’s Day to me!
Seems odd, wishing a happy Valentine’s Day to ones self. Yet every year at this time I wish myself a happy V day and I am grateful. You see about 41 years ago I averted a terrible destiny, a fate that would’ve have changed my life and led me down a road far off the journey I have chosen for my life. This is where I should be right now right here, with a wife that perfectly fits me, a mess of great kids, a great career, an incredible church and inspirational friends. There is no where else I would rather be, except for maybe in the NBA or perhaps the professional golf tour, but I digress. When I look back in my life I can clearly see a path that God has woven for me. Undoubtedly, I have made a myriad of rotten choices, but God has used these choices to bring me to this place. Those are stories for another time, and most of em probably shouldn’t be public, but now back to 41 years ago.
The boy's Valentine bouqet
The girl's Valentine bouqet
You see my birthday is very close to Valentine’s day, only hours away. By the grace of God I was able to hang on and miss entering this world on this day of love. Why should anyone be so frightened? Frightened of a made up holiday? Frightened of a holiday made of love, chocolates and flowers? Well you see if I had been cursed with birth on this sacred day, my life’s path would have been guided by a different moniker, one that would have caused me certain pain and consternation throughout my childhood and forever changed the destiny of my life; for my dad has oft told me, that if I had been born on Valentine’s day I would be forever dubbed Valentino Godfrey. Yes, Valentino Godfrey. If you doubt the veracity of such a threat, take this into consideration, my sister who was born 15 months after me, her name is Valery. Coincidence? I think not. So you can see why every year on this day I am thankful, thankful to carry a nice simple one syllable name, the namesake of my dad. Because I guarantee you, you have never met an Alaska State Trooper with eight kids named Valentino, and I submit that you never will.
Can we have this for dinner?
They all fight over the one big candy on top, every time!
Happy Valentine’s day to you all,
Love Valentino Godfrey
I have a bbq stain on my white T-shirt… (Tim McGraw sung by Glenn Godfrey)
We had a great evening last night! It was our 20 year anniversary, and we had a nice dinner and even a movie, which for us is a rare occurrence; very rare if you count non-animated pictures. In fact, we spent midnight in the theatre, and we had the whole theatre to ourselves! it was actually a lot of fun, for two old fogies. Several of you know that I got us a surprise trip to Costa Rica as a present, I wasn’t able to keep it a secret from myself, as I am a trained investigator, but Tracy didn’t have a clue. Now she knows, and I think she is excited.
College Daze
I have been playing with my new iphone all day looking at Costa Rica stuff so that we will be prepared. My mom will be watching the kids for 2 weeks while we are gone (Lord have mercy on her) so that is part of her gift to us. And finally, after 20 years, I was able to get Tra a new wedding ring. Why did she need a new ring? Well I was 20 when we got married and I did not have a lot of dough, and what dough I had was spent on eating out and movies. So her ring was low quality. I don’t want to say it was small, but she had to carry a 100X magnified picture with her so people could see the diamond. People thought it was a diamondless band. But at the time it didn’t matter, we did what we had to to make it work and it has worked great for 20 years and one day. I still truly don’t think it mattered to her, but I do know she deserved a lot more, so I was happy to oblige.
Tra is glad I didn't know about the "mash your bride's face into the cake" tradition. I view it as an unmade memory.
I look really really excited for some reason.
The happy couple today.
Today was January 1, 2009 and to celebrate, Tracy made one of my favorite foods, bbq ribs. I love baby backs, and she made a bunch of em. She has a great recipe and it is always a treat for me when they appear. Not a treat for my shirt, pants, or belly, but good for my soul for sure.
Ice webs due to sub zero temps and steam from grill
-20 ribs, I can't tell you how they smelled because the minute I walked outside, my nostrils froze shut.
Did you know you lose 70% of your body heat through your head? I sure do!!
Minutes before the tail / bone yard that was this meals destiny.
Livy helping...
Kassie watching....
and Jo??????????
Here is to a fantastic New Year for all of us. I pray that you prosper spiritually, physically, and financially in the New Year. And keep on reading the blog and don’t be afraid to comment, we really enjoy the comments, good or bad. Let’s get out there and have a divine 2009!
The day after
Well we made it through another Christmas, in hindsight I would have changed my gift requests from Santa. I would have asked for a snowplow for my truck, medication for the pain in my back, larger size pants and/or liposuction. Perhaps next year I will remember that! We did have a great Christmas and I love to see the new snow fall all day long, it is the day after that is a little brutal. Oh, and guess what? There were a whole bunch of Legos delivered to our house. Are you surprised?
Twas the night before Christmas and all the kids were out.
Jolynn and Nya at Christmas Eve service.
We had a great service at church Christmas Eve and the Daniels spent most of the day at the house. It was actually relaxful and lots of fun with far too much food, just the way I like it. Now we are ready for the new year and our 20 year anniversary.
Christmas Eve, jammies on ready to dig in, before Jo came home.
Moments before the chaos, with Jo home.
Isiah opening up the family gift
Black and white beauties.
Dorian and Jake watching Jace open his big $$ gift.
Angie and Jason reviewing their pictures. "You're right he is an awesome looking man"
Even Shyla and Hammy got into the act. Pity when your pets have a better ride than you.
G$ flashing his gang signs in his new sweatshirt.
Jake Claus took a moment to visit our house.
This is a nice peaceful scene Christmas morning. And then….
During led too…..
After the unwrapping and finally….
An overflowing truck full, cab and bed of wrapping paper and boxes. We are definitely members of GWAN and we are doing our part. What is GWAN? Global Warming for Alaska Now. You can send all donations through me, or simply keep your car warming up an extra 10 minutes every day. If we all get involved we can do our part to make AK warmer.
Finally a little video of Santa’s visit to our house. Now, our kids know Jesus is the reason for Christmas, but I still don’t understand why they don’t believe in Santa. He was most definitely jolly and by far more handsome that I ever imagined. He was wore out rather quickly, don’t know why. Enjoy.
It’s beginning to look a lot like…..
Tracy has been shaking and baking, cleaning , rearranging, decorating, caroling, wrapping, clapping ( it fit) and snapping (it fit again). She has transformed our abode into a veritable winter wonderland. As usual it looks like it could be in a fine magazine, like Fish Alaska; they don’t get any finer than that. Seriously though, she works very hard at transforming our house to give us the true Christmas spirit. Which in our house consists of kids wishing out loud, over and over and over again for their favorite gifts. Even Marlee Matlin in a Chuck E. Cheese would know what our kids want for Christmas, especially if she is sitting next to Jeremy. And those of you following the blog, also know.
The trick is making sure we match the right present with the right kid. For instance, Dorian or Jeremy probably would not be to keen when they open up a pink frilly tutu Christmas morning. And Alli probably would throw Legos at if she opened themup. There is nothing like the love of your teenage daughter. So you see, the trick isn’t in the gift, it is in the delivery. One great tradition in our house, we don’t open presents until a little later in the morning. And… no one is allowed upstairs until dad has coffee brewing and ready to roll the video that will never ever be watched again. Why is it great? Duh, we get to sleep in!! Now that is a Christmas gift worth bragging about! Now onto some photos.
This ought to give you a taste of what the house looks like before it turns into a seething mass of cheap wrapping paper, endless wire tires, batteries, trash bags and Scotch tape. But mostly it will be a mess of happiness, love,cheer, thank-fullness and hopefully a little kindness. We hope each and every one of you have a blessed Christmas. God Bless and Merry Christmas from the akgodfreys.
OUR CHRISTMAS LETTER IS ON THE TAB ON THE TOP LABELED “2009 CHRISTMAS LETTER” I know it is not 2009… it is a long, disturbing boring story, so I will spare you.
G.A.S
All right, let me make this clear right now, G.A.S has nothing to do with bodily functions after Thanksgiving. G.A.S stands for the Great Alaska Shootout, or as it was called this year, the Good Alaska Shootout. You see, in the past we had teams like Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina need I go on? All of these teams are former multiple NCAA champs. This year, Seattle U., Portland State, Northern Illinois, and the eventual champs of the year San Diego State University. General rule of thumb, The more words you have after your state name in your school, the inverse to your success as a basketball program. Of course their are always exceptions, but as a general rule it applies. That being said, there were some great games this year, and the UAA girls won their tournament.
Why you ask is he talking about the stinking shootout? Because, as long as I can remember, I have spent much of my Thanksgiving break at the G.A.S., and now the tradition is being passed on to my kids. If I recall correctly, which is doubtful, I used to sit still and study players and plays and watch every game with great intensity. Now, my kids like to eat, walk, talk, and just hang out at the Sullivan Arena. Not a lot of game watching going on. But I don’t mind at all. The boys fish for autographs pretty much every year, and I am pretty sure they have about 16 water boy autographs, along with some NBA players, hard to tell which is which though. I have some pics I took with my phone at the games, so they are not up to my usual National Geographic quality, for that I apologize, but I worked with the tools that I had. And remember, next time you hear me talk about gas, you now know I am talking about the shootout, especially around Thanksgiving.
cousin Josh, Hunter and Jeremy posing, and not well. Action shot of posers, cousins Hunter and Sam guard Jeremy.
Uncle Brad is always popular at the shootout. Dad, not so much. It looks like Jeremy is going to bug out of the picture.
As I post these, it occurs to me that I didn’t get any action shots of the players. Oh well these are the ones that really matter anyway.
If you look in the background, past the three amigos, you can see uncle Mort and Sonya and their son Chris.
All in all the shootout is as much a part of Thanksgiving as the turkey for our family. I find as I get older, those nice comfy plastic seats aren’t quite as comfy anymore. Still I go and I watch, watch basketball, people and the kids. I thoroughly enjoy watching the kids cruise the Sully looking for autographs, food and eventually girls. I believe, as they were for me, these are things that will make up the memorable moments in their lives. Moments that they will recall for the rest of their lives; when the smell of an old hot dog waifs by their nose, or they hear the din of basketballs in the distance, or they hear the “Who let the dogs out song” ( which is played repeatedly throughout the tournament) they will smile and recall the good times with dad spent at the shooutout, and recall how they sat intently watching studying the players, the plays and the game of basketball, and hopefully they will impart this to their kids.
Is it still considered a laptop?
Well I haven’t posted in a while. I am experiencing a little bit of laptop issues. As many of you may know, we traditionally spend Thanksgiving at my Mom’s in Eagle River. This always, without exception, involves a copious amount of food, including 12 different pies. Well I feel most obligated to try all 12 pies, so I did, except the cherry pie, not a huge fan of the cherry pie. So that brings me back to my laptop issue, no I didn’t spill the cherry pie on my laptop, but close. The eating of a dozen pies has an adverse effect on ones belly, consequently the belly enlarges and pushes the laptop away from the lap and onto the knees. So my laptop has now become a kneetop, and hard to reach with my stubby arms. So I am writing to you from my kneetop. It is much slower and tedious, but for the faithful readers it is well worth it.
We had a great Thanksgiving, lots of food, family, friends and fellowship. Jake had his birthday the day after Thanksgiving, aka black Friday. I told him they didn’t name it after him, but you know how impressionable kids are. I pray he doesn’t get a complex.
an after main course shot with the infamous cranberry salad in the forefront. Notice not much is missing from the salad, that is the tradition of the infamous cranberry salad. ( I might eat some if there wasn’t celery in it)
Mort, Chris, Sonya, Jenna, Brad, (Glenn’s chair) Tracy, Laura, Sean discussing whether or not we should break out the pies.
Kids table with 1/2 the kids eating.
One new guest we had this year was the pie Nazi. Usually it is tradition for us to eat pie the night prior to Thanksgiving, and for breakfast the morning of. However, the pie Nazi showed up this year, I won’t name names, but her initials are TMG and she has 8 kids. The pie Nazi wouldn’t let me have the traditional early pieces of pie, so a conflict ensued and I lost. However, if you look closely at the pie pictures, you will notice some pieces missing. The freedom fighters, the Mortenson’s, were able to secure some pre-Thanksgiving pie thus keeping the tradition alive. I will always be grateful for their sacrifice.
So we are alive and well and we had a great Thanksgiving, and we pray you did the same. I will post some more of our excellent adventures throughout the week as I am going to be stuck in Anchorage all week for training. Oh, btw, only 27 days left until Christmas.
