June 2021

Our first June in Alaska. Odin was sleepy

One more of the black bear we drove by the end of May.

Our first tulips in the yard.

New rug for my messed up stained deck.

Eden's primary activities group went for a hike at the Eagle River Nature Center. It was so fun seeing this girl with her church friends who will all start young womens in just 6 months. They even saw a black bear from a distance.

Bear in the distance the girls spotted.

It is fitting to see the stones decorations the kids came up with to write the words "be kind". Two years later as I am finally writing about this the kids are watching the movie Cinderella where her mother teaches her the two most important strengths to have are to 1. Have courage, and 2. Be kind.

Kindness goes so far especially where in this world it is forgotten so often.

I hope my children will always remember to "be kind".

Painting rocks with friends.

The kids found a license plate that reads "GOT PUG". Now they want a custom license plate.

Grammy comes to visit. We were able to fly Derek's Mom up for a visit and to try to do as many Alaska things as possible.

Eklutna Lake for a picnic and hiking around.

We sure love our backyard.

We figured out another type of fishing called "snagging". The hooks are huge and it is combat fishing. We wanted to try it out, so we went to Seward while Grammy was here and tried, and had some success for our first time. Before we took our trip to Seward, we made a trip to Girdwood to visit the Wildlife Animal Center. It was so much fun to walk around and see all the different Alaskan animals. One of our favorites was a black bear that was walking right along the fence with us. We also loved the male moose and some porcupines.

This guy was friendly and cute, but we were glad for the fence between us. We are not afforded that luxury when we get black bear visitors at our house.

This guy was also friendly and funny. He stood up for us to say hello.

Once again we appreciate the fence between us and him, because many come walking through our yard and it's not as much fun without a fence.

Cute little Connor always wanting his picture taken.

36 feels so good. Life is so busy, but good. I never imagined being in Alaska for my 36th birthday. I love being the primary president and working with my kids. I love homeschooling my kids and their friends. When the kids were in public school I would miss them and feel like I wanted them home, and this was the year I finally was able to really accomplish that goal and it was better than I could imagine. I love my children with all my heart. I love that I get to learn alongside them because I've forgotten so much from my education. I love sharing my life with Derek. I couldn't have asked for a better 36.

We booked a cruise for the Kenai Forj Glacier Cruise. We left out of Whittier, AK. We were suppose to be out for several hours, but after just 30 minutes or so the boat had some malfunctions and we had to go back into shore. We had some delicious chowder, and a small boat ride, and a determination to try again another time for the tour.

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The next day was the Seward trip for snagging.

Derek's very first snagged red salmon!

The beauty in the bay is so remarkable. Bald eagles were plenty and the views were incredible.

We went the night before where Derek caught a salmon and then took everyone the following morning.

The kids made rock decorations.

Derek, Kael, and Sharice all caught fish on the second day.

Of course then Kael had to compare the size of fish he caught to his Mom's, which was quite bigger.

Smallest to largest. It was a fun day. 

Mama Moose and her baby

Cooking up our catch for dinner.

Next up is kayaking and lake fishing. Lake trout are so much smaller than fishing for salmon.

Hiking Barbara Falls

The mushrooms in Alaska are amazing and grow in he most peculiar places.

We had such a fun time with Grammy and loved our visit. We can't wait to do it again someday.

Derek and I took a late night date and drove to Seward to fish together and snag a few more salmon.

SO heavy to lift that many fish!

Delicious salmon!

Derek got the boat ready for the water and we are testing it out at Finger Lake and love driving around the lake.

Our cute little family out on a boating adventure.

We went to the Russian River to try "flossing". We didn't catch anything, but it was a fun adventure non-the-less.

Trying to earn a little summer money the kids made a goodie and lemonade stand and were quite successful.

Cute boy and his puppy.

Working in our garden. We love that we have a garden!

We are so happy to be back in primary! It had been a very long 15 months of no in person primary.

I had been filling in many positions as many people are absent in the summer months. I was conducting singing time and was able to snag a photo of these cute girls with mustaches. Silly Eden.

In Alaska everything seems to be full force. When opportunity comes you take it because the summer is so fast. We have fallen in love with fishing and all the outdoors things to do in Alaska. We love the wild animals, the gardening, sunshine, and all the fun Alaskan things.

We couldn't have asked for a better first June!