Whirlwind Life

So we went to Arizona for a quick end-of-the-summer/looking-for-sun trip. We had so many visitors this summer that we never really planned for our annual trip to the Valley of the Sun. It's been a pretty wet and not very warm summer in Alaska. We, all 4 of us, were ready for some Arizona sun and Arizona family. I've said it before, but we LOVE going home to Arizona. Nearly all of our immediate family lives within about 15 miles of one another. We get to hang out with our nephews and niece, the aunts and uncles as well as the grandparents. This summer was no different. We had less time but we packed in more fun than usual. We made Grayson's birthday party, a baby shower and a bridal shower. We invaded both grandparents' homes as well as the AZ Johnsons' house and Mark/Michelle's house. Seriously, everyone must sleep for a week after we leave. Then, I KNOW they spend that second week cleaning up after us. We had a great time as usual and we left Arizona with thankful hearts. We are thankful for the relationship we have with our siblings and inlaws as well as the relationships our kids have with their cousins.

The whole crew.. Filleman, Johnson and Saylor cousins.

The Filleman grandkids with Great Gram Boyd (my grandmother who we saw for breakfast the morning we got to town.. after flying all night and sleeping hardly-at-all).

(I was horrible at picture taking this trip because Clayton returned my first new camera and didn't get me replacement until we got home to AK.... sorry, i know you must be heartbroken.)

While we were in AZ, Kara got her hair cut. She had pretty long hair and it was driving her nuts. Somewhere along the line, she heard about Locks of Love and she decided she wanted to donate her hair. My favorite girl for hair cutting in AZ did the honors. Kara LOVES her new short hair and she is marginally disappointed that more people aren't noticing up here... I will say it's MUCH easier to take care of shorter and she looks adorable. I still need to send her pigtails to LOL, though.. (note to self, as I stare at the bag on my kitchen windowsill). Kara is pretty sweet and she is thoughtful (I'm not one of those parents who is quick to attribute desirable characteristics to their kids, FYI.. so trust me on this one). I think she might actually enjoy giving as much as she enjoys receiving so it was cool to watch her go through this process. I think we all sort of like thinking about a little girl getting a wig made out of some of Kara's hair :)

Before

Just before the cut...

After...

Right after we got home, Kara started 2nd grade. She is in class with 2 of her little friends who she has NEVER been in class with. I don't know a lot about her teacher but we trust that she's in the class she's supposed to be in. So far, two days in, she is excited about both the teacher and the kids in her class. That's good enough for me...

Her requested breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes...

Daddy and Kara before school.

Mommy and Kara before school.. she was tired of pictures at this point.

Obviously the next big day will be Tuesday, the 23rd.. Clay's first day of kindergarten. He met his teacher who happens to go to our church. She seems very kind and he responded well to her. I was pretty apprehensive because he tends to be a little "clingy" (I am understating the problem) but he did well. I have renewed hope. (As a side note, if you don't already know, we intended to keep Clay out of school for one more year since his birthday is early June.. however, on the advice of my MIL and his teacher last year, we're sending him next week. Clayton has NO backward looking on this decision which is strange for him so it's just me.)

If you're short on things to pray for (in addition to safe landings in fast, gray airplanes), you could add that to your list: Clay going to kindergarten. Pictures to follow.

This is Clay and Ryan just before "meet-the-teacher".. they aren't in the same class which is probably for the best considering they were karate kicking each other in the rain.

Checking In

I predicted only posting once a month and it seems like maybe that's the way it's going to go even though I had better intentions. This weekend finds us with our last scheduled summer visitor, our friend Michele from Texas. Her husband and son have been in Iraq for nearly a year.. her second son goes overseas sometime in the next several months. Needless to say, the girl needed a getaway. Not sure how relaxing her trip to Alaska will be, but we're having fun so far :)

The kids have had a pretty mellow last few weeks. They went to a VBS at Clay's old school and had a ball. I had a very difficult time trying to figure out how to spend my mornings without them for the week. It was really challenging, but don't worry about me. I'm a survivor. We've also spent some QT at the local museum. They have a cool area for kids and I had forgotten that I bought a family membership a while ago (I'm a sucker for family memberships at places, especially if they offer a military discount.... not unlike my suckerishness at a make-up counter). We went two days in a row last week and met up with various friends both days. Good times!!

On the schedule this weekend is the Arctic Thunder Air Show at Elmendorf. It was almost the air show that wasn't because a C-17 crashed last week. All 4 guys on board died. I didn't know any of them personally but I know lots of people who did. It's a total nightmare for everyone in the military. I can't even describe to you the feeling you get when you hear that a plane crashed on the base. Clayton was sitting right next to me when we got the call and my heart still seized up and my blood ran cold. Anchorage isn't that big and the military community is TIGHT. Pray for the families that are left behind. The guys were mostly young and they have young families.

Anyway, the air show has been a major item on our calendar for the last 6 months or so. Clayton is still sort-of a SnackO (snack officer)... the snacko is the guy who coordinates important things like the pilot slush fund, beer and snacks in the bar and t-shirts to sell at community events. We have been having BOXES of snacko gear delivered for months. And they sat around inside and outside my house for months. I was GLAD to see them out on tables for sale yesterday. Clayton hawked t-shirts, caps, shot glasses and F22 shells while I took pictures of kids dressed up like fighter pilots for a wive's fund. All day. It was fun but exhausting. May the 302 and 477 raise lots of $$$ today (Sunday) while I sit it out (sorry!!).

9 Seat Belts, 10 Hind-Ends

Hello from mid-July. My goal is to blog monthly this summer and I feel like I'm going to have no trouble meeting that goal :) We just said good-bye to the Arizona Johnsons. They were with us for 2 fabulous weeks. We jam packed their time with Alaska fun and their visit FLEW by. We had been looking forward to their visit FOREVER, so that it went quickly was no surprise. I'll just post a ton of pictures and try to give my dear reader(s) a small glimpse into our awesome (awe-shome, as Clay says) time with them.

After a "welcome to Alaska" lunch at Moose's Tooth... where we converted TJ and Loges to eating salads w/ranch :)

Fishing for lake trout at Clay-Clay's chalet birthday bash (we sang to TJ as well). The sun was shining and it was warmish after a few days of chilly rainy weather.

The boys got Star Wars ships. They ALL played Star Wars Ships the rest of the vacation. It was loud but very fun to watch. Even Evie would get in on the action.

Baby Evie. Best. Sleeper. Ever. And always happy, she wins "trooper of the trip" award for being schlepped around all over the place and not complaining a bit!!

Logan being Logan. We got to hang out with him for 2 days while Clayton and Troy took the bigger kids hiking. He definitely missed all the bigger kids but I like to think he enjoyed being the cat's meow while they were gone. Evie was with us, too, but she slept a lot of that time :) There were pics from that camping extravaganza (they hiked out 5 miles into the mountains and camped overnight in tents..ate dehydrated food, etc) but they are MIA for now.

Hiking Mount Magnificent with the whole crew. The kids did pretty well.. they all hike for food or at least for the promise of food. We were all well rewarded with homemade tater tots afterwards at a yummy local restaurant. I think the moms were maybe more excited about that meal than the kids were!

Hiking at Hatcher's Pass. The sun was out and it was sunny.. but cold. The kids hiked for a while and then played in an abandoned mine town for a while until they hit their walls. It was a great day!! (Troy and Clayton went halibut fishing this day). I really wish this thing wouldn't randomly underline..it drives me crazy!!

For 2 nights and 3 days, we went camping!! At the Russian River.. where there are generally A LOT of red salmon making their runs this time of year. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans? No salmon in the Russian this year... but we didn't let that deter us. We camped on. In an RV. All 10 of us. Evie slept in a shower... where she turned the water on herself. Twice in one night. The stories from this short trip are endless... I won't belabor you, dear reader(s) with the details. But suffice it to say, Melissa and I did a lot of waiting on the men that first night. Like 8 hours. In the dark and rain. Eventually they returned from a midnight fishing trip FISHLESS.. and after we set off looking for them in the RV.. with 6 sleeping kids in the back... down dark Alaska roads at 2:00 AM. Good times, folks, good times.

Our only bear sighting on the trip. Bears are abundant at Russian River... but with fewer salmon, they weren't out and about like usual. This guy was across the river and could have cared less about all of the gawkers across the way. It made for awesome viewing and decent pictures.

S'Mores!!! Always a big hit. If I may say so (and I may, because this is my blog, no?), the food on this camping trip was practically gourmet. We had ASSUMED that there would be fresh salmon for at least one meal (wrong assumption) so we had some fabulous sides. However, being full-on boy scouts at heart, Melissa and I had a contingency plan should there be no salmon (now you see why we make the big bucks).. We had chili that Troy made pre-trip. We had corn bread w/chili, chili dogs, chili nachos.. sort of like Forest Gump and his shrimp. But we ate well, even sans salmon. And we had lots of food just in case any errant bears decided to hit us up for a meal :)

Here's a picture of us after bowling on our last day together. It was a great visit. Those of you who have been up here know the cost and time involved in traveling to Alaska. We appreciate so much that people would come up here to hang out with us!! We made great memories and are anxious to do it all again someday. Everyone at my house is wishing that the visit was still ahead of us instead of behind, for sure.. we've been rattling around the house (the kids and I) trying to figure out what to do with ourselves. Having family in Alaska always makes us miss you guys down in Arizona that much more.. Thanks to Troy and Melissa for coming up. COME BACK ALREADY!!!!!!

Backwards Posting.. Pictures of Kara's Birthday Party

I am so scrambled brain these days. I thought I had put up some pics from Kara's birthday party and pics of her Kamdon cake but I realized I hadn't. I know some of you probably have ulcers from wondering where these photos are, and considering I don't like to disappoint, I'm posting them a month late :)

The theme for this year's birthday was "Art"... Kara loves art and wanted an art party. This is a cake she co-designed with Miss Kamdon. The little paintings were painted by she and Ainsley on fondant canvases.

pre-party irritation (already)

Clay's last day of pre-school was on Kara's birthday.. excellent timing because her party was for "girls only". I'm still not even sure he realizes he missed the whole thing!!

Party table.

Instead of games, the girls painted these little wooden dog houses from Michael's. They were a huge hit and they turned out really cute.

The cake was tye-dyed!! How cool is that?!

It was a good day.. fun celebration of Kara and her 7th birthday. We sure love that girl.

Since We Last Met....

Greetings from mid-June. This summer is FLYING by, folks.. Lots to report since the last update. I know everyone is just waiting with bated breath.

I'll get straight to the point and use the bullet system for this post. Since you last heard from the Johnsons, the following has happened:

* Clay turned 5! Seriously, where has the time gone??? I feel like he should still be 3.. which he occasionally acts like. We aren't partying big until TJ gets here but we did go to Chuck E Cheese with the Sutterfields the night of his birthday for a mini celebration. He thoroughly enjoyed the attention. We're saving the awesome cake for the TJ party to follow.

* Summer 2010 visitor round 3 has come and gone. Our sweet friend Jenn from Fort Worth came up for 2 weeks. We had lots of fun trekking around, showing off Alaska. The weather her first week was awesome. It was pretty dreary the second week. Add the exhaustion from the first week and some summer colds (UGH!), the second week was probably a little anticlimactic. Oh well, it was great to see her. It had been 3 years since we'd seen her with our eyes.. she's been to Africa and back in that time.. and we've moved to AK (obviously). We're thankful for good friends, old ones and new ones.

* Clayton and I celebrated our 13th anniversary. Sometimes it seems like we've been married for 13 months and sometimes it seems like we've been married for 31 years. We got to go out to dinner in Anchorage while Miss Jenn hung out with the kids. AND, we got a new camera!! Hallelujah!!!

Here are some pics to keep you entertained and to prove that the sporadic blogging isn't merely a result of my laziness :)

Fishing at Lake Hillberg on base... the kids and Jenn caught some little fishies. They threw them all back.

Trooper is back with us for a week or so... We love him!!

Happy Birthday to Clay... LOVE HIM!

The family that hikes together.....

Miss Jenn and her fan club at Alyeska.

Clay and Chase eating smores.

Summer 2010 Visitors: Rounds 1 and 2

We're only about 10 days into our summer vacation but I can already tell it's going to FLY by this year. We've already logged 2 visitors so far this year and it's only June 2. I think that's not too shabby. The first round was my mom and dad and grandma Jeanette. My dad actually had meetings in Anchorage so they all trekked up here and made a trip of it. We had so much fun dragging Jeanette all across "south central Alaska". The kids thoroughly enjoyed having 2 grandmothers and a granddad in town, to cater to their every whim (what a shock this week will be when it's just me..not catering to their every whim). The grandparents stayed until early Saturday morning and their replacement, Karen, arrived late Friday night. She stayed through a lovely Memorial Day weekend and left us Monday night. Good times. Lots of ground covered. Yesterday it was back to business as usual. I spent the entire day with my new best friend, the rug doctor, cleaning our foul carpet. I nearly tore off my pinky finger in the process but I have clean carpets... just in time for our next visitor, Miss Jenn from Fort Worth!

Kara's birthday celebration (round 2) with the grandparents.

Chocolate chip cookie dough cake from Cold Stone... yum.

The whole fam damily at the Anchorage Saturday Market.. lots of "bargains".

The grandparents took the kiddos to the animal preserve that wasn't that cool after all.. no bears but lots of moose. At least we can check it off the list of things to do in Anchorage.

Eklutna Lake picnic with the Sutterfields, Fillemans and Ryan. Beautiful day, beautiful lake.

Portage Glacier cruise... it was really warm but there is still an off-glacier breeze on the top of the boat so we gave in to the windbreakers.

**********

Miss Karen, our frequent Alaska visitor, offered to pierce Kara's ears last Christmas. Kara thought about it, Daddy agreed so it happened last weekend. Kara was pretty brave though I know the "deadening" part hurt.

I think this picture is SO FUNNY with the needle hanging out of her ear. Kara does not share in that humor. At all.

All smiles and 2 pierced ears. I was hedging bets that Kara would only end up with one pierced ear.. I was wrong! She did great. Thanks go out to Miss Karen for all the pokes she gave out last weekend ;)