Our Life in Pictures

Hello from an officially fall/winterish Alaska. Yes, folks, our winter is en route. It snowed yesterday (Sunday, September 26). I was teaching in the 4/5 year old class at church and one of the dads ran in and was shouting (no exaggeration) to his kid that it was snowing. All the kids and I ran to the one window in the room and sure enough, we saw the flurries. It built up to the point that it was a mini-blizzard by noon. Fortunately, the ground is still warm so there was no stickage.

In other news, my friend Greta was in town for 5 days last week. We hadn't seen each other since we moved to AK so we had a lot of ground to cover. The thing about those kinds of friendships, though, is that even if it had been 10 years since we'd been together, we pick up right where we left off. We had so much fun. Pictures below :)

Here are some pics of Kara's class field trip to Campbell Creek. The 2nd graders in all of Anchorage do a year-long project where they harvest salmon eggs, nurture them in the classroom and then set the mini-fishies free at the end of the school year. This trip was to harvest (and fertilize!!) the salmon eggs. It was really cool to watch..

Kara and her friend Olivia.

The biologists getting ready to "harvest" the (dead) female salmon's eggs. It was kind of gross, to be honest. But the fertilization part was much grosser. By far.

When Greta came to town, we took advantage of the warmer (50s) weather and relative sunshine every day. This day was a hiking trip up Mount Baldy with the kids after school. I am a genius and I brought 2 friends for the kids.. that significantly cuts down on my kids' complaining but it significantly adds to the feeling of cat herding. They did great and it was beautiful.

Greta and I at the top of Mount Baldy. It was pretty chilly. We rewarded ourselves with a lovely pizza dinner and brownies. We are very good at rewarding ourselves with food. Been doing it for 20 years now :)

Clay and Ryan at the top... they were feeling just fine :)

Another day, we went to Girdwood/Alyeska to hike on a 5 mile trail that leads to this huge gorge where you can pull yourself across using a hand tram.. what that is is a basket hanging onto a relatively thin cable that you tow yourself across using a rope.. the hike was beautiful and we ended up running into some other friends and their kids. It was another awesome day.

Another awesome thing we did when Greta was here was taking our bikes out to some AWESOME bike trails... it's usually a cross-country ski trail in the winter, complete with green and black runs for skiiers. In the non-snow time, you can bike. We had a BLAST. My bike was made for this kind of riding (thanks, Fokker). So much fun. We again rewarded ourselves with an early (11:00am) happy hour at a local mexican food joint. Good times.

One night, Clayton took the kids and we met up with a bunch of friends at a restaurant downtown (Sullivan's). It was so much fun for me to introduce my new Alaska friends to one of my oldest friends (you know what I mean!!). We had a fabulous time without the kiddos. Thanks to ALL the dads who kept their kiddos so the moms could go out on Friday :)

This is Christy, me, Christen and Greta.

Proof of the random September snow shower... a lovely preview of what is sure to come.

Greta's trip was pretty successful: she saw a bull moose up close and personal, bear tracks at the river (fresh), a bald eagle (but no bear)... experienced the first snow and a 5.4 earthquake. Not bad for 5 days! I'm sending a big shout out to her mom and dad and her husband Jason. I love you guys and thanks for freeing Greta up to come to Alaska. We had a great time. I love you, friend! Thanks for coming :)

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Greetings from Alaska the beautiful! After a grisly summer (read: rain, heater running, dreary days) weather-wise, we are having a LOVELY fall complete with sunny days, warmish (60s) temperatures, changing leaves and happy Johnsons.

Last weekend was my birthday. It was my 9th anniversary of turning 29. I have never really had issues with my age but this birthday made me feel old. When my mom was my age, I was 16! Thankfully, there are certain treatments that make me look not so old all the time (wink, wink). I had a really great weekend. We went to Girdwood for the day on Saturday and we hiked the North Face with the Sutterfields. In fact, Clayton flew down there with Kevin while Kamdon and I drove the girls in the car. It was a great day. Sunday was far less active but great, nonetheless. Kara and Clayton made me breakfast in bed (egg and bagel sandwich). On Sunday night, we went to the coolest place in Anchorage.. it's an old steak place, Club Paris, that is caught in about 1976 both musically and decoration-wise. It's awesome!! Dark, wood paneling, pleather seats, low lighting, fabulous tunes and super-yummy steaks. Kamdon booked a sitter so the 4 adults could eat out in peace. It was a great day . Thanks to everyone who called, messaged and facebooked. I felt celebrated, for sure.

Meanwhile, the 2010-2011 school year marches on. Due to a variety of factors, our kids aren't doing AWANA this year.. mainly that is due to it moving to Sunday nights, one of the few nights Clayton is generally at home. SO, Clay is having a break and Kara is doing Heritage Girls, a Christian-focused take on girl scouts. She is also in choir.. we are considering a keyboard (the horror!!) for piano lessons as well. We're staying busy. Even I am managing to stay busy during the days that BOTH kids are in school. Granted, some of that time is spent riding the bike trails in Anchorage with the bike mafia we have going (a group of moms who bike like mad). I LOVE it!! We have to do something to keep in shape until the snow gets here and we can XC ski. The fall is flying by....

Oh, and Fokker... well, he's working a lot.. he always works a lot but it's even more frantic these days. Prayer arrows with his name on them are always welcome :)

Kara and Ainsley hiking at Girdwood on 9/11.

The kids and mommy on my birthday...

Hanging out by Eagle River 9/14...it looked more fall-y in real life..

Clay at Eagle River.

Karen and Kara 2 weeks ago..

My awesome new painting that Kamdon and I finished today... it's based on a painting at a local restaurant here in Anchorage. I have always LOVED the painting because it reminded me of home (Arizona) with the pool but it's so Alaska with the polar bear. Kamdon helped me figure out a way to get the general idea (my own) onto a canvas on my wall!! I LOVE it !!!!! Kamdon put on little cactuses (it's acceptable to say cactuses OR cacti according to Mrs Theibert, my HS humanities teacher, so there) to really give it the AZ feel.

We're all loving Alaska this time of year.. all that's missing is you!!!!!

Clay-Clay'isms

I just wanted to share a few funny things that Clay has said lately... He can be pretty funny, but mostly when he's not trying. On Friday after school, he was mad at me because I was chatting with a friend and he had to wait for me for about 3 minutes after school (they wait with the teacher outside but in line until a parent comes to get them.. this is only the kindergartners.. everyone else is turned loose at the bell). So we get in the car and Clay is still kind of mad. I let him sit in the front seat on the drive home (about 3/4 mile down the street.. judge later) because Kara had a little friend coming to play and they were in the middle seat. Clay looks at me with this bizarre look on his face and says "Hey Mom. Watch this. (turning to the girls) Hey Ladies. Guess what? I don't have any homework". Without missing a beat, in an annoyed tone and almost perfectly in synch, Kara and her friend go "That's because you're in kindergarten". Major shoot-down. But I don't think Clay really noticed. What made it so funny was that (as some of you may have experienced) the "Hey Ladies" remark is a constant coming out of big Clayton's mouth.. It's like he's some kind of smooth operator or something, which he obviously isn't. It made me laugh and pained me at the same time to see little Clay following in his father's foot steps...

The second funny thing he did recently was on Saturday morning.. he was lounging on the couch and he whines to me "Mommy, do I have to go to school today?" to which I replied "Not today, it's Saturday". Instant transformation for Clay :"Yippeee!!!!". I made a disapproving face and Clay goes "You should be happy. You said you missed me while I was in school". What a funny kid.. I don't know what to make of him half the time but he does keep life interesting ;)

We've Got a Kindergartner!!

So, Clay survived his first day of kindergarten. He hasn't been very excited about going.. mostly I think he didn't want to be gone all day. I don't really think he knows what that means but it sounded like too much to him regardless. He only asked to go back to Peace Pre-school once but it gave me pause, for sure. Thankfully, he got up this morning and he was rarin' to go. We had the now traditional "K" pancake and he was out the door. The kindergarten process for the first day is a little much. All these parents squeezing into the classroom with their cameras and expectations, it's no wonder the kids cry sometimes! Fortunately, there were no Johnson tears shed by either Clay or myself. I did tear up on Kara's first day but I knew that Clay had no significant margin for error. He walked right in, put his stuff away and found his seat. He never really looked back! I was so proud of him and SUPER relieved. The little boy next to him was crying and his parents were definitely NOT making the situation better.. SO, I took my cue and exited stage left. When I picked him up, he was all smiles. His big complaint was being starving.. they only have 30 minutes for lunch. Well, Clay is a leisurely eater, to put it mildly. He is NEVER to be rushed at the table.. for real. I think tomorrow will be a more "filling" experience for him at lunch :) He did great. He is not overly forthcoming with the details but I am listening in as he talks to Grammie and Kara, I'll figure out how it went one way or the other. All in all, I'm thankful for the answered prayer of a good first day of kindergarten. I didn't have great expectations so I'm more than happy with the outcome :)

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!!!!!!