Highlights from this Summer and Fall

And just like that, summer is over and fall is quickly coming to an end as well! Winter is on the horizon as we have already gotten some snow. It is hard to believe. It has been a summer and fall filled with projects, family, fishing, hunting, berry picking, boating, and little blogging, so here is a quick snapshot of some our summer and fall just to catch you all up...

Projects

Filling in our lot which is always under water. We brought in  30  dump truck loads .

Building a new deck on our house with the help of my dad.

Progress!

More progress!

Finished!

Fall Hunting and Berry Picking

This fall, we took a hunting/berry picking trip. It was a beautiful fall day. We didn't find a moose which was our hope, but we did get some nice berries and some geese!

Scanning  a lake for some form of wildlife.

Our geese that we caught! Good start for our Christmas feast!

Hot on the trail of a moose, but this was as close as we got!

Our trusty companion!

This was a great day out!

Family

Beach Party

Berry Picking

The Berry Picking Master!

We also did some fishing!

More visitors! Spending some time with Kiah on the tundra.

A Fall Walk on the Tundra

Fall is definitely in the air.  Just like last September we have had some of the nicest days of the year.  The air is crisp and cool, even frosting for the past several nights, but the sun has been shining and it has been dry and calm.  Even after an exhausting day, we just can't pass up enjoying the beautiful days for at least a few minutes.  The tundra is changing colors, and it's so pretty and refreshing to be out and about.

This weekend if it's not raining we plan on going out on the boat (maybe for the last time before winter) to pick some cranberries and hunt some birds if there are any who have stuck around this long.  We hear that the cranberries are best after the first frost; it really sweetens them up, and there are many more cranberries this year than last!  

A Little Bit of Nesting

The nesting has begun!  I didn't plan on prepping a baby room so early, but a good opportunity came to buy a used crib from someone at work, and so it began.  I didn't want the house or a certain room to become cluttered with storage until we "get around to organizing."  That's not my style.  Since we have the space to do it now, we might as well do it.  So we took advantage of some visitors we had to help us move the bed out of our extra guest bedroom and began the set-up.

Kiah approves of the new crib

Finished product with the essentials-a crib complete with sheet and nursing pillow generously thrown in with the sale of the crib, our used IKEA chair that we already had, a bookshelf we got for free at a garage sale with new books from grandparents, and some African decor that happened to be in the room beforehand.

 We also refurbished an old dresser here in the parsonage, and it looks like new!

Before...

...After

I've really enjoyed being thrifty with acquiring things for the baby.  It's not the normal kind of thrifty, like buying lightly used products from a secondhand store.  Even garage/moving sales are sometimes a little out of hand when it comes to prices I have found.  A funny thing about Bethel is that people often try to sell used things but tack on a few extra (or 50 extra) dollars for the additional shipping cost to get it all the way here from two years ago.  Most of the time, people buying used things don't care if you paid a pretty penny to get a product here eons ago, but nonetheless the practice continues here.  It just gives me a little chuckle from time to time.  Thriftiness has come mainly from accepting the generosity of some people who are willing to part with their baby products or make something nice for the baby by hand and finding new use for things already lying around somewhere.

I also have not really gotten into the whole "we have to paint the room and buy brand new things and have every baby product out there" phase.  I think sometimes our culture goes a little overboard.  Sure, a baby takes a lot of stuff, but they could also care less about a lot of things that we adults think are so important.  And they change so fast!  When they are so little, it seems silly to have dozens of items they'll use for a month.  Even clothing-wise, I'm thinking lots of onesies and cloth diapers will do (of course with a few intense winterwear items).

As simple as we want to keep things, we also have a few things in mind to splurge on, like the BOB stroller we bought from REI with a convertible carseat.  We hear that a heavy duty BOB can make foot travel much easier on these bumpy, often muddy or icy roads of Bethel.

Essentially, gathering "things" is a way we humans prepare for some kind of journey, picturing and shaping that journey into what we want it to be, whether it's a vacation to a tropical place, a new school year beginning, or moving into a bigger home.  It's just one of the only things we can do right now in the excitement and anticipation of a new baby coming: gather things.

And there is definitely no doubt that a baby is coming.  The baby has been moving up a storm the last couple of weeks, reminding us everyday that he/she is their own being and will be needing their own space very soon!

Anniversary in Fairbanks

For our anniversary this year, we took a trip to Fairbanks to visit some friends who opened up their home to us and to see a new place in Alaska.  It's always good to take some time off, be in a new place, and come home refreshed.  On our anniversary, we spent the day exploring Fairbanks, shopping, eating some good Thai food, and enjoying a night at a hotel while watching the USA Women's Beach Volleyball final on the Olympics.

The following day we headed down to Denali National Park and Preserve with Mary and her parents.  

You can see it way off in the distance, the white peak.  Denali is the tallest mountain in North America, and it did look pretty grand upon first glance.  Sadly, this was about the only glance we got.  We found out that in order to actually see the whole mountain up close, you have to ride on a park bus with lots of other people for at least 7 hours.  We opted to pass on that.  We enjoyed the beautiful surroundings nonetheless.

 Friends

 Another good view.  So tall that it's still snow-capped in August.

  We really enjoyed the trip, knowing we won't be able to spontaneously get up and go in the future like we do now, remembering we will never celebrate a kid-free anniversary again, and realizing it's probably our last big trip in general before the baby comes in January.  It was a great babymoon and anniversary trip all wrapped into one!  And thank you to the Swansons for hosting us and letting us crash at your new house.  I'm glad we could finally meet up here in Alaska!

We Have Some News to Share

We have an announcement!

For all those who are far from us, you probably don't know that we have a new addition coming to our family!  He or she is coming with the New Year and will be "Alaska Grown," as the shirt infers.

We are very excited for this new chapter in our lives together and can't wait to see that little person.  God has blessed us, and we are so thankful!

Vegetables Are Coming

Our garden has produced its first harvest and we have enjoyed monitoring its progress from our garage!

 Lettuce, spinach, radishes, beets, rutabaga, zucchini, onions, and carrots

 The lettuce, spinach, and radishes are the only vegetables we have been able to eat.

 They're looking good!

And they tasted great too.  It's so neat to be able to plant some things, monitor their progress, and reap the benefits!

Visitors!

It has been a very busy summer thus far with lots of events going on!  The weather has been disappointing at times, rainy and kind of cold, but we have been fortunate to have some beautiful, sunny, warm days too, which we are quickly learning you do not waste here in Bethel, Alaska.  Outdoor activities are our favorite so we take every little chance we can get to enjoy them.

We celebrated Aaron's 27th birthday in June by going camping upriver for our premiere camping trip of the summer.  We slept in the boat since it has a canopy, which was quite convenient and cozy!  I even made a birthday cake for the big journey, but it turned out a little sad after all the shifting and heating up.  It still tasted good, though!

We have also had visitors!  Don and Tiffany came up at the end of June, and my dad was here just this last week.  It was nice to show people how we live here and see family.  We did some fishing, boating, eating, exploring, movie watching, and hanging out.  The time goes so quickly!  I think two of the most impressionable parts of their time here were: 1. The size and amount of mosquitoes and  2. The fact that it rained nearly every day.  We still had good chats and quality time together!

Good food and company

Don and Tiffany

Brothers

Fishing! All we caught was a Pike, but we were close to getting some salmon!

The strangest thing happened when Dad was in town.  There was a hoax that went out of control here in Bethel.  A rumor spread that Taco Bell was coming to town.  Apparently it was even on the Internet, and people applied for jobs there.  Well, the truth finally came out that Taco Bell was not coming to Bethel.  Taco Bell executives "felt bad" about all the excitement people here had shown only to find out that it was all a hoax, so they brought in 10,000 free tacos for the community last Sunday (really, it was a good excuse to build up the company's reputation by executing a publicity stunt, but no one here was complaining about that!).  There was quite a turnout.  Traffic was backed up and everything.

And this is how they brought the tacos to town.  That's right.  That is a helicopter carrying a giant truck filled with tacos.  I don't know if that was really the most efficient way to deliver tacos to Bethel, but it was certainly dramatic, which is the effect I think they were going after.

In the boat eating some smoked King salmon strips from a friend's fish camp.

Aaron caught a chum salmon! (To everyone else here that is the worst kind of salmon and would probably be thrown back, but we're thrilled to get it!)

Camping over the 4th of July near the base of Three Step with friends and Dad

Our guests got the full Bethel experience, including the wilderness and some times of little to do.  In another month we have two more rounds of visitors, and we're hoping the weather will be good, the Silver salmon will be running strong, and the berries will be in full bloom!  Until then, Aaron and I have plenty to keep us occupied and entertained for the long summer days!