Prayer Request

On Tuesday night we received word that Shawn's younger sister, Victoria, was struck by lightning. She lives in Anchorage and was out with a friend for a hike on a nearby trail. She is doing well and recovering in an Anchorage hospital. Praise the Lord, she doesn't seem to have any major injuries and should be released from the hospital on Saturday. (Unless she went home tonight and I just haven't heard yet.)

She does have numerous 2nd and 3rd degree burn patches on her body from her underarms to her feet. One of her ear drums was also blown out, but the doctors are hopeful that it will be able to heal itself. Obviously she is also dealing with a lot of pain. Shawn's dad was able to go up to Anchorage and is with her now.
Please pray for her as her body continues to heal. This was a very traumatic event and we are SO glad that she survived and is doing well. "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" (2 Cor. 9:15)

The storm formed quickly in the distance of where they were hiking. They were already far from the trail head. Victoria heard thunder and then saw what she thought was lightning flash through a cloud a short distance away. She remembers asking her friend if that was lightning. Her next memory was waking up a short distance from the trail. The lightning had gone into her friend's arm then jumped to her. It entered her right arm, went down her body, and exited at her feet. Both of them had their shoes blown out and partially melted. Fortunately her friend was able to call 911 from a cell phone. A helicopter guided firefighters on ATVs to get to them. Then they had to hand carry Victoria on a stretcher down the rough trail back to the parking lot. Fortunately her friend was able to hike out on his own.
It was quite the ordeal, but we're so thankful for the quick rescue efforts of the EMT's and firefighters. The picture below was on the front page of the Anchorage Daily News the next morning (Wednesday). So we ask you to join us in lifting up Victoria to our Heavenly Father. He has already done so much to protect her. She faces many challenges in the near future and will surely need more of God's mighty strength and comfort.

Needless to say we've had a lot on our minds the last few days in addition to our normal activities and hosting my parents who are here visiting. So my apologies to those of you who have told me that you've been waiting for me to post again. We've just had a lot going on. Hope you're all having a great week and that you're enjoying the Lord's blessings.

First Trip

Last Tuesday, we went out for our first family boat trip. It was a very short one, but still fun. This week, my parents are here and there are many things that Shawn, my Dad, and Lee are working on to get the boat totally complete. So that's why our trip was so short.


We took the boat out for a quick jaunt in the Gastineau Channel. We were out long enough to pass this huge cruise ship coming in to dock in downtown. The boat trip was just what Carly had been begging for. We all had a great time. I hope it is just the beginning of fun family boating trips.

Tour Guides

On Monday, we got to play tour guides to some relatives that were in town for a day on a cruise ship. Gary is my Dad's first cousin. He and his wife, Kathy, live in Lubbock, Texas. When we were at OC we drove over to Lubbock for Thanksgiving a few times but that was actually the last time we saw them--way before kids and before we were even engaged, let alone married. So we had a great time catching up with them and introducing our children to them. First we took them to a place that any lower 48er would love to see--the Governor's Mansion and the State Capital Building--where Sarah Palin conducts business. This is Carly posing with the bear statue in front of the capital. Isaac also liked the bear.

Probably the highlight of the day, other than the beautiful weather, was going out to the Mendenhall Glacier. Gary and Kathy were both so surprised at how close we lived to an actual glacier. In case you don't know, our house is about 5 minutes by car from the glacier.
Anyway, with the great weather, we decided to hike out to Nugget Falls that flows out on the right side of the glacier. It was a great day for such a hike.



We also had Gary and Kathy over to our home for a halibut lunch. Then after Isaac's nap we headed back to town and took the pictures at the top of the post. The sun looked so pretty on Mt. Roberts and their cruise ship. It turned into a great photo op. After our photos it was time for dinner at The Twisted Fish--yum, a Juneau favorite. After dinner, we walked them down to their cruise ship and said goodbye. Carly didn't want them to go. She really enjoyed having them with us, even though it was so short. We really enjoyed it too.
And thanks to Fred and Kathie for trading cars with us so we could have enough room for everyone in one vehicle. That made the day much more enjoyable. Here's a picture of Isaac enjoying the ride and a pretzel.
So if anyone else out there is thinking about or already has an Alaskan cruise booked, let us know. We love to be tour guides and we'd love to show you the town.

Bear Hunt....the rest of the story.

(Click to enlarge)

Hello Bloggers! I (Shawn) wanted to write and tell you more about my bear hunt. I am sure you have been waiting on the edge of your seat for the rest of the story.

Neighbor Tom approached me and asked if I had any plans for a Spring Bear hunt. I said I wanted to get one, but didn’t have any plans. He invited me to join him. Monday May 11^th, at about 0330, I gathered my things and went across the street. Tom had his boat prepared and we were ready to go. We loaded up and drove to the Douglas Harbor where we launched his boat. We were the only ones launching our boat at 0430, shocking huh? It was starting to get light at that time and the high tide had just passed. We wanted to get to the bay close to high tide, so we could anchor the boat at the right location and get to the right point on the shore. We motored toward Slocum. As we approached the Taku River, the wind started picking up and the waves grew larger. We pounded our way across the open water to get to Slocum. Slocum is about 15 miles south of Juneau. There are no roads to the area, so the only access is by boat.

We anchored, loaded the raft and headed for shore. We walked toward the back of the valley, saw some good areas for bears, but did not see one. We located a good area and sat for a few hours watching the opening. No luck. We hiked up the river to see what was there, but it was a thick jungle and it was unlikely we would find an elusive bear in the woods. We hiked back out and found a small hill that allowed us to look over most of the valley and watch the tree line. Spring bears, especially large ones work hard to stay out of view and will remain in the trees unless to feed. The fresh spring grasses are irresistible to a hungry bear getting the metabolism going after months of hibernation.

Bears are truly amazing. They will go into hibernation, purging their bodies of toxins, growing new hair, new claws and renewing their bodies. Bears are a biological marvel and a unique creation of our creator.

By now it was about 3pm. The sun was warm and sky was blue. I was not so sure we were going to find any bears at this point, so I was soaking up the sun and enjoying the day. Just getting some R&R. The wind started to pick up and was blowing strongly up the bay. We could see the seas were getting rough. Hopefully it would slow down or it would be a rough night sleeping on the boat.

Tom looked over toward the trees and excitedly exclaimed in a hushed voice, “there’s a bear.” I grabbed my binoculars and looked at the bear feeding about 100 yards away. He looked big. He was definitely a black bear. (There are brown bears in the area.) The wind was blowing strongly to his back and I could see his long hair blowing in the wind. I could see a light tan as his dark hair blew back. He had a tall snout and small looking ears, indicating he was a good size bear. Tom turned on the video camera. He video taped as the bear walked back and forth, eating the fresh grasses. Even though the bear was not too far away, I wanted to get closer. The wind was in my favor and the bear didn’t know I was there.

I carefully walked down into a depression and got a small group of trees between me and the bear. The ground beneath me crunched as I walked, but the stout wind kept the bear from hearing me. He was intently focused on grasses he was eating. I got around the trees and could see the bear still on the flat, eating grass. I slowly crawled up a small rise to get into position to take a shot. He was about 50 yards from me. I got up on one knee and aimed in with my .338 Win Mag. I aimed high on his shoulder and gently squeezed the trigger. As the shot sounded the bear dropped. The bullet hit its mark and the bear dropped without moving a muscle.

I approached the bear carefully and made sure he was dead. He was beautiful. His coat was full. He didn’t have rub marks. The hair is a light tan color with dark chocolate brown tips. His head is wide and deep. I could not have asked for a better bear. He was a large mature brown color phased black bear.

We cleaned him and took him back to the boat. That evening we saw a brown bear walking on the beach.

In the morning we took the bear to the beach, skinned him and quartered him. We put the meat in bags and took them back to the boat to get them on ice. Just before finishing, I looked and there was another bear further up the beach. It was below the tide line, out of the grass. He was not eating, but checking the scent field. He winded my bear. He walked in the trees and out of sight. We finished salting the hide, and got to the boat before the bear decided to come for a visit.

We finished securing everything and left for home. It was another beautiful day, so we trolled for a few hours and caught a salmon. He was less than 28 inches so we threw him back.

What a trip.

All bears must be taken to Fish and Game for sealing. Fish and Game was impressed with the bear. The skull measured 19”. They said the average adult black bear will be around 17”. Mine is very large. Truly a trophy in many ways.

The hide is off to the taxidermist. It will be a long time before I ever get him back, but I will have a trophy and memories to last a lifetime.

Going on a Bear Hunt

If you had any doubt that my husband was a true outdoorsman, then let these pictures prove it to you. On Monday and Tuesday Shawn went on a spring black bear hunt with our neighbor. And as you can see he was successful. I'll let Shawn explain more of "the hunt" later, but I wanted to get his pictures up tonight.

This is our neighbor, Tom, who got the whole thing on video. Hmm, not sure if it's going to make the blog though.

da paws

Even though he was a black bear, he had a light brown undercoat with chocolate brown ends. Black bears actually come in many shades of brown and black. Some even have a blueish tint and are called glacier bears. (I'm pretty sure they are just in SE Alaska.)

Here's my man with his bear hide (after skinning the bear and packing the meat to take back home). I can hardly hold in my excitement to have another animal skin added to my living room decor. Shawn says he'd like to get it made into a rug and hang it on the wall. Seriously! I suppose it depend on what Bob the taxidermists says...we'll see. Here's something I just thought of:
Doesn't everyone have their own personal taxidermist, like we have Bob?

Special Olympics Torch Run

Just wanted to inform all you readers out there that my brother in law, Lee, is running in the 5K Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics. It's happening this Saturday at 10 AM in Juneau if you'd like to join me and my kids to cheer him on. We'll be at Twin Lakes and it usually ends with a hot dog picnic for the community. I hope to post pictures this weekend of the event.
Or if you can't be there, but would like to sponser him in this run, you can get in touch with Lee to send in a donation. Or if you don't have his email, contact me, or leave a note in the comments.
Hope you're having a great day. And remember to thank a police officer, or at least smile as they're writing you a ticket--it is National Law Enforcement Week afterall. :)

Mother's Day 09

As usual, I enjoyed Mother's Day this year. For lunch, I appreciated not having to cook, we had Bullwinkle's Pizza instead. (Isaac is a huge popcorn fan, so he was happy with that lunch choice.) I also got some nice flowers and cards from my kids and my husband. And we all did something together in the afternoon--we took a family bike ride to the glacier. Plus I got to talk to my mom on the phone. All in all it was a very nice day. I appreciated the love and attention very much. I'm very blessed to be the mother of these two cuties. In the tough times and the great times, God is always blessing me so much through them. And I'm so thankful for their father. He is a great dad, husband, and friend. I'm so glad I have him to share in this journey of parenthood.

After the bike ride--we were all tuckered out.

Craziness and Curls

This has been a bit of a crazy week for me. I've been substituting for a friend who teaches 5-8th grade at a small Christian school in Juneau. I really enjoyed the kids--even the 8th graders--but it I'm definitely tired now. I'm glad I don't work everyday on a regular basis. Many of you are probably wondering who stayed with the kids while I was working. Well, Monday-Wednesday, was Daddy time while Shawn was off. Thursday they played with their friends at Lela's house. And on Friday Uncle Lee was up. He even took them to Costco for lunch! And as Carly would point out if she was writing this, Uncle Lee bought them ice cream after their hotdogs. Wow, what a cool uncle.

So since I've been a busy working momma this week, I haven't taken very many pictures and thus don't have much to blog about for this week. But I took these pictures last week after I gave Carly and Isaac a bath that I thought I'd share.
Isaac has pretty curly hair, but it's especially curly after a bath. This is definitely a characteristic he gets from Shawn, because my hair is naturally very straight. I don't really know how long his curls will last. I'm already noticing that his hair seems straighter most of the time than it did just a few months ago, so well see. For now, I'm enjoying them. Hope you do too.

Comparison

Here's two pictures for you. They were both taken in basically the same spot with the same "pile" of snow. The picture on top was taken last Friday (May 1st) and the one below was taken on April 2nd. What a difference a month makes! And it's a good thing I took this picture when I did last Friday, because by the end of the day, this snow patch was gone. We aren't completely snow-free in our yard just yet. But we have no complaints, because they are just small patches in shady spots.

Our Ship Has Come In

This morning Shawn promptly went down to the ferry terminal in Auke Bay to pick up our new boat. Back in January, we purchased this along with Lee and Shawn's Dad, from a seller in Beaverton, Oregon. After a few months of getting things "ship shape" and ready for the high seas, we finally have it in Juneau.
We are very grateful to my dad for all the HOURS of work he put into it. He was our boat broker, the general contractor for the work, and the overall handyman. Not to mention he did a complete remodel of the trailer, turning it from one with rollers to one with bunks. A big job indeed. Thanks for your work, Dad.
In case you're wondering, it is a 23' Olympic (built in 1985) with an outboard engine. Shawn could give you more specifics, but I'm also glad that it has a small cabin area. That will make it much easier to use this boat with little kids.
Speaking of the kids, they are quite excited about it. Although I still think Shawn is the most excited. In fact, as I type this he's outside tinkering around on it.
We're looking forward to many fishing and cruising trips on it. So just think, now if you come to visit us, we'll have one more fun thing to do with you. It'll be that much easier for you to catch an Alaskan halibut or salmon.
And we have yet to come to an agreement on a name, so if you have an idea, we'd love to hear it.