Alaskan Hughes'

Ode to Becky and James and Family

2012-01-15T20:15:00.005-09:00

OK, so this post really isn't to meant to just praise James and Becky, but as I was out enjoying the beautiful snowy day with Sammie yesterday I was thinking about how nice this winter has been with them here. First of all we all enjoyed (or endured) middle school basketball together. This is Oaklee and Sammie decked out in Black and Gold to cheer for their team.This is Britt, Liz, and Caleb after their final tournament. Most of the girls team couldn't make it to the games, so they formed a mixed team and played in the boys bracket. It actually made for some very exciting games and gave Caleb a chance to play on their team. These kids were really fun to watch. Because the tournament was on a Friday and Saturday in Craig the Westfall's offered us their house for the weekend (they were out of state for a couple weeks). We nicknamed it the beach-house and really enjoyed our mini vacation there. This is a picture of the crew playing rock band.

Somewhere in the middle of basketball season, we enjoyed Thanksgiving together. That was the first time that we had spent Thanksgiving with family in 6 years. It was very nice. In fact I think I made it clear through the holidays without the usual twinges of homesickness.The only picture I have of our actual Thanksgiving activities is Becky posing with a couple pecan pies. But the kids all enjoyed sledding at some point in there. So here's a fun picture of all the girls on a sled (with an extra non-Hughes girl in front).

Then came Christmas break. I have come to dread Christmas break in Alaska because we get three weeks off and it's cold and dark and the house starts feeling VERY small. This year it flew by. We got together with the "other Hughes' " quite often.
On one of our get togethers we made gingerbread houses. I cheated. We used gram crackers and I even used hot glue to get them to stay together. But we had fun!!
Here are the finished products. Nothing too fancy, but we had a good time.

And now for the day that sparked my desire to do this post. Yesterday we woke up to a couple inches of new snow and the sun was out. Both are quite rare around here. Stewart had to go to Craig for the day and took the older two kids with him. And the new snow made it easy to get the younger two out of the house. As I was enjoying the peace and quiet I thought about conversations with Becky that I've had in the last few months about how much effort she's making to spend more time with her kids and I started feeling guilty. SO, I got dressed up and went to find my kids. Josh was with friends but Sammie was happy to see me. I spent a good chunk of the day out playing in the snow with her. And as I admired the scenery I realized that I had to thank Becky for that too. I haven't lived here very long but I seem to forget how beautiful it is very easily. Becky hasn't forgotten yet and she's helping me remember how very, very beautiful it is. I like this picture but it doesn't come close to doing it justice. It was so much prettier than me or my camera are able to capture.

Now I have yet to decide whether Becky gets thanked or cursed for this last picture. Whenever our families get together it includes their two little dogs Pippen and Boozer. Stewart has fallen in love with them and decided that he really needed a Shih Tzu. I have sworn off puppies forever. I don't have the patience to train them. But on facebook this week somebody was looking for a new home for a 6 year old shih tzu. So, meet Lacy, the newest addition to our home. So far I don't hate her. And everyone else loves her. I think she might end up being a really good dog for us.

Halloween Fun

2011-10-31T20:08:00.004-08:00

The carnival was pretty small this year. We just don't have very many kids. So to try to add a little something extra on top of the usual carnival games, we finished up with "pie the teacher". The kids LOVED it!! Stewart did well. He appeared to be having a good time even when he came out of it with a fat lip. If we do this again next year we may need to consider some protective head gear.
We had good weather for the first time in many years for trick or treating, it wasn't completely dry, but we got away with just a light mist of rain and no wind. I walked with the kids to all 17 houses in town. Here's the kids with their pumpkins. The girls had to share one because Liz's went rotten, but they had a great time designing and carving.
Here's the kids all dressed up and ready for trick or treating. Caleb the skeleton, Josh as batman, Liz as an old Cup'ik woman, and Sammie as a pumpkin.The loot! I have no idea what to do with all this candy. That's way more any of us should eat in the next 5 years.

Sammie was the most excited. I love this face!! If only I could channel her enthusiasm into constructive things.

Liz's Stitches

2011-10-31T20:04:00.002-08:00

Liz tripped and hit a desk on Wednesday. She really didn't want to get stitches, but when all was said and done, I think she was just disappointed that her scare doesn't quite match mine and Sammie's scares on our cheeks. Her's is the same side of her face, just a little high. And the timing was great. What's cooler than REAL stitches on Halloween?

Stewart's Big Bear

2011-09-25T17:33:00.000-08:00

On our way home today we saw a big bear in the road. It ran up a hill and Stewart was able to shoot it right through the heart. This first picture shows how far from the truck it ended up. This is not zoomed in, but this is a clear cut area, which makes even small amounts of hiking difficult.

This is when Stewart got it down the hill and next to the road.

This is my favorite picture. He's trying to lift it into the truck. But it looks more like a giant teddy bear. He ended up getting it around the middle and Caleb and I each took a hind leg and we got it in - barely.

This one is just the skin laid out on the floor. Nose to tail it measured almost exactly 7 feet. His other bear was only 5 feet, so this is pretty exciting for us.

Caleb gets a 2-point!! and some shrimp and crab

2011-08-03T13:50:00.003-08:00

Caleb got his first 2 point this morning and was very excited to share the news!

AND Stewart got a nice trophy to go with it.

Here they are together.

Here are a couple pictures of the great shrimp/crab harvest we had two days after my dad left to go back home. Sorry Dad!! But I did freeze some of it for you.

Opening day of deer hunt 2011

2011-07-25T15:01:00.003-08:00

Caleb and Stewart went out hunting all morning in the rain. They made a deal to take turns shooting at any bucks they saw. Caleb got a spike, then Stewart shot at a good sized buck that got away, and then Caleb got another spike. The larger of his two spikes is his biggest kill trophy so far. He's quite pleased even though he's hoping for something much bigger before the end of the season.

Jen, Mom, and Dad visit

2011-07-16T12:08:00.009-08:00

We had a very eventful week. I don't know why my video's don't have sound but I hope you can at least watch them. Jen got here most of a day before my parents. It was a beautiful day so we went out in the boat. This one is Jen and the girls exploring a tide pool over by Karta while Stewart helped some people pull in a sockeye net.

When Stewart was done helping they told us we could check the crab pot. This one was Jen trying to help me put some crab into the bucket. It was fun to watch!

This was right after the video when she finally got a crab.
We pulled the shrimp pot. It was a lot of work. Jen did most of the work but we were both sore the next day. Jen had a hard time ripping the heads off the shrimp - not because it's gross but because she didn't want to hurt them. They were yummy though!!

About two hours before Jen had to leave. Stewart took her and my parents out to check the shrimp pots and they almost ran into this pod of killer whales. Crazy!!

The day after Jen left we went on a salmon fishing trip on the north end of the island. We hung out all day and enjoyed the fishing and eagles. When the fishing got slow the kids went swimming for a while Then when we were almost done Josh spotted a bear about 50 yards up stream from us on the other bank. My mom and I walked closer to get pictures and discovered that it had adorable twins following it. After that bear family went back into the woods we went back to our campfire and watched Sammie pretend to fish. All of a sudden there was a bear strait across the little river from her. It very quietly walked right to the waters edge, grabbed a fish, and walked back into the woods. Then it came back later and wandered up and down the bank across from us. First we stood and took pictures and video, but it stayed so long that we finally got bored and went home.
Here's Liz with the bear. (I know the stream doesn't show in this shot. But it's there. I promise.) My parents with the bear.Here's the video of both bear sitings.

We did catch 14 silver salmon that day with Caleb catching more than his share. But my dad wasn't able to get any on his own. The missionaries were there fishing and one of the elders felt sorry for him and let him real a couple of his in. Hopefully the pink salmon will be in our bay soon. If it's anything like last year he will definitely catch some of those. We sent my mom home on the ferry today. But we get to keep my dad for at least another week - maybe more. He'd really like to catch some salmon before he leaves. I'll try to keep you posted.

Field trip to Old Kasaan

2011-06-03T21:42:00.005-08:00

This week we went on a field trip to Old Kasaan. It's across and down the inlet from the current Kasaan. OVK (Organized Village of Kasaan- the tribal organization) took us. We packed a lunch and loaded 6 adults and 10 students in two small boats and went. I didn't time it, but I bet it was about 20 minutes in the boat. And I wanted to share some of my thoughts as we were in the boats. First I was a little nervous. Stewart took the older boys in the skiff, and while that boat was smaller, I knew the boys had the sense to hang on and the ability to laugh about it if they fell in.
I was in the "big boat" with the little kids and girls. The boat was not made to restrain students as much as I had pictured when we planned the trip. It had two seats, so most of us sat in the bottom of the boat. Here is a picture of my view as we went, there wasn't much holding us in. What you don't see is that as the boat speeds up it tips. I was nervous, but we all survived and nobody fell in. I was watching my girls as their hair blew in the wind and I started thinking about how different their field trips are than the ones I used to go on. I remembered some pictures of the kids on a field trip in Chevak, when they took the kids out by sled behind snow machines.
My kids miss the snow. It just looks COLD to me. Now they are going on a field trip by boat. The funny thing is that they think riding on a school bus would be really neat.

Once we got to Old Kasaan, our OVK tour guide showed us around. Without a guide I don't think I would have noticed a single piece of the old village. I was very glad to have someone along that could point things out. First he showed us the one remaining support beam of a house. The kids all posed near it but not under, as it looked like it could collapse at any moment.

Then he showed us a watchman totem pole that was almost gone, except for the very distinct face at the top.
Then we climbed over a log that turned out to be an old totem that is completely covered in moss and was only recognizable because of the way it was hollowed out on the back side and rotted away very unevenly on the top (where it was carved deeper was rotting faster). On the other end of the village there was a small collection of memorial totems. They looked like big bare logs with a big chunk of moss on top. I'm sure the chunks of moss were beautiful carvings at one time.
Then back out on the beach we discovered a very new little fawn hiding in the rocks.

Everybody had to have a picture with it and then we moved farther down the beach to avoid scaring it too much. There we discovered a second one. The mother had run away as we were pulling up to the beach. When we discovered these two tiny fawns (one was still wet from birth) we decided it was time to go home and let these babies get back together with their mom. So off we went in the boats again. It was a beautiful day. We even saw a whale as we were traveling.

Josh's baptism and a Halibut

2011-05-23T20:40:00.005-08:00

This Sunday was Joshua's 8th birthday. He was baptized at the church right after church. He was very excited and everything went well.

When we got back home the weather was beautiful and Caleb and Stewart have been dying to get out in the boat. So they went fishing. They spotted a bear straight across the inlet from us and came back for the gun, of course the bear was gone when they got back. But Caleb was still pleased when he managed to catch this halibut all by himself. It took all he had to hold it up for a picture.

We got 10 pounds of meat off of it. Not big for a halibut, but perfect size if your going for quality meat.

Then all the kids had to get in the boat while Stewart took it from the dock to shore to load it back on the trailer. It was such a beautiful evening that I had to get a picture.

Archery and Elementary Basketball

2011-04-11T20:05:00.004-08:00

The kids have been busy lately. They had the state archery competition last month. Archery is a really hard sport to get good pictures of. But the kids did great! If Liz improves as much next year as she did this year, she will easily qualify for the national competition. And if Caleb keeps up with her, he'll qualify too. Josh doesn't get to OFFICIALLY compete for 2 more years. But he's getting an early start on practicing. He did great for his first year. Stewart also got the training to coach them last weekend. So he can help them get more practice time now. This is a pic of Josh in the yellow shirt at a practice shoot in Thorne Bay.
While the older kids did their practice archery shoot, Sammie took the opportunity to go to Kindergarten with other kids. She's been in Kindergarten this year, but she's the only one at our school. So to go to class with 5 other kids her age was really fun for her. We're going to try to take her into Thorne Bay for school more often next year. This Picture is of her with the kids in the classroom.

Then they got to go outside to play. She really loved that! She plays outside at our school, but kids her age and a different playground were both very fun.

This month is Elementary basketball. It's supposed to be for 3rd-5th grade, but we only have 5 kids in that age group, so we pulled in our 2 2nd graders so that we have a couple subs. Which means that Sammie is the only elementary student that isn't on the team. Here's a team picture. Doesn't Caleb look big? He's looking forward to middle school sports next year.

Of course the kids favorite part of elementary basketball is getting to try out the different playgrounds wherever we play. Our playground in Kasaan doesn't have a merry go round. The kids can't get enough of them whenever we find one.We have a ton planned during these last two months of school. I'll try to remember my camera and share the fun.

Whale Watching

2011-03-27T17:07:00.002-08:00

First you see the spouts.Then if you watch closely you might see their backs as they surface and go back under.

And if your really lucky you'll see their tails as they go for a really deep dive. But seeing two dive together AND have a camera ready, that's REALLY lucky!!

I have never seen the tails in person, Stewart and Liz were down on the dock for these pictures. This time it was my own fault too. I knew there were whales there and I could have gone with them, but we never see anything cool when I go, so I stayed home. At least they got good pictures!!

clam digging

2011-03-27T15:18:00.003-08:00

This week is Spring break for us. And thankfully the weather decided it was spring also. We've had a beautiful sunny week. Stewart's been busy building a deck with the high school kids for a guy here as a fundraiser for a senior trip. We've all enjoyed being out in the sunshine helping on the deck. But we did find time to do a few other things. On Monday morning the the tide was REALLY low. So we went clam digging.

The boys were eager to get started. Stewart says it's a lot like digging potatoes. Dig a whole, look through the mud to find the clams.

This reminded me of the movie "Holes". Stewart and Liz made lots of holes.

But apparently it was working, because they filled up their bucket very quick!

We also built a fire on the beach for a hot dog roast, but since it was early I decided sausage links might be better. I was right, they were really good cooked over the fire!

We also found a lot of other interesting creatures hanging out on the beach.

This thing Stewart is holding, is a huge worm thing. It was even worse looking in person.

I'm not sure what this is called, but I'm sure it's a relative of starfish. I had Caleb put his hand next to it for a size reference.

This is a large starfish and a weird sea anemone thingy. There were tons of starfish!

I'm told these cool little things are snail eggs. If you pick them up they feel really rubbery but look like mud. If you dry them out- they crumble very easily.

I bottled the clams. Anyone have a good recipe for bottled clams?

Snow DAY!!!

2011-01-16T14:16:00.005-09:00

Ok, so missing church due to snowy roads isn't quite as good as if school were canceled. But we still had to get out and enjoy the biggest snowfall we've had in our two years on the Island (it was only about 6 inches and melting fast). We don't have sleds, so instead of sledding we went for a short walk out to one of our favorite beaches. We call it big log beach. We took lots of pictures along the way, but I'll just share my favorites.

I love this one. Caleb finally found a pole big enough to catch the kind of fish he REALLY wants to catch. He thinks he's got a whale on the line.

This one is just the kids being forced to pose on our way out to the beach.

Sammie couldn't resist going wading, even with snow on the ground.

I've walked this trail a few dozen times and as winter came I've been amazed at how many green plants there still are this time of year.
Then of course we had to make a snowman.
What a good day! And it's not even dark yet.

Chritmas, birthdays, and the new year

2011-01-15T22:23:00.010-09:00

Our three week christmas break got started with Sammie's 5th birthday. She had a great time. We got helium balloons from Thorne Bay. And her friend from church came an hour and a half to party with us.

We had a great Christmas! The kids got everything they wanted and we enjoyed the day together.

Caleb couldn't wait to go shoot his BB gun. He shoots targets right outside the house or takes it to the beach in search of mink.

Liz got a baby stroller and crib. She loves playing house with Sammie.
Josh HAD to have this track, but it was only fun the first couple days. He's ready to give it away if anybody wants it.
Sammie wanted a bath baby just like Liz's. So now they can take baths with their bath babies.
We celebrated new years eve with a great clean up day. New year's eve here means the end of Hunting season. So we scrubbed the back of the truck and the mud room and put the guns away. Then we chopped a bunch of wood. Caleb has become a great wood chopper, but I only have a good picture of Josh.
Then we rearranged bed rooms. We have a high school student that needs a place to stay for a few weeks. So we moved the boys into the girls room to create a guest room. It's been great practice for when we get lots of company this summer. :)

Next was Caleb's birthday. He invited every kid in town plus a friend from South side (about 10 miles away). We ended up with 14 kids ages 5-18. It was great. We played a couple party games. This is one of our seniors at school, she won the paper bag game by being able to pick the bag up with her mouth even after all the sides had been cut away and it was just a paper on the floor.Then we all decorated cupcakes and had ice cream. I believe everybody had a good time and ate all the sugar they wanted.

Now the holiday's are over and school's back in session. I really enjoy my job and I love that I get to work with my kids everyday. But I'm hoping the second half of the school year goes as quick as the first half did. I can't wait for summer!

Christmas Letter 2010

2010-12-20T09:52:00.002-09:00

Dear Friends and Family, 12/13/2010

What a year! This year we moved again for the 7^th time in our 11-year marriage, 2^nd time in 2 years. But don’t get me wrong; I actually love the new adventure that comes with each new location. We are now in a beautiful and tiny little Haida village called Kasaan. We have thoroughly enjoyed the visitors that we’ve had here so far and are looking forward to more when the salmon return this summer.

Sammie will be turning 5 this week. She got to start Kindergarten this year and she loves it. She spends a couple hours a day actually in class and the rest of it hanging out and playing at the school. She still enjoys hanging out with Mom, but has decided the big kids are more fun and will follow them around whenever possible.

Josh is 7 now. He still loves spending time in his room playing with cars, but is getting slightly better at playing with others also. He has a pretty good group of classmates to play with and the area around our home is a little boy’s paradise. They have a stream, forest, beach, and a basketball court, plus plenty of places to ride bikes.

Liz is 9. She is a great friend with each of her siblings. She has a wonderful imagination and is always the one to get them all started on wonderful games of pretend. Liz shot her 1^st deer this year, a large doe. She especially loves primary this year because two of the families in the branch have brand new babies that they often let Liz help with.

Caleb will be 11 next month. He seems to be growing up very quick lately. He shot his second deer this year, and helped Grandpa Richmond find a great one during his visit. He’s become his dad’s best hunting and fishing buddy. He’s also getting pretty good at splitting and stacking firewood. We nicknamed him Eeyore for a while, but lately he’s developed a much more cheerful, optimistic attitude.

Stewart is even busier than usual this year. He’s the lead teacher for the 14 students at our school. That means he basically acts as both principal and teacher. And because the school has kindergarten through 12^th grade he does a lot of lesson planning and organizing besides the actual teaching. Luckily he has the help of some great aides that help him cover multiple classrooms. He drives our older students 45 minutes each way to sports practices in Thorne Bay at least a couple times a week. He is working on a master’s degree on-line and serving as young men’s president at church. I’m not sure how he fits it all into the day, but I know he sleeps good.

I’m staying quite busy myself this year. I’m working full time at the school as an aide. I love the social interaction with the other aides and getting to be with my husband and kids all day everyday. I’m also STILL working on my teaching degree. I should graduate about this time next year. With my graduation will come another move. We’ll need a school that at least needs two teachers.

This past year has left me feeling extremely blessed. I am very thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and the amazing blessings that come with it. I am very thankful for our extensive group of family and friends. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season!!

Love,

Stewart, Carrie, Caleb, Liz, Josh, and Sammie Hughes

The Rut

2010-12-16T19:31:00.002-09:00

OK, this post is a little slow. A month ago my Dad and brother came to hunt black tails. Stewart was able to take the week off to hunt with them. They also got some wonderful help from some of the high school boys. Stewart and Regan got these two nice four points on the same day.Then a day or two later Caleb and my Dad managed to find a trophy of their own. Caleb spotted it and got a couple shots at it, but Grandpa was the one that was finally able to hit it.

The three deer together are pretty impressive. I would've been happy with those three, but they also managed to bring home a 2x3, a spike, a doe, and a fawn (it was a buck- but barely). I'd say it was a very successful week of hunting.

Thankful!

2010-11-24T20:54:00.002-09:00

On this day before Thanksgiving, I'm taking a short break from making pies to write a brief thankful list.

My family - here and far away
My warm home that I love
A wonderful new aide at school
my husband that is blind to weight (lost or gained)
my four year old that calls me her buddy
three other children that keep me busy, tired, and happy
computers to connect me to the world
phones to call home
good books
a comfortable bed - and the chance to sleep in tomorrow!
a car that continues to run - most of the time
a long weekend
prayer - and especially answers to prayers
my health

Times up, I need to take pies out of the oven.

Competition

2010-11-07T19:44:00.003-09:00

Ok, most of my readers have already heard this, but just in case, I'm going to repeat it.

My amazing sister-in-law is in the finals of a competition to go on a once in a life time hunting trip to New Zealand. She was in first place for a while, but has slipped to second. Everyone can vote once for each e-mail address. If you have multiple e-mail addresses please use them all!! She needs all the votes she can get. She's an amazing person and she deserves this trip!! Please pass this on to everyone you know!!! (in fact passing it on to strangers would be good too!)

PLEASE VOTE for PAULA RICHMOND at http://www.tahoefilms.com/poll.php?poll_id=6

My reader!

2010-11-02T16:39:00.002-08:00

Caleb has never been really behind in reading, but it hasn't ever been something he enjoyed. This year he's suddenly reading chapter books without being pushed into it. I went to wake him up for school the other day and found him reading. I was so excited I took a picture! I hope he's hooked.

Halloween

2010-11-02T16:25:00.003-08:00

We got to go to two different carnivals this year. One with our church group and one with the community. Caleb was the only one that chose to use the same costume twice. Mostly because it's the only one I own that fits him. I'm going to have to get some new ones next year. This is The crew at the church carnival.

The next week was the community carnival. We invited the missionaries out to help us run the booths. We ended up having plenty of help and they just got to hang out and visit with people. I think everyone had a good time.
The kids also went trick or treating, and with only 14 kids in town there was PLENTY of candy to go around. Sammie took an ice cream bucket and filled it to the top with the first 8 houses. I don't think of my kids as sheltered from most of life's experiences, but it came to my attention this weekend that my children had never tasted pop rocks candy. I wish I would have video taped the event. But you'll just have to take my word that it was pretty entertaining!!

Our Mighty Hunter

2010-10-18T21:17:00.003-08:00

My little girl shot her first deer today! It was a very nice sized doe. She shot it right through the neck and didn't ruin any of the meat. She was almost as excited as her dad, and wanted to share a picture.

Rain

2010-09-24T16:49:00.002-08:00

Growing up in a dessert I was raised to appreciate a good rain storm. During the last 5 years in Alaska I've lost a large part of my ability to enjoy the rain. However, today was a GREAT rainstorm. It actually started yesterday, so I fell asleep to the sound of rain beating on the window (a sound I love, even if Liz isn't so fond of it.) Then when I woke up this morning, the house was quiet other than the sound of wind and rain, and when I looked outside the trees were dancing in the wind. Now I don't mean the leaves or even the branches. The trees I was watching are really tall, skinny pine trees. The whole trees were swaying. (A little scary, but they are far enough from the house and skinny enough anyway, that I think we're safe if a couple decide to fall.) After 4 years in a completely treeless village, I really enjoy watching the trees dance in the wind. Then on the way to school this morning it dawned on me that all this rain was going to make the stream between the house and school run deep and fast, thus pushing all the dead, extremely smelly, salmon down the stream and out to sea. I have high hopes that this rain storm will last at least a week and that when it ends the stinky fish will be all gone!!! In the mean time I'm going to go curl up in front of the fire and read a good book. I love the rain!

First Cross Country Race of 2010

2010-09-19T19:02:00.002-08:00

Yesterday we went into Craig for the first cross country meet of the year. Caleb raced side by side with the same kid that he competed with last year. But when it came to the end the other kid came out in front. Caleb did great though with 4th place

out of about 20 3rd-5th grade boys (1 mile).

Liz did great. She placed in the top ten for the first time with a 9th place finish out of around 20 3rd-5th grade girls (1 mile). I was so busy cheering her to the finish that I forget to take pictures. I asked her to rerun the final stretch so I could get a picture but she didn't want to.

Josh crossed the finish line so close behind his friend that he doesn't show in any of my pictures. He did great with 8th place out of 47 kindergarten through 2nd grade kids (1/2 mile).
Sammie got to compete for the first time. She runs in the same group as Josh. She's been back and forth on whether or not she wanted to race. She decided to try as long as I ran with her and brought a water bottle. When we lined up, she looked around and was VERY excited to see other little kids. There were at least 10 kids her size. She was so excited that she decided that she didn't need me after all. She did the whole race. She finished 44th out of 47. She thought it was great to be 44th because she's 4 and it's the same numbers.
This last pic is Sammie coming up the final stretch as part of the last 4 runners in the race. She managed to pass the little girl right in front of her - probably because of a lot of great cheering from Caleb.

WATER

2010-09-03T20:34:00.006-08:00

We've got this stream that runs between us and the school and then turns and runs through the trees in front of our house. A month ago we were told that the pink salmon were waiting for the waters to rise so they could get up that little stream. I though "yea right, that stream is way to little."
But sure enough, a good rainy week and the salmon are running right up that stream. It's not deep enough for them to stay under water all the time, but there are some pools they can hide in. Unfortunately there's something about water that kids can't resist.We did have a few days where the temperatures were probably in the 70's and the kids thought they were dying of heat, so they convinced me to let them join their friends swimming at the dock and beach. Caleb enjoyed jumping from the dock ramp, but the rest of the kids were happy to play in shallow water by the beach.

While they were playing I got some cool pictures of this jellyfish. They are all over around the dock, but I was amazed at how good the pictures turned out.

First Day of School

2010-09-03T20:14:00.004-08:00

This year Sammie officially gets to go to school. Last year she hung out there a lot with the rest of the family, but this year she started kindergarten. I debated if enrolling her in kindergarten at 4 years old was pushing her to grow up, but she was going to be hanging out at school anyway and this way she gets supplies and lessons. And it's such a laid back setting that anytime she needs a break, she can go play. I've never taken pictures of my kids with their teachers in the past, but I couldn't resist this year.

Sammie was still a little nervous at this point, but she settled in. We have 11 kids in the school. 6 elementary students - mine plus 2 others, one 8th grader, and 4 high schoolers. We had a great first day and first week. I've slept better this week than I had in quite a while. You'd think 11 kids would be easy but with such a variety of ages, we're always on the move to keep it all covered. So far we haven't had a single discipline problem though, so that's a VERY good sign!!

Hunting and Fishing w/Travis

2010-09-03T19:47:00.003-08:00

Travis came over from Ketchikan a couple weeks ago to try a hunting spot with Stewart. They hiked a lot farther than planned but did eventually find the deer. Travis got a four point and a two point. And Stewart got a three point. Travis had a decent pack but even after boning out his two deer he had plenty of weight to pack out. Stewart went in with only a day pack, planning on minimal hiking, so packing his meat out was also quite a chore. They shot the deer between 8 and 10 am and didn't get home till about 10pm. They were sore and tired but very pleased. Travis even ended up with one more little spike right before going home.

They didn't do a lot of fishing, but Stewart managed to catch this monster silver salmon on a quick stop to see if the silvers were running yet. They weren't really running but apparently there was at least one hanging out.

My crazy kids

2010-08-16T11:37:00.005-08:00

I just found these two videos on my computer. Sammie loves to play on photo booth and she's getting ready to start reading. So this is her version of reading you a story, with a lot of personality on the side. The weird color is Sammie's doing.

This one is Josh. Apparently he's in a boxing match with himself.

I love seeing what my kids do to entertain themselves when I'm not looking.

G-ma and G-pa Hughes visit Alaska

2010-08-12T18:41:00.006-08:00

Grandma and Grandpa Hughes came and spent a couple weeks with us. We had a very good time. We walked out to the totem's. I made the kids stop running wild long enough for me to get this picture in front of one of the totems.

Then on the way back to the house, we stopped to show Grandpa this giant log. The kids love it!!
Stewart took his dad and Caleb fishing almost every day. On one trip out in the boat Grandpa caught both these great fish. One is a silver salmon and the other is a yellow eye (red snapper).
On one great day of fishing, Stewart, Caleb, Grandpa, and me walked down to the beach at 7am to catch some pink salmon at low tide. Our goal was to limit out - 6 each. We could have caught that many very quickly if they were all keepers, but some were past their peak of freshness (they are getting ready to breed and then die). So, we were picky and only kept the good ones. I only fished for about an hour and then enjoyed beach combing and being the group photographer. The starfish were piled up everywhere.Caleb's reel gave out on him, so he would just hold on and haul the fish in over his shoulder.
Grandpa was freezing but couldn't resist the urge to keep fishing!
As the tide was coming in, Stewart had to keep finding new boulders to stand on to keep him close to the fish.
Everyone was a little wet and chilly but having a ball. Caleb and Grandpa were enjoying their perch on this boulder, but they didn't want to give up when the tide came in. Pretty soon Caleb was up to his knees and when he caught a fish he had no where to land it. So Grandpa bent down to pull the fish out of the water and lost his balance. He fell in and lost his glasses. So Stewart handed me his glasses and jumped in to help his dad find his glasses. I managed to drop Stewart's glasses too. Before long we decided to give up and come back at low tide to look for both sets of glasses. But I couldn't resist a good picture of Stewart and his dad swimming in the rain in the ocean.

We took home ALOT of fish. Before long we had all the fish neatly packed away. And we all felt better after hot showers and putting on dry cloths. This is our display of fish from that 3 or 4 hour fishing trip.

Later we went back and found both sets of glasses without even having to get wet. Here's a view of the beach from where we found the glasses.

On the way home we stopped and made Grandma reel in a salmon, just so she wouldn't miss the experience.
And just because I like to share the scenery, this last pick is a stream right in front of our house. This is actually the stream that all those salmon are waiting to run up, but there hasn't been enough rain, so they're stuck down at the beach. I like it because it shows what the area looks like.

Utah trip 2010!

2010-08-12T18:01:00.003-08:00

We made our annual summer trip to Utah last month. Normally this is a 2+ month trip with plenty of time to visit all our family and friends. This year we cut it down to three weeks - three very very busy weeks! I managed to leave my camera in it's case the whole trip, so I have no pictures, but here's a bullet list of highlights.

Hughes family reunion - another great one! Thanks Phill and Melissa!
4th of July - Could only get better if we weren't torn between our two families who were almost all in town for the party!
Double date to Durango with Becky and James. I loved having time to just hang out.
Trip to Salt Lake - school shopping was good, but temple square was great!!
Stayed with Regan and Mori, there home has become our favorite bed and breakfast.
Richmond family reunion - good camping trip; hot, lots of bugs, but good company!
Pool party at Robby and Laurel's in Phoenix. 114 degrees!! Loved the pool, food, and hosts!

We met two new nieces and a brand new nephew, went swimming a few times, and never had a chance to get bored. And the good news is, we are extremely close to having enough miles to fly the whole family for free next year :)

Grandpa finally gets a Salmon!!

2010-06-16T23:25:00.003-08:00

We've taken my dad to some beautiful fishing spots! We've tried every trick and tip people have shared.

But the Salmon just aren't running right now. My dad has caught a couple trout that were big enough to eat, and he's eaten crab every day (9 days in a row) until today. But he really wanted a salmon. So I was really excited for him when I came home from a trip to town today and heard that he got a big silver salmon.

Then I found out that he bought it from a big commercial fishing boat down at the dock!! Oh-well, he was obviously very proud of his salmon anyway. And he ate it for lunch and dinner, even though it ruined his run of none stop crab.

Liz's Birthday and kid's fishing day

2010-06-16T22:56:00.004-08:00

This year Liz agreed to a smaller (mostly family) party in exchange for her getting to help with all the party preparations. She helped make mini cakes for everyone to decorate. She made and filled the pinata. And she blew up the balloons and put them all over the house. We had a great time. Everybody's cakes turned out great!
The pinata survived all the way through round one (everyone from Sammie to Grandpa took a turn), then we started over. It didn't make it through round two though. I thought this was one of the better looking pinata's I'd seen lately. And Liz loved making it!!
The next day was the Kid's fishing day put on by the forest service. It's a great carnival type event where every booth is somewhat educational and free. And they had great prizes and a free lunch. Everyone enjoyed the fly tying booth- even Liz and Sammie.
The casting game was a favorite also. It's kind of like a bean bag toss, but you cast a little plastic fish into a big wood fish's mouth. Dylan and Chase even enjoyed it.
Sunday afternoon Liz did Dylan's and Chase's hair. They were great sports. Liz loved it!

I love summer vacation so far! I just wish I had a maid to take care of the house while I'm playing with the family.

My Dad and brothers visit

2010-06-16T22:38:00.003-08:00

My dad and the boys are over halfway through their visit already so I decided it was time to post some pictures of the fun we've had so far. Unfortunately they had to time their trip around sports seasons instead of around fishing seasons. So we haven't been doing so good on the fishing but I think they are all having a good time. The first day they were here we all got to the house around 8pm. But we were all hungry so Stewart took the boys to check the crab pots and brought home dinner. Dylan and Chase ate quite a bit that night but then Liz stepped in to help Grandpa finish up.
The next day we had to take care of business before we could get into the vacation. I took my dad and some kids to Craig to pick up their luggage (it wouldn't fit on the plane when they flew over from Ketchikan). And Stewart took the boys and Caleb to Thorne Bay to turn in a bunch of school stuff. We all saw a few of the new fawns but these pictures are ones that the boys took.
Later we took my dad out to find his dinner. He enjoyed pulling up his first pot to find his very own crab.

Spring time fun!

2010-05-30T20:32:00.003-08:00

Marathon
Yesterday our family was part of the two teams that Coffman Cove put together for the annual Prince of Wales Marathon. We enjoyed the exercise and sunshine even if we weren't the least bit competitive. I never plan on being able to run a marathon, but we definitely plan on participating again next year. I'd kind of like to walk/jog the whole thing. We'll have to see what I think by next spring. Here's a picture of most of the people on our 2 8-person teams.

Geo caching
I know geo caching has been around for a while but I never understood it until a couple weeks ago. I love it. We've only done 4 caches so far, but the kids and I are looking forward to doing more on the island and when we come to Utah this summer. It's a great game to get us all outside doing something and exploring new places. The kids love posing for pictures so here's a couple fun ones we got while on the hunt for a cache. This first one is at the base of a big tree. It just had this big hollow rotted out spot in it - perfect for posing kids.

This one is Josh with a moss wig. He found this big clump of moss and decided it would make a good wig. The girls both tried it on too. We had to wash everyone's hair when we got home.Bird feeder
We put a couple of bird feeders outside the kitchen window a couple months ago. We get a whole bunch of little finches or something, but we also get a couple of these beautiful blue jays. They don't sing nearly as nice as the little birds, but they sure are pretty.
Other wildlife
Today on the way to church we saw our first newborn black tail deer. They will probably become a common site in the next couple weeks. They are probably only a little for than a foot tall - so tiny!! We also saw a bear. Not the first, or even the first one of the year, but it was the biggest we've seen by far. And the closest I've been to one. I enjoy seeing them, but I'm glad we don't see them all the time, then I'd probably worry about them more.

Moving

2010-05-25T08:59:00.004-08:00

Big announcement! We're moving!!! OK so it's not that big of deal to most of my readers that we're moving from one small town on an island to another smaller town on the same island. But we're excited. The town we're moving to is called Kasaan (the "aa" sounds like the a in sand). We'd thought about Kasaan before, but thought that the school would be closing due to a lack of students next year. But the Superintendent stopped in to visit last week and asked us to think about moving there. To his credit, he did not push us or try to make it sound like a wonderful idea. He also did not play the card of needing us to "save" the school by adding our 4 children to the 8 already there in order to make the minimum 10 students to keep the school open. He simply laid out the facts and told us to think about what would be best for our family. We knew what we wanted to do, but put off a decision long enough for me to make a trip over to see the town in person and of course pray about it. But both of those just reinforced the feeling that it would be a good move for us. So at some point this summer when we get all the details worked out we'll be moving to Kasaan. It is a Haida village (Alaskan Indians). It's 60-70 residents are about 50/50 native and nonnative. The school actually doesn't have any Haida or even Tlingit (the other local tribe) students, but it will have three Yupik high school students (from a village somewhat close to Chevak.) We've already met a lot of the people and everyone seems very excited to get a new family in town. This will be a small move in some ways - we get to stay in the same branch for church (the drive to church will even be a very similar length) and we also stay in the same district so all of Stewart's supervisor type people will remain the same (which is good - we like them). But moving to a new home and community is always a big deal. Totem poles are a big part of the local culture. They have a great collection of totem poles and Kasaan is also home to the only remaining Haida clan house in the U.S. We're excited to get more involved in the local culture there and will share pictures soon.

Back track to October

2010-04-29T09:28:00.003-08:00

I was dumping pictures from my daughters camera onto the computer today and realized that I had borrowed her camera to go to my brothers wedding in October. I don't have a single picture of the happy couple but I have at least a dozen of this adorable group of cousins.
This is 7 of my parents 10 grand kids (my mom hand made all five of the girls dresses). The only kids missing are my older three kids. Sammie is my only one that got to go on the trip with me - she's the third from the left. Aren't they adorable!! With kids this cute around who wants pictures of a bride and groom?

My other favorite pic from our trip. My kids have been given airline stickers in the past. They usually say things like "FRAGILE - handle with care" or "COOL" - meaning refrigerate. But when the woman in the Ketchikan airport opened her drawer to get Sammie a sticker- Sammie spotted the one with orange writing (her favorite color) and insisted on having that one. The poor lady was obviously torn between pleasing a stubborn 3 year old and facing the consequences of labeling a child in such a way- but she eventually gave in and gave her the Sticker she wanted.

Pinewood Derby

2010-03-23T21:13:00.002-08:00

This week we got to participate in the Pinewood derby! For any of my readers that don't have a clue what that is, let me give a brief explanation. Cub scouts (boys 8-10) are given a chunk of wood and some wheels and they get to turn it into a car and then everyone gets together to watch them race. Our branch also had an open competition where other family members could enter cars as well as the scouts. So Caleb designed and made his car. Liz and Stewart worked together on what ended up being called Liz's car even though it was mostly Stewart's idea's and work.

Here is Caleb with his car.
Here is Liz with her car.
Here's a great snapshot of the event.
Caleb took third place out of the scouts. He was awarded a nice little medal that said pinewood derby with a picture of a car. But he chose to give it to one of the boys who's car didn't do so well. As his mom, I have to say I'm much prouder of that than of him doing well in the race.

And this last pic is Tori enjoying the snacks and socializing at the races. I've been meaning to get a good picture of her to put on my blog since she's become our honorary family member. But it hasn't happened yet, so this one will have to do for now. Lucky for me, I don't think she reads my blog yet. So don't tell her I used a picture of her eating.

Community Pictures

2010-03-23T20:15:00.004-08:00

Tori recently had a school assignment that included taking pictures of the community. She used our camera to do it, and I really liked some of the pictures she got, so I wanted to share. Coffman Cove is still primarily a logging community even though environmental issues are making it a nearly impossible way to make a living. Tori's step-dad is a logger and so she was able to get some up close and personal pictures.

This one shows the claw (run by Tori's step-dad) putting the logs onto the truck.

This guy is branding the logs so that when they get dumped at the mill, his crew will get credit for them.
I just thought this was a cool picture to show how comfortable these guys are with a chainsaw. This isn't how we carry Stewart's new chainsaw. But don't confuse comfort with carelessness. These guys know exactly how dangerous a chainsaw is.
And this is the part of logging that I've actually seen personally. It's a little scary to come around a corner on a nearly deserted road and come face to face with one of these trucks. The center of this picture is the ferry terminal. It was only used for a short time before it was decided that it wasn't worth the effort to have a northern island ferry AND a southern island ferry. Ours was the northern. It got canceled. But we have a really nice dock and building ready and waiting if they ever decide to change their mind.
This is a distance shot of our new school. This is the first full school year that it's been used. It's a very nice school for less than 20 students. Our house is also visible in this picture but unless you know exactly where to look it's really hard to see.

This one shows most of the community. The water at the right of the picture is the beach area where you can watch the big cruise ships go past. The water on the other side of the peninsula is the cove. Thanks for the Pics Tori!

Josh's missing tooth

2010-03-23T19:25:00.002-08:00

Josh's front teeth have been due to fall out for awhile now. Then he got hit in the mouth with a hockey puck during PE and one of them finally decided it was time. Although it still took a couple more days to actually fall out. I love the way kids look with missing teeth, so I asked him to pose for a picture. This first picture is what I was thinking, the next two are what Josh thinks of as posing for a picture.

It wasn't long before all the kids realized I had the camera out and we had a good time posing for pictures for a while.

fun outside

2010-03-07T11:25:00.003-09:00

We continue to enjoy warmer than average winter temperatures. Toward the end of February the kids all gathered on the baseball field on a sunny day after school on Friday. They build a couple tee-pees out of sticks, weeds, and grass. They played until the stars came out and it was time for dinner. Then they met back on the field at 10 the next morning and played until dark for a second day. The tee-pees didn't last long before we got a good wind storm in, but they sure enjoyed making them.

Yesterday we celebrated our 11th anniversary. Stewart took Caleb, Liz, and Tori (our honorary family member) in to Craig for a service project/fundraiser for a youth temple trip. While I stayed home and worked on Census stuff. Then in the evening Tori's mom took the rest of us into Craig for Tori's baptism. That was followed by a branch potluck. Not the typical anniversary celebration, but it was a great day! Then it was time for us to drive home, and it snowed the whole way. We had to drive very slowly and the snow in the headlights was enough to make us dizzy, but we got home safely. By the time we got up this morning, most of the snow was gone but the kids couldn't resist going to play in it. We haven't had much this year.

Spring!

2010-02-19T20:35:00.003-09:00

OK, I know this is the second post in a row with no pictures. Sorry. But I changed my blog background today in honor of the beautiful weather we've been enjoying. I have daffodils starting to come up in my front yard! And all four of the kids played at the park with their friends for 4 hours today!! I know that it is only February and that I live in Alaska, and so there is a good chance that winter will be back next week. But For here and now, we're enjoying. I'm also glad that I didn't bother to buy the kids sleds for Christmas since there has only been one or two days that they could even have tried to use them so far this year.

Life is good!

2010-02-05T22:43:00.003-09:00

It was a long and somewhat stressful day. It is now late and I'm tired, but because the house is quiet I'm not in a hurry to go to bed as that would put an end to this quiet, alone time. So I decided to Blog. I realize that my posts are generally about exciting events going on in our life, but today I'm in more of a thoughtful mood. I've been thinking lately about how good we have it as a family right now. And I'm thinking that if I put some of my thoughts in writing it will help me remember how lucky I am when I'm not feeling it.
First - I have a part time job in a world where jobs are scarce. I'm teaching preschool at the school. And although it is not my dream job, I get to take Sammie to work with me and get paid to play with her and her two friends.
Second - My husband has a job that he's really good at. His supervisors are constantly singing his praises. I love watching him do what he loves. This is his 5th year teaching, but the first year for me to be in the school and see how much he enjoys it instead of only seeing how tired he is when he gets home.
Third - My kids get to go to a school where I know they will be safe and taken care of. They are three of the 17 students currently at our school. I'm able to spend some time with them at school and when I'm not there they still have their Dad with them all day every day.

Wrestling season

2010-01-27T19:33:00.004-09:00

Wrestling season has begun. This is Caleb's second year of wrestling and Stewart's second year of coaching wrestling. But for most of the kids here this is their first year.

Josh with his fightin face on.

Liz ready to go.

Caleb, going for the take down - he's the one in blue.

This is my favorite picture. Not because of Caleb's glowing eyes or Liz losing, but because a moment earlier Caleb had been with me in the stands, but when he saw Liz struggling he jumped up, said "Liz needs me!" and ran to the mat to coach and encourage his sister. If only such loving moments weren't so rare.

Caleb turns 10!!

2010-01-26T09:47:00.003-09:00

Caleb turned 10 this year. He loved his gifts from his family. G&G Hughes gave him this great fanny pack with two water bottles. He's very excited to use it during his fishing and hunting trips.

G&G Richmond gave him this blue blanket.

He also got enough cash to buy a good fishing rod that he's very excited to put to use. On his birthday we had this soccer ball cake (brownie) and celebrated with the family. But a few days later he got together with his friends from church and had a pool party in Craig. They had a blast!
I can't believe I have a 10 year old. I must be getting old.

Christmas!

2009-12-28T12:39:00.003-09:00

We had a great Christmas! The Kids enjoyed acting out the nativity scene on Christmas Eve as Dad read from the Bible. This year we had Mary, Joseph, a wise woman, and an angel.
Liz and Sammie both got some fake fingernails and play makeup for Christmas. They both had to try on the fake nails, but decided they weren't much fun to wear for very long. I'm hoping they will loose interest in the make up soon too.
They've all enjoyed the play dough that Grandma Hughes gave them. The puzzles turned out to be a little more on Mom's level. But I've sure enjoyed them!
This is Caleb's big gift for the year. One of the down sides of shopping on-line is that you don't always get all the details. This track is huge. We had to build a table for it in the mudroom. But he loves it, so I guess it's all good!
Hope you all had a great Christmas too!!! Sorry I didn't send cards this year. I've got to start thinking about Christmas cards before December hits I guess.

Gingerbread Houses

2009-12-28T12:24:00.003-09:00

This is a family tradition that I grew up with. Every year we made gingerbread houses. My mom always made the gingerbread from scratch and the whole family would decorate them. Then they would be put on display for a month before we were allowed to eat them if we still wanted to. While I've mostly continued this tradition with my kids, this is the first year that I made my own gingerbread. That wasn't as easy as I expected, but it turned out good. And because I waited to make them until a week before Christmas they weren't even very dusty by the time the kids were allowed to eat them.
This is the kids just getting started. I would've liked to have Stewart and I make them too, but I didn't have enough molasses to make that much gingerbread.

Each of the kids posed with their finished pieces before going to bed while I put the houses together.

Here's the finished product. Left to right are Caleb's, Liz's, Josh's, and Sammie's.

Thankfully my mom's icing recipe really gets hard because even though the gingerbread was hard when they were decorating, with all the humidity here it actually softened a lot in the week that they were on display.

Sammie turns 4!

2009-12-28T11:49:00.003-09:00

Sammie was very excited for her birthday this year. We counted down to her birthday first and then when that was done we started the Christmas count down. She was determined that she wasn't actually 4 years old until the day after though. She got two main birthday presents from us this year. One was a "fridge DJ" which is a big magnet radio that sings counting and ABC songs. She loves it! The other is a preschool wii game. She loves that she has her very own wii game and is starting to figure it out.

I also let her pick what cake I should make. She chose this lion. I thought it turned out really cute.

This Picture is just one of those extra's I like to throw in. It's the view out our kitchen window on Sammie's b-day. I love the mix of snow and forest. In Chevak, Snow was snow with nothing to break it up, so I'm really enjoying the variety.

Santa's pre-Christmas visit

2009-12-16T20:38:00.000-09:00

We had our school Christmas program on Friday last week and then a Branch Christmas party on Saturday. The kids were part of a short play for each one and Santa came to both. We didn't get pictures at the Church party, but I wanted to share the ones from the school program. We had some ladies from the community that put in a lot of volunteer hours to create a beautiful set for the kids program and it made a great backdrop for some pictures. My kids hadn't seen santa for a while. The last time they saw him was when Sammie was just a couple days old. So this was very exciting for them. (At least the younger two that still believe.) The older two were excited because this wasn't your average mall Santa that poses for a picture and hands you a candy cane. The city had provided nice gifts for santa to give every child there from newborn clear through our two high school students.

Caleb with Santa

Liz's first ever smiling picture with Santa.

Josh could tell this wasn't the REAL santa because his brown mustache was showing a little under the white one. But he didn't care too much because he knows that the real santa is very busy right now.

Sammie loved seeing santa. And when Josh suggested that he wasn't the real one she got very defensive on Santa's behalf.

We were over due for a new family picture, so we took advantage of the scenery. And thanks to Ron (the kids archery coach) everybody even smiled.

This is Sammie and Blaine. They are my two preschoolers. Their part in the program was to hold up signs saying "the end" and look cute. I think they did a great job!

I threw this picture in just because it's so cute!!

Otters!

2009-11-25T14:57:00.000-09:00

I took Koda - our new puppy for a quick walk before school yesterday. We went by this dock that is rarely used and there were at least 7 otters running around on it. Of course I didn't have a camera on me, so after watching for a while I went home and got the camera. When I got back to the dock most of them were out swimming far enough from the dock that I couldn't get good pictures but these two hadn't quite joined them yet. There really is an abundance of wild life around us. I'm glad I get to stop and enjoy it every once in a while.

My big win!

2009-11-23T12:08:00.000-09:00

Ok, I don't even have a picture to go with this one, but I have to brag for a moment. On Saturday we attended the annual Coffman Cove turkey shoot. I signed up to compete, not because I'm a good shot, but because there were very few women competing for some nice prizes. So I took my shots and we left long before the event was over. Later I found out that I had taken 1st place in the Women's 100 yard scope contest. My prize was a round trip flight to Ketchikan. I'm very proud of it even if it was a very lucky shot!

Deer Hunt - Caleb's first deer

2009-11-14T19:46:00.001-09:00

Ok, first I have to say that I got my first deer recently also (on halloween actually) but it was a doe so we didn't get any pictures. I'm still quite proud of myself though. I spotted it and shot it all by myself, and gutted it with a little help from Stewart.
Caleb shot his first deer a week after me. He got this little spike. It was a good shot- buzzed the liver and hit the lungs. He also did most of the gutting himself with some help from Stewart. As you can see from this picture, he was VERY excited.
A day or two later Stewart came home with another spike, so I had to get pictures of them with their matching spikes.

Here they have a little different terminology than back in Utah. When we would say two-point in Utah they say forked horns here, because they fork. So Stewart brought this little buck home the other day and we were calling it a spike with eye guards, but I talked to a local that told me it's called sporked horns. I love that term. So here's a picture of Stew's Sporked horns.

This last week we got our first overnight guests at our new place. Travis (Paula's brother that lives in Ketchikan) brought his son over to hunt for the week. They managed to get a nice forked horn buck early in the week and added a spike to it later in the week. For a while our mudroom looked a bit like a butcher shop.

For those that are saying to themselves "now how many deer can you get?" Stewart and I can each get 6. 1 has to be off the main island and so we probably won't get that one for either of us. 4 of the others have to be bucks. And the fifth can be a buck or doe. At this point we've got 7 deer (2-forked horns, 1- sporked horn, 1- spike by 2, 2-spikes, and a doe. And I am ready for this year's hunt to be over, but it lasts till the end of December. Next year Caleb can get his own tags and we will be allowed 18 deer for our family. That ought to be fun!!!

Halloween and hanging out at home

2009-11-14T19:38:00.001-09:00

I was a little worried about Halloween this year. In the past few years the kids have gone to a big school carnival and then had our teacher housing neighborhood to trick or treat in. Our new school is only 15 students and I only know were a small handful of people live to allow my kids to go trick or treating at houses that I'm OK with. But it turned out great! The city put on a carnival with extreme amounts of goodies and prices for very low cost and with only a few kids in town there were never long lines for any of the games. Sammie loved the cake walk and was very good at it. She won at least 6 cakes - and the other kids each won at least one. We were able to give most of them away to other families there but we still came home with plenty, not to mention the big bags of goodies and toys the kids had all won at the other games. Then when we went trick or treating, to the 5 or 6 houses that I knew the people, everyone either gave huge handfuls of candy or full size candy bars. To say the least the kids didn't feel deprived at all!! Two weeks later they are still working on the candy even though I have it all in a big bowl on the kitchen table so they can eat all they want.

The kids are loving their new puppy. Koda (the puppy) is getting bigger everyday, but she's also getting better behaved and slightly closer to being house trained. Although lately she's been barking to wake me up at 3am to let her out to potty. If she doesn't grow out of that before the weather gets warmer she's going to end up sleeping out side - but I really hope it doesn't last that long.

Sammie is still getting used to our new home. She'd like to know exactly how long we are going to live here. But she gets to spend a few hours everyday at the school with me. And she really loves to be read to. Stewart's much better about taking a break and reading a few books to her than I am.

Bear, Eagles, Starfish and a Puppy!!

2009-10-20T08:51:00.000-08:00

Ok Now I've got the bear pictures loaded on the computer. For anyone that hasn't heard the story I'll summarize. On Stewart's birthday (Sept 30th) he took the day off work to drop Sammie and I off at the ferry to go to Robby's wedding. On his way home he had a trooper following him so he took a side road and happened upon a bear in a clearcut area. So he got his first bear! It is 5 feet from head to tail (fairly average for the island). The pictures aren't great - I apologize for not being there to help with the camera work. We have been asked a lot about the meat as bear is not usually a very edible meat. The black bear on the island are split into two categories, high and low. High bear eat blueberries all year and have very sweet meat. Low bear eat salmon and are not as desirable. This was a high bear. The only way we've tried it so far was a roast in the crockpot, but it was very tender and sweet. Everyone - including Sammie enjoyed it.

We went for a drive on Saturday to look for deer and get a load of wood. We crossed Eagle creek, which we do quite often (it's a great fishing spot). This time is was covered in eagles. We stopped on the bridge and took at least 50 pictures. Here are some of the better ones.

There are at least three eagles in the picture above. Two bald and one Golden.

We are starting a pretty good starfish collection. This is Caleb with his most recent find. We are drying a couple at a time but I'm not sure what we're doing with them after that.

On Saturday after the kids last track meet, we stopped at the grocery store and of course there is a lady with a box of puppies. So the kids go running up with Stewart close behind as I yelling "we are NOT taking one home!" Then as I got closer I realized they were little lab puppies and I started to soften. Then I was reminded that we are only going to Blanding for a couple weeks this year instead of the whole summer, and we have a huge mudroom that's a great place for a puppy to live. They were mostly lab puppies (mom is full lab and dad is mostly lab) and they were free. So long story short we got a new puppy. She's named Koda and she's very cute. And the kids love her!

Backyard cookout

2009-10-16T08:56:00.000-08:00

I started this post with the purpose of posting bear pics, but they aren't on the computer yet, so instead this is a couple fun pics of our hot dog roast in the backyard last Saturday. We went to Naukati for cross country races in the morning (the weather was beautiful and the kids did great), then we split and stacked the logs that Stewart and the kids had hauled while I was in Utah for Robby and Laurel's wedding, and then we kept enjoying the sunshine by cooking marshmallows and hot dogs in the back yard. What a great day!

My spoiled girls!

2009-09-12T21:05:00.001-08:00

This is the first year that my girls have been brave enough to have a room of there own. Yes, for the last few years we have stuffed 4 kids into one bedroom, but it was because they wanted it that way. But this time they decided it was time to separate, SO, I got to decorate a little girls bedroom for the first time. Let me show you what I've got!

Sammie is the only one home with me during the days this year, so I'm trying to let her help me with the chores whenever possible. Her favorite by far is making bread because I let her put the flour in all by herself. Usually the kitchen needs to be cleaned anyway, so what's a little more mess?

My first three Crab!!!!

2009-09-12T20:47:00.000-08:00

Stewart went out this morning and set our own crab pots (two of them) for the first time. The maintenance man here has become a quick friend of Stewart's and he has at least two boats, but one is a little 16 foot bass boat. It's not sea worthy but for running around in the cove it's great. Anyway, he said we can use that one anytime. So tonight Stewart took me out just for fun to show me the boat and where the pots were, and we decided to check them, not expecting anything because they'd only been out about 8 hours and some people leave them a week. But I pulled them up all by myself and there was one female in the first one, so we had to throw it back. And the second one had three big males. So we put the pots back down and brought the crab home live to show the kids. Then I got a lesson in cleaning them. But I was so excited to share this new adventure that I am sitting on the front porch of the library while the temperature is in the 50's and it's pouring rain, because that's were I can get internet closest to my house.

1st buck and other pics

2009-09-05T17:52:00.000-08:00

Stew wasn't thrilled about posing for a picture, but he did want to let everyone know that he found a great hunting spot. He could have got a big black bear instead, but he would have had to pack it out by himself on a long tough hike, so he passed on the bear for this time and settled on this little two point. He saw a LOT of other bucks but they were across a large canyon

This is the hunting spot Stew went to this morning. He would like everyone to know that after a LOT of driving around and finding places like this, he now feels comfortable taking friends and family out hunting if anybody wants to stop by and visit.

This is where we went net fishing for salmon until we broke the net. Our new one should be here in a couple days, but the salmon are starting to rot.

This is how Josh and Sammie fish.

I know this doesn't fit the theme, but this is our church building in Craig. It's small but we're just happy to have other members to meet with in person.

And this is just another of the great views that Stewart found while hunting this morning.

slugs and more fish

2009-08-25T11:00:00.000-08:00

"Look what we found Mom!!"

Sammie's slug friend.

Josh's Slug.

Ok we knew the fish in Alaska were supposed to be big, but no one told us about the slugs. Josh and Sammie couldn't resist picking these two up and playing with them for a while. Having never played with these slimy creatures before, I didn't realize how slimy the kids would get. Their hands were completely covered with a thick layer of slime. Water did nothing to wash it off. Soap just made it worse. So then, thanks to memories of an older brother's version of playing with snails, I thought "maybe salt would work". Nope! But I did find the solution. A dry paper towel or 5 or 6 in this case. This is not an activity I will encourage in the future.

This is one of Stewart's many silver salmon. He's getting really good at both catching and filleting them. Last week we got a permit to catch them with a net. So I finally caught some, but I don't think that really counts. But our nets weren't really meant for salmon and broke after a couple days, so now that's on hold till we get a new one.

Stewart started work this week, but that doesn't stop Caleb and Liz from taking their poles to the dock for some catch and release fishing. Today they met someone at the dock who offered them 10 bucks each if they would fill his cooler with black cod. They only got it half full, but they were very excited to come home with 5 bucks each for doing what the love. Caleb plans on spending his on a new lure. While Liz is being encouraged to save up for her own pole. (Caleb already bought one.) I think he's going to have major fishing withdrawals when school starts next Monday.

More pics from paradise

2009-08-18T21:46:00.000-08:00

We have heard a request for more pictures, so we're trying. But today Stewart and Caleb missed a really good picture opportunity. They went out fishing and left the camera in the truck. They had a young bear come out and fish across the stream from them (about 20-30 feet away). It was out on a log trying to catch fish and fell in and Caleb and Stewart watched it climb back up and keep fishing. Soon, Stewart caught a fish and the splashing got the bears attention and it realized how close it was to people and ran into the woods. I'm sorry I don't have pictures to go with that story, but here's what we do have.

This is Caleb fishing at the dock. He brought home around 30 black cod. He loved it!!

This is Sammie in her new rain gear.

Caleb sneaking up on a friendly deer.

Here is our first shrimp and crab. I decided that fresh shrimp aren't worth the work to get them out of the shell. Crab-even though it's more work- is still worth it. Liz and I were the only ones that ate the shrimp, but everyone except Sammie enjoyed the crab. We plan to get our own crab pot soon so we can catch our own.

Caleb has fished nonstop since we got here. This is two silver salmon and a rainbow trout. They were all caught in his and Stewart's favorite stream so far. It's about 20 minutes away.

This is the Trout. about 2 feet. And one of the Salmon. 26 inches.

Bowl full of Salmon fillets. These all got frozen. If we collect enough to fill a cooler, I might bring some to family in October.

These are a couple of random views we've come across as we explore our new home. It's extremely wooded. Fog is common, but we've also seen a lot of sunshine so far.

Arriving in Coffman Cove

2009-08-06T21:50:00.001-08:00

We made it!! We spent two nights and two days on the ferry without anyone getting really sea sick. We got to our new home Sunday night. We saw quite a few deer. Does and fawns - no bucks. We spent Monday and Tuesday unpacking and getting used to the new house. Yesterday we drove into Craig and bought our hunting and fishing tags. On the way we saw a whale not far from shore. It came up and down four times in less than 10 minutes. And today we spent all afternoon out driving and fishing. We came home with four pink salmon - all Stewart's (Caleb did help reel one of them in). We love our new place so far. I'll see how many pictures I can attach.
We stopped at the space needle in Seattle. We didn't go to the top, but we enjoyed the view from below.
The kids favorite spot on the big ferry was on the lowest deck watching the water splash from the motors.
But they liked the room too. They loved hanging out on the bunk beds.
To entertain themselves, they played pirates for a while...
... then we watched fish jump for a while...
...then we painted our toe nails. We also played board games and did a lot of wandering around the boat.
We had a few hours to waste in Ketchican. There were three cruise ships docked, so wandering in tourist shops was definitely out. So we took a drive and found ourselves in a beautiful forest with little trails all around a lake. We hiked around for a while and then settled in for lunch at a picnic table in a closed area. When we were almost done a ranger came to tell us we couldn't be there, but he ended up giving us a tour of the local plants. We learned which berry's to eat and which plant to avoid and what to do if we do run into it. He also shared tips on how to tell different kinds of salmon apart. It was great!
As we were getting ready to get off the second ferry they had us go get in our truck because we were first in line to get off. As we were loading the kids in their seats, this guy opened the big door in front of us at least 5 minutes before we were actually docked. It was a little scary, but mostly cool.
These big patches of wild daisies are all over on Prince of Whales. As we drove from the boat to Coffman Cove, we saw great views, lots of flowers, and a few little does.
This is a little clubhouse that the darlings built right outside our house. They even left it equipped with toys. They also left Caleb a book of the tides with explanations of when and where to fish with the proper tides underlined.
These huge purple flowers are next to our house. I made the kids stand in them to show their size.

Monday night we went beach combing. We found lots of fun shells and a few dead crabs. This beach is less than 100 yds from our house. It's visible from the driveway.
This is the whale we saw on Wednesday. It didn't come up very far, but we enjoyed watching it.
This is today's fishing trip. Stewart is holding his first Salmon. It's not huge because it's a pink salmon -not a king- but from what I hear they are better eating. They were really good but I've never had king salmon, so I can't say.
This is Caleb pulling in his salmon. I didn't catch my own yet, but I'm not quitting yet. I did hook a couple but they got away.

Enjoying the journey

2009-07-30T18:11:00.001-08:00

During the last week we drove from Blanding to Seattle. Then we've spent the last few days shopping for our years supply of stuff. Throughout the whole trip Sammie has been singing. I'm told the song is on Madagascar 2, but the lines she sings say "I've been around the world in the pouring rain, I've been to many places that look the same. My people, my people, take me to my people now." She sings it with a great little attitude in her voice. I recorded her singing it while she was in the bath, but I decided I shouldn't post that recording on line. So I got her to perform it for me, which is never as cute as when she's just singing to herself, but I think it's cute. We're hanging out in the hotel in Seattle tonight waiting to take the ferry tomorrow. We'll be in our new home in a couple more days. Yah!!

My Hawaii Trip

2009-07-07T06:20:00.000-08:00

Hawaii
I got to go on the most amazing trip to Hawaii this summer. I backpacked on the Napali Coast on Kauai. It was a first in many ways for me. It was the first trip to Hawaii, the first time to be away from my kids for a week, the first time I'd been away from my kids and husband at the same time, and my first time to go on an overnight backpacking hike. For anyone thinking this sounds fun, It was, however, I would never recommend this hike to someone as inexperienced as myself.
This pic is our group at the beginning of the hike. Still feeling good and excited. From left to right they are Laurel (to become my sister in law in October), Robby (my little brother), My mom, Jen (my little sister and trip organizer), Paula (my sister in law), Janice (friend of Jen), Me, and Marilyn (my mom's little sister). Not shown is Phill (a friend of Jen) who was a great photographer and an expert hiker besides adding another great personality to the group.

This is me in front of our first view of the coast we were hiking. It looked impossible. All those little bumps sticking out into the water are what we hiked over, around, and up to get to the amazing beach at the end.This is me looking down off the cliff at the water below. A large portion of the hike was done on skinny trails along the edge of cliffs. Not a hike for the clumsy! I can't believe I made it!!

Two miles into the hike was a small beach that looked like a great place to play in the water, but before we got there we saw this sign. Apparently it's not a good beach to play in the water at.
We took a side trail on the first day so that we could go see this beautiful waterfall. It was a great spot! But while we were there it started raining and it didn't stop until after dark. The funny thing to me was that being wet didn't mean we were cold. It Did get uncomfortable by the end of the day though.
This is Paula going to use the deluxe toilet facilities. They were absolutely disgusting, but when you only see one every 4 or 5 miles at best, you take what you can get.

After a long first day of hiking in the rain on scary trails we were very relieved to get to this little covered table where we could get out of the rain and cook a hot meal. After which we climbed in our tents and slept well. The next morning we were very happy to see the sunshine, and looked forward to a few hours on the beach before dark if we hiked fast.
The scenery along the way was amazing. This is my mom and I stopping to enjoy the scenery. It was unbelievable!!!
There were plenty of places along the trail that seemed better suited to goats than hikers. This is a picture of Robby and Laurel in one of those spots. The switchbacks made it possible to hike but they weren't easy! And that water in the background is a LONG way down!
Finally we arrived at the beach! It was so neat!! It was a big beach with very few people. And it was spotless! No trash, no sticks, most of it didn't even have rocks. It was just clean smooth sand with this amazing backdrop!!!

All of our stuff was still soaked from hiking in the rain the day before (and falling in a few rivers). So we picked this nice area of the beach that had some low bushes and unpacked. Within a few hours everything was nice and dry again. In one corner of the beach was a waterfall that hikers use to shower. It even had a soapdish carved into the rock. We didn't soap up, but the water sure felt great!!

Of corse to Jen, enjoying the beauty of it from the bottom wasn't enough. She had to scale the cliff in bare feet and a swim suit to see what was at the top.
At one end of the beach was this big cave. It wasn't super deep, but we enjoyed exploring it. This pic is looking out to the beach from in the cave.This is my favorite picture of the beach because it shows how peaceful and clean and perfect it was.

On the third day we hiked back out to the cars. It was a long and hard day but amazingly uneventful. All of us came out safe and healthy. Then we had two more days to see what else the island had to offer. First we went to Waimea Canyon. It's a lot like the grand canyon but green. There are hikes to do there, but we had had enough hiking, so we were happy with the view point.

On the way back to the condo, we stopped to see this light house. Look close it's just over my shoulder on the left side of the picture.That night we enjoyed a very energetic game of spoons. There was actually biting at one point!

On our last day we went snorkling. Or at least some of us did. I tried hard, but it is not my thing. But I did like standing in the water and having the fish swim around me. And there were two seals out on a little sand bar, not far out at all. So I enjoyed watching them. I also managed to get the worst sunburn of my life! All in all it was a great day at the beach.Then we finished the week with a Luau at a very nice resort hotel. Thats when Robby finally proposed to Laurel. When the luau was over we went straight to the airport and spent the night flying home.

It was an unforgettable week!!! But I was very happy to see Stew and the kids again!!

Highlights of the first half of Summer.

2009-07-06T07:20:00.000-08:00

I took the kids to Arches. We did all of the short hikes. It was a perfect day. We ate lunch, hiked, and played. It was only about 65 degrees. For Mid June in Moab it doesn't get any better!!
This first pic is the kids at sand arch. It's a small arch surrounded by a huge sand pile.

This is all of us in front of Double Arch. This was a really neat looking arch with plenty of roack climbing opportunities for the kids.
During the week of the 4th of July, Stewart and I had ALL of our brothers and Sisters in town. We spent a day camping with the Hughes Cousins. There are currently 18 Hughes cousins and they are all 2-14 years old. And we're getting two new cousins before Christmas!!
And then the next day Liz and her cousin Tanner were both baptized by their dads. What a great day!! It was a wonderful reunion!
And then we were all able to sit together for the parade on the 4th of July. This pic is the whole Hughes family waiting for the parade to start.

The Richmonds also had a get together during the week of the 4th. The moms all brought the kids to Grandma's and Grandpa's on Monday and spent the whole week playing together. We went horseback riding on some mini horses, had a piniata, went to the dinosaur museum and much more! This pic is Josh and Caleb taking a turn on the horses.This is nine of the ten Richmond cousins in the pool. Most of the kids loved it. Porter wasn't too happy at first, but it grew on him. We have one that was too young for the activities but most of the kids loved it!

While my older three kids were at a cousin activity with the Hughes', The Richmond cousins went to the dinosaur museum. Three-three year olds and three-two year olds. What a fun group!!

The Richmonds all got to watch the parade together also. I did a little running back and forth across the street to be with both families. I love family get togethers but it would be nice not to have both families the same week sometimes.
After Liz's baptism we managed to get some pictures of the kids while they were all dressed up. This is all 10 Richmond cousins. Clean AND Smiling!! Then we all went for a potluck dinner in Hughes' backyard. All my family and all Stew's family in one place - That was a crowd!! I loved every minute!
The three-three year olds loved hanging out together!!! They are less than three months apart from oldest to youngest.

Roof Sledding

2009-04-21T10:23:00.000-08:00

Roof Sledding

Spring is an interesting time in Chevak. The snow keeps piling up until late April or Early May. This year has been an especially deep snow year. The pictures I posted before showed some of the things that don't work well in the deep snow. But this week the temperatures have reached the upper 20's (maybe even low 30's) and it has brought us all out to enjoy the beautiful weather. The kids tend to find places to jump from or build forts in the drifts. Kickball is also a favorite lately. But when the grown ups are in the mood to play it always gets a little more exciting.

It all started with a few adults innocently enjoying the sun from a convenient roof top. Then Stewart and our neighbor Chris started to wonder if they could slide down on their bums. (They are the two laying down in this picture.) It didn't take long to think of the sled.
At first only adults were allowed in the sled, then it changed to kids with the adults (this picture is Liz and Stewart). But before long kids of all ages were sledding off the roof. I, of course, have tons more pictures and a lot of video but my internet is just to slow to load them. Hopefully I'll be able to get better internet next year. Amazingly the most serious injury of the day was Josh, he got a sunburn.

A Spring day at the playground

2009-04-12T22:17:00.000-08:00

This is Josh on the Monkey bars.
And Caleb on the basketball hoop.
And the Girls on the swings.

Alright. If my Mom can do this so can I. I do have pictures I want to share. We took the kids to the playground today just to get some pictures. The snow this year is the deepest we've seen in our four years here. It's mid April and we haven't even reached upper 20's yet. So it could be a few weeks before we start to defrost. Since we're moving out in mid May I'm betting there will still be some very big snow piles when we leave.