Berry Picking

I have truly fallen in love with Alaska summers. Now I know why everyone kept telling us in the many months of winter, "Just wait 'til summer!" The summers here are beyond beautiful with plenty to do.
Today we went out with some friends to go berry picking. Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, salmon berries and many more grow wild all around base. We just pulled off on the side of the road and picked and ate and picked.I can't imagine life any better in the summer. Good friends and delicious berries!

Yakisoba

You know life must not be too thrilling if all there is to post about is food!

In honor of Curtis being in Japan(and because Nick has been begging for it!) we decided to make up some Yakisoba. It is one of our family's favorite Japanese dish. We are all quite a bit out of practice with our chopsticks, but somehow the food always found a way to our mouths.

And for those who have been asking, here is Indie's brown bag and whip. I am sure that he has a rope and gun inside the brown bag. He is always ready for adventure.

All Washed Up

I wanted to get some sewing done so I left out some paper and markers on the table. I know that markers with little children mean messes, but she normally draws only on the table and paper. This time she got her face. So when I saw her I told her to go wash up.

I guess she didn't quite understand that I meant to wash her face, not the markers. She successfully washed pink and black to the point that they no longer work. She was also sweet enough to leave the towel hanging in the sink to make a nice little bridge for the water to travel to the floor and helped wash the floor.But...I finished my sewing and Megan had fun!

The Beach and Wildfires

There is a lake nearby (the warmest lake in Alaska!) that has a great little beach. It is our favorite spot to go one these hot summer days. I think the water is cold but Curtis and the kids don't mind it.

We have also been having quite a few wildfires in the area(within 100 miles). The smoke just settles like fog. So it may look cold and dreary but really there is just a lot of smoke and haze.

Indiana Jones snuck into the water and "saved someone". Needless to say, those were clothes for the trip home. Indie needs to listen to his mother!

Indiana Jones

Caleb has been in love with Indiana Jones lately. He really gets into him as a character. Notice his unbuttoned shirt. He has even convinced his brothers and sisters to play parts in his little game. Curtis decided that he needed a brown bag instead of a pink My Little Pony bag, so I got out some brown scraps and made him one. He now looks more authentic.We went fishing the other night. We retired Jake and Nicks's kiddy poles for real ones. They have been 3 times this week with some success.Indiana Jones gets real dirty. According to Caleb, he even eats sand. Yummy!Nick lost interest in fishing and decided to come play.

4th of July Parade

The community of North Pole holds a 4th of July celebration. It was a hot, sunny day(which kind of surprised me!?!). We took the kids down to the parade and carnival.The Elders of the area were in the parade along with their bed which they raced in a race during the carnival. They took 2nd place. I was glad to see them having some fun while doing missionary work!The Jed Clampett truck. The sign said that it was the old working truck in Alaska held together by nothing but rust. Of course, who could have a parade in North Pole without Santa and Mrs. Claus. It is Christmas even in July here!And the star of our show....Jake's cub scout troop marched in the parade.

We stayed a while for the carnival and when we left the boys were wondering why there weren't any fireworks. Reminding them that the sun never really sets right now, we settled for watching them on tv....which really isn't the same.

Trampoline

When we got orders to Alaska we decided to get rid of our old trampoline because "Who in Alaska has a trampoline???" Well, summer here is much more than we ever would have planned on, and the appropriate question should have been, "Who doesn't have a trampoline?" So when we saw someone getting rid of theirs, we quickly bought it. And it has been the best money that we have spent all summer!

Here is our friendly little squirrel. We might just adopt him as a family pet! He runs up the fence right up near our kitchen window and sqeaks at us.