After the Feast, more Food!

This is our interim Pastor, Keith Randall displaying all the fabulous left-over pies! A bunch of us got together Friday night after the Kenai Electric Lights Parade and Fireworks at the Randalls house to unload the pie left-overs and enjoy more fellowship!
Justice is a cutie-patootie! He is the oldest son of our friends Aaron and Stacy, and their youngest boy, Keagan, is passed around often and below is being held by Maureen! It's all fun! This is more of the Alaska-family that has helped us while we miss our Outside-families!

Thanksgiving Play!

Pictionary was the name of the game after a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with our Surrogate family! The Hart's invited us over, and we ate at Jason and Rita's. Holly and Rita gave us and Rita's son Miles some good competition, but we prevailed in Pictionary! Jason, Dave, & Scott were all gone, so Pat was the lone adult male! It was tough for him! We also played a bit of Ping-Pong to take care of those extra calories!!

Vaughn had a bit of after-dinner nap longings! He's Rita's youngest, so far!

Price of Beauty

It's what I have to do. I can't explain it. I won't make any excuses. I am addicted.
Pat took a few pics of a ship getting ready to take on a load of oil. The barge is up a dock in Nikiski (Ni-KIS-ski). You can tell it is light by how far up the water line is. Those mountains never get old!
Oh, by the way, to all those who visited us this summer, we've had the most clear, sunny days that I can remember since we moved here! It's remained quite cold. We were in the mid teens for a high today, and as we came home tonight, it was -2. A bit crisp!

A Day in the Life

The rug is essentially finished and now on display!
Pat made this battering ram for a friend of ours in a drug unit of the Kenai Police force!

Chilly

It's been a little chilly here lately. We've been topping out in the low 20's for a while. This is the Kenai River, and since it is still flowing, the water is "warm" compared to the air and creates a beautiful mist. The mist rises and freezes over all the vegetation and tree limbs for a glittering frost covering. There are ice flows starting, so it won't be too long before it's mostly iced up, but there is usually a trickle that stays visible this close to the ocean. It is just gorgeous in the morning with the alpen-glow on the mountains with the mist rising from the river!

Birthday Brother-in-law's

Happy Birthday to Two Great Guys! Chris' Birthday is today, and Josh's Birthday is Friday! As you can tell, Josh is anticipating the arrival of his first baby girl, and Chris is enjoying his youngest baby girl! What good daddy's! We miss you both! Happy Birthday!

100th!

Our 100th post!Pat has been busy preparing the bear hide for tanning by washing/salting/drying it! The tub worked out well for the washing! The tanning solution was rubbed in and dried, and now he's slowly working to soften the now preserved rug! It has very soft, fluffy fur, but the "leather" side is still a bit stiff! That will give him something to do until it snows enough to ride our machines! It's been a bit chilly, and his next quest is to hunt the abundant coyote, and perhaps even a wolf or lynx!

Twenty-Tenth Birthday!

These White Orchids are from Jackie

Happy Birthday Baby!!!
Today is the birthday of my best friend Melissa. She is the best wife any man could ever dream of having! One of the things I love the most about Melissa is that she "gets" me. Those of you who know me understand what I'm talking about. Not very many women in this world could be married to me and not lose their sanity. With all my different hobbies and interests I am always fired up about something that has nothing to do with normal life but somehow she understands that that's what makes me tick and she loves me for it. How many women do you know that would suggest moving away from family and friends to go to Alaska just because it's their husband's dream? And not only that, she has become interested in the things that I'm interested in. She is hands down my favorite person to go into the woods with. She looks so cute packing a rifle and binoculars, and she can hold her own when it comes to making the shot. I still don't understand how she manages to look so good in hip waders, I feel like I'm in an "Uncle Buck's" cheese cake calendar every time we fish together!! We spent a dozen or so nights tent camping deep in the back country with the bugs and the bears, canoed literally hundreds of miles, caught hundreds of pounds of fish and packed countless miles hunting for bears high on steep mountain sides and still she is just as feminine and cute as ever, how does she do that?
So here's to you Babe, on your twenty-tenth birthday, may you always be in your twenties!!
Thank you for being my lovely wife, I love you
Pat