Blog Catch Up!

Matt got to go on a King Salmon Charter for his birthday. He went with dad, and a good friend of the family, Steve. It was a slow day, and the captain was not optimistic about them catching their limit, but they went to a spot close to the docks, threw in a line, and Matt brought in the first King of the day. Then dad caught his not far from there, and finally Steve caught his monster. A white King Salmon. Apparently rare, very delicious. All this before noon. So they decided to hit the river, and try their hand at dip netting the rest of the day. Happy Birthday Matt. I hope you had a great day! You deserve it!

We took the Achievement Day girls on a hike this week, up to Hatcher's Pass. I took them on the hike from last week, to Gold Cord. I think everyone really enjoyed themselves.

The girls that came with us. I'm so glad my niece Christa was able to make it. (n

The whole crew in front of the Lynch cabin, built in 1930.

A couple of the girls at the end of the trail. Hidden Lake. Named quite appropriately, since its hidden at the mountain. What a beautiful hike

Morgan's Princess and the Pea Cake for her 5th Birthday. Can you believe my baby is 5 already? It seams like yesterday, we were bringing our little 4 1/2 lb baby home. What a joy she has been, and a blessing in our family.

I let Morgan decide what kind of cake she wanted, and since we didn't do a big party with friends, and a theme, the sky was the limit. I told her whatever she wanted. She looked through several of my decorating books, and fell in love with this one. Princess and the Pea. The hardest part was making the bed frame out of melted chocolate. But I had fun working with fondant for the bedspread, and molding chocolate for the figure of Morgan laying in her bed. Also, I learned to not take the chocolate out till I was ready for it. Especially in a hot kitchen.

Morgan's final present was hidden in Grandpa;s office. We sent her in for it, and she came out riding her new bike. She was so excited. This was the one thing she really wanted for her birthday.

Princess Morgan waiting to blow out her candles.

SCOUTS

Pack Meeting was great this month. Gabe earned his Bobcat, and about 5 belt loops, and Chandler earned several beads towards his Bear advancement. Part of the pack meeting was the kids and dads going to the baseball field, and playing a great game of kickball.

Matt and I painting on the bobcat paw print on Gabe, as part of the scout ceremony when they receive their Bobcat Badge.

Our newest little bobcat. Gabe has been totally excited about being a scout. He is wanting to do everything, and get every badge he can.

Chandler checking out the book of fossils and rocks his scout leader brought. The kids and I had the chance to go to Coyote lake and dig for fossils. It was a blast. We didn't find any animal fossils, but there were plant fossils absolutely everywhere!

Bootie Shot!

Chandler on the side of the mountain, digging for fossils. His cousin Hunter was able to come with us as well. It was fun having him with us

Gabe had so much fun climbing up the side of the cliff to try his hand at fossil digging.

We celebrated our final Soccer Game tonight! Yeah!!! I loved going to watch the kids play, but oye, it was hard coaching Morgan's team, and not getting to enjoy watching her play. Here's the cupcakes I made for Morgan and Gabe's final games this week. Grandma Christensen found the cute little chocolate soccer balls down in Portland this last week. Thanks Grandma. Gabe getting his ribbon and certificate at the awards ceremony last night. Good job Gabe!

It sure was a fun season. I think he's got the Soccer bug. Or at least his mom sure does. Let's just put it this way.... if you walk in our house, and there happens to be a soccer game on the TV, its not because Matt's home.

Everything I Need to Know, I learned in Primary.

On our drive home today from church, Matt and I were asking the kids (like we usually do) what they had learned in Primary. Here are their answers....

Gabe: We learned about the Holy Ghost and how he helps us. It was a good lesson. It was excellent. If it had been any more excellent, I wouldn't know what to do. (back story. Gabe's teacher is Todd Larson, a friend of ours, and when I was waiting out in the hall for the classes to get out, he came up to me and told me how good Gabe was doing, and that I needed to ask him how his lesson had gone, that Todd had trained the kids to come up with some really good answers. I thought he meant suggestions, but he actually had the kids memorize this response. Cracked me up!)

Chandler: Rocks and Feathers.
Me: what? that's not a lessons.
Chandler: Ya, feathers are light weight, and fly where ever the wind blows. Rocks are hard, and steady. We want to be like the rock family. Steady and firm.

Morgan: How to get gum from the Bishop.
Me: not what you did after church Morgan, I meant what did you learn during your lesson.
Morgan: Oh, to listen to our parents and obey.

As you can see, they are very well trained. At least to and from church and during. We're still working on how to incorporate our Sunday lessons to Thursday afternoons.

Gold Chord Lake Hike

We decided to try a new hike with some friends last week. I'd heard it was a good, fun hike with a beautiful lake at the end. But I had no idea it would be this spectacular! Hatcher's Pass has always been a favorite blueberry picking spot of our family's, but I've never really ventured out on any of the trails. Thanks for taking all the pictures Jessica! About 1/2 way up, there is an old sod hut with a great view of the old mining village.

We reached the top, and there was a crater filled lake that was so inviting the kids just couldn't help themselves. And even though this was glacial fed, and probably freezing, in they all went.

The boys especially loved jumping around from flat rock, to flat rock, declaring that they were the KING OF THIS MOUNTAIN!

See, I guess my kids do walk on water after all.

Notice the clouds? We were up pretty high. And while it wasn't a roasting hot day, it was just right for a hike. Just enough wind to cool off the sweat we'd worked up hiking to the top.

From left to right: Morgan, Zack, Kegan, Kade, Gabe, and Chandler. They all had so much fun together, we're definitely doing this again. (Except, I don't think Gabe will be throwing snowballs at Bro. Gunderson again, right Gabe?)

Soccer Anyone?

I thought I had more pictures of Gabe playing soccer, but this is all I could find. He played goalie for a little bit the other night, and decided it was not his cup of tea. Our cutie. He has fallen in love with this sport. He's very serious about it when he's out on the field. It was a beautiful night for a soccer game the other night. Grandma and Grandpa came to Cheer on Gabe. It was sunny, warm, and the clovers were in bloom and smelled so good!

Herd ball. Its a sport unto itself. If you have little ones and have yet to put them in soccer, its something I think every parent must experience. Picture 6 4 and 5 year olds running up and down a field, chasing a ball, kicking said ball, and trying to get it to the right goal. Hilarious! We nicknamed this sport herd ball when I put the boys in 5 years ago. There really aren't any positions, no goalie, just a game of 3 on 3. But she does make this uniform look good, doesn't she?

And yes, we are aware that shin guards are supposed to go under the socks. However, Morgan has refused to comply, because she is so proud of her cute little pink shin guards, she wants everyone to see them.

Morgan throwing in the soccer ball. Good job keeping both feet down! We've worked really hard on this particular skill.

Okay, I Think That's ALL the Pictures I'm going to Post. Enjoy!

We three little firecrackers at Matanuska River on the 4th of July. We always have a blast camping here, and this time, we let the kids play in the water a lot more. Of course, we'll have to wait till next year to go back now, because the run off is too high now. she was so worried about getting dirty that first night.

Such a girl.

Grandma came out for dinner the first night, since Grandpa was off fishing the Kasiloff. She brought yummy food, and even hiked down to the river with us. I love this kid. He is such a joy, and just wants to be a good kid. The middle child can be a very difficult place to be, but he makes it look easy and effortless. Gabe recently started cub scouts, and has had so much fun. He has earned his bobcat, is half way to earning his wolf, and has about 3 arrow points already earned as well.

" It was THIS big " We finally got Libby back in the water to retrieve a stick, but she would only touch the water with three legs at a time. So, you can see her one leg out of the water, and she is practically tip toed in the water.

We drove over to Wonderland Park to watch the fireworks the night before July 4th. (tradition out here, and in Eagle River too). We drove through and got some ice cream and then parked to watch the show. It was really pretty good. And just so you know, these pictures were taken at about midnight. (we are, after all, the land of the midnight sun. not just a myth folks!) Swingin' on the swing while we waited for the parade to start up.

Still waiting with the kiddo's for the parade to begin. We go every other year, and the kids love waiting for the parade to pass by. They always get a bag full of candy, and love seeing the different cars and floats. This year we sat with some friends from the ward. (actually we had about a block of just LDS people, which made it interesting, and very quiet when the bible thumps came through with their pamphlets and handouts.

Hooray for our brave men and women who defend our freedoms!

Morgan steering the ship.

Chandler and Bear looking for some fish to catch. Good luck buddies. Not only is this river glacier fed, but the dog kind of scares away any little fishies.

Our little water girl. She got a little too wet, and was warming up in daddy's camp shirt.

The kids had SO much fun with this floaty. It was a pirate ship and totally worth the $28 we paid for it at Target.

We drove down to Gorilla Fireworks to buy our contraband's for the evenings festivities.

Matanuska River.

Our family (plus one of Morgan's friends) waiting for the parade to come by.