still wet and muddy...but sun is out!

Yeah!!!!!  We have dry ground, mostly.  Last week – all of last week – was gray and cool.  It seemed like spring would never arrive.  We even had more flurries.  But, finally we are getting some sunny, blue skies. I had some good and bad weather down in SE Alaska while on the cruises, choppy waters but still lovely scenery! It even snowed a little and it seems that this past week while I was gone, there was some bad weather.

Last weekend, the schools had open house to show off their yearly work.  There were plenty of tests to take to test the adults skills.  For years we’ve had the US states and capitals test.  As mentioned Bro Rus didn’t take that test so Lizzie could have a chance.  Tommy Geyer actually won with a 100 percent.  Lizzie came in second.  Bro Rus won our European countries and capitals test – he got all of them correct.  I think that’s outstanding!  After the open house some of us went out to play a rousing game of soccer with the older kids. 

Graduation for Annie Buongiorne, Olivia Geyer, Joey Casey, and Bethany Chartier is set for May 14^th at 1:30 pm.  Kenny and Stacey are driving up from Kansas.  Bethany’s brothers have joined the Navy and are stationed in Japan so they will not be here.  Stephen and Melissa from CA will be here as will Joey’s siblings who live in Fbks.  I don’t know who else will be coming but I know there are lots of local guests. 

All of Millirons are leaving shortly after the graduation for the states to attend Joel’s wedding. 

Seth Fouse and Kevin have been doing a job out at Whitestone for the past week.  They’ve been leaving each morning at 5:30 am. 

Thomas and Brad (the only official loggers left)  are in Fairbanks attending a seminar or symposium having to do with things they’re interested in (wood, logs, etc). 

Joey got accepted into the paramedic school that Jon and Peter are in.  He’ll start school next fall. Jon Squires and Peter Casey (Joey's older bro) have both passed their Paramedic initial trials. They will be spending a season of time in Texas and  Connecticut ( I think) attending the final Paramedic Academy exams. 

Pat is busy with his piano work and traveling to Cord-ova for piano work. PatLou is busy with firefighting training with his initial attach fire crew. We won't be seeing much of him until the fall. 

Bonnie is still gone to her hair cutting class.

Last night, the jr high (Nic, Manda, Maddie, and Kerri) had a program.  They sang several hymns in two part harmony for us.  And Kathryn played one of the hymns as a piece on the piano.  Then she played for a couple of the hymns. 

Seth Jepsen came home on Sunday.  He was in Kodiak for a month helping Jason Underhill and his crew clear ground for a lodge to be built down there.  They were clearing and cleaning up and setting up for a big crew to come in.  Seth got some nice pictures.  I guess  BBC PLANET EARTH crew is coming in to make a photo docu of the largest bears in Alaska - the Kodiak Brown Bear.

Jo and Brad are going in this weekend to pick up their new set of bees.  It seems sorta cold but I guess they have to start building their hives so they have some “inside” work to do before it warms up and they are out looking for pollen.  Swae, Sarah’s daughter, has spent the week with Jo and Brad and girls. 

Happy Spring, yeah bring it on!

KENAI FJORDS WHALE WATCHING TOUR & SEALIFE CENTER

 This fellow seems to be saying : "Huh can't a guy eat in peace already?"

We also took some time before the cruise to go to the new SeaLife Cenger. Well worth it and can rival any aquarium in the L48...built with Exxon Valdez fines...top notch!

4 hours to get to Resurrection Cape...enough for me with a boatload of kids!!

Their catamarans are top notch and new...

As you probably already know, Rob and self were invited by the AGSD to join their Homer/Seward field trip. This included an oceanography program aboard a boat for 6 hours, a visit to the Center for Alaska Coastline Studies (spent the night in a Yurt), a visit to the Seward SeaLife Center (awesome!) and a 4 hour oceanic voyage around Kenai's Fjiords for whale sighting and marine fauna watching...my previous blog post detailed the trip to the Peterson Coastal Studies center on the Kachamak Bay (part of the Kachamak National Park).

Here are some handy tips to help enjoy this tour more in case you were interested:

Our tour was a limited time offering – just during the whale migration in April.

Includes free lunch (Caesar chicken salad wrap, matchstick carrots, Sweet & Salty granola bar).

Free coffee and tea, and apples (I think they were free??).

They also pass out free fresh baked chocolate chip cookies as you’re returning to dock.

Rob really liked that!

You could also bring your own snacks and/or (2nd) lunch for those big eaters. The tour was four hours long (average length), and my bunch eats more than they lunch they provided for us in a 4 hour period.

Bring (really) warm clothes – although our cruise was in the spring (Alaska spring ha!), with the winds blowing as the boat moves, and the unpredictable weather of Seward, you want to make sure to be warm enough.

There is an indoor cabin with large windows for viewing, but it’s kept only marginally warm. After about two or three hours, I was frozen inside and out and couldn’t get warm until we got back to our hotel.

Bring your camera! The captain makes extra effort to get as close as possible (without disturbing the animals), so you can get a good view of them.

We saw a lot of wildlife ...no whales unfortunately but I have included a photo of the time I saw them on the Prince William sound so you can get an idiea of  what they do look like when they are in sight!
It was pretty choppy and I got soaked. Rob came out sporadically when I called him to look at something. Black bears and mountain goats came out from their caves and ledges...that was cool. Also bald eagles and all sorts of birds of the sea. The puffins are not out at this time, they migrate later on and use the same rookeries on the cliffs as the gulls do...weird huh? but economical in these hard times with rising cost of habitats...ha!

Saw a couple of rocks covered with large sea lions, the larger of the seals. Some of us got a bit seasick but on the whole everybody seemed to be weathering the weather fine. An incredible experience!

A lone black Egret amongst the gulls.

Sea lions are the largest of the seals (except for the Elephant seal) and can weigh upwards of 2 tonnes.

ROB'S HOMER, SEWARD SEA LIFE CENTER AND KENAI FJORDS TRIP

folks,
i don't want to write everything again. just click on the link to see the photos which are self explanatory. it was an awesome trip and rob really enjoyed himself and was well behaved which is a good springboard for trips in the future. this was organized and funded by the alaska gateway school district special needs dept. of which robin has been  a part for the past 8 years.
thanks

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.1829336544922.102094.1585591801&l=a5bffcd945

KENAI FJORDS TOUR
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.1829301144037.102082.1585591801&l=18b5bc1809

SEWARD SEALIFE CENTER AND AQUARIUM
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.1829258782978.102066.1585591801&l=946a1ce82a

more bad weather...

Hello.  We still have a lot of snow around – roads around the farm still are snowy and slushy.  Most of this week has been gray and cool.  Right now, it is 25° out. 

Because we have the school’s open house tomorrow night, all the teachers and students have been busily preparing rooms and papers for public viewing.  Bro Rus, Lizzie, and Bro Andy usually vie for first place on the states and capital test.  Bro Rus has told us that he’s going to drop out this year so that Lizzie could have a chance.  Our class is going to have a test on the European countries and capitals.  I’ve been studying it for a few weeks with my students, and I still don’t know if I could take the test. 

We had an ‘80’s night dress up last Sunday night.  Mostly the ones who weren’t around in the ‘80’s dressed up, but a few others did too.  Kathy and Bill Casey stole the show since Kathy came as a pregnant woman because that’s how she spent the ‘80’s.  I’ll try to send along a few of the better photos.  J  Those that want to look at the pictures on facebook can go here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.10150163940691569.280562.674561568&l=7bb5040d97

Rus, Wendy, and Kathy Casey have been working night and day on transplanting things in the greenhouse.  I haven’t been helping them at all so I don’t really know what they’re doing.

My head is tired so I’ll be calling it a night.  Have a great weekend.

HOW MUCH MONEY DOES IT TAKES TO GO OFF GRID?

Muy Interesante! as Hno. Lee would say...

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-much-money-does-it-take-to-go-Off-Grid

KACHEMAK BAY ALASKA COASTAL STUDIES CENTER

Folks,
Well after a week away in southern Alaska Rob and I are back, exhausted (me) but happy. I did not do any of the planning so the exhaustion is basically that I am more out of shape than I thought, trekking up icy paths and sleeping in yurts.

Here is a link to some of the things we did. Easier than me recounting every little detail which I have already forgotten some of the details. After driving to Anchorage with 2 vanloads of students and adults, we got up the next morning like at 4am. and drove some more to Homer Alaska. Look it up on the map.

http://www.akcoastalstudies.org/school-programs/36-kachemak-bay-onboard-oceanography.html

arriving at the Peterson Field Station on floating raft powered by us, with ropes and pullies!

The first stop was at PETERSON BAY FIELD STATION which belongs to the Alaska Coastal Studies Center. This is a haven tucked into the Kachemak Bay National Park. We took the 6 hours Oceanography study which highlights oysters and how they have been affected by ocean tide changes and global warming. The kids had a good time, measuring and looking at sea water through a microscope. Rob got rather bored but enjoyed the boat ride and meeting all the kids (2 schools were involved) so it was pretty tight on the boat!

After the oceanography study, we rode over on a water taxi courtesy of the Rainbow Connections service. We spent the first couple of hours carefully making our way around the slippery rocks, shooting photos and video, while listening to the guides talk about what was being found. 

The kids reconvened for a final tally of creatures and a short lesson. Then, it was time for clean up. At our guides suggestion, we vacated the station and went for a hike on a trail that looped around to a lake and back.

LOST AND FOUND LAKE A 2HR. TREK.

We were getting  about 15 hours of sunlight a day. However, it is still only hitting the mid-40’s in temperature. In places where there are a lot of trees, that means there is still a good deal of snow.

Roughly half of our journey to the lake involved stepping though knee-deep or deeper snow. This snow was anxious to melt, so we punched through with every step, filling knee-high boots with ice, making the worst sno-cones ever. After a grueling 1.5 miles, we reached the lake. It was pretty. It was still mostly covered in ice. They call it the LOST AND FOUND LAKE.

There were times around THE PIT, toasting marshmallows and making s'mores. Some sang and others just talked. Rob and I went to bed early after getting up at 4am the previous day. He did OK however did not like the yurt as much as he thot he wld so in the middle of the night he came to my yurt...haha!

ROB HAD FUN LOOKING FOR SEA STARS

CHRISTMAS SEA ANEMONIE

sunflower star

Rob has fun identifying diff. critters

a small leather star

SOME OF THE STAFF

 inside the yurt

AROUND THE PIT FOR SWAPPING STORIES, RECOUP AND S'MORES!

barnacles and concles

a True star...I think

 we returned to the field station in time to help load up the dock with gear, and then hopped on board the Rainbow Connection for our ride back to Homer.

THANKS AGSD, AND ESPECIALLY

TISH AND PAULA FOR MAKING THIS AWESOME EVENT 

POSSIBLE!

GOD'S WIFE...

God's Wife LOOK OUT FOR THE LAST STORY..... IT WILL KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF    Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge.  The purpose?  To find the most caring child.     The winner was:   A four-year-old child, whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman, who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the oldGentleman's' yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.   When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy just said, 'Nothing, I just Helped him cry.' *********************************************   Teacher Debbie Moon's first graders were discussing a picture of a family. One little boy in the picture had a different hair color than the other members.  One of herstudents suggested that he was adopted.    A little girl said, 'I know all about Adoption, I was adopted.'     'What does it mean to be adopted?', asked   another child.      'It means', said the girl, 'that you grew in your mommy's heart instead of her tummy!' ************************ *********************       On my way home one day, I stopped to watch a Little League baseball game that was being played in a park near my home.  As I sat down behind the bench on the first-base line, I asked one of the boys what the score was   'We're behind 14 to nothing,' he answered with a smile.    'Really,' I said. 'I have to say you don't look very discouraged.'    'Discouraged?', the boy asked with a puzzled look on his face...'Why should we be discouraged? We haven't been up to bat yet.' *********************** ********************** Whenever I'm disappointed with my spot in life, I stop and think about little Jamie Scott.   Jamie was trying out for a part in the school play. His mother told me that he'd set his heart on being in it, though she feared he would not be chosen.  On the day the parts were awarded, I went with her to collect him after school. Jamie rushed up to her, eyes shining with pride and excitement..  'Guess what, Mom,' he shouted, and then said those words that will remain a lesson to me.....'I've been chosen to clap and cheer.' *********************************************    An eye witness account from New York City , on a cold day in December, some years ago:  A little boy, about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold.     A lady approached the young boy and said,   'My, but you're in such deep thought staring in that window!'  'I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes’, was the boy's reply.     The lady took him by the hand, went into   the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel.. He quickly brought them to her.  She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel.  By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks.  Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased the shoes.  She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him.. She patted him on the head and said, 'No doubt, you will be more comfortable now.'    As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked her.  'Are you God's wife?' ********************************************* SEND TO ALL WHO LOVE AND CARE FOR CHILDREN.   Hope this put a smile on your face it Sure did mine!

 

SPRING BREAKUP AND OTHER FUN STUFF...

We received an inch of snow yesterday.  We had gray, lightly blizzard-like conditions on and off all day.  The snow has not melted a dot since last Friday! (I think)  We’ve had 0° to 13° each night.  My household is into this new thing of not having a fire in the stove ever.  I know some of you live at 65 degrees all the time and on purpose.  I don’t like it.  Rebekah came out yesterday and decided to start a fire (I’m much too lazy). J

Last Saturday we did pick up Rus and Millie from the airport.  They’d had a wonderful and profitable time in Juneau, Hoonah, and Haines.  Rus does the books for all those farms. They had time to see many people whom they haven’t seen in years.  They were supposed to fly into Fairbanks at 10 am; their flight was canceled to engine problems and they didn’t fly in until 4 pm.  They just sat around at the airport while waiting for their new flight from Juneau to Fbks.  It made it a long day for them. 

Judy and Steve flew out yesterday for their yearly visit to Lauren and Dwayne and family in Atlanta. They’ll be gone six weeks. 

Bonnie left on Sunday for Maine.  She is going to attend some classes at her old beauty school which she can do for free since she was trained there originally.  Irene, her mom who lives with Jim and Bonnie, already misses Bonnie badly. 

Seth Jepsen called on Monday night.  Laundry and showering has been a problem since they are completely out in the woods somewhere on Kodiak Island.  I almost think Seth sounded a little homesick.  Jason U told that they were going to get an internet dish out there maybe today so we’ll soon know if they do. 

Jarred had a bone spur in his jaw (inside his mouth).  He had one last year that he broke off; he found another one this year.  He went into the dentist and they sent him over to an oral surgeon.  They messed with the spur and broke it off but not all the way so Jarred had this sharp spur in his mouth.  Finally Jarred got it to break off all the way.  The oral surgeon says he used to operate on them but now he’s trying to leave them alone and give medicine to keep the open wound clean if it’s open.  He also said that while in the states he’s only ever seen one of these cases but since being in Alaska, he’s seen eight.  Interesting, huh? Poor Jarred sounds painful! God bless him...

Last night the school children sang a couple of their music songs for us, and they used sign language while they did it. It was very sweet.  Thomas led worship and Rus and Garth preached afterward. 

Allyson is much better.  She started coming out again on Sunday.  The medicine from the Dr really helped.  She is weak from lack of food for 10 days, but slowly, she is gaining her energy back. Ali has an intolerance to gluten plus having had a bad case of pancreatitis a few years back, she is such a trooper.

Oh, I think my/our meal on Sunday turned out rather well.  Val Harris helped me think of a cabbage salad (using vinegar, oil, sesame seeds, almonds, salt, and cabbage) for one of my side dishes.   Jake came in the kitchen and I let him flavor a batch of pork and I flavored the rest.  We had Jamaican Jerked Pork, rice mixed with beans and peppers, green salad, cabbage salad, and frosted sugar cookies.  Wendy, Jessy, and Lizzie were my great helpers.

Garth and Kim will be going to Sapa this weekend so Garth can minister down there. 

Jon and Peter, our soon to be paramedics, are having tests this week and next week.  Jon asked that we pray for them extra hard this week. Joey, Pete's youngest brother  is planning on a career in EMS, here he is driving the Tok ambulance. My niece Kelsey is still in Fairbanks taking her course work towards becoming a paramedic as well. She and Joey are doing it through the UAF program.

Pat Lou, our oldest,  and Bethany Welby received their fiancé visas.  Bethany will hopefully fly over from England in August when the babies are big enough to travel.  Pat is in Wasilla taking his firefighting training. He is now a TechII. Hopefully it will be a good year for them, although nobody likes fires when they get too close for comfort. We won't be seeing them until fall and the babes will be a couple of months old...yikes! So glad I got all those baby clothes done with Judy's help, now everything is getting pretty busy with folks coming and going, end of school, Open House, Grad and a wedding in June plus the greenhouse operation.

Tommy and Carolyn’s granddaughter (daughter of Marki and Sam in Fairbanks), Gemma Gwen, was born on Monday around 8:30 pm.  All is well except some jaundice which is being taken care of.

Rob and self are going with the AGSD (Alaska Gateway School District) correspondence and Special Ed. group to Seward and Homer. In the south of AK. I have never been so it  sure to be good. We will have 2 catamaran trips to view the ocean, whales, and any other wildlife that ventures into our path. The Marine Center and other highlights. Hopefully it will be nice weather so I can get some good photos and video. Rob is pretty excited, I do not relish the 10 hours in the van full of kids...oh well...

Well, I am madly getting ready for our youngest daughter's graduation in May. Finished tweaking the slideshow to where I like it, hope everybody else likes it too. Here is a picture of her invitation for those who are not coming but still would have wanted to.

Just click on the link


http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21176163/annies%20card.pdf



Rob has been helping Big Pat with our new stack of wood. He is a strong kid! Big Pat has been trying to get the new fire wood to different cabins. Hard to do in the slushy conditions. The loggers are done wiht bringing in wood, they did a good job as usual, such long hours, I could see them trucking back and forth from the logging site off the farm in the wee hours of the night and morning...poor guys. I bet they are glad that is done! Now they're off building cabins and what not...never ending job!
GOD BLESS THEM!

I better get  Have a good day!!!!