Feeling crabby!

Pure happiness is 5 pounds of fresh crab meat and a freezer full of halibut!

I know I have been whining for weeks about the non-stop rain and colder summer we have been having up here but I just have to rub it into all of my sunshine family and friends that that is the price you pay sometimes to live in paradise! Ed went on a fishing trip this weekend and boy did he bring home the bacon (well it was halibut and garbage bags full of dungeness crab).

We had family over to help shuck the crab shells last night and we ended up with a huge bowl full (notice in the picture that Grandpa does not quite seem to be getting the meat into the bowl.....GRANDPA!!).

We are so lucky to live in a place that is not only beautiful but also provides food for the table year round. I love halibut and crab and so does the whole family.

Next up? Salmon! I am going fishing with Ed in the fishing derby August 8 - 10...wish us luck!

Not so simple Sunday!

I had a Sunday all right. I wish it was simple. I was this month's host of BUNCO in our neighborhod. I chose a pretty simple mexican menu for a reason. Ed was gone halibut fishing all weekend (more on that later) so I was in charge of house cleaning, shopping for the food, entertaining a very busy 3 year old and preparing the house for 12 guests!

Here is my day. I didn't realize how hectic it as until I started thinking about blogging my Simple Sunday and thought...holy smokes...it was NOT simple:

8:00 - Woken by Caden with these words, "I poopy Mommy." Nice.
8:05 - 8:30 - Caden in tub
8:30 - 9:30 - Chill with coffee and Sunday paper (Caden watching Scooby Doo).
9:30 - 10:30 - Vacuum & mop floors in kitchen & dining room
10:30 - Colton woke up & helped...nicer
10:30 - Dumped kahlua into cake for Kahlua Chocolate Trifle dessert
10:30 - 11:00 - Clean bathrooms
11:00 - 11:15 - Prep buffet table
11:15 - 11:30 - Re-do dining room...CADEN!!
11:30 - 11:45 - Clean windows
11:45 - 12:15 - Take quick shower
12:15 - 12:30 - Drive Colton and friends to Skateboard shop
12:30 - 1:00 - Talk to Mom on cell phone while running errands for Ed
1:00 - 1:30 - Pick up last minute items for margarits...YUM
1:30 - 1:45 - Drive home with 3 teenagers and 3 year old. Fun.
1:45 - 2:00 - Put together trifle and refrigerate
2:00 - 2:30 - Brown meat, cut tomatoes and olives, & prep other stuff for Taco Pie
2:30 - 2:45 - Assemble taco pie and preheat oven. Make and refrigerate the margaritas
2:45 - 3:00 - Arrange furniture for game
3:00 - 3:15 - Gather toys and items for Caden's visit with Grandma. Wrestle Caden into car.
3:15 - 3:30 - Drop Caden off to Grandma's.
3:30 - Put taco pie into oven and preheat 2nd oven for taquitos
3:30 - 3:45 - Last minute cleaning, dishes
3:45 - Quick brush through hair, check makeup & Renee arrives
3:50 - Taquitos in oven & ice in margaritas & more guests arrive
4:00 - Taco pie & taquitos out of oven
4:05 - 6:15 - Play, eat, play, eat...I lost...no money for me! :(
6:15 - 6:45 - Clean up
6:45 - 7:45 - Drive to Caryn's to get Caden and drop off watermelon (I bring dessert to Sunday dinner every week).
7:45 - 9:00 - Help Ed package massive amounts of halibut & crab (more on that later).
9:00 - 9:15 - Wrangle Caden into jammies and bed (thankfully he wanted a short story tonight!).
9:15 - 9:30 - Final kitchen clean up.
9:30 - 10:00 - BLOG

I am tired, tired, tired. As I said...nothing simple about this Sunday.

Ferry Ride

Just wanted to show some of the really cute pictures I took of Caden on the M/V Fairweather on our trip over to Sitka for 4th of July. For those of you unfamiliar with this mode of transportation, it is the State run Alaska Marine Highway. I would say our family travels by ferry at least once, if not twice a year. We usually make a trip to Haines in order to drive up to Whitehorse, Yukon, B.C. every summer. These ferries truly link the southeast communities in Alaska that don't have a road connection. It is the ticket out of land locked Juneau from time to time. It is really fun, relaxing and sometimes there is lots of wildlife on the way. When my Mom comes to visit, she LOVES to take a ferry ride. As a matter of fact, the last time she went on a ferry trip was with my late Grandmom Gerle. We all went to Sitka for the 4th of July. It was a gorgeous trip, sun was shining and the water was sparkling. My Grandmom loved the water and commented on it many times. We love the ferry too!

Colton is home!

Tonight Colton came home! He has been gone since June 8th! What a little adventurer he is....3 weeks in Eagle River and another 3 weeks in Sitka. We sure missed him. I THINK he missed us too but won't admit it (can you tell he is growing up?). He came home to get started on the outdoor soccer season which will help condition him for his first season of football. Not quite sure what I think of my little cutie pie playing football out there on the wet, dirty field with other bigger boys but it is what he has his heart set on. Devin is staying in Sitka to get a job (Gramma thought the smaller town would be a perfect place to start out). We will see. I am soo glad Colton is home (and I think Caden is even more excited....he would not leave his side for a few hours). I made Colton a cake that we half devoured already. Welcome home Colton...we sure missed your smiling face! Ü

Missing the big boys!

The older boys have been gone for so long and we sure miss them. Especially Caden. The poor little guy has been like an only child for weeks. He sure loves his big brothers and I have to say that they are all really sweet together. Soon Caden...they will be home soon!

The Big Move

This past weekend Ed, Caden and I helped his parents move from Sitka to Juneau. Ed rumbled into Sitka in a 17 foot U-haul with his sister Caryn, her husband Jewel and their two foster daughters. To put it mildly....we ATTACKED! Poor Barbara had a swarm of worker bees in her home inundating her with, "do you want this?" and "is this garbage?". She was a trooper though and we ended up taking 4,000 pounds of stuff to the landfill. There is a picture of Ed in the small garbage truck we got to load up. Uncle Jewel really liked the compactor on that thing. He was crushing stuff all day long...men! I almost ended up taking home their dog Hurley (a Yorkshire Terrier) but at the ninth hour, someone came and took him away...whew! There is a picture of the old house. We all loaded up on the fast ferry this past Wednesday and roared into town. There is a picture of Caden hanging out the car window as we waited in line out at the ferry terminal. Their new home is GREAT. We snapped a picture on the front porch the night they arrived. The U-haul is unloaded and now they are slowly putting things away. I think Barbara is relieved to be done and really likes the new house. It was a lot of work but we are so glad they are here. Welcome to Juneau!!

Sitka 4th of July

Did I already mention that I love small town 4th of July celebrations? Caden and I took the Fairweather ferry over to Sitka (only 4 and 1/2 hours) and we watched the fireworks at midnight on the 3rd from Thompson Harbor aboard Jimmy Womack's boat. Even Caden lasted long enough and his version of the evening goes something like this....the "bad man" lights the fireworks and they go "boom, boom" in the sky. The next day was 71 degrees, sun was shining and flags were waving. We headed to the parade and the boys waited patiently on the curb for candy and Devin even got a visit from a cute Keystone Cop! We hit the food booths for taco boats, fry bread and snow cones. It was a really fun time. That wasn't the end of our exciting trip to Sitka. We helped Ed's parents pack up their house and move to Juneau but that deserves it's very own post....tomorrow. Hope you all had a nice 4th of July.

Happy 4th of July!

As my family and friends celebrate Independence Day around the United States (east coast to west), I am curious what each of your traditions are surrounding this day. I bet most of you would be surprised to know that in Alaska (well at least the 2 towns I have lived in), we have fireworks at midnight on July 3rd. While most of you have fireworks at a decent hour (6pm or so), it is still so light out in Alaska that we have to wait until midnight. Well, as most folks have to go back to work on the 5th, tradition here is to have them the night BEFORE the 4th of July. Interesting huh? The 4th of July is also one of those holidays that my dear husband ALWAYS has to work. This holiday is soo busy that almost everyone has to work it...no vacations can be planned around this holiday...EVER. So guess what? Caden and I are jumping on the fast ferry tomorrow to spend the 4th with the big boys in Sitka!

I love small town parades and food booths and cheesy floats with lots of salt water taffy (why is that always the thrown candy of choice by the way?). I sometimes get a tear in my eye just watching small town Americana all come together for a glorious 45 minutes (yes, it is a small parade) to clap at the decorated military, wave at the coast guard helicopters as they fly in formation overhead, and smile at the cute little ones struggling to keep up with the march.

Enjoy your 4th of July everyone!