What's New

We have been having pretty great weather here in good ol' Alaska. I can't say it has been super warm but the sun has been out more than I have seen it in quite some time. It makes it really nice... all except for that pesky water collection tank. We start running low on water when it doesn't rain as you might remember me talking about before.
I haven't written in awhile it seems and there are many things to say. Today we purchased a truck ( I was about to say new truck but that isn't true. It's older than Hans' truck now but I guess it IS new to us) We are working on getting better fuel efficient vehicles and cutting down on the costs so we can save more for a house and such. I am sure I don't have to be telling anyone about the costs of running vehicles around. One good part of our old jobs is that we could carpool on most days of the week and that made it nice. Now, with his varying schedules and my needing the car to get around with the girls it becomes impossible to take only one car. We are going to get his truck ready to sale and my Gracie won't be too far afterward. I really do like my 4runner but I had originally gotten it so I could haul the "kids" --my dogs around without having them have full reign of my car. It worked out pretty nicely at the time but in retrospect I should have gone with something cheaper. So we are looking for something more economical that I can still haul kids in and out of easily (so must have 4 doors). No luck so far on finding the "right one" and choices are sadly limited up here on the island but I am sure something will pop up--it seems to always sort itself out. We still are continuing the search for our new home...wherever that might be. The search still goes on for that one as well.
My job is going good. Of course like anything else and especially working with kids some days are definitely better than others but for the most part I really do have fun. Their family will be moving in the next couple weeks to a new house so that will be exciting with a new place and all for the girls. We are also getting ready for the Keith family to come up later this month. It will be so different having permanent family on the island. Lets see... I have been all consumed with getting all my paperwork done and turned in for Cub Scout day camp coming up in August. I am looking forward to that although I have no idea what to expect. Like the rest of the scouting thing I will just do my best and try to go with the flow and pretend I know something :) Due to the drier weather lately I have been trying to get out as much as possible to enjoy it. The girls and I have been taking walks whenever we are able and I decided to come into town with Hans on Saturday and walked around town and the bypass while he was doing a trip for work. It has been very enjoyable and there are so many great things to look at. I always see many bald eagles on my walks which is pretty commonplace up here but I still find them fascinating. The mountains, trees, waterfalls, ocean and other wildlife make for a great backdrop for my exercise--can't complain, that's for sure. I have also been reading books lately. I guess I always do when I have the time but we have a book club as one of our Enrichment groups for church and we are trying to find other books to read. We really just started and I would love to hear any suggestions you may have of ones you like or heard were good and would work for a book club.
Hans set our first skate last week... If you haven't already read somewhere on here about that its a 30 hook fishing line that gets set and left to soak for some hours with a weight and buoy attached. You go back and pull it to see what you have caught.. sort of like shrimp or crab pots only this is a long line not a pot. Anyway, we did get some fish! 10 halibut total I believe but we turned a couple small ones back and we got a quill back too. We do have pictures and they will be on here in pretty short order hopefully... I just have to load them on here from the memory card and then upload them and our internet leaves much to be desired as far as speed...
In any case, I had a great time getting out on the boat and fun times seeing the fish. A sad thing did happen--our other friend lost his gear out there. We never did find his line. It may have been taken by another boat or possibly swept out or maybe the buoy sunk, hard to know. It was a real bummer though.
On Wednesday we had the opportunity to take the Cub Scouts on a fieldtrip to a hatchery and rapture center in town. We got a tour of the facility and saw how they process the eggs thru to the adults who return to the hatchery. We also got to see many birds of prey up close and personal. We had a lot of fun and learned quite a bit--at least I know I did! Pictures of that are also on the way. Our ant habitat is running down I am afraid. They don't dig any more just mostly hang out on top trying to get out. I can't imagine they will hang on much longer but I has been quite the experience watching them dig tunnels and figure out the place. The painted lady butterflies are still alive and I am going to take them one last time on Wednesday and we will release them. We are trying to grow sugar crystals in a jar--you know, the ones that form on the string. It has been a rough go and not many have formed. I am not sure why. Have any of you out there done this experiment and had it work effectively?
I guess that pretty much sums it up for us right now. Oh and Hans is doing good. He likes his job mostly although it does get a bit monotonous for him. It is a good job for now and he will be getting a month long change of scenery when he goes to Kake next month. I will miss him but it sounds like he will be happier with a change for a while and when he gets back he will be ready to finish the last 2 months or so of the cruise season. I am looking forward to my trip to UT in about a month. It will be good to see everyone and nice to get away for a bit. I wish Hans could come with me but I know he can't during this part of the year. We are looking at other trips we can take during the winter that might be fun for us. Keep you posted on what we figure out in the future.