News on Maya & Sophie

Hans and I took the girls with us down to meet Cindy who was in town on one of the cruise ships on Monday. She is the mom of one of his really good friends from back in Arlington. It was nice to see her again and the girls did pretty good with just standing there while we talked. They both pretended they were shy which amazes me every time it happens since they make so much noise all day long. I mentioned to Hans how funny it feels sometimes with us all out together doing something. It's like we are pretending to have a family during the weekdays or something. Kinda weird feeling but they are cute girls so why not huh?

It was a sunny day but very windy as we were walking along the docks back to the car. I looked down and just laughed at how funny Maya looked walking against the wind. It seemed that she might get blown away if I hadn't been holding onto her hand. So we got a couple pictures of that. It seems that I was looking pretty interesting myself. I put her in the tshirt that I brought her back from my trip. It says "As a matter of fact, I do fish like a girl". It's pretty cute on her--I got the smallest one and its a bit big but she will grow into it. She always talks about being able to go out on a boat and fish so it just seemed like the perfect shirt for her. Sarah said she did get to fish at Moon Lake for their reunion last month so then it works even better.

This is Maya with our oldest nieces Paige and Brooke at Refuge Cove beach. We had a Pioneer Day celebration on the Saturday after the 24th. It was not very warm, I spent a fair amount of time next to the huge bon fire but at least it didn't rain. Paige went swimming I heard with some of the other youth. I think Maya waded in when her Mom came later on because I was too cold to go to close to the water. Maya rode with me and the Keiths on the short bus to the picnic. She thought it was great fun. Maya wanted her picture to be taken since I was trying to get shots of Soph. So here it is folks--Maya's favorite breakfast right now cereal, raisins and she does like orange juice too. She is learning so much everyday. As anyone knows who has been around her much--she loves to talk and ask lots and lots of questions which is cool. She repeats back whatever I tell her though so conversations take a long time. We went through the whole alphabet and last week we worked on 'Z' So we are going to start again since she still gets confused on some letters and it will be good when she can recognize them all no problem. Then we can start working on the sounds for them. Thanks to my Mom we have lots of material that we can use to learn. She is also learning the days of the week with a song my Mom also taught me. That would be a cute video to get on here... let me see if I can get it. We do math everyday--on again different wipe off sheets that Mom donated to me. She loves to count and it is really great to see her eyes sparkle when she looks up at me once she finished it all by herself. She can almost dress herself totally--shirt gets a bit tricky sometimes and buttons and zippers stump her but so close! She can't wait to be "bigger" so she can do other things... I always tell her soon enough. I got a toe ring in Jackson Hole--as my parents can attest to, it was a high and low search. I finally had to settle on a small regular ring that sort of fits my toe but still a little big. I do love the flower on it though--in any case, Maya loves it. She plays with it everyday I wear flip flops saying, "I wish I had one of these... I can't wait until I am bigger and they have one in my size" She is so funny. Today we came over to our house to work on the cake for Hans' belated belated birthday get together on Sunday. I promised she could help without thinking that I had Cub Scout camp the rest of the week. So she helped me make the cake--always wanting to be a big helper. We all have a good time figuring everything out. If nothing else she keeps me on my toes because she will tell me when she doesn't think I am doing what I should. Thanks for all the laughs Maya!

Soph is really climbing...She is turning into spider girl. It is really hard to capture how funny she is pulling herself up on everything but she does it all day long. She is pretty brave since their isn't any carpet to cushion her falls. We have a lot of bumps along the way but she is getting better balance and more confident everyday. It is fun to watch. Hans gave me the idea to use the sports setting on my camera next time to try and catch her before she moves away. I may try a video next time too...

Soph is getting more teeth and right now she is in a funny stage with the 2 on the bottom and 2 random ones on top so she resembles a vampire. Today I noticed it looks like her front teeth are trying to push through so maybe by next week she will have those. It seems like she has been just teething forever so it would be nice to see some rewards for all the fussiness. She talks up storm (well in her own language of course) You just know her mind is working so fast taking everything in around her. I think it will be interesting to see when she does start talking if she can keep up with her big sister. So Soph is going to turn 1 coming up really soon. She is getting big and really is starting to have a little personality all her own. She is a little short on patience most of the time and has been known to show her temper off. She does like to cuddle and lets me hold her way more than Maya ever will, so that is fun sometimes unless she wants that when I have some big disaster going on with Maya and then it gets tricky. She smiles alot and always makes me smile too. She is a fun little munchkin.

PS many thanks to grandparents and everyone in UT who spoiled her rotten on her trip-if you are reading this. :) She crawled around crying to be picked up for days even when she was down for just a minute. We are getting back to a better rhythm now so I can juggle the two better again... I suppose that is what visiting Grandma and Grandpa is all about right? Spoil them and send them back home.

Rainy Day Bike Rodeo

Last Wednesday I was praying for a break in the rain but got no such luck... but I didn't cancel. You can 't really do that up here or we might not do anything. Anyway, we practicing signaling and safe bicycle habits, turns around cones, using our brakes and had a "mail delivery" relay race. Chris Barry also came out to teach the boys a little about bike maintenance and how to fix those simple problems that come up. Everyone was a good sport and I think the kids all had a good time and after I forgot about how wet and cold I was... I think I did too!

The great Kake adventure

So I am not so sure there is much adventure to be had in Kake but from the stories it seemed that it was a pretty little place with not too much to do but nice locals. There is about 3 miles of pavement and lots of logging roads, no ice for sale to keep fish cold, top speed of 35 mph, a little SOS shop that sells all kinds of odds and ends and a bunch of wildlife. I would like to go sometime to check it out. It sounds like the kept Hans and his deckhand pretty busy--it's even busier than here in Ketchikan for the pilot station. The crowning victory of the trip... going to the dump. Yes Hans enjoys visiting the dump regularly here in Ketchikan and as you can see in the picture--he did make it to the Kake one too. He cracks me up.

He was able to capture some cute pictures of some cubs "trying" to fish. He says they weren't very good at it yet since they were so little. They turned out pretty good I think.

So other than some fishing this is what Hans was able to get up there... porcupine. Funny huh? He did eat it and I am glad I wasn't there because I don't think I could have done it with all the quills and all. He said it was just OK. I guess they can climb trees pretty good and it stands to reason with paws like theirs. This is capturing the sea otters that are all over up there apparently. They look pretty cute and I guess this one turned out to be pretty brave to let the boat get so close to it. It is kinda hard to tell but it is floating on its back with the fin curled up and showing at the bottom.

This is the tide flats and if you look really closely (it's super tiny on this size of picture) you can see some black spots and those are the bears.

This is the Navy ship that they had two jobs for--one going to Juneau for some big celebration and on the way back. It's a totally different kind of boat but I guess anything can look pretty nice on a clear blue day like that.

So the boat above is some old boat that looks pretty interesting. There is a whale photo above with just the dorsal fin showing. The boat is one of the rigs that Hans trasferred a pilot onto. These are just some of his pictures that he brought back.. just to give you all a little taste of how his month went away from home.

Little miss traveler

On our trip to Jackson Hole we went on a horseback riding trip and saw many great things...lots of wild flowers...pastures. It was a good time and the horses were funny. I didn't get sore during the ride but after I could feel it.


This is my horse Cooper followed by our guide and his favorite horse (which wasn't the one that he rode that day) plus the biggest horse they have there named Zeke--who they told us was like 24 palms which I guess is pretty big... he didn't want to play my game to see his face and I didn't want to get kicked so we got his back end. We rode through some pretty country along the trail. Due to the California fires there wasn't that good of visibility and the bugs were pretty bad but I had fun. My horse did a pretty good job. I took extra horse pictures to show our neice Madeline--she loves them! They gave me some of Mutton's mane hair (Dad Rubens ride) and I gave that to her for a souvenir.



More pictures from our trip including Mom and me under the antlers, more pictures of the mountains. It was quite a sight because they were so jagged and it was ocean and sage brush type wildlife and then almost immediately up came the mountains. We rented a skiff and buzzed around Jackson Lake. There was suprisingly quite a bit of current there... none of us being pros with the boat made for a sore behind... it was pretty scenery though and a nice day out.


My first good look at the Tetons and of course a little tourist trap with the tee pee and all. --I should know I guess living in a tourist town myself. The food that we had in this place was very good. In fact, surprise! we had good food everywhere we went which doesn't usually happen especially on vacation. The visitor center near here was where I got my famous bird book...just like my Mom had gotten. It has hundreds of birds' info and has each bird call to go along with it. I love my new noisy toy although I can't say everyone shares my sentiment.

We got to fly right over the Jordan River temple and we saw the Bountiful, Salt Lake and the new one being built in the DayBreak area. Below are some of the pictures I took out of the plane --we saw lots of pretty country close up.

See all the screens, buttons and levers pretty interesting. I did get some good shots around Salt Lake. It's totally different to see it so close up yet still in the air. The Great Salt Lake really can look nice in the sunshine.

So here is the grand ol' pilot looking serious and all... I don't know what you think but the co-pilot looks more relaxed dontcha think? I must say that there is alot to look at and think of and I did fly it for a bit but declined anymore chances at it. I believe Hans will have to become the pilot if anyone else in our family is going to.

So this is the plane that we went to Jackson Hole with... pretty teeny I know but I had to start out flying the small ones. It was pretty interesting flying so close to everything and landing. It felt like I could almost jump out if I needed to... almost. We did have to spend an extra night in Jackson due to weather issues but as you can see we made it on the ground safely once again. I had a good time and it was nice to be back on solid ground again.

Of course I got my toes done at my favorite pedicure lady, ate at some of my favorite places, shopped a bunch, went to the temple and visited people.

I had a good time and it was great to see everyone. Thanks for the memories Mom and Dad Ruben.

Way Behind

So WOW!!! It has been quite a long time since the last time I blogged. So much to say... Well as I said in the last post we accomplished the 2 moves. I have been spending quite a bit of time with Yolaunda and the kids which has been fun. Since I didn't know them all very well and they didn't know me it has worked out good. I need to get some pictures up of them so my family and friends that don't know them can see who I am talking about.

It was Hans' birthday on the 24th and he was of course still out of town. It was pretty sad but we are going to have a belated celebration for him in August after the two older neices get back from Juneau (they are leaving Tuesday for Youth Conference then comes Girls Camp). So once again they will miss seeing Hans. He gets back after they leave. The timing has just been working out horrible in that regard.

I have been back a little over a week from Salt Lake. I had a good trip. It was very jam packed with activities but that's how it goes I guess when you get off the island. I will post again with the pictures from trip. Hopefully Hans will have some we can add once he gets home from Kake.

Let's see what else... for Cub Scouts we are having a bicycle rodeo on Wednesday and I am hoping the weather will cooperate. It's pretty ugly right now-- raining like crazy with wind advisory out there. Hopefully it will blow by and be better.

We are in the process of buying a house. Well we made an offer that was accepted and now we are waiting on word from the financing and appraisal. So I will keep you posted on that. It is on 3 lots in the city (not where we thought we would end up since Hans really likes the country) but there is a decent backyard and the house is 2200 sq feet. It was built in the 50's so will need remodeling/updating but all in all it is in good shape it seems. Hans is very excited to have our own place to work on and I am excited to not rent anymore and have a place of our own to set up nice and call home. I guess that is all the news that I am going to get out tonight.
I added some music that might or might not choose to play... we shall see.

Moving Accomplished

Well... mostly I think. I can't really say I helped all too much on either one but the girls seem to be pretty settled in their new home and the Keith's are getting there too. I haven't help unpack much or bring stuff in for that matter. I guess I have just been around looking important. :)
I am glad that everyone made it here safe. It's nice to have some family up here especially during this time while Hans is gone. Yes he is officially in Kake. He left Sunday afternoon and will be there for a month or so. Pretty crazy and very quiet around the house this week. Tomorrow is my Friday since we have the 4th on the real Friday. I am glad since this week has been kinda long and I haven't gotten much sleep. Yolaunda and the kids are coming out for dinner tomorrow night after I get off work. It will be fun to have them over I am going to make pizza and we will all just hang out and relax I guess. There isn't too much to do at our house right now. We are all getting together for the holiday and Saturday the plan is making cookies among other things. Fun times.
Anywho it's late (again) and I am still not sleeping and work comes very early. So that's all for now folks. I leave for UT in 10 days which should be fun. I will bring back lots of new pictures since we will be flying over to Jackson Hole for a couple of days. Yes-- I am going to help fly the plane for a few minutes. Dad Ruben has his pilot's license and will be flying and of course I get to take a turn.