This and that

Sarah’s Thoughts: I’m not sure what happened this week. Its all sort of a blur. Work was draining and the rain hasn’t stopped. It rained so hard last weekend that all the lakes and streams flooded onto the roads. I didn’t take one picture this week, so I’ve compiled a few oldies and a couple recent photos taken by Owen’s various daycare providers this summer. I’m looking forward to a trip at the end of September and pressing onto the holidays... besides that, I’m feeling blah. Rain, rain, go away.

Low- burrr!

High- Looking forward to a last-minute visit from my parents this week!

Luke Update: Luke is starting his last big push of fishing trips. Today he completed the first of 6 days in a row. He has just 2 trips booked for next week and then is officially finished for the 2009 season! Yipee! Today’s fish report was seriously thinning numbers of salmon at his go-to creek, so hopefully, the weather will cooperate and he’ll be able to reach some other streams for the remainder of his trips. Here’s a little trivia: Before Luke started his business, he worked for another outfit for 6 years doing similar trips via float plane. This is his 6th season operating Sea Runner Guide Service... Also, if he’s able to complete the remainder of his trips, that will make 60 for this season, which is an all-time record. I just realized that’s a lot of 6’s... Hmmmm...

Owen Update: This weekend, Owen has expanded his palate, experiencing 2 new beverages. The first was hot chocolate. Two thumbs up. I’m sure most of you are thinking, “duh,” but our boy is not a big lover of sweets. He’d much rather have an apple then a cookie. Weird, I know. Today after nap time, I made Owen some hot chocolate in the special walrus mug that I use to drink hot chocolate out of when I was a little girl and he slurped it down, wanting more! Maybe it was just the mug? The second beverage, got two thumbs down which is probably a good thing... At a wedding this weekend, we took Owen with us to the beverage station to pick out our special drinks (beer). For some reason, he NEEDED my beer. Big, fat tears, red face, dolphin kicking, crying and crying for a good 5 minutes. People around us were pretending not to notice, the whole scene was a bit embarasing... I tried to offer him pop corn, punch, a dinosaur, but nothing was working. Finally, I thought, “Fine. I’m just going to give him a sip and he’ll realize he doesn’t want it.” Sure enough, one little taste and he decided that the punch wasn’t so bad. Silly boy!

loving the hose

Owen at the beach with his day care buddies + some others friends

(Owen is right in the middle with the red jacket.

His little blonde twin next to him is, Zander- the one he bit.)

all zipped up with mama

Owen, Bailey, and the Greats (Yia Yia and Grandma)

checking out daddy

baby owen at the boy scout camp beach

...the old man is snoring...

Sarah’s Thoughts: The big news this week is that Luke and I became home owners. Since we’ve been married, we’ve rented our house from Luke’s parents with the intension of buying it someday. Low interest rates and the $8000.00 tax credit for first time home owners made it all possible, along with an extremely generous deal from Luke’s parents (thanks Steve and Cathy!). The whole thing was a bit anti-climactic, however, since we’ve been living in the house for the past 5 years. It would be nice to mark this milestone by making some sort of improvement, like installing a hot tub or replacing the carpet or repainting the outside of the house... but now that we’re paying $600.00 more each month, I think that instead we’re going to hunker down and try not to spend anything! Maybe I’ll just finally have a party instead...

Low- Its raining, its pouring... Luke says that fall is here. I vehemently oppose this statement, but secretly, I know he’s right.

High- Baby Jordyn! He was born right next-door (home birth) to our neighbors, Bob and Amy last wednesday. Welcome to the neighborhood, little guy!

Luke Update: Its mid-August already and Luke’s fishing season is winding down. He only has a handful of trips left, although Luke’s guiding won’t end there. He’s heading up to western Alaska to guide moose hunters for 2 weeks in September. The outfit is called “Cinder River” and the patrons pay a handsome price for their chance at a monster bull. Luke guided for Cinder River Lodge one other time, before Owen was born. He was paired with one hunter and dropped off in the middle of nowhere with a tent and supplies. Periodically, a pilot from the “lodge” would check in and drop off supplies but for the most part, they were on their own. The whole thing is very remote and I won’t get to talk to him for the duration. I think he’s excited about the adventure, but already getting nervous about missing us. I’m getting nervous about 2 weeks by myself with Owen and Dolly. At least its not snowing yet!

Owen Update: Last Tuesday, I went to pick Owen up from daycare and Leanne, his daycare provider, said, “Owen had to sit in time-out today because he bit Zander.” Sadly, this wasn’t shocking to me. He’s bit before. The biting is never fueled by anger or malice but done playfully. Regardless, he bites hard and usually leaves his victims in tears. When we arrived at home, Luke took Owen out of his car seat and asked about his day. I said, “Owen, can you tell Daddy what you did to Zander?” He looked at Luke and almost whispered, “bite Zander”. I don’t know if it was the time out that left the impression on his brain, or if I don’t give his memory enough credit, but I was amazed that he remembered what he’d done, understood my question and verbally answered. Several times over the next few days, we talked about how its not O.K. to bite and how he hurt his friend. Lately, I’ve noticed him catch himself pre-bite and choose to back off, so I know its all sinking in, but if you find yourself playing with Owen, best keep an eye on those chompers!

for some reason, the laundry basket was the

choice of refuge from the tickle-monster

Rasta boy

sporting a new rain jacket on a soggy day

Owen reminding me of a Who

from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

Baby Jordyn and his mama, Amy

August

Sarah’s Thoughts: I’ve been feeling a little directionless. I don’t know if its the sometimes hectic, get-outside-this-minute-because-who-knows-when-the-sun-will-shine-again lifestyle that seems to be summer or if I’m just disorganized and in need of focus. Probably a little of both. I’m feeling like we have a lot of different irons in the fire at the moment, so I’m hesitant to throw myself into any one thing in case I have to suddenly change directions... as a result, I’m treading water- not really doing anything. The reality is that I need to sit down and make some good old fashioned lists. I need to realize that just because I’m not sure when I’ll hear from a client on the latest graphic design project doesn’t mean I can’t take 30 minutes and go for a jog, or clean a bathroom. Just because I haven’t fully planned our trip in October doesn’t mean I can’t start some laundry or return a phone call...

Low- Work. We were so busy and down two assistants, so I had to keep running into the back to chart for the hygenists or help in the surgeries... and we seemed to have an extra load of H.M. patients (high maintenance) this week for some reason...

High- My friend Amy gave me a raspberry plant! I grew-up with raspberries in the back yard and I’m so excited for this plant to grow and spread and make all kinds of baby raspberries!

Luke Update: I know you’ve been waiting with bated breath all week to hear the deer report. Well, let me tell you, it was worth the wait. Luke and his buddy John went on an overnight alpine deer hunt to the back side of Douglas Island on opening day. Luke had never shot a deer on opening day. That, however, is no longer the case. Before they even made camp, Luke got his first deer of the 2009 season. The following day, John followed suit. The only bummer was that it took them so long to hike down the mountain with all their gear and 2 deer, they missed the tide. When they got back to the boat it was high and dry with 1 hour of outgoing tide and then another 2 of incoming tide to go until the boat would be floating again. Lucky for us, they had nothing but time to take a lot of pictures of themselves with deer antlers.

Owen Update: I didn’t know it, but there’s this corner out there and Owen is in the process of turning it. He’s seems to be much more confident and comfortable with himself and more at ease when we leave him with other people. He had his 2 year-old check-up last monday. In the past whenever he goes to the doctor’s office, he is very nervous- he starts to cry as soon as the nurse walks in the room. I was anticipating this on Monday, but thankfully, he did great. He opened his mouth wide to show Dr. Monica (who he called “Yia Yia”) all of his pearly whites. He cried during the administration of 3 shots, but recovered quickly and even gave the nurse a high-five on his way out the door. I am pleased to report he is in the 70th percentile for height (35”)and weight (31 lbs) and that good old head circumference is holding strong in the 90%.

shoveling at Sandy Beach

the joker with his T-Rex

it's been awhile since the last bath picture...

(Notice the dinos in the tub. They're everywhere!)

future rock climber

(he made it to the top platform all by himself!)

Proud hunters with their deer antlers

just waiting on the tide

Owen's first canned smile for the camera.

gotta love the hose.

mighty hunter bringing home the back strap

Still Summer-loving

Sarah’s Thoughts: Luke left us this weekend to browse the sunny mountain meadows for deer and for some reason, whenever Luke is gone hunting, I have this urge to remodel. I usually paint, but this time, since it was just an overnight trip, I decided to take down Owen’s crib. He’s been sleeping in a big boy bed for 3 months now and the amount of toys and books he acquires keep growing so it was time for the crib to go. Its amazing how big this tiny job felt. It took way too much time, created an amazing amount of space in his room, and afterwards, I felt like I’d accomplished this fulfilling, life-changing task. Owen was just excited to have the crib mattress on the floor for a little while so he could jump on it.

Low- This very moment, imagining my life as a widow since Luke was suppose to be back from deer hunting 5 hours ago... (he just called, is on his way home, missed the tide)

High- Owen running through the sprinkler this weekend.

Luke Update: Sockeye, deer, beautiful weather. It’s on! Luke struggles every summer with the need to work as much as he can verses the longing to do the things that makes Alaska great... This year, he’s decided to indulge a little bit. Last Monday he took the day off of guiding to head down to Sweetheart creek and fish for sockeye salmon. The salmon returning to the creek are hatchery fish, so each fisherman is allowed to keep 25 fish per day. If you hit the creek at the prime time, and are proficient at throwing a cast net, the task can be accomplished fairly quickly. However, when Luke was there, the fishing was a little slow. He left the house at 3:30 am, got home at 9:30 pm and had 18 fish between 3 of them. However, I’m not complaining! Gotta love those sockeye! Deer report next week.

Owen Update: I have a jumping bean on my hands. I have to make sure I’m close to Owen whenever there is anything around that he could potentially climb onto because before I know it, he’s throwing himself off. Large rocks, chairs, even the stairs at church today. That was a little scary since my hands were full of stuff. I had to throw my arm-load down the stairs so I could catch Owen. Scary and embarrassing... The other day, I was unsuccessfully trying to tell Owen to come to me. Frustrated, since he wouldn’t listen, I started counting, “Owen you need to come now! 1.... 2..... “ He squeeled with delight, ran over and jumped on me, because what else could I possibly be counting up to? Time to jump! In other news, he said his name for the first time today, but it was more “Own” or “O-nun”. Pretty precious.

Work picnic, all the kiddeos minus 3

Owen admiring the catch

Schultz dentistry staff at our summer picnic

Owen and the alders

montana creek

throwing the cast net for sockeye