Bonus

Here's a fun little video of Owen chasing after the chickens.

He says, "Chickens!!! I want to pet you!"

...and one more of Owen shooting a bow

Enjoy!

Birthdays and Camping and Diamonds, Oh My!

Sarah’s Thoughts: Last Sunday, I was talking to this little boy who was telling me how excited he was because his birthday was only 5 days away. He could hardly sleep. I can totally identify with that little guy because even at 33, I still get really excited about my birthday. I don’t usually have trouble sleeping, but I do have this urge to tell everyone that its my birthday. I like to get dressed up and then expect magic all day long. The reality is that its just another day. You still have to get up, make your bed, go to work, change poopy diapers, etc. Despite the potential for disappointment, I had a lovely birthday. Luke made waffles and coffee, my coworkers organized a birthday lunch and then my brother and Kristen came over for steak, wine and coconut cream pie. I think that for me, the magic lies in being remembered by the ones I love- that, and the fact that I looked fabulous. My oral surgeon boss told me that he liked everything about my outfit!

(Thank goodness I didn’t have to make my own breakfast or lunch because it took me 30 minutes to dry and straighten my hair! No wonder I never do anything with it!)

Low- Coming home after 1 1/2 days camping to a freezing cold house. The furnace went out... thank goodness for my own personal handy man!

High- Up until yesterday, my high would’ve been the fact that Owen went poopy on the potty for the very first time this week... but then my brother got engaged yesterday, so diamond trumps potty! We are SO excited!

Luke Update: This week, Owen was watching Luke shoot his bow in the backyard. He said, “Mama, where’s my bow? I want to do that!” I said, “Well, Owen, we better go tell your daddy.” When Owen repeated his request to his daddy, Luke looked at me and said, “Did you tell him to say that?” Needless to say, Luke was able to rustle up a bow and in no time, Owen was flinging arrows across the yard (with a little help). So proud! On Friday, Luke spent a good portion of the day fishing for coho salmon with his friend, Adam. The report was slim pickings... The other excitement was that our furnace stopped working, so Luke spent 3 hours on Saturday cleaning it. Its pretty incredible the amount of soot that builds up in a furnace! At nap time, our house was 50 degrees and I put Owen down under a mountain of fleece. Obviously, we were very happy when it was finally working again.

Owen Update: This weekend we visited our friends, the Andersons, who are care-taking at Echo Ranch this winter. For those of you that aren’t from Juneau, Echo Ranch is a bible camp that is a few miles past the end of the road. This time of year, the caretakers are the only folks holding down the fort, taking care of 26 horses, chickens and just making sure thing around camp are maintained. The Andersons have 2 kids (Gabby is 3 and Samson is 5) and Owen was in heaven. On our visit to the chicken coop, Owen ran in circles, chasing the chickens and yelling, “Chickens! I want to pet you!” Sadly, those smart, Alaskan chickens took shelter in the trees. Then we visited the horses and Owen did get to pet one. He pretended to drive a tractor, played with Samson’s excavator, cooked in Gabby’s “kitchen” and stayed up way past bedtime. Gotta love camp!

swinging with Gabby

birthday girl and her sweet boy

petting the pony

the mighty mendenhall

fishing in mendenhall lake for "sockeye fish"

fall leaves

Owen and the chickens

Shooting a bow for the first time

Home Sweet Home

Sarah’s Thoughts: We’re back! We had a wonderful trip, visiting family in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Georgia. Owen logged hundreds of relatively peaceful miles in his carseat, thanks to snacks, stories and portable DVD players. We spent almost a week with my sister in Minnesota, visiting with my Godparents, my college roommate and her husband, and some friends who use to live in Juneau. Then we drove to North Dakota to surprise my Grandma for her birthday- lots of singing, games, and food. After returning to Minnesota, we flew to Atlanta, Georgia to visit Luke’s family for a week. We spent time in the hammock, went to the zoo and Luke perfected his cast netting skills, catching shad off his parent’s dock.

After 2 1/2 weeks on the road, we returned home to find that autumn had come while we were away! Our tiny maple tree is dressed in a beautiful coat of yellow and snow is creeping its way down the mountains. On our last day in Georgia, Luke and I were taking a sunny walk in our sandals and shorts and I said, “Honey, we need to remember this moment, because its going to be a long time before we get to do this again.” Despite the cooler weather, Dorothy had it right; There’s no place like home.

Low- Atlanta airport, just moments before we needed to board our flight to Seattle, when I realized I’d lost Owen’s diaper bag...

High- The beautiful airport custodian who found the diaper bag about 30 minutes prior to my realization that I’d lost it, and just happened to ask us if it was ours... Thank you, God!

Luke Update: Its fall, so that means that once again, Luke is Mr. Mom-ing it while dreaming of hunting. After a summer of guiding fishermen and 2 weeks with an egotistical, high-strung would-be moose hunter, I think Luke is ready for some time off of work. He and Owen are settling into a rhythm: walking dolly, going to Costco, and they even checked out “Toddler Time” at a near-by gym. I think the fact that Owen is a little more independent and can verbally express himself makes the father/son time more enjoyable for all involved. Once Saturday rolls around, however, Luke quickly switches into “weekend warrior” mode. This weekend, he met up with his deer-crazed buddy, John for an alpine hunt on Admiralty Island. The report was cold and wet conditions and no deer sightings.

Owen Update: I know I’m a first-time mom and I think everything my kid does is incredible, but while we were traveling, I got some validation that the amount of words coming out of Owen’s mouth are impressive indeed. When we were on our never-ending flight from Atlanta to Seattle, Owen quickly realized that when people had to go to the bathroom, they got to get out of their seats. He kept saying, “Poopy, mommy. Go potty! Change pants right now!” ...and he wasn’t even poopy, sneaky kid! I came home from work one day this week to “Mommy! Mommy wooking. Tome in. Tome inside Owen’s house. Take off tote, mommy. Tome in house.” All I could think about was that Owen seemed so much bigger then when I’d left that morning, and he was so stinking cute. Probably the cutest little person in the world.

O.K. Time to get caught up on all the pictures you've missed out on the past 3 weeks....

Self portrait.

Alaska Penninsula in the background.

Caribou racks

Visiting our friends the Vidmars, formerly of Juneau

Megan and the pumpkins

Man! Pumpkins are heavy!

First ever pony ride.

I think its safe to say he liked it!

mom and dad with little miss birthday

Mr. Nonsense

My handsome husband

Party Animals!

The entire Kolden crew!

Swimming with Uncle Tristian and T-Rex

Birthday princess

Driving the boat with Grandpa

Gotta love shad fishing at twilight

Owen and the Komodo Dragon

the petting zoo

Future pilot.

He threw the biggest fit when I broke the news to him

that he couldn't ride in the jump seat.

Almost home!