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

big boy

Sarah’s Thoughts: We have been blessed with incredible weather this summer so as a result, my house remains a disaster area and every day, Owen has new bug bites. This summer, I’ve watched my baby grow into a little boy. He’s so much more independent, sometimes preferring the company of other people over me, which has been a little bit heartbreaking. Though summer’s not over, I’m realizing that August is right around the corner and soon fall will be upon us again. I think for the first time this year, I’m O.K. with that. Summer is such a busy time of sporatic fishing trips and all-day beach adventures, there’s no routine outside of work. We know its the one chance we have to see the sun and we better take advantage! By the time the last cruise ship leaves port and the leaves begin to fall off the trees, we’re ready to pull on the pajama pants, start a fire in the wood stove and dive into the inside projects that have been neglected all summer. I'm not quite ready for the wood stove, but I wouldn't mind trying on those pajama pants...

Low- Saturday morning- Tired, mosquitos swarming, and pounding headache while trying to wrangle a whiney 2 year-old and schlep our mounds of camping gear down a steep bank and across the rocks and seaweed to the boat.

High- Berries! We have strawberries growing on the side of the house, blueberries in the back yard and found nagoon berries on our camp-out!

Luke Update: Its official. Luke’s super secret go-to spot X is swelling with pink salmon so the nail-biting weather days are over. Thank goodness! However, Luke better not catch any of you crowding in on his humpy bounty when he’s pulling up to shore with a boat full of eager beavers or heads will be rolling! Since we’ve been home, Luke has had trips for the past 20 days in a row, with only 3 days off. Needless to say, this weekend, when we both found ourselves with time off, it was a welcome and much needed break! We headed out camping on Friday night and attempted a little halibut fishing, but with no luck. We did get to see a family of marmots, lots of eagles, sea lions, a doe and fawn and a group of on-duty coast guard members chasing chum salmon in the stream where they were trying to spawn. Ah, nature!

Owen Update: Like his mama, Owen has been loving berry season. He tends to get quite frantic, demanding “mon pick, mama” (translation, “pick more berries and feed them to me immediately, mama”). His hands down favorite is the strawberries and while my little crop is doing quite well, its definitely not enough to satisfy his lion-sized hunger. I had visions of storing up a healthy harvest of strawberries, but I can already tell that’s not going to happen. I’m continually amazed at the rate with which his vocabulary and memory is increasing. He knows that when we go to “chuch” he gets to play on the “wee” (slide) and see his beloved “Abby” and “Uke” (Luke). Gone are the days that I can momentarily distract him and cause him to forget about whatever fixation had him on the verge of a meltdown. He’s running and jumping and becoming more and more an independent little boy.

swimming in the water-filled rubber raft on the lawn.

Who needs a fancy kiddy pool?

Owen discovers that he loves ice cream

(it was suppose to be mine!)

strawberries in our yard

nagoon berries

posing at the glacier

high and dry at low tide

rubbermaid totes work for swimming pools too!

who knew?

ready for school with his dino lunch box

first fishing pole

fire

vacation report

Sarah’s Thoughts: Its been 3 weeks since my last post and I have a lot to report! I had two weeks off of work, so Owen and I kicked off the vacation with a surprise 9 day visit to Washington to see my parents. My sister and her kids were already there visiting from Minnesota and so my dad got to spend Father’s Day with 2 out of 3 kids and all of his grandchildren. We did lots of swimming, playing and Owen got use to always having someone at his beck and call. When we flew home, we brought my sister’s oldest, Bailey, to Juneau with us. He’s visiting for 2 weeks and headed out to Echo Ranch Bible Camp tomorrow. Needless to say, we’ve been showing Bailey all the Juneau sites and he’s rolling right into the rhythm of life in Alaska. We’re thinking about keeping him and signing him up for football this fall... Yesterday, we celebrated the birthdays of Owen and the USA, starting off with fireworks and ending with a beach BBQ picnic. Its been a busy 3 weeks and I’ve got the pictures to prove it!

Low- The never-ending guilt-laden list of things to do (laundry, clean house, blog, fix food, clean house, clean house...)

High- Beautiful sunshine, incredible family and friends, time off work, and a precious 2 year old boy

Luke Update: While I’ve been enjoying vacation, Luke’s schedule has been the exact opposite. If he hadn’t taken Owen’s birthday off, he would’ve worked nearly 2 weeks straight. Thank goodness the fishing has been hot! The 2009 season is nearly home free as, I’m happy to announce, the pink salmon have returned to most of the streams making the ever-iffy weather less of an issue. Despite his busy schedule, Luke did get to do a little personal fishing, scoring a nice king for our freezer and has plans of a sockeye slaughter later on this month. Until then, you’ll find him net in hand, giving personal tours of humpy heaven... living the dream. ;)

Owen Update: It seems like whenever I get time off work, I am way more in-tune with Owen’s latest skills. Since my last post, he has graduated to 2 and 3 word phrases and has developed a deep love for dinosaurs. We had a pre-birthday dino-themed party for Owen in Washington with dino party hats, balloons, games, presents and even a cake. It was such a hit, I copied some of the same ideas for his birthday beach BBQ yesterday and he loved it just as much the second time around. This birthday was the first time he’s been excited and focused on presents, although the mere suggestion that it might be easier to open the next present if he let go of the previous one sparked an instant loud and tearful protest. Luckily his shorts had lots of pockets.

INTERMISSION- Take a potty break, get a snack, and get ready for 30 pictures... ready?

Owen and Yia Yia's rocks

Yia Yia loving

bowling for Father's Day

Owen's cousins worked and worked for

hours digging a "hot tub"at the lake.

This is the results of their efforts moments before

Owen destroyed the whole thing.

doing the doggy paddle

"Make a crazy face" I said

So happy at the toy store...

taken just prior to throwing a colossal tantrum

when I took the stroller full of rubber snakes away.

sisters

sisters

windy group picture

shredding it up at the skate park

parker

decorating the skate park with Auntie Erin

(or "Mama" as Owen likes to call her)

my dad, the mowing machine

too many kisses!

checking the mail with Grandpa Roger

blonde-haired, blue-eyed boys

Owen and his Parker (and a dandelion)

feeties

Auntie Erin's sweet dino birthday party hats

circle of cousins

goodnight kisses for Emma

Juneau skies just before dark

lunch on the beach

Ebner Falls on Perseverance Trail

Walking Dolly with Bailey

(Owen is SO excited to have Dolly on a leash)

Bailey and the Mighty Mendenhall Glacier

Pre-fireworks explosions

the excavation site

(digging for dinos)

One happy two year old

showing off the birthday loot

Cuddling with his dinos at the end of a long birthday