Rae Rae Turns 4!!! Happy Birthday Sunshine!

I wish I could push the pause button on life sometimes. 

Sunset, Moonrise in Oysterville

What a great day! It started with a little Bike ride in Longview- Raegan's first.  It took her a while to understand how pedaling worked.  Her little legs would go one or two revolutions forward and then that darn kid coordination thing would kick in and she'd peddle backward halting all progress.  It was a lot of teaching, but after a while she started getting the hang of it.   

One thing we love about this area is the deep history.  We run into it everywhere we go. That's me and Mr. Clark by the way in front of one of the many 10' sturgeons he saw left on the beach from high tide. After that it was off to Oysterville.  On the way we spotted this little creative/ old chowder house. What you are looking at is a flat wall sided with cedar shingles in a way to give it a 3 dimensional look.

Oysterville was cool! It's a street tucked away from the main road, and has about 15 houses on it. Most were built in 1800's and every one has a ton of character. It still has the original school and an old church.

And yes since I was in Oysterville, I did stop in their one shop and learn how to shuck a oyster and eat one....raw. 

Now that's dedication!

After that we watched the most amazing sunset...... amazing.

Then on the way back we were treated to a full moon rise, although my little point and shoot camera couldn't capture the the mountains.

It was a great day.

The Birds

We saw this in Astoria tonight.  There were thousands of birds attacking a hawk, although later it looked like the hawk was attacking the flock.  You can't see the hawk in the video, but it was there. 

Alaska Everything!

Seems like the world has just discovered what we've lived the past 16 years.  Deadlistest Catch, Ice Road Truckers, Alaska State Troopers, Sarah Palin's Alaska, Gold Rush, Discover Alaska, Axe Men, Alaska Week, Myth Busters Alaska, Discover Alaska, and now Flying Alaska Wild.  What is it about Alaska that makes it so unique/intriguing? Is it the vast land with no road access, is it the harsh temperatures, glorious summers, wild life, what is it? There hasn't been a lot of home sickness since we've moved, but we've been really busy and stressed to really think about it, but it's creeping in.  I find myself missing my hour commute talking to Jeremy and Dave. I miss my Friday and Saturday nights with Sarah and Jeremy, Sunday morning church, Sunday Night Awana's and the idea of hunting with a few friends.  I honestly can't put my finger on it- why is Alaska "Special"? I no longer tell people I'm from Washington; I don't identify with it- I tell them I'm from Alaska and their eye's light up and I can talk until they don't want to listen anymore.  When I see a Salty Dawg sweatshirt down here I always holler out to them.  There's a kinship- I just don't understand but it's undeniable.  There are more remote areas of the world, harsher temperatures, better summers, and places on this earth that have more wildlife.  But if you said I'm from the Outback, Minnesota, Florida, Africa you'd never get the reaction than when you say Alaska.  What do you think?

Finally Frindle

Tucker did it. His first chapter book and he said, "It's the best book I've ever read; I'm going to keep it forever"! An awesome day in any parents life. We're so proud of our little guy..... but we can't figure out why his lips were swollen when we took his picture :).

If every day was like Christmas

Our kids would love each other all the time.

They'd be grateful for everything we gave them even if they didn't know what it was!

And brothers would of course be a little jealous.
We'd know what Rae Rae always wanted her WHOLE LIFE!

And our course we'd all know what polnailish was...

Merry Christmas