Kassan Long House

 

Kassan is an little old native village. Long ago there was a cannery there but all that's left now is a few houses, a school, library, a town office(which is more than most of the towns have here on the Island. It funny at home it's rare to find a town that only has a post office, school, and library. Here it's the opposite- most of the towns are just that- Honest! Anyway I love this little town. Its old and ran down but so charming in it's own little way. The people are friendly and they have a little town dog(Chihuahua)that thinks he owns the place. However my favorite thing about Kassan is the Long House. To get there you walk on an old boardwalk that runs along the sea and through some peoples yards(yes-really) but they're friendly. Then you walk about a mile or so through a beautiful old growth forest and over some cool old bridges. You know you're there when you see the totem poles reaching up to the sky along side the beautiful old trees. It's a magical place. The first time I went it was just Bela and I and we drove on the dirt road so far that I thought we were lost and we turned around. We found out that we weren't lost and that it just takes over an hour to get there so Bela and I went back the next day. We met a nice guy named Louie who gave us directions to the long house. I'm glad he did because I never would have dared to walk though the peoples yards. Louie can see the whole town from his Klavico office. He can look out his window with his binoculars and tell you what's happening anywhere in town. Our first trip to the long house was a beautiful sunny spring day. Bela and I took pictures and played on the beach. We watched seals watch us. We saw sea lions and heard a Humpback Whale. We had such a fabulous time that the next day I pulled the kids out of school and took them back. It was fabulous again only this time we watched the humpbacks play around in the bay. Sooo Cool! I was my first time just sitting and watching and listening to them. They're loud, big and beautiful. I guess third times the charm. So by this time I was in love with this special place. Unfortunately the long house, like the village, is old and ran down. I thought it was such a shame that the massive, delicately carve totems are just slow rotting away along with the long house(meeting house). I wanted to do something to help and found out the they were already doing a fund raiser to earn money to apply for a grant for restoration. I would love to be part of that process. I really believe that it's for a worthy cause. It is truly a magical place.

Salmon Berries

The Salmon berries are abundant here in Southeast Alaska. The kids and I have been enjoying foraging. We have collected lots of salmon berries. Bela loves to eat them right off the vine. We've also been sampling Blueberries and Thimble berries. I made some freezer jam and salmon berry pie the other day it was fun. I have especially enjoyed the sea asparagus. At first I didn't like it I thought it was too salty. Then I tried it in some pasta salad, eggs skillets, with red potatoes and today I put it in some potato salad. Needless to say I am quite found off it and wish there was way to preserve it with out losing the crispness. I may try to can it??? I also need to can the salmon that Alex is going to smoke. We leave here in 10 days. I have mixed emotions. I'll be sad to leave my new friends and this beautiful place but I'm excited to see my family and friends. I'm also anxious to get home and get things organized and unpacked.

Happy Birthday Porter

Porter turned 7 this year. He requested a sleepover for his birthday. I was a little weary because we've never done a sleepover party before but it went off with out a hitch. We only invited 5 kids and they were all awesome. I'm grateful that the boys have made such good friends here in Alaska. They were such good kids and all asleep by 10:30. Amazing-huh?

Porter I love You! Your smile brightens our days and fills our hearts. The other day you told me you were a wantachee. I asked you what in the world a wantanchee is and you told me it's a person who make music with their body. Thanks for the clarification. You're a handsome funny,funny boy.

Fishing with Whales on Father's Day

We had an incredible fathers day. Alex was like a kid in a candy store. We went fishing on the ocean. While we were out he caught his first King Salmon. He was literally jumping up and down in the boat yelling, King, I got a King. OKAY-I know he's usually reserved and a little quite, Mr. Cool, but apparently that doesn't apply to fishing.
We went camping for the weekend and pulled the boat along to do some fishing per Alex's request. I was hoping to enjoy the sun laying on the beach but it was Dads day so Dad got his way. I'm so glad he did. After we went to El Capitan cave we took the boat out to the east side of the Island through Dry Passage. I was worried as usual- It was uncharted territory for us. There's so many markers out there for rocks and what not that is looks like a miniature golf course. I think Alex thought he was on the slalom race course in the boat. Believe it or not we survived without any incidents! Although- I did have to close my eyes a few times and take a few deep breaths- Alex keeps me on my toes. He was going slow but I worry. I don't know how he puts up with me but I'm grateful for his adventurous spirit. He keeps me from turning into a total worry wart.
Once we got out there Gabe caught a Shark(dog fish) which he thought was cooler than anything. So fun! Both Alex and Gabe were on top of the world. Porter was pretty excited too. It's not every day you catch a shark. The shark kept trying to bend up and bite Gabe's arm. Porter thought that was so funny. I made Gabe write in his journal and he said, "I caught a shark with triangle scales and teeth. It was the size of my sister with ninja reflexes." I love that kid.
After that we went out into the open ocean(yes I was worried again but did my best to keep it to myself). It was so sunny and beautiful. I was so relieved when the ocean was as smooth as glass. I didn't know that was possible. It was incredible!! We were fishing along side sea otters, sea lions, porpoises, eagles and whales. The otters are so cute. They float on their back and crack open the shell fish. The sea lion are curious and come up close to the boat to see what's going on. The eagles are like the seagulls back home, they are so abundant, which to me is crazy and beautiful. My favorite thing was the whales. They are massive and majestic. There was two pods of them in the bay. I'm not sure what they were doing probably mating or playing but it was so cool. We watched them breech(jump all the way out of the water 3 times) and fluke(I think that's what it's called when they flap their tail around on the top of the water.) It really was heavenly and so indescribable. It will go down in the books as one of those unforgettable days. The only sad part was my camera ran out of batteries after Gabe caught the shark.
We finished off an amazing day with a great dinner. We came home and cooked Alex's fresh caught Salmon. I told him Mothers day better be good next year. Maybe a trip to the MET and some fancy restaurants and did some one say shopping. Just Kidding- he says I just got lucky, I think he's right. And I'm so glad we did because he deserved it. I'm so grateful we got to share the experience together as a family.
Needless to say I haven't seen Alex much lately. He has the fishing bug. It's 11:00 pm barely getting dark and he's still out fishing.
Thanks for a Great Fathers Day Alex. I Love You:)

Gabe catching the Shark



Bela hiking at El Cap


Whale Pass

Our Little Princess

 

Bela is getting so big! She is mostly full of jibber jabber but it seems like everyday is adding a few more sounds or words to her repertoire. she can say mama, dada, don't(could have been one of her first words),no, thank you, woof, craby,craby,craby, quack,quack, meow, eyes, nose, mouth and the list goes on. My personal favorite is her new trick; when we pray she folds her arms and smiles sooo big. Just like she is the center of the universe which in our little family she is:) not always. Once she sees that we've all noticed how cute she is, she claps.
Porter said today that he thinks it's kind of annoying when Bela talks so much. He then proceeded to ask Gabe, "Is that why princesses are so annoying?" of course Gabe said, Yeah!
How sweet it is!!

Alaska Summer 2010

We have been blessed to spend this summer in Alaska. Alex is doing a 4 month detail for the Forest Service. When we are finished in August we will go back to life as usual in Pinedale. Everything will be as if we never left. I've wanted to write about this experience for a while so pardon me if it ends up a little long. Mostly I want to go over the events that got us hear.
When Alex told me he applied for the job I didn't think that much of it because he puts in for a lot of jobs. After he mentioned it I started getting this feeling, like a reminder that I should start getting rid of some of our junk. That I should organize and sort what was important to me. I did a little here and there and the prompting kept coming back. As far as I knew we weren't going anywhere and a little here and there was go enough. I didn't do a whole lot in the beginning. When we found out we were going to Ak we had less than a month to prepare I was a little frantic but it could have been worse. I knew then and know now that the promptings were from the holy ghost and if I would have listened closer it wouldn't have been as stressful. You might think that it shouldn't have been that big of deal in the first place, after all it's only four months. Well- we lost tenants in our Pinedale Duplex, Brigham City house and Payson House. Therefore I was not feeling like we should come to Alaska. We prayed and we both felt it was clear that we should and it would work out. So we proceeded forward with faith and put in the effort on our part to do what we could. We decided to move out of the duplex we were in to the unexpectant vacant one acrossed the street. That involved us moving but we were planning on doing that eventually. We immediately found tenants for our Payson and Brigham City houses within a weeks time. So all was well and we were off to AK. Well I know that was a gift from Heavenly father to get us on our way. Apparently we still had more faith to grow.. because we lost our tenants in Payson and we are just now getting new tenants. Which really hasn't been that stressful. I'm very grateful for the help of my parents and brother in showing our house and looking after it.
Our journey has been wonderful. We had a great trip up here. We stayed on the Columbia River in a quaint little lodge. We also got to spend sometime with Uncle Jim and Aunt Dodie. They have a lovely little cabin at Mt. Baker. Gabe and Alex went skiing with Jim. Oh another little blessing- we were able to get on the ferry all together as a family. It was sold out and we couldn't make reservations but we got on with our truck. The ferry ride was an adventure. It was ruff weather and not quite like the cruise boats we were use to. One day we all layed in bed for a while but other than that it was good.
Since we've been here in AK it has been fantastic! Were having a blast but I'll write more about that later. I just wanted to bear my testimony that I know the holy ghost was there with me prompting me to get ready. I know that we were suppose to come here for whatever reason the cards came together so we would do it. I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for this experience and the lessons that my family is learning. It has been really rewarding for Alex. Which is so great because he deserves it.
Here are some fun pictures of our journey.
Our cabin on the Ferry

Gabe by a lighthouse

Gabe flying in the wind

Setting sail at the port in Bellingham

The Lodge on Columbia River

You might wonder- Where is Porter??? He was not interested in being in any pictures, so there you have it.

 

So I wasn't able to post any pictures previous to Hockey because they're on the broken computer. Maybe later. Hockey was such a great experience for the boys. Even Porter liked it although he probably wouldn't tell you that. gabe was the beginning skater on the team so it was a challenge but he stuck it out. He is a trooper. He wrote this in his Jornal about hockey,"We won the state championship. I felt like I was king of the world. It was my first year which was even cooler. So my advice is try hockey even if you think you are not goood at it."

Updating the blog

My how time flys. I am going to attempt to go back and update the blog. I can't believe it has been so long. I remember the last time I intended on updating was right after Bela blessing. She is so big now. So- we'll see if I can start there and update some of our big events like moving in to the duplex, hockey and Alaska.

 

Béla 7 Months

Béla is getting so big. She is crawling. Can you believe it? We love her so much! Look how cute.

 

Killing the TV

Life has been busy lately. We blessed Bela. She looked so beautiful. Alex did a great job as usual. I'll post pictures later. We moved into one of the twin homes that Alex built and decided to unhook from the electronic world. No TV, internet or phone. I'm going a little crazy. Dirk came to help us and the silence drove him crazy too. I think I'll have to get the Internet again but were not hooking up the TV. The kids are doing amazingly well and haven't even mentioned it in three weeks. Porter is missing the Internet as much as me. It's hard to blog when you have to take a baby to the library. Alex is working day and night on the twin homes and the Forest Service. We need renters in Payson and Pinedale. I'm in Utah and I miss this beautiful warm spring weather and the flowers. The lilacs are in bloom here. I miss my house in Payson. Pinedale is slowing working its way to warmer weather. Lately it teases me because it looks beautiful and warm outside but when you go out it's still a little chilly. We have a fox den right next to our house and I love walking over and seeing the cute little babies. We had a great Mothers day. Alex took over all the household stuff and made me breakfast. We went to church and after he took us fishing. He and the boys took the canoe out on the sub-Arctic barely unthawed lake. There was a breeze(surprise, surprise, we do live in WY) and I was worried that if they tipped over they would all be dead! I think I drive my husband crazy!!! He just smiled at me and paddled off. Hope all is well and I'll post some updated pictures when I get myself, my camera and the internet all in one place at the same time.

Spreading Kindness with my Hands

Be one of the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post and you will be the lucky recipient of a handmade gift from me some time this year. Here is the catch, you have to post the same thing on your blog and do the same for 3 lucky people.
This is way better than some of the chain mail and if you don't do it nothing bad will happen to you.
Shanoa

Lessons from Béla

These are a few of the wonderful pictures that my friend Liz took. I was so nice of her to help us capture some of Bela little newborn moments. Check out her blog at simplemomentsphotographybyliz.blogspot.com/

Lessons
Bela is already teaching me many things. Thus far she has taught me...
1. To be still
2. Love comes in many ways
3. All we really need to do is eat, sleep and poop
4. Accessories are the best part of an outfit

Questions????
1. Do any ones cloth diapers really stay clean or are stains part of the package?
2. How are the cloth diaper wool soakers?
3. How can you tell if your baby has a milk allergy?

Thoughts
I'm thinking of making my own disposable liners for the cloth diapers. I've accidentally washed a few of Medline Aloetouch Fragrance Free Wipes from the hospital with my diapers. They end up turning into a nice absorbent, soft cloth. They're also quite large and don't shrink up like the huggies wipes. This alleviates the problem of what to do with the wipes when using cloth diapers. What are wipes made of? Are they biodegradable? I'm guessing no! Have any of you used the biodegradable liners?

On a side note for any of you breastfeeding mom's, I'm loving the Lily Pads. They work great.

Hope all is well!

Beautiful Béla

Dancing with Angels, Dreaming of Heaven or is it just gas?

First Bath and she's not loving it. Doesn't she know that all girls love a nice hot bath?

Daddy's little Girl. What a special moment when you can fall asleep with a baby on your chest.

A silly little puppy dog face.

If you didn't read my last post Béla is pronounced Baylah and means white, bright or fair skinned. We gave her the middle name of Madison because we both love the Madison River. The scenery is so beautiful and bright to me it has a golden glow. We took the kids to the Madison campground this fall right after we found out we were having a baby girl. So to me she is beautiful, golden and bright. She is getting bigger each day. She has already gained over a pound!!! She is keeping me busy. I'm either staring at her, feeding her, and changing or washing her diapers. The cloth diapers are going OK. She keeps leaking into her liners. Does that happens with the fitted ones too??? If not I'll buy those next time. I'm loving our time together. And- I'm finally starting to feel like myself again which is nice.

Béla Madison Gardiner

Béla first day home with her big brothers

Béla getting some sun

A view from the pass on the way home from the hospital. It was a beautiful sunny winter day.

Béla at the hospital.

Béla was born at 4:09AM on Wednesday the 28th. She weighed 7 lbs 14 oz., and measured21 inches. The birth was wonderful. Alex was fantastic and was busy rubbing my lower back through the contractions. The nurses and my midwife were great as well. I was worried about being induced it seem so unnatural. It took me about two hours to decide if I was actually going to stay at the hospital. Once I settled in and decided that it was ok to stay everything went very smooth. The nurses inserted a Cervidil strip and contractions started in about an hour. Thankfully there was no need for Pitocin. Bela made her way into the world about 8 hours later. I would like to say that labor and delivery was much easier with #3 and a little medication. I still felt everything, it was still amazing but it was much more manageable. Béla is a wonderful, beautiful and healthy little girl. We are very thankful to our heavenly father for our many blessings.

Bun in the oven

She not quite here but almost! Alex took this picture and said he was going to send it out as an announcement, entitled- The bun is out of the oven. He's cute but I'm not thinking that it's too funny. Although- I have really been enjoying the bread maker he bought me for Christmas. He says its a gift that keeps on giving. It was hard to use at first because of the high elevation but I think the key is adding a little more yeast. That's just my guess. Does anyone know about what your realy suppose to do when cooking at a higher elevation. I really like the Zojirushi fool proof recipe from the Bosch kitchen center.
Were anxiously waiting out February 2 due date. The midwife said that she didn't think I would make it that long. So- I'm guessing sometime next week. I hired a friend of mine thats a doula to help. I feel much better about the drive to Jackson with her following us. Were still not set on a name. It is so hard. I'm leaning toward Bela(pronouced Bay lah) Madison but I'm not in love with it. Other names we're considering are Eva, Willow, Paige, Della, Evie, Guinevere/Gwen. Alex has vetoed- Poppy, Bliss, and Cadence. Any Votes or suggestions?? I getting a little worried. People say that I'll know when she comes out but I don't think so. I think babies all look like babies when they come out. Maybe I'll call her Baby.
I'll keep you posted. Have a wonderful day!

Happy Holidays

I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. December has been a busy month. The kids both had Christmas concerts and Porter was quite the little dancer.
I was hoping to find time to organize the office and create an office/nursery space for the baby but I guess it will wait until next month as this one is filling up quite quickly.

On an artistic note- I've been painting which has been nice. My goal is 15 watercolors this month. I'm on 7 but I have to get busy this week so I can get done before I leave for Christmas. I'm excited for the baby to arrive. She is due on Feb. 2nd. I'm hoping that she will hold her horses while I freeze time and get caught up. I don't have anything but A few outfits and you can't get any baby stuff here. Hopefully I'll find some time after Christmas to deal with that. It is cold hear in Pinedale but unfortunately it's not cold enough to freeze time. The snow is beautiful and white and from the temperatures I'm pretty sure it's not going anywhere.

We've had a mama moose and calf hanging around lately. Last month the calf lost its mother and cried in our the back yard for about an hour. I asked Alex to help it and he just laughed at me. Yesterday I got up and went out to run a picture over to the community nativity and they were both eating the tree out front. I've never really thought about how moose drink water on a level plane with their long, long legs and short necks but last week I saw it. The calf was on it's two front knees, back legs strait so it was at a 45 degree angle. It was so cute. I ran home and got my camera but I was too late. By the time I got back she was done drinking.

I've been trying to be domestic lately and I'm not very good at it. I'm not domestic enough to keep my house clean but I've made bread, canned some preservative free applesauce for the baby and made some cute little snowmen for Porters class. I also got to take part in our annual chocolate dipping tradition.




We got a dog. Her name is Lieva. I was told it is German for happiness. We adopted her from a family that was having some medical issues and couldn't keep her. She is old and really good. She puts up with the kids and sleeps. She and I are two of a kind. Although, I wish I could sleep as much as she does and not feel so guilty about it. Between the lack of breath, anemia and trying to stay hydrated it's hard to feel very energized. I swim in the mornings and that really helps. I know my body is busy growing a little baby but the lists of to do's seems to grow faster. When does the nesting begin because I need the energy!!

We also got family pictures. I want to put one on the title for the blog but I don't know how yet. Any suggestions?? Until then you should check out her blog. carolinedrakephotography@blogspot.com. She did a fabulous job and only charged us 150$ for the CD. We took the pictures at the Garden Park Ward in SLC by Shannon's house. It's so beautiful and peaceful there. Anyway- I was very pleased. It was really fun to get some couple shots of Alex and I. When I looked at them it reminded me of how much I love him. He is a good man and for the most part patient and kind. He wasn't crazy about the idea of doing prenatal photos but I think he likes them too. Plus she got some good family shots that I used for our Christmas cards. I hope the month treats you well and you can find time to enjoy the season. Click on the collage to enlarge

Mexico Vacation

We went on vacation a few months ago. I've wanted to share some of the fun stuff we did and update the blog by creating a slide show but I've been a little intimidated. We'll see how it goes. I used slide.com it wasn't to bad but let me know if there is an easier or better way. During our cruise and vacation we were very fortunate. The kids,my mom and I swam with the Dolphins in Cabo. It was really amazing to hold on to the fin and let them pull us through the water. Porter and Gabe loved it! While we spent time with the dolphins Alex and my Dad went deep sea fishing. They caught a Marlin and a Dorado but I thought the coolest thing was the sea turtle that swam along the side of the boat in the wake. The cruise was realy relaxing. When we got back to San Diego we went to Sea World. We had a great time. Gabe got lucky and was selected to take part in the dolphin show. He told me later that dreams really do come true because last time we were there he wished that they would pick him. He also wants everyone to know that the girl is not really his mother but a dolphin trainer. I hope he remembers that dreams do come true when he's older. I guess these hopes are what gets us to spend the big bucks on the photo Cd's. I thought they should just give us one. Anyway- I'm including Sea World and the Dolphin Swimming in the slide show.