The State Fair

I have THE best friends anyone could ask for.  Sorry everyone else out there.  Your friends are lame.  Besides me of course or if your friends with my friends then those friends we have in common pretty awesome!  Anyway my super awesome friends Marissa and Dave had some extra tickets to the fair and they gave them to us so that we could join in their fun at the fair.  We ran in quite a bit of luck that day besides that.  We were waiting in line to pay for parking when a lady knocked on our window and gave us 2 more free tickets and a free parking pass.  After we parked I went hunting down people to give the other free tickets to.  Believe me that was a lot harder then it seemed.  Then as I was walking into the fair I found a 10 dollar bill on the ground!  Plus we also got a free ride on one of the rides because the guy in charge wouldn't let Ella go alone.  Which I totally get. So we went and bought tickets for Tyler to go.  But he wouldn't let him go with her alone either.  So he told us that Nate could ride for free.  See?  What a great day we had.  The weather at the fair was chili and wet.  That caused a little unpleasantness but only until we got used to it.  we also gave the kids each their own money to spend on whatever they wanted to spend it on.  Ella went on a few rides and ate some food.  Tyler on the other hand didn't want to waste money on rides and spent all of his money on food.  Between the 4 Musil's and the 2 Murphy's we were able to try a lot of food.  We had donut burgers, deep fried peaches, deep fried cheese curds, a gyro, a foot long corn dog, a funnel cake, deep fried pickles, seafood chowder, a stuffed pretzel, BBQ corn on the cob, and kettle corn.

We walked away from that day with a full tummy and great memories.  You just can't beat an Alaskan State Fair.

 Before we even made it inside Ella had to stop and pet the mini ponies.

 Ella really wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel but they wouldn't let her alone.  So they all went.

 Ella also went on this little maze.

 The kids willingly posed for pictures in these cut outs.

 Ty with his foot long hot dog and the boys with their doughnut burgers.  They had eggs and bacon on them.  

 Some of the veggie winners at the fair.

 There was a petting zoo that Ella and I went into.  She would of spent the whole day there if I would of let her.  Luckily I ran out of quarters pretty fast.

 We went into the reptile house.  Ella wanted to show that she wasn't scared at all.  Of course that snake is in a cage.  Just sayin.

 There was also a king tut exhibit there.  Tyler, Ella, and I went through it.  It had some really neat artifacts displayed there.

 This is one of the best peach pies I have ever had (my moms is the best).  The lady that makes them is 80 years old and makes about that many every day for the fair.

The fair is always such a fun thing for me to attend.  I look forward to it every year.  And have gone with Marissa every year since I have lived here.  Good thing she talks me into it!

Natalie and Nichole opted not to come.  I say that they missed out big time.

Visiting with the Sister Missionaries!

For several months now the sister missionaries have been missing from my home.  They have all been transferred or sent home.  I have so missed having them over on Mondays to do their laundry and to enjoy breakfast and letter writing together.  I do however get surprised every so often by a phone call being made by Sister Peterson (the blond) saying that her and Sister Claspell are companions for a little while and that they were hoping that they would be able to stop by and have dinner with me before Sister Peterson heads home from her mission.  I am still in shock (and its been months) that Sister Peterson has finished up her mission here in Alaska.  Eagle River was her first stop on her 18 month mission. I am also so lucky that I got to see her one more time before she went home.  I got so close to my girls while they were here and I feel so blessed for that.  Sister Claspell still has a few more months left on her mission then, all of my girls will be home from their missions.  I wish them all good luck!

Sea Kayaking

For Natalie's Mom/Dad day she chose to go sea kayaking.  We had to drive out to Seward to do so.  We went with a group of 7 other people.  When we arrived the guide taught us some very basic Kayaking skills and then we were off.  We kayaked along the shore for a little over an hour.  We then went onto land and went for a hike to a river that took and we got to see hundreds of salmon.  It was great to see all of the salmon in the rivers.  We learned some information about them that I didn't know.  Like that they turn gray/white as they are getting old and about to die.  It was really smelly in some spots where we saw some dead animals and dead fish.  The Salmon were really active and fun to get to see.  

We also saw a Sea Otter and several Bald Eagles.  Nate is a pro at spotting things and kept pointing them out to everyone before our tour guide could even see them.

After our hike on land we took to the sea again and headed back to the rental place.  It didn't take us as long to get back to where we started as it took to get to the hiking spot.  After we got all done with the equipment we headed out of town.  We stopped at a subway restaurant to eat and headed back to Eagle River.  I have to admit that it was one of my favorite things that we have done in Alaska and it was great to be able to spent time with just Natalie doing it! I'm glad that she picked Sea Kayaking.  I may have never done it if she didn't.

Instead of Deep Sea Fishing we...

Natalie had a game the day that everyone went deep sea fishing so I stayed home with her to support her and watch her play.  The weather started out all gloomy and yucky looking but by the time that we were done with the game the sun was shining and it was beautiful outside.  Natalie got some serious turf burn that game and she tackled someone on accident.  Its great to sit on the sidelines and celebrate her victories and also her losses with her.  I love to shout my support as the game is going.  

After the game was over we went and got a pedicure and got some Thai food to eat for dinner.  We cuddled next to each other and watched a movie on the laptop for some reason the big computer wasn't working. 

When all was said and done I think Natalie and I got the better end of the deal.

Deep Sea Fishing

Nate, Nichole, Tyler, and Ella left the house at 6 am to go to Ninilchik to go on a deep sea fishing trip.  Nichole drove part of the way.  It was the longest and farthest amount of time that she has driven. They got to the dock early so they had to just hang out there until the captain made it there. They loaded on to the boat and a tow truck pushed them into the water.  They sailed for 45 minutes to get to their fishing destination.  They cast their lines and waited for fish.  Tyler and Ella both caught 2 sharks and then they finally started catching Halibut. They caught six between the 4 of them.  The limit was eight.  After a while they changed spots and had no luck catching fish there so they headed in to the dock and then went to the captains house where his sons and him filleted the fish and his wife processed it.

  Nate loves deep sea fishing it is one of his favorite things to do in Alaska.

Tyler said that he liked fishing and would go fishing again.  He said he liked that he caught the biggest halibut.  He didn't like that he was sore the next day.

Ella enjoyed deep sea fishing too.  She liked sticking her head out of the cabin while the boat was going.  She didn't like that she accidentally hit her hand on the metal of the door of the cabin because it hurt.

Nichole didn't really enjoy herself. She thought that it was boring.

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First day of school

The first day of school really snuck up on me this year.  I think it is because we had such a busy summer that it passed so quickly.  I am usually really good at getting school clothes and school supplies purchased well before school starts.  This year was a little different because I was out of town and had company in town so much it made it that much more difficult to get things done.  After I got home from Utah we made a mad dash around Anchorage to finish school shopping and collecting the supplies that were needed. We did manage to get almost all of the stuff collected the first time we went out. 

The first day of school is always a little hectic for me and the kids.  Trying to get back into a routine and get used to waking up early is never fun.  But it did run smoothly.

Like last year Nate dropped Natalie and Nichole off at the high school on his way into work.  I then finished helping Tyler and Ella get ready for school and ran Tyler to his school.  Ella and I then came home for about 15 minutes and then went to her school to drop her off. I did get to walk Ella into school and drop her off at her classroom.  It is always my favorite tradition of the school year.  I didn't get to get any pictures of her at her desk thought.  Which is a bummer.  And as always she always claims that she doesn't want me to walk her into class but when I do she then doesn't want me to leave.

Between the time I drop Ella off at school and Natalie and Nichole get home from school I try to get the house work done, run errands, or go and visit my friends.  It does help the time go by faster. 

This is going to be the beginning of a good year I can feel it.

 Tyler started the 7th grade this year.

 Ella started 4th grade. Her teacher is Mrs. Hargraves.