Happy Birthday, Heidi

I wanted to post this yesterday..... it was her birthday, yesterday.... but I had computer problems, so I'll post today! My Heidi girl turned seventeen. It is incredible to me that I have a 17 yr. old. I so remember that blonde, curly hair that had everybody stopping me and commenting everywhere I went. Heidi has been a joy, Andrew and I are so proud of her. She loves Jesus with all her heart. She studies hard in school and makes good grades. She is trying to decide what college to go to and is asking God to guide her. She has the best sense of humor and has quick, smart-aleck come backs when someone is teasing her. (that's my girl)

This weekend the kids are all down in Wasilla for the soccer tournament, so we had a little birthday party for her Tuesday evening. (they left Wednesday) That picture above is funny because you can see Aurora looking in the door window, wishing she was included in the celebration.

The House that Drew and Grant built

Drew has a project he's doing for History. They are supposed to make a home just like the settlers would have done back when the "New World" was being populated. They can only use raw materials or materials that they could have obtained back in colonial times (like nails). So he enlisted help from his little brother. They collected twigs and downed tree limbs and now you can see what they've done so far. The wheelbarrow is full of mud they are using to keep the house wind and water proof. He didn't ask for any help, so he may have problems with the waterproof part, but I am really proud of what he has gotten done so far.

Weekend getaway

Well I went to see my dear husband this past weekend. He is winding down the job in St. Mary's and isn't going to get to come home until the work is done.... that is somewhere in the first week of October. It was unacceptable to both of us, so I made arrangements for a sitter (thanks Katie R.) to stay with the kids for the weekend and I took off Thursday night and spent the night in the Anchorage airport.... UGH!!! Don't try this folks. I didn't get in to Anchorage until 11:30 p.m. Thursday... I had to catch the 6:30 a.m. flight Friday to St. Mary's which means being at the airport at 5:30, which means waking up at 4:30... so, why pay for a hotel for 4 and 1/2 hours sleep? It's not worth it, or so I thought.... I froze to death, besides being uncomfortable laying on benches with about 10 other people sleeping all around me.

But I am so glad I went. Andrew and I had a great time! Here are some pictures of what we did over the last few days.

Some of the work they have done in the school - "cubbies" for everyone.

One of the classrooms

I think both of these building have been refurbished by 66 North. (Andrew's and Gale's company)

This is Tanya, Gale's wife. She is the one who planned the menus and ordered/orders the food.. and she prepares the food, with a little help from.....

Alicia

Samantha

and Ginny (Alicia and Ginny are both pregnant.. that's why I took this picture like this)

Here are all four of the cooks, Lauren left a few weeks before this, there were five of them. Here is Sam's little boy, Logan, he is so cute.... ...but if he doesn't want you to look at him, he screams, just like this... (hahahaha)

Then we went flying in Andrew's Super Cub Straight ahead is the runway we used, it looks like a road, we were crossing the "big" runway.Looking back at the airport where we just took off Ain't that purty? We dropped and came in low over the dock so Darryl Q. could get a video on his camera Here I was trying to get a picture of Darryl, but the picture took too late. Still, I wanted you to see just how low we were to the water. (cringe) Beautiful fall colors along the Andreafsky River Thoroughly enjoyed the flying... can't wait to do it again! Love you, babe!!

The funny car.

You remember the picture of the funny looking car that I posted several weeks ago? It was on this post. Well, it was in our Golden Days parade and I noticed that someone else had gotten a better picture of it than I had and I "stole" their picture and put it on here so you could see it better. It is so funny, I think. I mean, why would you attach birch trees to a car?? I don't get that. :)

Getting a few things done before winter...

OK, so here's a couple of things to blog about.

First, we have gotten our ugly connex painted so that it matches the shop. Here is a picture of Drew, Thomas and Blaine working on the top. I don't think I have a picture of the finished product.

They still have to put a second coat on, but it looks much better. Andrew will put a roof on it sometime, which will help it look better as well.

Andrew gave the boys the job of filling up that connex with logs that have been cut. Drew got all the boys ready with heavy shirts and gloves and hats. Then he got the skidsteer and they loaded up the bucket and drove it to the connex then unloaded it in the connex. It doesn't look like they got a lot done but they worked for an hour or so and I was really proud of the fact that I really didn't have to push them, I reminded them and they got ready and did the job.

Here is the wood furnace that we are getting ready to set up. This should save us boocoodles of money on fuel this winter.

It's fall. We're having beautiful days... temps up in the 60's and very clear sunny skies.

It pays to live in Alaska... at least once a year. :)

I'm struggling to find something to blog about. I'm sure you could tell that by the fact that I've had Sarah Palin's picture up for a week now. Well, I've been immersed in her campaign, the RNC and all the trash talk for the last week and I'm trying to get myself picked up from all of that and blogging about something different.

Most of you know that every resident Alaskan gets a dividend each year. The unique thing about Alaska is that the constitution says that all of the resources the land produces belong to the residents of Alaska. So when oil was discovered they set up a "savings account" with a payout of the "interest" to the people. (this is not the exact definition, but it is the easy way to explain it)

Today we found out what our dividend is going to be.... $2069....each. Oh my word, that's the most ever. And in addition to that we get a $1200 a piece as an "energy boost" that our awesome Governor, soon to be Vice President, proposed and got approved earlier this summer. Isn't that awesome?

Well, if I have to live in this freezing cold, dark place.... I might as well get paid for it. :)