Sweet smiles and more fish

We made it!!!! This last week Neal has slept for a full 12 hours night. I am loving having a full night's rest to start my day.


We have been having a relaxing summer. I haven't done much with my yard this year since it has been a very wet summer but today I looked outside and saw that my lilly plant came back...so I have one nice looking plant/flower in my yard.


Tyler has taken full advantage of the summer with lots of fishing trips. It is nice to have a freezer full of Halibut and a shelf full of smoked salmon. His most recent trip was very successful - coming home with 8 salmon and a gallon of shrimp. I am really excited about the fresh shrimp and I also know how I will be spending the next few days....smoking and canning again.


This summer has been so wet that it has been hard to do lots of activities outside, however, a few weeks ago Neal and I did go hiking for the first time. It was a nice cool day for a hike and we went with good friends. I would like to go hiking again, weather permitting, but need to find a new carrier or a backpack next time 'cause carrying Neal in the Bjorn while hiking is getting hard.


Every day seems to bring something new and Neal is getting more and more animated each day. He is almost sitting up on his own and loves to play with Yawkey. I can't believe how much he's changing. Some of his new abilities include holding his own bottle, eating solid foods, and using a sippy cup (with a little help). What a big boy.

1 Fish, 2 Fish, 6 Fish, more Fish

We are now about halfway through summer and that means that it is fishing season, followed shortly there after by hunting season. Tyler has many different fishing/hunting trips planned for this year so we hope to be able to fill our cabinets and freezer with all the fish and meat Tyler brings home.

Last weekend Tyler and his friend Rob went dipnetting on the Kenai river. It was a bit early for the big run but they came back with a fair amount of salmon, and thus the summer processing projects begin....


This weekend Melanie and I got together and smoked and canned most of the salmon that the boys caught. This year it went a lot smoother then two years ago 'cause this time I knew what I was doing. Also, two years ago I was smoking the salmon in the pouring rain. Thankfully this weekend was sunny and beautiful which made smoking so much quicker and more enjoyable. After two long days of work we have a nice amount of canned smoked salmon. This is one of my favorite things to mix with cream cheese and spread on crackers. I love having smoked salmon especially in the winter months.




Just as i finished canning the last jars of Salmon Tyler arrived home from a weekend Halibut charter with four Halibut. So once again we have another project to work on tomorrow. We'll be sealing up the Halibut for the freezer...so lots of beer battered halibut and fish tacos will be served in this house over the next few months and there is lots of it so feel free to join us for dinner :)

Neal and Yawkey did a great job this weekend entertaining each other which gave me time to work on all the fish - Neal just loves the puppy.



After this I think we have a few weeks before the other big hunts Tyler has planned....anyone know how to process Caribou or Moose?

So many new things

Neal and I finally came back home after a 3+ week vacation. Tyler was with us in Seattle for the first two weeks and then Neal and I headed down to California for another week. We had such a fun time with family but are glad to finally be home and into our routine again.



These past few weeks have been full of new activities for Neal. Last week Neal started to eat Rice Cereal for the first time. He didn't seem to mind it at all except he couldn't figure out how to swallow it and would keep pushing the cereal out of his mouth with his tongue. Finally by the third day of trying he figured out how to eat it and he loves it. His favorite is when i mix it with bananas but he will eat it either way. He likes it so much I have a hard time feeding it to him fast enough. I am looking forward to trying other things like veggies and other fruits in the months to come.



Over the 4th of July weekend we went camping in Valdez with some friends. This was our first camping trip of the summer and the first camping trip for Neal. The weather was rainy and so our camping trip was cut short. We made it through the night dry inside of the tent and then spent most of the day outside under a large tarp playing games and waiting for the rain to stop. When it appeared that it was going to continue raining all weekend we packed up the campsite and headed to Palmer to spend the rest of the weekend on the family farm. We had a great time, visiting, playing games, riding horses and staying dry in Palmer.







The last big change for Neal this week has been his move into the Nursery. That's right, Neal is now a big boy sleeping in his own room at night. I thought it would be a harder transition but the last few nights have been great. He only woke up twice in the middle of the night to eat and as he keeps adjusting to the rice cereal I hope that his night feedings will soon go away (or at least drop to only one). I thought that it would be harder for me to have him out of our room but I have actually found that I sleep better since I can't hear every hum or grown that he makes.

So that's what has been going on around here. Oh and Neal learned to roll over last week.



Always something new and exciting and all in all a great start to our summer.

Finding his feet

Neal discovered his toes/feet the other day. Now every time he is laying down he tries to grab at them. It is so fun to see the new things he learns/discovers each day.

California

Neal and I are down in California visiting with my family and extended family and Neal is meeting everyone for the first time. It has been so much fun. We have loved being able to catch up with everyone and the warm weather has been great. We have had lots of days at the pool and just relaxing. Neal hasn't actually been swimming yet but he will get the chance on Wed before we head home.


Here are some fun pictures of our time down here. Also the video is a short little clip of the new sound that Neal likes to make. He is "blowing Raspberries" all the time now - it makes one messy/wet faced baby.

Seattle & Graduation

We had such a fun time in Seattle visiting with lots of friends and family and celebrating Anna's graduation. Neal has done well with the busy schedule that we have had since being here and has managed to take naps wherever and whenever he can.






Though we had hoped for warmer weather while here we got a variety of rain, sun, clouds and thunder. Quite the interesting start to summer.



Neal got to meet his great grandpa for the first time and got lots of play time with his cousins. We have had a wonderful time and will be sad to say goodbye to everyone.

Congratulations Anna

We came up to Seattle this summer to celebrate Anna's college graduation from nursing school. We are so proud of Anna and all she has accomplished. She has worked so hard to not only finish the nursing program but to do so with honors. She is going to make a fabulous nurse. Anna is so good with people and can always make someone feel welcome and comfortable. She is going to touch so many lives as a nurse and will have a positive influence on both her co-workers and her patients. We are excited to see were she ends up working and how she will use her nursing degree in the years to come.



Like we have said before Anna - there are always nursing jobs in AK and we would love to have you come out by us. Neal would love to have his Tia closer.

Congratulations again on all your accomplishments.