swimmer hoff

He got mad when it was time to leave the pool.

The life of an urban dog

Banjo has had to adjust to life in the big city. The dog parks here fail in comparison to the one we'd take him to in Anchorage. He still enjoys a good chuck-it though. Today hannah and I took him to fido fest at U Village. Imagine a bunch of yuppie dogs toted around collecting organic dog treats. There was also a doga (doggie yoga) demonstration, dog marriages, and dog agility demonstrations. It was all for a good cause though--to raise money for the humane society.

Do the Puyalup

Last Saturday Abe and I went to the Puyalup Fair with Sarah and Katie. We went early and were able to park on the street. We walked around and saw all of the animals. Abe was really intrigued by this girl and her little goat, so she asked if he wanted to pet it. He got really excited to get out of his stroller for a closer look, but when it came time to pet it, he touched a total of one hair between his fingers and that was enough. Naturally Abe was a fan of my shave ice and his Fischer's scone. This visit was actually Abe's second visit to a fair. Last year we took him when he was 11 days old. There weren't any giant cabbages at this one, but he sized up to the giant pumpkins.

Teslin - Ho!

My Dad and I safely arrived at Teslin this evening at 5:30pm.

We left Anchorage at 8:15 am on Wednesday. We stopped off to top off for gas, grabbed some Micky D's, and hit the highway. We had lunch in Glennallen, crossed the boarder, and had dinner in Beaver Creek (which is where we were staying). We walked into the restaurant and it was packed (only 3 tables in the place). The patrons were nice enough to tell us to grab a chair and belly up. So we sat down to a table of 4 Canadians - they were working on the road just east of us. We talked to them while we had our dinner and had a good time. Of course the topic turned to Dubya, and how he screwed up the US after 9/11 (Canadian's words, not ours). Good times.

This morning we left Beaver Creek at 8:30. We drove through the worksite of our dinner companions. After a while there was snow on the ground, but not on the road. We had lunch at Haines Junction (tasty seafood chowder and grilled ham and cheese). After lunch we visited the Kluane visitors center in Haines Junction. It's part of the world heritage site with Wrangell-St. Ellias National Park in the US. We saw a little movie, and looked at some of the displays. It was a lot of fun.

Then we stopped off at White Horse - the capital of the Yukon. My Dad wanted to see this cool dinosaur museum. But of course they were already on their winter hours (only open noon - 5 Sunday and Monday), but we looked at some stuff outside. I learned about giant 8 foot beavers, that are the size of black bears, that roamed the land.

Now we're in Teslin. Pretty close to the B.C. boarder. I called up Emily and got to talk to her (yay!). And I called up my Mom and Scott, but no one was home (boo). Hopefully I can talk to them soon.

Peace out, Alaska!!!

My time in Alaska is at a close. Today was my last day of work. Tomorrow my Dad and I will be in the car and on the road by 8am. With any luck we'll be in Seattle by Monday night.

We have had a great 3 years in this darn state. This is the place where Emily and I grew into being a married couple, I got my first dog (Banjo!), we had our first child (Abram!!!), and we became a real family. This place will always have a special place in my heart.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of our time in The Last Frontier.

Banjo looking at wild white yonder at Powerline Trail at Flattop. One of my favorite pictures.
Emily and Banjo ice skating on West Chester Lagoon by our first house.
Emily and I out for an October hike along the coast in 2007. This was before I moved here.
Emily (plus Abe), Banjo and me on a hike last June. We did this same hike on my birthday this year, but didn't make it all the way to the stream.
Banjo and me hanging out in the canoe at Red Shirt Lakes. This was Labor Day weekend 2008 - just that day Gov. Palin announced she would be Sen. McCain's running mate. And the world was never the same again.

the last great alaskan hike

This is a little late, but I just discovered the pictures on the camera. On our last weekend in Alaska we drove out to Hatcher's pass and hiked the reed lakes trail with Kari and Jared. This was the hike that made them decide that they wanted to stay another year in Alaska...uh oh. It was a beautiful hike. There were tons of big blueberries out, and the weather was pretty nice out. We hiked up a ways, and then we had to cross this boulder field. Neil had Abe on his back, and he did great. Banjo had the most trouble, until we figured out that his pack that he had on was throwing off his balance. Once we took that off he did really well leaping from boulder to boulder. The hike was about 7 miles round trip. We ate lunch up by the lake, and then hiked a little ways longer to find a waterfall. Abe was a rock star and had a great time the whole way, but by the time we stopped at dairy queen on the way home he had had enough. Chicken fingers were tossed. We'll miss days like this.

Jefferson!

They've been working on re-doing the park by my parents' house. The playground portion recently opened up, and we took abe to it this past weekend. It's really well done and actually has quite a bit of play equipment for little ones. So, yesterday when he wasn't very into napping in the morning I took him there again. Abe (or at least my dad's) favorite part was this little saucer that he sat in and spun around. Abe was mostly interested in playing with the wood chips. It was all fun, until he decided to eat them.

the walking manwich

Today Abe walked 11 laps around the first floor of my parents' house pushing the stroller for stability. I think he would have done a few more, but I had to stop (I was guiding the stroller to help maneuver around the turns) to get my phone. Needless to say he's sleeping quite nicely right now.

THis morning we went up to visit Abe's grandma/pa and uncle scott. We went to Ravenna park and played in the sand for a while. Then came back for a sloppy joe. Abe took the sloppy to heart!

hair cut time!

On Saturday we celebrated Abe's birthday at Woodlawn park with friends, family, and Banjo! My grandma wrote Abe a song about his best friend--brother Banjo.

The birthday boy!

A little late...but better late than never. We flew down to Seattle (Neil, Abe, Banjo, me) on Aug 26 just in time for Abe's birthday. Abe survived Alaska for exactly one year. We had a great little celebration put on by grandma and grandpa. Abe thoroughly enjoyed the cake once he knew what to do with it. He really could have cared less for opening presents. But he made quite a hall nonetheless. Now that he's had them for over a week he's really enjoyed playing with his new blocks, tunnel, walker, and musical instruments.

What's more ALaskan than...

..eating dip netted salmon and hand picked blueberry crisp for dinner/dessert? That would be attending Uncle Ted's funeral. On Tuesday night I happened to be driving home right around the same time they were driving Ted Steven's body to the Anchorage Baptist Church for the funeral service the following day. I was really amazed to see so many people lining the street with signs and flags and cameras waiting to see the hurse drive by. So, with Neil's prodding, Abe and I walked over to the service the following day. The church was equipped to hold up to 4,000 people, but only around 2,000 got to sit in the sanctuary, so we headed over early. I was hoping that Abe would nap during the service, but instead he napped on the way over, so he was ready to go by the time the service was about to start. So, I walked outside in the hall with him. He was being very good, but he was cooing a little, and apparently this guy could hear him over the bag pipe music, so we left. But, the coolest part about this whole experience was that while Abe and I were walking down the street, Joe Biden's car pulled up and he and his aide walked out and walked along the street next to me. I kept looking at him (trying to figure out if it actually was him) and he would give me this little smirk.

Even though Neil and I helped campaign with Steven's opponent, it was neat to be a part of the memorial. He did a lot for the state, and as my grandma reminded me, a lot for himself as well.


Here's the ABT by our house. I think it's funny that it says that it's "a caring community church", since it was their congregation that so vehemently opposed to adding gays and lesbians to the anti-discrimination laws in Anchorage.

News!

The picture says it all. We're moving--dood and all--back to Seattle! When we fly down at the end of August Abe, Banjo and I will be staying in Seattle. Neil's planning to fly back up for a few more weeks of work. Then he'll drive down the AlCan with his dad a few weeks later. I'll be entering the workforce once again at the VA, and Neil will be taking some classes at UW and working as a fulltime dad! We're sad to being leaving our Alaskan Adventure behind. We've had a lot of great friendships and adventures here, but we're excited for the *yet to be determined new blog name* chapter of our lives. Peace out yo!

Friday night bubbles

Abe with angst.

Abe with warm bubblies.

I'll eat you up!

We take our eating seriously.

Blueberries for Abe

Yesterday we went on a blueberry picking adventure. We got an early start on the day and met some friends up at glennalps. From there we biked down the powerline trail about 2.5 miles. (This was easier said than done. We were biking into an extremely strong wind, and the trail was pretty hilly. I was toeing Abe in the chariot, and I seriously thought I was going to faint.) Then we all locked our bikes and chariots together and hiked a ways to this lovely blueberry picking spot. Because it was a bit off the beaten path it hadn't been picked over. We hung out had some lunch and picked berries. Neil and I filled both of our tupperwares to the top. (Blueberry pancakes with blueberry syrup (made from last years berries) for breakfast). The weather in the morning was actually pretty nice--reminded my why I love living in alaska. But, then the rain came in, and actually broke a record for the number of consecutive days of rain. So, we headed back. Going home was 10 times easier thanks to the wind, which was still blowing in the same direction. While we were standing on the path, our bikes literally rolled forward on their own, because of the wind.

Pretty cool scenery for picking.

Abe sampling our handy-work.
We left Banjo at home, because he likes to jump in front of bikes, and a few years ago when we took him blueberry picking he ate our friends berries. Sophie and Todd's dog Riley, was a nice substitute for Abe.
Check them berries out!

An apology to our 'Dood

Dear Banjo,

Ever since Abe and I returned home you've stunk. Your dad didn't think so, but to a more discerning nose, you were really quite foul. I tried bathing you, but it didn't seem to help. So, we did what we thought was for the best. For your own good, we decided to rid you of all that stinky hair. You were so trusting standing there in the bathroom, eating your peanut butter Kong while I chizzled away at your hair.

It turned out we stole your one true beauty. I'm sorry Banjo. The next time I come at you with those clippers run in the other direction!

Love, Your master