Beatles concert

Last Monday night we got tickets to see Imagine, a Beatles tribute band, at the outdoor theater, the Scera. We sat on the hillside on our blankets. It was fun to hear all the songs we knew. David wasn't so sure, can you tell?

Here they are on stage, they were pretty good!

The night got heated up for the second half as they came out in Sergeant Pepper's outfits. by now, the crowd had moved to the floor and everyone was dancing.

Caroline got a picture of this guy dancing. I don't think I have ever seen anyone this uninhibited in front of a crowd of strangers. He was hilarious to watch and had about a 5 foot radius around him because he was dancing so wildly you had to give him PLENTY of room. wow.

Fun Night!

Moving to BYU

Michael is off on one of the biggest adventures of his life, the dorms. Here he is the day we dropped him off, literally. I had somewhere to be and it took longer than we thought to get everything in the car. I double parked while he ran in and got his room key, we left the car blocking cars, etc, while we ran his stuff up to the room, I took these two pictures, gave him a hug and ran back to the car. Not exactly the way I had pictured the big send off but luckily he's a big boy and knows I love him anyway. I did come back later with lunch and helped him make his bed, does that count?

He is sharing a room with his buddy Zach and they are having the time of their lives. He isn't dying to come home, except to use the washing machine and then it's off to the dorms again in no time flat. We miss him and are so happy he is loving his new life and not seeming too homesick. I think it's the mom's that have the hard time when kids leave, not the kids.

Alaska - part 5 of 5

The last day of our motorhome adventure we spent fishing together. All 14 of us went on a charter out of Homer to catch our favorite fish, halibut. We arrived early (6:45AM) and rode out to sea for an hour and a half before dropping any hooks. That gave us time to feed everyone instant oatmeal and hot chocolate and for the kids to get silly. Here are David, Jasmin, Lillli or Lani, and Michael playing war. I think the other passengers on the boat thought they'd get another bit of sleep on the ride out but we made sure they didn't. I don't think I have ever seen a more rousing game of war.

Katie and Nelson sharing ipod moments.

Me and Erika.

Here is our family on the deck of the boat. Caroline is holding a baited hook. It was a bit drizzly, I am so glad we all had full wet gear. Besides, when you reel in a fish from 250 to 300 feet of water, that's a lot of wet line that runs by you. Most of the fish we caught were around 20 pounds. On the way out, the guide was explaining that this wasn't going to be a trophy trip, you most likely wouldn't be catching 300 pound fish. I was thinking that a 20 pound fish would be a trophy fish to my kids!

When we dropped our hooks, Caroline caught the first fish but I was unprepared and didn't have my camera out yet. She caught both of hers fast so I don't have pictures of her fish, maybe Erika does and I can add them later. Here is Michael and one of his fish. You drop a 3 pound lead weight and then a hook with quite a lot of fish for bait. I don't know if you can see the hook in the picture very well.

Caroline helping out since she had already caught her limit.

Doug, Erika and Jasmin.

Caroline, Nelson, Katie and David.

Stacey helping Jack out with a fish.

Grandpa John looks on as David poses with his fish.

Katie! We all caught our limit of 2 halibut each. The nice thing about being on a charter boat is that they fillet all of your fish on the way back to the dock. We ended up with about 70 pounds of fillets to take home.

The ride back.

Caroline with the fish waiting to be filleted. At the start of the trip, they give each group colored carabiners or zip ties of a certain color. When you catch your fish, you give them your "tag" and they hook it in the jaw of the fish. When they go to fillet it, they mark bins with each color and after it's filleted, they throw them into the right color bin. This way actually get the fish you caught. We discovered after we got home that someone must've gotten 3 extra fillets because we were short, oh well.

John and Jack watching the fish.

The seagulls hung at the back of the boat hoping to get some of the carcass as it was tossed into the water.

Our bin full of halibut.

When I was little, this was the only landmark on the Homer spit. Now, there are lots of shops, charter companies and campgrounds. The minute I stepped outside the camper and smelled the ocean it took me back to my childhood.

This is a Russian Orthodox church on the bluff overlooking the inlet in Ninilchik. On the way to Homer, the sun had just set, the sky was clear and lit up pink. The silhouette of this church against the sky, looking down to the water far below was breathtaking. I didn't have my camera out, it was late and all but me and John were sleeping, and we trying to get there so I didn't insist on stopping. I probably should've because I am not sure I can describe the image in my mind as well as a picture could. Well, we stopped on the way back, still pretty picturesque.

The last day we had in Anchorage, we had all of the family over and celebrated the twins birthday. They are so cute, they refer to it as their birthday celebration! I love that.

Here are the 14 of us, Grandpa John, Stacey and Jack, my family and Erika's family.

Here are my and Erika's family with the Sant's. There's nothing like family. There is something so warm and wonderful about being around family that has known you since you were born and watched you grow up. We did so much together growing up and know each other so well even though we live far away and don't get to visit but every few years.

Uncle Bill, Erika, Aunt Jani, me, cousin Chad, Uncle Richard, Aunt Sue. I love you guys!

Alaska - part 4 of 5

After Nancy Lake we headed for Homer, which is back through Anchorage and then further another 4 or 5 hours. The Robbins' were loving Nancy Lake so much they decided to spend one more night instead of leaving with us. Since they would be behind us a ways and the weather was great now but turning by Sunday, we decided to go out on John's boat Friday instead. His sailboat is in Whittier and on the way to Homer so it worked out just fine. Here are Nelson and Caroline by one of many waterfalls we saw.

Cap'n David!

Goofy cheese!

Nelson and Caroline fishing for halibut. We didn't catch any, not a big surprise. We haven't caught any halibut on this boat since my mom died. She was the fisherwoman extraordinaire in the family and somehow could always get us some fish.

Me and John.

David and Stacey did catch a rock fish, ugly things but good for fish and chips.

It was such a beautiful day we put up the sails, turned off the motor and did a little sailing. John had Michael at the helm as we practiced coming about, the rest of us on the lines.

It is so amazing how teenagers can still text at all moments in time, even while steering a boat.

Hey wait! It looks like time has jumped backwards a decade or so. This is one of my favorite pictures of my kids. We went on the sailboat the summer of 1999 and Caroline, Katie and Michael surprised me down below and I had to have a snapshot of it.

Same window, some years later, hey, where's Caroline? Well, we almost recreated that one.

At the end of our day we went and had some halibut and chips in Whittier.

John, Jack and Stacey at the restaurant.

Whittier is on the other side of a mountain and the only way to get there is by boat or through this tunnel. It is 10 miles long, open from 6am till 11pm. It is only one lane, so it only goes one direction every hour of the day. If you miss your turn, you wait, hopefully not overnight. This is not a tunnel you can even try to hold your breath through.

We made it to Homer around midnight and it was finally getting dark. The next day we wandered along the shops of the Homer Spit. Here we are having ice cream.

John, David and Nelson on the husband's waiting bench, can you see the sign?

Katie, Lilli or Lani(sorry girls!) and Jasmin on the beach.

The twins are nearly impossible to tell apart, even for their parents. They usually dress differently so after the first time you call them the wrong name, you just memorize which shirt they are wearing and then you are fine the rest of the day. Except when they were younger and loved to change clothes 5 times a day. This, however was their birthday and they dressed alike. It was a rough day for the rest of us, just kidding.

Michael and Katie on the beach.

David, Lilli or Lani(???) and Jasmin playing with the legos in the motorhome.

Erika brought cupcakes and gifts for Lilli and Lani to open. One of their gifts were whoopie cushions. They each got one and we spent a good 20 minutes laughing so hard we all were crying. What a riot! It was definitely a party to remember!

Happy 9th birthday girls!! I have a special place in my heart for these girls and Jasmin, too. I got to go to Anchorage when they were born and play grandma, helping out. They are so much fun, we love them very much!