Fitting Exploration into Holiday Travel

(Warning: Photo Dump Below!)

Whew!  I think we've all recovered from the Fourth of July holiday!  We decided to make a trek up to my parents house  in Washington.  While we were out exploring, I told my husband that I didn't know how to work this into the blog, because I want to make sure that each post has something to offer you, the reader.  I just love his response: "Just share it!  Give encouragement to people to get outside and explore!"  I kinda, really love that man! =D

So without further ado, this is how our holiday travel went while enjoying some adventures, both outdoor and indoor. 

Day 1: The Drive:  So it doesn't take all day to drive up there, but it's 6-7 hours.  Given the time it takes to load and unload, it's basically a full day.  Thankfully now my little ones are doing so much better in the car, so we don't hear screaming the whole way.  When the fussing started, I'd just pull out another book, read it, then pass it back for them to re-peruse (lift the flap books are awesome!).  We'd try to take advantage of meals and gas stops to take a stretch break (or as the kids call them, shake breaks!)  Other than that, lots of dried fruit, I spy, singing and license plate tracking!   We got in with just enough time for the kids to play with a little, battery powered four-wheeler that my dad had received broken, but free and fixed it up.  That got the wiggles out!

Day 2: After a lazy morning, Josh and I borrowed my parents' jeep and headed up some mountain trails (holiday tip: you don't have to have/bring all the "toys."  Share and borrow what you can!)  It wasn't a clear day, but it was so gorgeous!  The ruggedness of the hills is so stark against all the foxglove blooming (my favorite!!!)  Josh was able to just reach out the door and pick me bouquets.

  We picked wild salmon berries and went for a small hike at the end of one of the trails.  At the very top we even ran in to another couple from Alaska, so naturally we had to stop and visit with them for a bit!

 

After we got back we loaded in the truck with my parents to hit the carnival.  Though it was a fairly small carnival, the kids were awestruck.  Our 5 year old enjoyed a few of the kiddie rides, but our 2 year old would only go on the carousel until we got to the Ferris Wheel.  Grandpa and Daddy went with them and even at the highest point you could see both of their faces beaming with delight and they excitedly waved to us every cycle!  What a treat! 

So fun to see familiar faces as well.  A former neighbor and her grown daughter also visiting from out of town, two mission trip coordinators and an former worship teammate let alone countless others that I couldn't quite place anymore. 

Day 3: My former church GAVE me a piano!  I'm so excited and grateful, but have no place to store it right now, so my dad is hanging on to it for me.  He, Josh, and my brothers moved it to their garage for now.  Boy, do I owe them cookies or what?  I just have to tease them that they'll forever be helping me move pianos!  (It may have happened a time or two before) 

First we had to stop by Wing's cabin and learn how the pot-bellied stove worked!

Ringing the church bell with Bampa

 Then the whole crew drove up to Bellingham to the Spark Museum.  If you ever get a chance, check it out.  A museum on the history of electricity, complete with a functioning Tesla Coil (I didn't remember what that was until we got there!)  I'm not a huge fan of electronics, but even I found much of this fascinating.  Just this history, if nothing else, and the beautiful detail they seemed to put into everything they did. 

We got back into town to visit my best friend from age 4 and her family and to barbeque and hang out in their new back yard.  Beautiful end to a busy day!  And I love that our kids feel like cousins!

Krista and I basically have this exact photo of us when we were this age!  Now it's our kids!

Day 4:  Church the next morning (same one I grew up in!) along with many more familiar faces.  Then lunch at the favorite spot  before the in-laws joined us for the logging show and chainsaw carving competition. 

Pole Climb

Day 5:  Independence Day!  Parade in the rain, then about 30 people came to the house for a get-together, fire crackers, and a ton of food.  Lots of playing in the  rain and dancing through the smoke! 

Day 6:  Home again, home again, jiggety jog.  When we hit bad traffic we just took old farm roads.  Better moving the long way through beautiful scenery than stuck in stress and traffic. 

I'm so grateful for my family, but I know for some staying with family can be a difficult time if they are not accustomed to spending much time outside.  I think, especially during a visit to see someone, relationships take priority.  Be with those you've come to be with.  But if the opportunity arises to get everyone out and see something new, maybe it could benefit all!

First-Time Tradition: Black Friday Family Hike

How was your Thanksgiving?  I feel like this was the best one we've had in a very long time.  We hosted for our families for the very first time this year! Being two thousand miles away certainly deters the frequent family visits! =)  But this year we had 16 people, four dogs and our two cats in our little mobile.  And it was so wonderful!  Not a perfect meal, but perfect time together.  

Not the purpose of this post, but a couple recipes we have for Thanksgiving that I love (and some were asking for) are the whole wheat rolls (shaped like these pumpkins if you have the time!) with French Cardamom Apple Jam, Balsamic Rosemary Ham, slow-cooker cranberry sauce, Broccoli Casserole (recipe to come) and Spiced Cider (this one is my husband's concoction and I'm hoping he'll let me share this one here soon, too!)

What I really want to write about is a new tradition we were able to start this year and I definitely want to uphold in future years: a Black Friday Hike!  While this may not have been feasible at our Fairbanks home, hiking in this mild climate’s November was refreshing!  After a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, all interested piled into a car and drove just down the road or the maze of trails at the arboretum. 

It was quite frosty, but only on the north side of the hills and became quite pleasant in the sun.  We just dressed in layers and I had room in my pack for all the extra layers as we hiked on the south side.  Another perk of having some grandparents along: extra arms to carry tuckered tykes! 

 We ended up hiking about 3 ½ miles, some of it quite steep, and I’m proud to say my eldest did it all on his own!  Boy, did they sleep good that night!

It felt like the perfect activity for the day after Thanksgiving as we were able to go out and explore together (hikes are much more fun for my little wildlings if the grandparents are along!) and we worked off some of the feast from the day before!  And I hate shopping, so that wasn’t even an option, anyway!  How do you celebrate Thanksgiving after the meal?  I love how each family does certain things to make the celebration uniquely theirs!

 

Inspriation for Life and Apples

Do you have anyone in your life who has (or continues) to inspire you creatively?  Those people you admire are vital, but what about those who invest in your creativity, who are honest but encouraging and thought provoking…  I hope you do, but either way, I’d like to share some of mine with you, to pass their inspiration along so that it might benefit more.

Meet my parents!  My first inspirer-ers.  Is that a word?  It is now…  Anyway, they have been encouraging and uplifting from day one and it's so exciting to see them investing in and inspiring my children now, too!  I love this photo of them because it makes me laugh every time.  So here’s the back story: we were walking along a windy beach, I got ahead a little bit and looked back to see them walking along together, talking and laughing.  So romantic!  I whipped out my camera to capture the moment and this is what I got:  Mom reaching down to pick up a shell and Dad holding out his jacket to fly!  They love each other and they love life!

Dad claims this is a more natural pose =)

I could go on about how wonderful they both are, but my purpose of this post is to encourage you with something that they gave, and continue to give me.  My Dad is the most God-loving, hard-working, creative man I’ve ever known.  Although I don’t think he would consider himself artsy, he sees the beauty and majesty of God’s creation in everything from the greatest mountains to the smallest microbe.  And he’s so good about inviting others into the outdoors (or anything he’s interested in, really) and making it fun.  I want to be that kind of person to others.  I can’t think of anything more inspiring than creation and the God it directs us to.  And his creativity comes out in more electronic ways, also, that I can only hope to understand someday!

He and Mom both share this knack for making things work.  If you can’t afford it or can’t get it, then you find a way to do it yourself or take what you already have to substitute. This led to teaching us the determination and perseverance that many projects throughout life require.   Of course this comes with some trial and error, but I love their stance that mistakes are for learning!  I also love their giving hearts.  Yes, it’s good to make and do, but so much better to share these things with others!

Now Mom is very much the sort of person who would just rather create things herself.  Her “famous” quote has always been, “we could make that!”  When you make it yourself it is the ideal size, shape, color, function…why pay more when we could do it ourselves?  Also, her love for animals had encouraged many to care for their critters well.  Again, I could quote them both until the cows came home and one quick blurb will not do justice to all their words of advice, encouragement, wisdom and inspiration.

But one more thing I’ve admired about them is that they always try to find the good in every situation. Which leads us to my bridge to the apples: they are one of Mom’s favorite things!  Though autumn has never been her favorite season, she’s always enjoyed apples whether they be baked in a dish or standing alone.  This is the first year since I lived with them that we’ve had an apple tree in our back yard and I LOVE it!  Free fruit!  Fruit was so precious in Alaska, we are kind of going crazy with all the fruit now.  I can’t stand to see any of it go to waste!  It is an old, untended tree that we have here, so it has been necessary to cut out the big bruises and insects.  Still, I have been making as many apple dishes as I can!  I wanted to share an apple round-up with you of some of the recipes I have been using (and a couple I’d like to try!)

1.       Dried apple chips: may be done in the oven or a dehydrator.  Or even strung on a thread and hung on the hearth if you want to do it the truly rustic way!  I followed this simply wonderful recipe and my huge batch disappeared in a matter of days.

2.       Mountain Apple Dumplings.  The official recipe for this will be coming soon, but if you’re in a hurry and want the unedited (well-loved) version, zoom in on my recipe card below. 

3.       Apple Cider Vinegar:  well, except for the cider bit.  You just use the toss-away cores and skins instead!  This may not save time or much money, but how cool is it that you don’t have to throw away your cores or skins!  The homemade vinegar recipe can be found here in her creative post.

4.       Apple Crisp: This crisp has been my go-to this season and we’ve already made three batches!  Perfect combo of warm tart apples, and cinnamon, oat gooiness!

5.       Irish Apple Cake/Bread: Straight from the Emerald Isle, this lady’s concoction is sure to make you feel like you’re sitting at the comfort of a warm hearth on a soft morning.

Yet to try:

1. Apple Fritter Bread
2. Easy Apple Pie
3. Mini Carmel Apples
4. Also, I have yet to find chickens to feed the pieces that are unfit for my family!  There’s always those super bruised pieces or the ones that had (or have) worms leave their marks.  It makes me miss having chickens because I hate throwing anything away! 

 And here's one last apple bonus: how to keep your apples from browning!

Oh, man, this is making my mouth water!  You can have your pumpkin spice!  I’ll take apple as my autumn flavor any day!  What will you be doing with your apples this year?  I hope you’ll get a chance to try some of these delectable delights during this time of changing seasons!  Oh!  And if you’re able, give your folks (or mine) a hug and let them know how they’ve inspired you in life!  If not, be that inspiration to someone else!

 

Fynn's 15 Months (Already!?)

Didn't I just have my birthday party?  Hm, oh well I guess a lot has changed with me (Fynn) lately!

1.  I walk pretty great!  And sort of run, too!  It's my favorite thing to do!

2.  Summer was amazing!  So much to see and explore!

3. I love my family!  Immediate and extended!  I give pretty awesome bear hugs!

4.  I'm eating whatever Momma and Poppa are eating.  I've really developed a taste for soup, Lorenzo's salsa, wild cranberries and the ice cream that Amma and Appa gave me!

5.  I don't talk a lot, but I do love my sound effects!  I regularly say "Boom," "Crash," Rawr," "Vroom," and a variety of animal noises!

6. My favorite toys are trucks, trains and balls

7. I LOVE Sunday School!  It's my favorite part of the week!

8.  I don't like to sleep.  I might miss something.

Gotta go for now!  There's exploring to be done!  I'll be a year and a half soon enough and give you another update!

Josh's Job

I'm so proud of my hardworking honey!  He started his new position at Fort Knox Gold Mine in August!  Not mining but working on their ginormous equipment!  He really loves it and the guys he works with.  The only catch is that it's night shift.  He sees it as a bonus and actually enjoys it, but Fynn and I are still getting used to the new routine.  Bonus blessing: the timing of this was amazing!  He was told by management to apply for this job withing a couple weeks of me resigning from my position as RN and Fairbanks Memorial to be a stay at home mom!  I just feel like it was God confirming that it was the right choice for us right now!  Josh's dad and I got to go visit one day this summer, so here is just a glimpse of where Josh is working now:

The massive size of the pit is unbelievable and these photos really don't do it justice.  Every tier here is 30 feet.  The red rectangles to the right are conex containers lined up.

Each of these trucks are bigger than our house!  Oh and those brown streaks in the rock behind them?  That's gold.

Me sitting in the wheel of one of the trucks.  I think Josh said that this wasn't one of the bigger ones.

Holding a gold bar = 1/2 million!  They ship out something like a dozen of these a week!