All I Want for Christmas...

Are my two front teeth! Ok...it's not his upper two front teeth, but Lachlan FINALLY got some teeth. On Saturday, June 20th, his first little right bottom tooth popped through! He had been running a little bit of a fever, and was whiny and clingy the day before, and wasn't sleeping well. I figured the tooth was the problem...you could see his gums were a little swollen and red. The second tooth followed about 2 days later...he didn't run a fever or complain much about the 2nd tooth. Any way...we had to get a pic. This picture was taken on Tuesday, June 30th, while Shayne's grandparents were here. It was the first really good pic of his teeth we got, and Grammy Jo has been requesting some pics of his little smile...with teeth! :)

I'll start posting the week with Lachlan's Great Grandma & Grandpa Gerth shortly. Wait...it might have to wait until our next group of guests leave, which is next week. Huh...gotta love living in Alaska.

Rolling to Belly...finally

So, Lachlan has refused to roll to his belly. I'm not sure if it is uncomfortable, seeing how big his little buddha belly is, or what. He would roll his legs over and be on his side, but would not roll completely over. Well...on Saturday, June 13th, while Grandpa Pond and I were watching he finally rolled! I tried to upload a video of him rolling, however...our internet speed has a little to be desired living out of town here in small town Alaska.

Anywho...He went from rolling over to pulling himself up and standing on his own in about 4 days. Less than a month later he's scooting around, sitting up from his belly, pulling up on anything, and walking around things. I'll hopefully be able to post some more videos of all these fun things...but it takes so dang long to upload videos that we'll see if it happens.

Father's Day

So this is the kind of husband I have...on his first Father's day, June 21st, he went outside with Lachlan, and they came back in with some lupine in bloom for me. Shouldn't I be doing something for him on Father's day? What a good daddy and GREAT husband!

My first flowers from my little boy...being taught well by my big boy! :)

Grandpa Pond

These are a couple pics of the last couple days with Grandpa Pond. On Tuesday, June 16th, we decided to drive down to Homer later in the day. These first two pics are from the Homer Spit at about 9:30-10:00 at night. That was the night we got stuck in Homer with the wheel bearing that decided to go kaput. The last two are from the next day. Grandpa was just chillin' on the futon talking to Shayne and playing with Lachlan. It was pretty cute watching him interact with Grandpa. Dana and company left on Thursday, the 18th and so these are the last pics of this group of guests. Shayne and I had a week by ourselves before our next group...Shayne's Grandma & Grandpa Gerth. Those pics will be coming shortly.

That's an Understatement...

Notice the sign Dana's staring at before he hikes to the Russian River Falls? "Fishing in Bear Country"...that's an understatement on the Russian...refer to a previous post about "Russian River Blackies". This was another day Shayne took our guests to fish on the Russian River. However, he wanted them to see a different part of the river so he took them up to the Russian River Falls. It's only about a 3 mile hike, and not difficult at all. You can't fish right at the falls, they've provided a sanctuary for the Salmon, so they had to hike down a bit before they could fish. When the Salmon get to a certain point up the river, that's marked by a sign for fishermen, they are safe from all the craziness that is the Russian River in June.

The pic just below is of a pile of Red/Sockeye Salmon in the river. Can you see them? One fish has a bright orange fly in his back. This doesn't even compare to how stacked up they get before swimming up the falls. It's pretty cool to see...I ain't gonna lie. The other pics are from the lookout at the Falls. Shayne and his dad, and then; Dana, Shayne, Dennis and his wife Pat.

If they didn't get up at 4:30 every morning to go fish, I would have gone. Put Lachlan in the backpack and away we would have went. But seriously? 4:30?! My father-in-law is CRAZY!! He knows I think so too! :) I tell him he's only allowed to come up once a year and fish like this. When/If he comes back in the fall, he's not allowed to get up that early. He justs laughs at me...but I'm serious. :)

Just for the Hal-i-but

On Monday, June 15th, Shayne, Dana, Dennis, and Pat went out with Dan Brown out of Deep Creek to deep sea fish for Halibut. I was supposed to go...Lanie and fam were going to watch Lachlan...however, the little monster didn't sleep most of the night, so I didn't go. I opted to sleep in a bit. I should have gone...they got some nice fish. Oh well. We love going out with the Brown's. The day they all went out was a beautiful day. Tasha, Dan's daughter, was his deckhand...and man can she work. The second to last pic is of her, Dan, and Shayne filleting the fish. Tasha and Shayne are skinning one before Tasha filleted it. We love the Brown's...have I mentioned that? If you ever want a great experience Halibut fishing...we have a great charter for you! :)

While they went fishing I not only stayed home and slept a bit...I entertained the OTHER guests we had at our place. Our driveways, we have 3 of them, turn into RV parking in the summer time. We have a couple of friends that have campers and trailers. They like to get out of Anchorage every once in awhile, and ususally stop for a bit in our driveways. So for a day or two we had, Brent & Yvonne and their two kids, Ty & Liz and their little boy, and Jared & Kaye and their little girl. Good thing we have a large yard, three driveways, and two good dogs to entertain the kids! Our house isn't that big!! It's all good...Shayne and I are glad our friends feel welcome at our place.

Russian River Blackies

So, every year since I've been in Alaska we fish the opener for Red Salmon on the Russian River. On more than one occasion, Shayne's dad, Dana, has been here to fish it as well. He usually comes up with friends or family. This year was no exception. Another experience that was no exeception was coming into contact with bears on the Russian. However, it was nice that they were Black bears as opposed to Brown bears, which are the larger version of Grizzly bears. Shayne and our guests fished on the Russian 3 or 4 times the week they were here, and ran into Black bears every time. I only fished the one day, and it was later in the afternoon, and I didn't see the bears. I don't mind though...I've seen plenty of bears on the river.

The nice thing about Black bears, is they are more timid and intimidated by people than Brown bears. If there's a lot of Black bears on the river, it means that the Brown bears haven't moved into that area yet. However, I do know that they've moved in by now...heard of plenty of experiences from others in that area since that first week of fishing. I must admit, it's fun to see bears while you're fishing...as long as they are on the other side of the river...and a ways down. I've had my share of close encounters with both black and brown bears to not want them any closer than that! :)

The rest of the pics are of Dana, Dennis and Pat with their first limit of Red Salmon...they limited out all but one day of fishing on the Russian. Then there's Shayne and I with my limit of Reds...it's tradition for us to take a pic of our first Reds of the year. This year's pic is better than last year's when I was 6 months pregnant! :)

Our Cutie!

How can you not take pics of a smile like that? I love this little boy! These were taken the week Shayne's dad was in visiting. The bottom two are of Margie and Jacob Brown. They are a great family in our ward that we refer everyone to for halibut fishing. We have been out with them numerous times and have always done well and been impressed with this family. We love them! They love Lachlan! It's a great combination!!

Here's an example of what a great family they are:
On Tuesday, June 16th we took our visitor's to Homer to check out the town. It's about 1 1/2 hours south of where we live. We left later than normal, and so by the time we were ready to leave, it was about 10pm. However, the truck was making a funny noise in the tire, and after further inspection we discovered the wheel bearing had gone out. Yup...stuck in Homer 1 1/2 hours from home at 10:30 at night. We weren't sure what to do, but we knew that if we called the Brown's they would come get us. That's the kind of family they are...and that's the sort of relationship we have with them...they are family. So, I called, and Lanie (mom) and two of her boys (Eldon and Jacob) drove down, picked us up at around midnight, got us home around 1:30 am, and then they drove the 15 minutes back to their own house, only to get up at 6am and drive 3 hours to Anchorage the next day.

Can you say amazing family? Yeah. We love them!

I'll post pics of Shayne and the others out on their boat catching halibut later.

Lovin' Grandpa Pond

On June 11th, Lachlan and I flew back with Grandpa Pond, Dennis Stoltenberg(sp?), and his wife Pat. Shayne ended up flying on a later flight because of the circumstances with purchasing his ticket. It was so nice to have Grandpa Pond helping out during the flights. As usual, Lachlan was a little pro. He travels so well...hope that never changes!

After getting back to Soldotna...yeah for home...Shayne and the rest of the crew went fishing on the Russian River the next day...at like 4:30 in the morning! Dana, Shayne's dad, is crazy like that. Needless to say, Lachlan and I did not go fishing that early. We ended up meeting them there later in the day. By that time the rest of the group had caught their limit, so Grandpa volunteered to watch Lachlan while Shayne and I went down to the river so I could catch my limit of Red Salmon. Grandpa fed Lachlan, hauled him around, and even took a nap with him while we were gone. What a good grandpa!

The last pic is of our little family in the Russian River parking lot. We would have taken Lachlan down in the backpack, but with grandpa volunteering it made the hike and fishing go faster.

Riding Chance

So, this was the last full day at my parents house. I had to get out and ride...it had been raining for a couple of days, so we had to take advantage of the sunshine. So, my dad volunteered to watch ALL the little boys. As you can see from the pic above, they didn't mind hanging out with grandpa. :) So, my mom, Maysi, and I all caught horses and went for a ride in the field. Let me clarify...my dad caught and saddled our horses so we could go...and he watched the little boys. I have a great dad!

I just have to throw in a journaling note here so I can remember this later...my mom could have totally rode out her bucking bronc of a horse...she totally had him when she finally decided to find a soft place to land. If Maysi had been quicker thinking on her horse...we would have snubbed him up and helped mom out. Nice job Maysi! :)

Ok...after the ride I had mom put Lachlan up on Chance, the horse I was riding. He's a great horse...his mom died foaling him so my parents bottled fed him. He's their little orphan who thinks he's a person. He's a lot of fun to ride...great handle and fun personality. Lachlan thought it was pretty cool to see the world from way up on a horse. We're gonna have to get one eventually.

The last pic is of my mom torturing my baby while playing with their kitten, Doozer. Ok...maybe not torturing. But he would get ahold of his p.j. bottoms and play tug of war. Lachlan just thought it was funny. My mom thought it was even funnier.

Again...gotta love gradma's! :)

We had so much fun down in Idaho visiting family. It's the one thing about Alaska I don't like...being so far from family. We can't wait to come visit again...not sure when that will be, but can't wait! :)

Sugar!!!

So...going to grandmas' house I'm pretty sure always means getting fed things that mom would NEVER feed at her own house. My mother and mother-in-law, are so exception. :) While at the Pond's Lachlan got fed swedish fish for the first time...LOVED THEM. Imagine. At my mom's house my sister, Maysi, thought it would be fun to feed Lachlan some graham cracker treats...you know the ones with frosting? Ya. Lachlan LOVED THEM. Imagine. The funny thing is that all three of the little boys were there...and they were all competing for the treats. You would have thought we had a den of starving dogs! :) So, my mom is feeding Zane, Maysi and Maestin are feeding Lachlan, and Holdan is making the rounds getting them from everyone! :)

Gotta love grandma's house! :)

Baby Chicks and other Randomness

So my parents always have a plethera of baby animals at their house in the spring. This spring being no different. So we took pics of Lach with the foal and he thought it was pretty cool. However, he wasn't nearly as enthralled with the baby chicks. He normally likes to touch things, but he wasn't having anything to do with the baby chicks. He was pretty content to just watch them run around and make peeping noises.

The pic of Shayne shows what a good daddy he is. He came back with me to Malad for a couple of days to hang with my family. Lachlan hadn't been sleeping real well...can't imagine why, he hadn't slept in his own bed for almost 2 weeks. Anyway, the night before he was up and I had been exhausted from dealing with this every night, so Shayne took him upstairs so I could sleep. They fell asleep on the couch and when I got up the next morning, my mom had Lachlan and was feeding him. Shayne was till crashed on the couch...with Doozer...my parents cat. How funny is that?! He really is a hilarious cat, but it was even funnier seeing him all stretched out at Shayne's feet. :) What a good daddy/husband for getting up with the baby. :)

The last pic is of me and my sister's just hanging out. L-R: Dezi, me (with Lachlan), Zane(asleep on the couch), Shancy(mom of Zane), and Maysi. We have fun just hanging out and talking. Gotta love having sisters!! The only one we were missing was Ashley, our sister-in-law...but she's more like a sister.