Fish On!

Salmon fishing season opened up on the Russian river last Wednesday night at midnight and Friday morning David and Brady were up at 4am headed down to catch some fish. They did so awesome! They caught their limit in about an hour (three each), and headed back home in time for lunch! That night we had the best fresh salmon for dinner and it was so tasty! We love our fishermen! Thanks guys!

Happy Birthday Shira!

Shira got to share Father's Day this year with her daddy. She was excited about it and I got double duty trying to make them both feel super special. We are actually having Shira a girl butterfly birthday party this Saturday, but on Sunday we all got together at my in-laws for a wonderful family dinner where we celebrated Aunt Jenni's & Shira's birthdays and all three of the fathers that were there (Terry, David & Brady). It was so fun because all the ladies made their men and the birthday girls the dessert of their choice...so, needless to say, we all ate way too much dessert! It was so yummy! I'm still eating dessert daily trying to get rid of it all...life is so rough for me, and thank goodness I'm nursing and can eat the extra calories! Plus, David is in DC this week for training, so I'm having to eat twice as much dessert to make up for his portion. :-) Anyway, we love Shira so much! She is such a great helper. We appreciate her and marvel at her intelligence. She has a keen mind and is always asking such great questions. My all time favorite happened over a year ago, at the age of four, when she asked, "if Heavenly Father is Jesus' father, who is Heavenly Father's father?" Shira is great to have around. Happy Birthday Shira! And congrats on scoring SIX GOALS, yes that is right six, tonight at soccer! She was amazing! It was so cute because every time she scored a goal she would immediately look up at us to see if we were watching! Luckily we were. And grandma and grandpa Porter were there to see it all!Shira wants to be a girl who sells flowers when she grows up! I think she'll be great at it. ;-)

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Here is a small tribute to my most favorite dad!!! (and I neglected to get a card in the mail.) :-) One of the greatest things my dad taught me is to love people. I can hardly remember a time in my life that we didn't have a family living with us....no matter what the size. One Christmas in Sitka we had a family of ten living with us until they found a place of their own. It was so fun to have so many playmates. Sometimes it would be for just a few weeks, other times we had people living with us for months at a time, but our home was always open to those in need. My dad is always willing to help people out. One time when we were living in Fairbanks he brought home a hitchhiker. He fed him, let him shower, and then took him back out to hitchhike, but in a better spot than before. Another thing my dad taught me is to do what you love, even if it doesn't make you rich. My dad is a retired social worker of over 35 years (?), and he actually just started working again. Being a social worker is a tough job and doesn't ever seem to pay what you put into it. But he did it anyway, because he loved it....and he's really good at it. So, here's to you, dad, for teaching me some of life's most valuable lessons. Thank you for being my dad. I love you. Happy Father's Day!


And here are some shots of the other 'dad' in my life. I love you, David. One of my most favorite things to do is to watch you be a father to our three wonderful children. Each time I see you with them I fall in love with you even more. Thanks for being a great dad to our children. I love you!

My CPA Man!

I'm a bad wife for not posting this earlier, but better late than never! Just over a year ago David passed his first exam for his CPA (certified public accountant). There are four exams in total and he took his last one the first week of April. A few weeks ago we received the letter saying that he passed the last one! So.....drum roll please.....he is done with his CPA! We are so incredibly proud of him. He's been working REALLY hard at this for the past year and a half and we couldn't be more excited that he is done! When he hasn't been working, he has been studying and we are so happy to finally get to see him more around the house and have his undivided attention...sort of. I am still his wife and so we all know how well husbands listen to their wives. He's probably tuning me out right now. DAVID! Listen. We are so proud of you! Thanks for working and studying so hard to provide for our family and making it possible for me to be a stay-at-home mom! We love you so much! Congratulations on passing your CPA!
Now, other than the day we got married, this is the happiest I've ever seen David. His good buddy, Blake, took him fishing to an undisclosed location where he caught this 47 1/2 (if I remember correctly) inch pike! Just look at that grin! Doesn't he make a great looking CPA?

Trampoline Fun

This year for Shira's & Asher's birthdays we decided to get them a trampoline. We got it the day before Asher's birthday, but didn't get it up for a few days due to the rain. The kids love it and it has a net around it to TRY and keep them safe. It's nice to have a yard big enough to put one up. Here are a few pictures of the kids jumping around on it.

Soccer Mom!

Well, maybe not a full blown soccer mom, but tonight the kids started soccer and LOVED it! I put them on the same team and they just ate it up. Shira is the one with red striped socks and Asher is in the green shorts. They are the black spyders and they just practice for a half hour and then have 'games' with other spyder teams. They didn't want to go home and can't wait to do it again on Wednesday.

Asher leading the pack...or at least it looks that way. :-)

Shira flying through the air!
After the game they had snacks and I just love the view behind them. I could never get sick of Alaska, I love it here! They are sitting with Asher's buddy Zachary, thanks to him we are playing soccer on the same team.

Camping at Granite Creek

This weekend we took our first camping trip of the summer to Granite Creek in Ptarmigan Pass. It was a beautiful drive and, after we were able to find a campsite suitable for tents, we had a great time. Brady & Becky Tew came with us and although it was a little chilly we had a great time being outdoors, thanks to the fire that never died. I believe Brady was a pyro-tech in his earlier life...or maybe a lumber jack. This was also Bohdan's first camping trip, and besides not sleeping much during the day without his swing, he did pretty well. He seemed to love looking around at the great outdoors and watching daddy & Brady play with the fire. We had a little trail that led down to a creek that the kids loved throwing rocks into. We also enjoyed Brady and David playing and singing on their guitars by the campfire. All in all we just had a nice time being outdoors surrounded by the mountians and we can't wait to go again.

Here is just one of the gorgeous views we enjoyed on our drive up to Ptarmigan Pass.A shot of the campfire that Shira took Shira down by the creek.
Asher 'painting' rocks using a stick & water.
Brady set up a hammock and would bungee the kids in for a ride.
Brady & David doing what they do best together.

Daddy made some super yummy smores.
Shira had it all over her face!
Bohdan sitting in his 'bumbo' chair loving being outside.

The Rocket Man!

On Friday night we had the time of our lives! We were lucky enough to get tickets to Elton John (the tickets sold out in less than an hour!) and it was AWESOME!!! We went with our friends, Kristi (the rock star) and Bob (the pimp), and I think everyone will agree that we were by far the best dressed. We borrowed some costumes from Kay, thanks again, and people were taking pictures of us! It was so much fun! Elton John is incredible on the piano and it is amazing how great he still sounds after all these years. He is one of those people who sound even better live in concert! He played non-stop for almost three hours! It was unforgettable.
Here are the four of us after the concert outside the arena.

Bob the pimp & his ho....hot wife.Bob & Kristi If you look real hard you can see Elton behind us. Our seats were about as far away as you could get, but they were still pretty good.
Took some glamour shots after getting home. Gotta love the 15 buckles going up the side of my leather pants. Not to mention David's red snake skin shoes with the pimpin white socks.

Pool Party!

It was finally warm enough, 65 degrees!, to go out and have some fun in the sun. We Alaskans are crazy. We went to or sweet friend Kristi's house and had a blast. That's her in the kiddie pool with all the kiddos. She rocks! Asher is the only boy in the pool...go Asher!

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day we went out to Kay's house, she lives in Palmer and has a gorgeous house with a gorgeous view to enjoy. Cousin Brady and his family came with and we barbequed, went hot tubbing, and four wheeling. We had a great time! Thanks Kay!
On the drive out to Kay's house I tried talking to Shira about the reason for the holiday. I told her it was a day to remember all the men and women who died for our freedom. She just looked at me all funny and said, I just don't really remember all that. Kids!

Here are the four of us after four wheeling (we also got ice cream, but couldn't let the kids know. :-). You can see Pioneer Peak in the background. Beautiful!

Me & David
After David got me the slightest bit muddy he figured it didn't matter anymore and went to town. You should see what Kay picked out for me to wear from her costume collection....let's just say there will be no proof with pictures.
Here we are all in the hot tub. It was so fun and such a beautiful view of the mountians. We had four of the kids with us until Kay took them inside to her nice big bathtub. Thanks again Kay. We were able to enjoy some grown up time with no one threatening us with 'poopie' diapers in the hot tub, you know who you are Kaitlyn! :-)

Pirate Asher Turns 4!

Asher turned four on May 14, but we waited until his cousins from Idaho got into town to have a birthday bash. We had all seven of the cousins together. Asher chose to have a pirate party. It was a blast! We had bandanas, skull suckers, a treasure hunt with a pirate ship pinata at the end, and a pin the treasure on the map game. Asher loved it!

Here is Asher with his pirate cake. Notice the McDonald's happy meal toy in the center...I'm so resourceful, or is it cheap, who knows.

Here is Asher with all the cousins, except Lilli (they were late!). The only non-cousin is Zachary in the blue.

Arghhh, we are pirates!
Cousin Lilli and Asher cheesin' it up.
Shira and her cousin Makayla with pirate flags.
Asher and his 'best friend' Zachary from church. They look like pirates who have had too much fun....if you know what I mean.
Asher hitting his pirate ship pinata.
Here is Grandpa Porter holding his newest grandchildren while we party it up with Asher and his pirate friends. Thanks Grandpa!

Birthday Boys!

Grandpa Blake, also known as David's best friend's dad, had a birthday on the 18th of May, so we took him out for dinner and we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to have the employees sing to him and Asher (his birthday was May 14th). Here they are with their ice cream sundaes.

We love the bug-eyed Asher.

And here is Bohdan, he looked like he had his hand in his pocket all chillin out.

Clean Up Day!

Shira's school had a clean up contest and for every bag of garbage you brought in you would have your name put in a drawing for a bunch of cool prizes. So, we took the kids out to pick up trash and filled three bags full. Shira didn't win any prizes, but we had fun teaching them the importance of cleaning up Alaska.

And here is Bohdan sitting in his new Bumbo chair.