Goodbye Summer

You know that summer is over when:
Backpacks and Homework swap places with the balls, and bikes, and scooters that usually clutter the garage.
The Pop Up Trailer no longer claims half of the garage.
The sleeping bags have all been washed and put in the emergency supply cupboard.
One of the front porch chairs is now the piano teacher chair.
It snows on September 26th. We looked out the window before heading to church to see big flakes falling from the sky.

Jamboree 3

Mudge was a trooper. He's cutting his 1st molar right now and frankly didn't want to be cheering his brothers on tonight. He even refused the victory ice cream splurge after the race. . . now that's sick.

Don't let the smiles fool you. Like Sam, he was bawling his eyeballs out when it was his turn to line up for the race. He even had his best friend standing next to him. Nope. He wouldn't budge. Complete and utter hysteria. The primary program is in two weeks. . . fifty dollars says he doesn't even make it to the stand.

Beach lake Jamboree 2

The Jamboree is organized chaos. Masses and masses of people. Amazing parents whooping and hollering for their kids. And kids just giving it there all. At one point I was standing at the finish line waiting for C&T. There was a mom their with her camera poised and ready to shoot. "Good for her," I thought, "Way to be optimistic about your kid being fast." I however was being realistic and had yet to pull my camera out of my back pocket when my friend Megan exclaimed, "There's Christian." And there he was, huffing and puffing and pushing for all he was worth. He's got my competitive spirit and always plays to win. #20. Out of 200 boys he was #20. Top 10%. . . and without a day of practice. . . Uncle Greg it looks like you've got a partner for your next Marathon.

Tanner came is 48. And in Tanner fashion, he was just fine with that. I hope to get the pictures from my friends with Christian running in his short sleeves and Tanner with a hat, a COAT, AND GLOVES.

Beach Lake Jamboree

Sam in a blur of motion with his two best friends just steps behind him.

Gavin, Sam, and Asher.
These three are the goofiest, craziest, lego loving, all boy bunch around.

Corbin, Gavin, Sam, Asher, Hyrum.

Their true character.

Just Enough

The other day I was sharing a story with the Primary kids at church.

I retold the story that my Great-Great Grandmother, Sarah Davis Hawkins, recorded in a letter, "When we left Utah to go to Arizona, we took only enough food to last two months, but one of the horsed died and we were delayed and our bread stuff gave out. When it came to the last batch of flour, I told your Grandpa, "There is only enough for one more batch of bread," but it was like that for two weeks. There was always enough in the sack for another batch til we got to Woodruff, a little after Christmas [1880]."

When Eric called and told me that we had been offered the teaching position in Alaska I knew immediately that we were to go. It simply felt right. Alaska was where God wanted us to live, to raise our boys, to learn and grow as a family. But once we arrived we were inundated with little bills like turning on the water, setting up a phone line, getting power, etc. Then we had to license our cars, and get driver's licenses, and were completely shocked when the tiniest cart of groceries came out to be over $150. Everything as it turned out in Alaska is bigger . . . the price for fuel, utilities, even diapers. The constant sticker shock went on for SEVERAL months. I panicked and started crunching numbers. . . and the numbers told me that there was no way we were going to make it.

I logged onto our bank. Though the numbers were low, they were significantly better (like on the positive side) than my personal calculations. I checked. I double checked. I double double checked. It was then that I got the distinct impression, "I am giving you just enough. Enough for this month and little left over for the next."

I put the check book aside for several months and let the Lord take over the ledger. I wasn't surprised when I looked back later to see that we had had JUST ENOUGH.

3 down

3 Wolf Badges down. 3 to Go. . .

Sometimes I Claim Them

Check out my crazy Webelos.
I like to blame this outlandish silliness on the Bacon side of the family, but know deep down it is most likely one of the few Warner traits I've passed on to my children. In Junior High and High School I THOUGHT (thought being the keyword here) that I was popular. I went so far in HS as running for a student body office. In hind site, I was delusional. I really only had three friends. . .
I'm not sure why I was so lucky, but looking back I can see I somehow acquired a completely unfounded mirage of self-confidence. I see it now as a blessing. . . a gift that I would absolutely LOVE to give to my children, even if it means watching them make CONFIDENT yet complete fools of themselves (like only getting THREE votes for a student body office).

Tanner.
Look at Talmage looking up at him in the bottom right hand corner.
He was very concerned at what was happening to his brothers.

Christian.

Who wouldn't vote this face into Student Body VP?

On The Trail. . .

Sam took off at full pace with Cub Scouts earning his Bobcat Badge, Wolf Badge, Gold Arrow point, and Silver Arrow point all within 2 months of turning eight. He's been itching to be a part of this program for two years and nine months, but who's counting? Sam's "love language" is definitely getting things . . . so this was right up his ally. He loved the attention, the badges, and the ceremony--all for him.
It was a special treat for us to have Eric there. This semester has been his best yet at the institute, but he's also been forced to work a lot of evenings (Tues, Wed, & Thurs.) so we were delighted that he was able to make special arrangements to be there with us.

Yup you guessed it, that's a dead wolf carcass on Sam.

Fall

The calendar would declare yesterday as Fall, but the view from my bedroom window (above) would say otherwise. Fall is in full swing here. Today was one of those perfect fall days. Blue skies, Shimmering golden leaves, a Cripness in the air. Ahhh.

Birthday Miracle

This is how we Alaskans usually get our blood drawn.

But last week we did it the other way. . . the way with needles, and viles, and wide eyes. Some of the baconbits proved braver than others. C, T, and S took it like young men. Hy went in fighting and crying for all he was worth. Warner earned himself the nickname "The Champ" and Mudge was oblivious until it was too late.

All of this bloodwork, was a means to an end. . . to see how many Bacons inherited the Celiac gene. (Eric's endoscopy results found that he indeed DOES have Celiacs and a well baby check-up showed that Mudge has low iron, a red flag for Celiac potentials)

Fast Forward. . . A week later (an excerpt from an email I sent to our folks, dated September 16, 2010)

You know about MY Birthday Miracle. . . making it home from Homer on a faulty trailer tire.

I thought that would be the Tender Mercy of the month. But no, Eric has to go and have a Birthday Miracle all his own.

This morning, I get home from biking Hyrum to school.

Eric: Dr. Guapp's office called. And guess which two of our boys have Celiacs?

Steph: [My heart sinks at the news] Talmage?

Eric: Yup.

Steph: And Warner?

Eric: Nope.

Steph: Sam?

Eric: Yup. [Pause] Just kidding. None of them do. [Giggles from us both. I'm sure I tried to throw a playful punch admist our little dances of joy.

BEST GIFT EVER.

Fingerlake

Fingerlake
Wasilla, AK
June 18-19
with the Speaks Family
Canoeing, Badminton, Cards, Four Square, Scrabble, and Milkshakes for Everyone who swam to the other side of the Lake.

See the boat in the water behind Warner? I loved watching all the ships, mostly charter boats, and at times the Alaska Maritime Ferry roar in and out of the harbor. Our campsite was just 100 yards (if that) up the beach. In the mornings I would unzip the end of the pop and just lay in bed and stare at the ocean.

These two enjoyed a little hand to hand combat. . . sand throwing fight.

Mighty Mudge

I had no idea that Talmage was going to LOVE the water this much. (he should have been a Magelsen) One day, it was all we could do to keep him from swimming out to the Seals (yes, we saw Seals, and Otters, and Belugas, and Black Bears fishing in the Kenai River, and Dall Sheep). The cold water didn't seem to even phase him and he happily walked and crawled right into the waves, usually with a shovel in his hand.

Speaks Family

We all feel so blessed to call the Jared & Megan Speaks family our friends. They have been our camping company of choice this entire summer. What great people. Our families are perfect compliments. Their identical twins, Gavin & Asher, are best friends with Sam. Hyrum cannot get enough of Corbin. Our kids are so busy playing with each other that we get a bit of vacation ourselves to just visit, play games, or go for walks.

Here we are at the Alaska Maritime Wildlife Refuge (amazing and FREE). Afterwards we hiked down Beluga Slough to Bishop's Bay. On the way Megan and I ran into the 2 sisters and enjoyed a great lunch.

One afternoon we adults went on a double date and walked downtown on the Spit together. It was so fun to walk through the little shops and making snide comments on who could really afford to buy a knitted hat for $48, or a fish painting for $5000, or the amazing fish bowls for $160. We settled on $1 worth of postcards and the $15 Homer Fish and Chips. We enjoyed decent food and excellent conversation as we looked out over the ocean.

The Speaks are the King and Queen of good grub. Smores deluxe. Homemade Trail Mix. Toasted Pies on the Fire. CapriSuns, V8 Fruit Drinks, Hummus. This, in and of itself, has endeared every single one of the Bacon boys to them for life.

More Homer