Fowl

For the past two weeks we've been taking care of our neighbors chickens. We have LOVED it. One day while the boys were playing in the yard, I looked over to see Warner eating some Chicken Poop. Another great parenting moment to add to my ongoing list. So I came home and look up Chicken Poop online just to make sure my baby boy isn't on his way to heaven because I was having too much fun on the PoGo stick. And then I called to confess to Eric.
Me: So if Warner breaks out in a rash, or turns green, or dies it might be because he ate some Chicken Poop today.
Eric: Oh really.
Me: Yah, it was disgusting, but I really think he's going to be okay.
Eric: Well, if he grows up and has a FOUL mouth, I'll know who to blame.

Slip 'N Slide

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and asy, "You're tearing up the grass."
"We're not raising grass," my dad would reply, "we're raising boys." --Harmon Killebrew

On Friday the boys had the best time on the Slip 'N Slide. The same hill we LOVE to sled down in the best hill for the Slip 'N Slide. From the pictures you can tell we should have bought the extra long version.

Warns

Christian loves to call Warner "Warns"

Walking Warner

Pride Cometh. . .

Pride Cometh Before the Fall. A couple of weeks ago Eric was at EFY and I took the boys hiking. At the end of our adventure the boys were playing in a shallow creek and having the best time. I sat on a nearby bench marveling at them. . . especially my little Hryum who at three years old was doing a fabulous job balancing on a log that hovered over the creek. "He's Amazing", I thought, "What talent, what skill, what. . . " SPLASH! Thank goodness 3-year-old hinneys can fit into 12 month old pants.

Winner Creek Gorge

Hands down my favorite hike here. Beautiful country. High Adventure. Or perhaps this year I should say Hy Adventure. The little boy below had a bit of Heavenly Help on this hike. . . after taking a tumble OFF of the Hand Tram Platform and nearly rolling off the cliff we feel very blessed to have such hard working guardian angels who definitely work overtime for our family of 5 boys.

Winner Creek Gorge 2

Winner Creek Gorge 3

Billboards

Four States currently ban billboards. I am lucky to live in one of them.

Tanner

I cannot believe that school starts in 20 days. I'm not sure I'm done playing with my boys. We've had the best summer ever. We've played hard and had the best time being together.


In honor of school, here are some pictures of Tanner in Action. At the end of the year his teacher put together a CD with all the kids pictures for the entire year. It was a great surprise.

Quick Story: Christian and Tanner were thrilled with everything at the beginning of the 2007 school year. I had put them in separate classes on purpose, and they soon found best friends. Tanner LOVED playing with J. and Christian adored E. One day, on their way home from school Tanner and Christian stopped to introduce each other to their new friends. It went something like this:

T: Christian this is J.
C: Whoa, you look just like E.
E: Hey, you (pointing at Christian) look just like Tanner.
J: And you (pointing at Tanner) look like Christian.

It was this enormous ah-hah moment for the four of them.

Our identical twins boys had become best friends with another set of identical twin boys. They proved to be the best of friends throughout the entire year. (they are pictured below. . . one is in the red sweatshirt and the other in the black hoodie)

Record Temperatures

Looks like we are part of a historic summer here in Alaska. Record Breaking Heat? No Way!! We are all about cold here in the Last Frontier. Today was actually in the 70's and the whole neighborhood was out celebrating. It was a great day. . . we went to the park, rode bikes, played in the cul-de-sac, visited with neighbors, mowed the lawn, jumped on the trampoline, had a picnic, played tag all outside. Nothing like celebrating the first days of summer the last week in July.

Russian River

Last week we spent a few days at the Russian River.

Camping Favorites
Tanner: Riding My Bike and Playing Cops & Robbers
Christian: Seeing a Black Bear
Sam: Eating Candy & Getting "New" Shoes
Hyrum: Sleeping in the Camper
Steph: The Heater (and great company)
Eric: Eating an Entire FRESH Salmon and Hiking

Eric and the boys did attempt to Dipnet on the Kenai but didn't catch a single fish.