H-HF&M

The dirty feet nicely off set the blisters. . . He has three or four on the foot on the right and one on the big toe of the foot on the left. If I were to guess, those blisters partnered with a high fever today can only mean one thing. . . Hy has Hand, Foot & Mouth.

Warner

Something clicked and Warner sat up today on his own. He was playing in the bathroom while I did my hair and then I looked down and he was sitting. Hooray. Our little man is also cutting three teeth right now. He's a trooper. So far so good.

Family Fun to the Rescue

If you don't count our camping trip, today was the first day of Summer Break! The boys had a great morning and played football outside. Then came the all too ordinary statement, "Mom, what can I do?" (My kids have learned not to say that they are bored. That only gets the dishwasher duty, or wiping down the walls, or vacuuming). Tanner was the one to ask the question, so I handed him the FamilyFun Crafts book and had him mark all of the fun things he wanted to make this summer.

With limited craft supplies on hand, I opted for finger puppets this afternoon. I had no idea it was going to be such a big hit. The boys created and played with this project for over three hours. Even Sam and Hyrum got in on the action.

This is "Mrs. Nesbit"

Sam has Superman. Can you tell that he was trying really hard not to close his eyes for the photo?

True to form, Tanner's men had swords, shields, and bags with other weapons.

Baby Moose

This Calf must just be days (if not hours) old. The baby is literally the size of the mother's head (the picture doesn't give you that perspective) Our neighbors say that the mother calves in their yard every year. Today we found them munching on grass and romping around in our cul-de-sac. Good thing we have playgroup at the park tomorrow . . . it should be safer there.

Denali National Park

Memorial Day Weekend 2008

Mount McKinley from Wonder Lake. This is the highest peak in the U.S. at 20,000+ feet. Can you see the grayish Mountains in the foreground? Those mountains remind of the magestic mountains in Utah . . . making McKinley all the more spectacular.



There are so many Lakes in Denali National Park.

Weekend Itinerary:

Friday--All day packing. Do you ever wonder why you have to pack your entire house for a weekend away? And does it ever get easier to pack an entire family for a trip? I seriously spent all morning packing five little boys, myself, the food, the paper products, the entertainment, the emergency entertainment, and all other necessary camping supplies (perk to Alaskan camping is that you don't need lanterns!)

5:00 departure time. . . turned into 6:00 departure time.

The Hopkin family, who we adore, swung by our house and we began our caravan to adventure. We made it about 1 mile down the road before the brakes on their rented motorhome went out. Adventure averted to the Eagle River Campground just three or so miles away.

We spent the evening there. The kids could have cared less if we were five minutes from home or five hours. They played pickle (but with a football rather than a baseball), played down at the river, and giggled in the bed together. Warner woke up at midnight and needed some extra love. It didn't take more than two minutes for me to hop into the van and head home to our warm warm for bottles and comfy crib for him.

Saturday-- With a new rental Motorhome for the Hopkins we 11:00 a.m. leave for Denali National Park. The drive there is spectacular with green pinetrees and aspens and mountains galore.

arrive, set up camp, roast hot dogs, smores, talk until way too late.

sunday--breakfast burritos, attempt to "clean-up" for church. arrive at the heely branch only to discover that church time has been changed from 11:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

with lunches packed, we head into Denali National Park. The visitor center there is really neat and interactive. The boys had a great time working on Junior Ranger packets. They also had backpacks there to check out with binoculars, thermometers, compasses, colored pencils and chalk, postcards, and books, and maps, and much more.

On our drive we say moose and eagles and hawks.

You cannot go camping without tinfoil dinners. YUM! The dutch oven bread was a special treat (thanks Karen!!!) as was the cherry cobbler. The kids loved playing Blink, our family's new favorite game.

Church successfully attended second time around. M. Hopkin's church attire will go down in the record books. Eric said that their smoke filled clothing filled up every inch of the small church building.

Monday--Horseshoe Lake and Pizza in Denali.

I had such a great, great, great, great time. The pop-up trailer was perfect. Our family fits in there with room to spare. One morning I woke up and my feet were cold and frozen . . . so i turned on the heater!!! What luxury.

Alaskan camping: No one goes to bed early. In fact, you stay up later when camping. We never were in bed before midnight. The light is energizing. Also, those late night trips to the bathroom. . . in complete light? No need to fear that something is lurking in the dark. If it is lurking, you'll be able to see it plain as day before it eats your face off. Phew!

Horseshoe Lake

This was our favorite little hike at Denali National Park. Horeshoe Lake, 2 miles round trip, to a beautiful little Lake. The hike was really picturesque with a quaint little path through trees and over little creeks. The kids had a great time and the biggest treats was wading through and playing in the Lake.

Sammy strikes a pose. . . If you dare wear short shorts!

Little Miracles

All great American Hikers wear what? Crocs of course. Our family is no exception, and we proudly support and wear our crocs everywhere. The benefits are numerous. . . no stinky feet, quick dry, even quicker to put on and take off, high fashionable colors, and the knock-offs are only $5 at Wal-Mart. How can you go wrong?



Well, the cute little boy in the picture above was wearing his ever-so-savvy green/lime knock-offs while wading through the Lake. At one point he excitedly jumps from the weeds on the bank into the water. When Zlurp! Poor Tanner comes up with just one shoe. That sounds rather calm. . . but it really was a jump, pounce, run, run, run, then an exclamation, "I only have one shoe!"

We waited for the mud to settle and began our search. We retraced his many footsteps. I finally rolled up my own pants and with my crocs, hesitantly stepped into the cold, cold water to aid in the search and rescue. When toes and feet and legs were numbing and fingers were too cold to grasp, I finally declared that Tanner had two minutes, and if the shoe wasn't found then the famous family saying, "Oh Well" would be put into full force. I asked Tanner if he had thought about saying a prayer. His sweet reply, "Yes, mom, I said one in my heart!"

Well, the two minutes came. The two minutes went. We started gathering and I started to psych Tanner into making the hike back with just one shoe. On his way toward me he reached down and Wallah! pulled out from the zlurp-ish mud his lost croc. (To some this may seem like a simple story of lost of found, but as the mother who almost froze to death digging & feeling through every inch of the mud, it is our own little miracle.) I am always amazed at the faith of little children. They completely trust in God. They believe in miracles. They are examples to ME of righteous reliance and hope.

Sloucher

This is as close as we get to sitting these days. It is a weak and wobbly attempt at best. . . but with the proper distraction it can be maintained for 20 seconds or more!

Eagle River Nature Center

For our Family Night Activity we went to the Eagle River Nature Center. It was a beautiful hike and the kids had a great time romping around.

A True Warner

CrAZY With the CoCHraNs

After all the Birthday Party Photos the Party got really wild. Check out these Scary Faces. . . .

Tanner

Christian

Jodi & Jerry

Happy Birthday to Hy

Hyrum is THREE! Okay, so he's been three for over a month, but isn't the joy of being little not knowing how to scrub the toilet, put on a spare tire, pay a bill, or tell time?

So unbeknownst to our little Hy we did a little time warping of our own and did the official celebratory thing on Sunday. I think subconsciously he's known all along that he's been three since April and has been proudly flicking up that third finger along with the other two when people ask him how old he is.

I asked Hyrum for three friends he wanted to invite to his party. I thought he'd pick a few friends from Playgroup, but immediately shouted, "Cochran (a.k.a. Jodi), Jerry, & Pula (the Cochran's Dog)." It makes it super easy when his wish list all live at the same address. So Hyrum celebrated his 3rd Birthday, @ 3 o'clock, with his 3 best friends.

My birthday gift to him? The chunky Indiana Jones Figurines. His birthday gift to me? Potty Training. Mine cost me 20 dollars. His is priceless.

Canper

On Hyrum's "Birthday" I asked him what he wanted to do. Sleep in the "Canper" So we gathered up his pillow and blanket and headed out to the pop-up for a couple of hours. I think he said he wanted to sleep to apease me, but really he just wanted to sing songs, talk, and roll around on the beds. Fine by me! It was a sweet way to spend the afternoon with my birthday boy.

(please note the layer of three shirts. . . this is his latest fashion statement. I guess when you lose a diaper you need to gain two or three t-shirts . . . one of which is most likely Superman. . . especially on Sunday underneath the white shirt and tie)

Goodbye Ebay. Hello Craigslist.

My love affair with Ebay came to a screeching halt the second we moved to Alaska. (Shipping costs. . . need I say more?) Luckily for me, at that same time I discovered Craiglist. It was love at first sight.

We've bought several things since. In the last 10 months we becoming the owners of a "new to us" TV, a XBOX, Cross Country Skiis, and most recently a Chandelier. Our home, built in 2001, was beautiful and modern WITH THE EXCEPTION of the gold chandelier with the silly little glass panels hanging from the side. It was the same silly chandelier that we had in Flagstaff above our dining room table. I replaced that one . . . and found it just as easy to do it again.

I found this Chandelier on CRAIGSLIST and with the ingenuity and skills of my good husband, we hung it this past week. Ahh. It made all the difference in our entry way.

Gotta love Craigslist!