Peterson Bay Field Trip

Here are a few pictures from when we went across the Bay for Mia's 4th grade field trip. It was our first time in a yurt, which was actually pretty pleasant. We had a good group of girls and we made it fun. So fun in fact, that we wound up cleaning the latrines because of all of our 'late night parties' :) We had fun hiking to Chinapoot Bay and hiking around to the surrounding beaches, overturning rocks and gaining knowledge on sea life in Alaska. It was a busy time, but really, really fun. I wound up taking around 250 pictures, so here are a few for your viewing pleasure.

This is a crab with it's egg sac.


A "Sun" sea star

Believe it or not, these starfish to the left are "Mating" or "getting married" as the kids called it.

Below is our "yurt mates" Peggy Bordner was not pictured, but she was the Boogie-oogie queen!

One of the beaches we visited on a nighttime hike.

Springtime in Homer

It's spring in Homer, finally! Turns out the ash did wonders for melting our snow....good to know it was good for something! Besides the new odor outdoors, spring time has brought out the family's toys. Here are some pictures of the family enjoying our "nice" weather.

Diesel

Here are some more recent photos of our newest member of the family "Diesel". I was finally able to get more than just his back after bribing him with a pig ear (So gross, but he loves them!) We are all enjoying having him around, especially since he is almost done potty training. Since "accidents" are minimal, Cory seems to be enjoying the dog better too! He will begin puppy training classes in another week or so....thank goodness! Although he knows how to sit (thanks to Jim's excessive encouragement), he still hasn't mastered "NO" or "come" or "down" or any of the more useful terms. He has also gotten the idea that somehow we play like dogs and biting is somehow okay. I think the biggest issue we are having is by far that leg-humping. Gabe still thinks it just the dog 'hugging' him, but Mia has caught on and is totally grossed out. I'm hoping this is something that will be covered in puppy training and that his neutering will help with (which happens in another month). Well that's all for now...I'll keep you posted on the joys of puppy training!

Easter!

Today was Easter and we were blessed with a beautiful sunny day and No ash or snow! The kids got a visit from the Easter bunny and had fun searching for all of their eggs. Our church had an Easter egg hunt yesterday and the kids were bombarded with eggs and candy. Today the kids performed songs in front of the church and Mia recited a poem. It was very cute and of course, I forgot the camera. It was a really good service, as Easter always is, a day of remembrance to our Lord for his amazing sacrifice. We will be reflecting on this more today as we are planning to watch The Passion of Christ. Last night the kids read about the story of the Crucifixion and resurrection and marveled at the sacrifice.

Our Easter menu was Prime Rib, which was a first for me to make (thanks Deb), the usual sides and blueberry pie. Here are some pictures of Easter in for the Rupes. Hope you all had a wonderful day.

The Ash Has Fallen.....

Redoubt erupted multiple times and the ash has finally fallen in Homer....here are some pictures of our fun in the ash!

The "view" from our back yard, facing Redoubt. 1 hr before the fall.

The ash clouds are moving in..so much for our "nice"weather.
The ash and the snow......

The kids at the bus stop

A Volcano Erupts in Alaska

Mt. Redoubt erupted last night and this morning, for a total of 5 times. Apparently it blew up to 9 miles in the air. The ash is falling North of here, which is nice for us Homerites....for now anyway. We're just hoping that it doesn't decide to continue this nonsense later in the week when Cory will be flying home from Sitka (he's instructing there) and when me and the kids and Diesel drive up to Anchorage to get him. Keep your fingers crossed for us. Until then, here are some pics:

Pictures!!!!!!

Here are some pictures, finally of my family in recent days.......

My little family of vidiots. Nothing like the Wii baby.!!!!

Here is our little gymnast on the beam and the uneven bars:

The top view of our new dog "Diesel". He refuses to stay still for a picture, so this is all you get for now :)

So here is the update: Mia has started up gymnastics again, working in the Beginners II class and in the intermediates. She is working on her back walkover, the vault and starting of flips and handsprings. She seems to be very talented and is loving every minute of it...Shawn Johnsom here we come!

Gabe is doing Popeye wrestling and is liking it alot, although was very disappointed to find out on the first day that there was no jumping from the ring and full contact fighting (thank dad and his UFC addiction for that one). I will post pictures of that soon. I wound up printing a bunch and of course being the techno-retard that I am, accidentally deleted them all. I'll take new ones this week so you can see the our little man pinning down his opponents in his "half nelsons" and whatever the other positions are called. I personally think he is a little too sweet for this sport, which dad, of course, denied. However, this point was confirmed when, instead of waiting for his opponent to "take him down' in practice, he just went ahead and fell ahead of time, so as not to be hurt actually being "taken down". This was also revealed when he had to take someone down and did it in the most gentle slow-motion fashion. Disappointment loomed for dad, as he realized that his dreams of UFC..err I mean Gabes dreams of UFC, were squashed at that moment !! :) Luckily dad has been practicing with Gabe lots and he is really getting everything down. More on that later...

We did get a family dog, Diesel. He is totally cute and actually was picked out by Cory himself, which was a shock to all. After bringing home, the rules came out: No dog on the furniture, no dog upstairs, no dog on our bed or even in our room for that matter. Day 1, I find Cory laying on the couch with the dog. Day 2, Cory comes to bed with the dog in tow. I guess dads get to make and break the rules! The honeymoon phase was over the first time Diesel peed on the floor and was further ruined the first time he pooped on the floor (all of which yours truly got to clean). Cory still marvels at how 3 days isn't enough for a 8 week old dog to potty train, apparently he doesn't remember how long humans take...if only he were more involved in that process as well :) Diesel is doing much better with that and we will begin his puppy Kindergarten in about 2 weeks.

Well, I guess that's about all for now. I'll keep you posted on the happenings as they come!