Meteor Shower

So last night was supposed to be the best night to view the meteor shower, with 200 meteors seen in a 1 hour time period. Of course, being the old farts that we are, we went too early when it was too light, being that it was way past our bedtime. Even still, we could see the stars, 4 satellites, Jupiter and a few meteors. Some changed colors, some did not. They went by so quickly. With Rick's fountain in the garden, and the stars above us, it was a (cold) and magical night. The girls were diehard, determined to stay up to watch the entire show. It was about 40 degrees outside, so they got comfortable on the patio furniture with every blanket they could find. Lauren even fell asleep out there (which she still denies). I looked online and discovered that the best viewing time was between midnight and 5 am, when it would be darkest. I finally surrendered at 1 am, but still got to see 2. It was pretty cool.!

North Pole....so far!

So our time in Fairbanks is going really well so far. We've been having a good time visiting with the family and with Grandma Joyce and Aunt Tana who are up from California. We've been enjoying the sun (especially since the smoke has cleared).

Today we went for a 10.5 mile bike ride to Chena Lake.

Chena Lake

Grandma Joyce aka 'Mother Joyce', Papa Rick aka ' Captain Davey Jones' and Aunt Tana aka 'floosy sue' gettting ready to "Skype".

The one and only swimming pool!

Some catching up to do.....

Well, now that we are somewhat settled in to North Pole, I suppose I can finally catch everyone up. I have been especially bad about keeping in touch with anyone, especially by phone. Aside from the fact that every time I get near the phone, all of the kids need something now, I am struggling to keep everything going and make more decisions. Funny thing....we thought we were done with life in limbo! We have to figure out which school the kids are going to, since there are definitely more than 1 here! Since we would like to stay in North Pole, that narrows it down to just 2. Unfortunately, the one that we are zoned for now, while we are staying with Rick and Deb (Cory's parents) is not the same one that we will likely be zoned for when we finally find a place. ugh! I am trying to avoid moving the kids into 2 schools in 1 school year, but it may be inevitable. Other than that, I am able to continue working with Homer Medical Clinic, and have begun that this week. Cory started his job this week and is really liking it. He is learning the ropes of the computer system and how different things are done in a real city :) Everyone seems to be very nice and I think he is really going to like the department.
Otherwise, we are just enjoying the weather (it got up to 86 a couple days ago) but we are not so enjoying the smoke that just keeps on coming. We got to see it when we drove up here. It was kind of cool because it was dark outside and all of the sudden it was bright red. Apparently they have closed down the Parks Hwy and the airports, so it is not looking good. It did rain today though, so hopefully that will help.
The kids are eager for school to start (the 17th). Lauren will be flying back the end of this month, since her school starts September 6th.
Well, that's all for now. I will post pictures soon!

We're moving!

Well we finally got the news that we are moving! Cory will be starting his first day with the Fairbanks Police Deparment August 1st. We are officially moving from Homer 7/30, which doesn't give us a lot of time for packing. We will be staying with Cory's family, who graciously invited the noise and energy of the Rupes into their house, while we search for the perfect place for us. We'll keep you updated as we go along.

My little fisherman

I know we all already know this, but my little boy is so incredibly cute! This is his very first time fishing and he outfished everyone on the boat! He first pulled up a Cod and an Irish Lord, both of which went back, then he caught and lost a halibut. Here is the 30 pound halibut that he finally caught! He was so proud of it. He had a huge grin his whole way back and couldn't wait to show me his catch. Cory tells me he kept asking to touch the eyeballs (gross).

More pics

Diamond creek. It was so warm and so hot there today, with no wind...it is our absolutely favorite place to go. The kids were standing on a rock while the tide blasted them with water. They originally got me to join in until I got completely soaked!

Our little pilot. These are from her birthday where uncle Corey and aunt Linda took her to a special birthday breakfast. She got to fly the plane on the way home.

4th of July

Our 4th of July was lots of fun. We started out at our church carnival, complete with a dunk tank, bounce house and a cake walk..which netted us 4 cakes! The kids wanted to keep going, but enough was enough ;) Later we went to the parade, which is always fun. The kids came prepared for the candy that was thrown by bringing extra large bags to carry all their 'loot' in. Lauren got to ride in the back of a police car, complete with the prisoner jumpsuit and a mugshot picture of her. I will post those as soon as I get the copies. Now the kids are all sugared out...here's hoping they crash and actually sleep tonight! Okay....here are a couple of Lauren's pictures. She and Abbey got dunked in the dunk tank!