Seven Years

What a beautiful ride so far.

Dipnetting at the Kenai River

We had a great and dreadful time dipnetting at the mouth of the Kenai this year (dreadful for the fish and or our pack up job! :)). It was an adventure, our first time camping on a beach, we improvised our car mat into a tent rug entry...bad idea but, good effort! It was sunny the first day and rainy, windy and cold on the second. We were very happy to be packed up and in the car by the end. The fish run was slow but, we still managed to have the excitement of feeling a few salmon tugging in our nets. It is one of my top experiences in Alaska, seeing all of the folks lined up on the shores with their nets in the water and family and friends on the beach watching for them to pull in their nets and start the process of "processing" the fish. Some do everything there on the beach, which makes for plenty of work on the part of the seagulls. This year I saw a few people quickly filetting their salmon with ulu knives, some on coolers, wooden planks or even well-used ironing boards! I love the atmosphere, even with the fish remains (you should see those Kings!), there are a lot of families there, kids playing on the beach or helping out with the fishing. It's great. We even ran into the Elders serving in the Kenai area, one of them was in our Anchorage ward last year, Elder Bedke from Oakley, Idaho. We wore mom out, but she was great sport and the toys she brought were a big hit with the girls while they played in the tent on the second day!

Growing Up!

Susanna lost her first tooth on Saturday. We noticed a shift in the front but, just thought her jaw was growing...then, last week I noticed the tops of a tooth sticking out behind the drifting tooth!! We're still new at this whole tooth thing, you know. It was a big moment for all of us. For Susanna, she was excited about the new idea of putting the tooth under the pillow at night and finding some shiny coins there the next morning...for the parents it was a big reminder, though small evidence, of her getting older. She lost her first baby tooth!! Aye! It was a long day so I wrapped the dental floss around her tooth and Rob pulled it up just around 10:40 pm (like I said it had been a LONG day!) Notice the window behind us, the sun has come out of the clouds! It was a beautiful sunny Saturday, "divinely" perfect for our Stake's Pioneer Party at the park, mmmm...delicious dutch oven cooking! Anchorage has hit temperatures above 70s only twice this summer, the average amount of 70+ days are 15. We're hoping to have some more soon! Everyone in the Boyle house is looking forward to Grandma and Grandpa Jex's visit soon!

Fourth of July Festivities

Check out Lucy at our Friendly Fourth of July Parade at Bohman Elementary in Anchorage.

http://hottiesandtotties.blogspot.com/2008/08/hotties-and-totties-fall-and-winter.html

One year later

Angela Jex Boyle

June 15, 2007

On Saturday, we made a lady bug cake, thanks to Sharon Hamrick, and put 2 candles in it, one for each girl to blow out. On Sunday, we barbecued Copper River red salmon and some King salmon which I don't think I had ever tried. El Re was red steak, but both were, as Lucy would say, "Duh-lishis"!!
Last year, the night before we found out about Angela's death, we ate Copper River reds given to us by the Wilbur G. There was a sweet overlap in time this year, as Rob was on the Copper River getting some reds with Wilbur on that same evening that last year we were eating it. To me, it was all poetry.

We celebrated Angela's birth on Sunday coupled with Father's Day and it was a beautiful day. We drove up into the hills above Anchorage. There, Susanna and Lucy decided on a name for her bear, nameless for one full year! Her name is Sara.

At first I was worried about remembering what she looked like as we only had her with us for just a while. Thanks to photos from Laurel we have a way to look back on those moments. I am also thankful for Susanna and Lucile who remember her everyday. Michelene created an Angela song which Lucy sang spontaneously Sunday. Susanna makes sure Sara is in just the right position on the shelf. Tonight, Lucy fell asleep quick after our prayers, stories and songs, I love seeing Angela's features in Lucy's face. Thank heavens for sisters!

Life is beautiful. I am becoming a better person thanks to my third daughter. I am thankful for the roundabout way that through her, my eyes are opening and I see things differently, see life differently. And I love it!

Lucy and her First Zipline

Here is our bold daughter! Notice how far from the ground she is! The young girl running next to her is a tall teenager!