Eruptions and Inductions

Susanna and Lucy are all excited about the recent developments with Redoubt, a volcano about 100 miles away from Anchorage.

Susanna came home from school and told us that they are covering the computers with plastic every night. She also carries a face mask everyday to school in her backpack.

Lucy just told me, "If the lava gets on you and you die, then you have to go to a dentist appointment." Also, "If you get hurt, the policeman will climb up the mountain and carry and carry and bring you to the hospital."

The doctor is planning to induce me on my 39 week mark (Feb 18), if the volcano goes it will make this birthing thing a bit more interesting. I haven't ever considered having a child at home....yikes!

Here is a link to the latest updates on Redoubt
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/

Hello Winter! Check the Calendar..

The first thing Susanna said when she climbed in the car this afternoon was, "It was 23 degrees at our school today! We wrote it in our journals!"

Susanna's school is located, not at the airport where the Anchorage temperature is registered, but in the Campbell Creek area, which tends to be the coldest part of the city, the temperature variance is huge! 10 degrees or more!

Blueberries and Brussel Sprouts

Last week, the Boyle family headed up to Blueberry Hill, just above town and found a bush plentiful with big, dark blueberries. We had found this bush with my sister Anna, last fall, and we were happy that it was still there for the pickin' this year. We had a great time. The fall colors of the hills were spectacular, coupled with the dusting on the nearby peaks. It was a beautiful setting for a beautiful harvest. I wish there were more berry bushes in the world, people might be happier. Kuplink, Kuplank, Kuplunk. Lucy and Sue enjoyed emptying out their ziploc bags before we could get them to the freezer. :) It was amazing to see the difference it made on my spirit that day. This is our third year berry picking and each year it is enriched. The first was more recon than anything productive but still amazing, the second it developed into something approaching addiction and this year has been just sweet. My sister Anna is visiting again this week with two of her five children and I think we might just be jamming (we might just turn on some Bob Marley to enhance the experience. :) )

On the first day of Lucy's Preschool, I took a picture of her out in front of our home. A few hours later, Susanna and I were sitting on the front porch enjoying some fleeting sunny rays and working on "homework" (She loves it so far, and so do I! Let's hope we can keep it that way!) All of the sudden we noticed something different about our Brussel Sprout plant...it had been attacked! I checked the picture of Lucy in front of it and verified that it had been alive and well at 8:50am. All of the leaves had been eaten and there was a big moose hoof print in the dark soil near the base of our anticipated tower of tastiness. The sprouts were just starting to take off! We had a mixture of emotions. Last night, I dreamt I had six moose in our yard...

Farewell to Summer!

Despite reports that this was the 3rd coldest Alaskan summer on record, we had some good times.

Some even asked us if we'd "been outside" (meaning out of Alaska) recently, looking at the girls' color on their cheeks. No, I'd reply, we've just jumped at the chance of being outside whenever the sun was out. It wasn't often but, Alaskan winters are good motivators to make Vitamin D while, and when, the sun shines!

As we head closer and closer to 32, we look back at the days of 60s and those 3 days of 70s and say, "See you next year!!!!"

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!