Time Capsule: September 29, 2007

Happy Mother's Day Becca!

To our wife and mommy: We know you never expected to have arthritis and shoulder surgery at 31, or to have your daughter produce 14 teeth by her 15th month, or for your husband to go to the doctor one day and come back with a hole in his knee. But you've gotten us through it, and with flying colors. Try to relax and enjoy your day! And remember, there's just one more week until you're back in the Kingdom, and just under 4 weeks until you get to see the beach!

Happy Mother's Day,

Andy & Maia

2007-01-07: T-minus-3-weeks to Maia!

2007-01-24: Check out this mommy! She's a pro after only 4 days.

2007-01-31: Still in awe after 11 days.

2007-05-27: 4-month-old Mommy in front of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head.

2007-06-01: Slung in style.

2007-09-15: Beautiful scenery on Turnagain Arm in Alaska. And the mountains are pretty, too!

2007-10-27: Fun with her ladybug in Russian Jack Springs Park.

2007-11-03: All smiles in Homer, AK.

Maia's Got Skillz

Sound check.

Rockin' out!

Encore?

Uncle Jeff's Visit - Part I

From St. Patrick's Day through Easter, Uncle Jeff came up to visit Maia and see what life in Alaska is all about.  On his first full day here, we ran up to the Eagle River Nature Center, just a few miles up the Glenn Highway from here.  There are a bunch of trails behind the nature center, and we took the shortest of these down to a nearby creek.  They have a salmon-viewing deck down there, we'll have to come back sometime in June/July when they're "running".

Then on March 16th, our friend Jerry Otto and his son Seth took Jeff and I out on Mirror Lake to ice-fish.  It wasn't the best time for fishing... the ice had been in place for so long that the oxygen levels in the water were pretty low, and only the species that didn't mind holding their breath a bit were still biting.  We did catch something, but we didn't dare eat it...

Didn't you wonder how the fishing holes got there in the first place?

The ice was about two feet thick.  You can see from the movie how far down the auger went into the ice.

It wasn't too cold, but we pitched this "tent" anyway.  All 4 of us sat inside, with 3 fishing holes.

Seth got a bit bored.

Jerry's big catch of the day.  We figured out later that this is called a "blackfish."  Jerry called it a junk-fish.  The Ottos do a fair amount of subsistence fishing/hunting (they bring salmon and reindeer-sausage when we grill), but we threw this one back.

Daddy, Uncle Jeff, and Seth had a good time on the ice anyway.

Two Months Ago? Wow! (Playing Catchup)

Here are a few cute pics of Maia from March 6-10. Wow, she was 12% younger then than she is now! We promise to try to get these up sooner...

Dancing in her winter duds on the deck?

Manning the studfinder, helping Daddy gate off the kitchen.

Sitting in a chair like a big girl!

Getting cozy with Clip-Clop.