Life in the City

I'm sorry for the recent lack of posts.  You guys, it's just.so.awesome being home!  The kids all have so many questions.  Mostly about driving, ambulances & police since we don't see a lot of those the rest of the year.  Wyatt is fascinated by all things automatic and loves riding in shopping carts.  The twins are loving all the time with aunts, grandma's & cousins.  I am loving the warmth of the sun on my face, laughing with my mom & sister, the comfort of being surrounded by loved ones.

We did our annual summer-clothes-shopping and this year my saint of a mother went with me.  The boys did great and are thrilled to have sandals, shorts & tank tops, all of which feel pretty special compared to the layers they always wore in Marshall.

Every store is an experience.  We spent probably a half hour wandering through the tiny pet store in our local mall.  And Wyatt refuses to visit Walmart without paying a visit to the goldfish aisle.  Another favorite? Seeing the tarantula at the mall.  "It'll scare your pants off, mom!" he warns me.  He is tickled and delighted by every thing he sees.

My mother-in-law (whom we're staying with, which is also awesome because hello, built-in help!) has two cats, and the kids are loving having pets.  They worry after them and love on them, and the cats have been so very tolerant.

We've been mostly banging out appointments this week, dentist, eye doctor, pediatrician.  It feels good to be crossing them off the list.  We've completely settled in here except for two dressers for Josh and I.  We are still on the hunt.  

We've also squeezed in a trip to the coast to see my grandparents and a few trips to the pool as well as the river.  The boys are LOVING all the swimming and so am I.  We have three little fish on our hands.  I even signed them up for swim lessons this year with my sister's boys.  It will be so fun to watch them learn!

As I said, a lot of our conversations center around driving.  And the boys love riding in other people's cars.  So far they've ridden in Uncle Samuel's car, Grandma's car, Papa Barry's truck, Aunt Julie's car and Nanny's Mustang.  The Mustang + the top down was a big hit!

We've also been enjoying nature.  Walks to the school nearby, playdates at park and picnics on the waterfront.  I cannot express to you happy all this makes me!

We're also eating all the food!  The boys love eating out, and Josh and I love the simplicity of visiting the grocery store instead of making everything from scratch.  Wyatt still doesn't understand how it works here, though because when I tell him no about buying something he says to me, "But they have it!"  Like, if they have it, we have to buy it cause they might not have it next time.  It's going to take a while for him to get that grocery stores here aren't like the co op where the produce or variety comes and goes.  

And also? Netflix.  That's right.  In Washington we have enough internet to run Netflix, and the kids pretty much think it's the best thing ever.

And also... paved roads.  These boys have become regular stunt devils riding their bikes on the sidewalked street in front of grandma's house.  It makes me so happy for them.

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Summer on, people.

Summer on.

The Birthday Boys

Today Logan & Jack turn seven.  

These boys...

They are just so much fun.

They are growing up right before our eyes.  

They are sweet, funny, helpful and amazing big brothers.

We're so glad they are ours.

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Thoughts from the Locker Room

 Tonight as I walked, feet slapping the wet concrete, with Wyatt into the ladies' locker room, I smiled, grateful yet again that we are in Washington, enjoying all there is to see and do, with our family.  Tonight it was swimming at our favorite pool, watching the twins slide down the yellow twisty slide by themselves (!!!), and catching Wyatt as he cannon balled at us from the pool deck.

While I was in the changing room, there were a few moms whose kids were out swimming, but their moms were fully dressed, chatting in the locker room.  Not only was I self conscious-- hello seventh grade. This is my body. Having it naked in front of other women makes me uncomfortable-- but I also found myself growing progressively more sad.  One woman was discussing how overwhelmed she was every time she opened her garage (a feeling I can relate to every time I open our storage unit here) and the other was talking about how she can't remember dates or important things any more, and she thinks it's because she has five kids and suddenly there's just too much going on.

But what made me sad wasn't that they were overwhelmed or forgetful.  Like I said, I can so relate! What made me sad was that they were there, at the pool, where they couldn't do anything about their to-do list anyway, and yet they weren't swimming.  They weren't in the water, laughing as their daughters raced across the deep end, or giggling as their sons did belly flops into the clear water.  It's true, life often feels like a race.  And it's hard to take time to have fun or enjoy the things we work so hard to have... but they were so close.  They were one door away from having what could have been the best night of their week so far.  They were one outfit change away from making memories with their children that could last forever.

So even though my Tinker Bell towel didn't quite cover all my flaws, and I'm sure those ladies saw more of my backside than they might have desired, I walked away feeling great.  I don't have a perfect body, the perfect house or the perfect life, but I am getting one thing right.  And that is taking time to make memories with my kids.  And that's pretty perfect.

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The Inspired Readers Book Club

So when my friend Ashley over at The Big White Farmhouse suggested to Tabitha and myself that we start a book club together, I pretty much jumped up and down.  And when our pipe dreams began coming true as Ashley chose a book and created a Facebook page, I felt giddy.  Then the last two days happened (just... life.  Settling in here, sorting through the storage unit, dealing with tired, overwhelmed kids...) I kind of lost momentum and didn't post about it as I had planned.  

But I live by the motto better late than never, so we will take Wednesday, even though the goal was Monday!  And luckily, this week is simply Introduction Week, so if you feel so inclined, pop on over to our Facebook page, request to join, and tell us a little about yourself!

I stole this next little bit directly from Ashley's post about the book club because it so perfectly captures what we're trying to do, and lays out our book club format for you.

Our first book is going to be Make It Happen by Lara Casey.  We thought it was the perfect choice to start with since intentional living is what brought us together in the first place!  We will be reading and discussing this book for eight weeks, which takes us through June and July.  We think this is the perfect pace for the summer and it should be easy to fit the chapters in during all of your summer fun!

The reading schedule is as follows:
Week 1 (started Monday!): Introduction to the Book Club, "Welcome to your Start"
Week 2 (June 8): Chapters 1-3
Week 3 (June 15): Chapters 4-6
Week 4 (June 22): Chapters 7-9
Week 5 (June 29): Chapters 10-12
Week 6 (July 6): Steps #1 & #2
Week 7 (July 13): Step #3
Week 8 (July 20): Step #4 & #5

We've started a private Facebook group (join us here!) and every Monday will post a few questions to get the conversation going.  Feel free to pop in when you can to add your thoughts!  This book club is not meant to be stressful or add another commitment to your already full plate.  Our intention with this book club is to read a wide range of books while creating community.  We want our book club to be fun and something you look forward to!  

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We would truly love to have you, whoever you are, wherever you're from, and believe that more voices lead to more learning and more growth, which is always our goal.

We really hope to see you there!

A Good Life

I've been waiting for these days for months...  

Taking my boys the park, 

enjoying sunshine, 

picking flowers 

and teaching Wyatt how to blow out wishies.

"A good life is a collection of happy moments." 

-Denis Waitley

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Bush Alaska: Four Years Later

{May 2015}

{January 2012}

I thought it would be fun, after having Leah take this picture of us in Marshall, to compare it to our family coming to Marshall four years ago.  I would say we've all changed.  The twins have grown, as has Wyatt.  They've learned to read, and he's learned to talk.  Josh has gotten his master's degree and invaluable experience teaching out in the bush.  I have settled into my stay-at-home mom/homeschooling role, as well as struggled through the heartache of two miscarriages and dealt with anxiety & depression at times.  I believe we have all emerged from this year stronger & with more faith in God. 

Our goal was always five years, and when Josh signed that contract for next school year, we kind of couldn't believe it was our fifth year already!  Time truly flies right on by!  I can't wait to see what the future holds.

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Our Last Few Days In Marshall

The last few days in Marshall were, as they always are, bittersweet.  With the weather lovely enough to play outside, and the tundra turning from brown to green, it seems we are leaving just when it's getting good.  We enjoyed the spring carnival during the last week, as well as an award assembly and community feed at the school.  But to balance all the goodness, we had some hard goodbyes.  

I know I talk a lot about goodbyes, but truly unless you live this lifestyle (as my friend Ann put it) you can't grasp just how important these people become to you.  When you are so isolated, they become your family.  Need some sugar? Salsa? A can of olives? These are your girls.  We have loved, laughed and cried through the last three years together, and Krista & I are both heartbroken to see Leah go.  But, we joked, we love her enough to wish her well in her next adventure, not curse her for leaving us!

I am so thankful that our last few days together were so wonderful and that we leave each other knowing that in the world we each have at least two other solid friends who would move mountains for us if we needed them to.

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The Portland Airport

Our arrival in Portland was a bit scary at first.  We came in for a landing, and at the last minute, the plane pulled up and we circled around.  The pilot reassured us there was just traffic on the runway, but Jack and I were both terrified.  (Our family had been separated because our reservation was for the emergency exit aisle, and no one under 18 years of age can sit there.  So they had to re-seat us.) Josh had Wyatt and Logan with him.  Wyatt had fallen asleep, and woke up as we were headed back into the clouds.  He was not a happy camper.  Jack and I just held hands and I prayed and prayed we would be able to land safely and see our family who was waiting anxiously below.  

We did indeed land safely, and before we knew it, I was following Josh and the boys to the gate where we would see our family for the first time.  I was expecting Josh's parents, my parents and maybe his brother.  Instead I was surprised to see my sister (who was supposed to be camping) and Josh's sister (who had been at Phantom of the Opera) were there, along with Josh's cousin and her kids.  I was shocked.  We are so loved, and I felt so blessed to have everyone I love there to greet us.  

I don't even remember the order in which I hugged people-- I think maybe Julie, then my sister, then my mom.  I just remember hugging my sister and sobbing.  I had missed her so much this year and was so happy to be with her again.  I also cried when I hugged my mom.  I had seen Julie during our trip to Anchorage, so we hugged, but I didn't need to bawl my eyes out from missing her for nine months. ;) Lucky her!

These are all the pictures I took of our time at the airport. I was really just in the moment, relishing the chance to hug my dad, my mother-in-law and soon to be sister-in-law Tiffanie.  I was too busy enjoying everyone talking to our boys and loving on them, as I knew they would, to take pictures.

After we gathered our luggage and hugged everyone one last time, we loaded up our car (oh, how I missed our car!) and headed "home".  (This summer "home" is my in-laws' house.  I am so excited to stay with family and have extra hands on deck to help with the kids.)  

Thank you to everyone who prayed for safe & easy travels and sent us well wishes.  Logan, who had been throwing up the day before we left, was in perfect health the whole day, and we had zero flight delays.  We are blessed indeed!

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My Favorite Flight

My favorite flight (of the four we typically take) is the one from Anchorage to Seattle.  We generally travel mid-afternoon, and the light allows us to take advantage of the amazing views.  The mountains in Alaska are truly breathtaking.  

This flight is also the longest flight, which you would think makes it my least favorite, but the opposite is in fact true.  The 3+ hour flight allows us to really settle in, put a movie on for the kids and relax ourselves for a little bit.  It also gets us to the lower 48, which is a wonderful feeling.  Something about being back on the road system provides me mental comfort.

I was surprised that none of the kids slept, but we were all so excited to get to Washington, I don't think I can blame them!

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Leaving on a Jet Plane

I mentioned earlier that we had a lot of luggage.  Like, filled the whole back of the school pick up!  And do you believe that only one piece weighed too much?!?  That's some kind of miracle!

Once we arrived in Bethel we transferred quickly from RAVN (formerly ERA) to Alaska Airlines via the shuttle van, and began the grueling process of checking all our luggage.  Thankfully Leah was there to sit with our kids while they had snack and we checked in at the counter.

The boys are such seasoned travelers, though, that they probably would have been good even on their own.  I was so proud of them all day.

Josh grabbed us each a slice of pizza from Brothers restaurant (a meal I didn't have to make! Hallelujah!) and we chowed down before boarding our flight to Anchorage.

The flight from Bethel to Anchorage is only an hour, so it was really quick.  Leah and I had arranged it so she was sitting with our family, meaning we had an entire row.  Wyatt sat between me and Leah and Josh manned the twins on the other side of the aisle.

Before we knew it, the flight was over and we were headed into the Anchorage airport.  We were getting closer!

In Anchorage we bought the boys new Alaska sweatshirts since they have outgrown their old ones, and in the store, Wyatt asked the worker why her floors had sparkles in them.  I was laughing so hard.  And thus began the joy of watching Wyatt take it all in.

After that we got some nuggets at McDonald's and then prepared to say goodbye to Leah as we were going to go our separate ways.  That is, hands down, the hardest thing about this lifestyle. You go through life together, side by side, carrying each other through the ups & downs and challenges of life in the bush, and then, after a few years, or sometimes even less, you have to say goodbye as life continues and people go their separate ways.  I cried as I hugged Leah, happy for the next chapter in her life to start, but sad (for myself) that we won't be side by side anymore.  

I love you, Leah!  You have been an amazing support, a fun "aunt" and a loving friend.  And for that I'll always be grateful.

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