11 Mile bike ride on Herbert trail

Today my family, Luke and Joe, and Aprils posse all went on a 11 mile bike ride on Herbert Glacier trail. Boys are so fun, especially at this age. I love to see their energy. I started on my new bike pulling the bike trailer behind me with Morgan and Mattie along with all the snacks and coats...it was a heavy load! I haven't rode a bike in years so you can say, it was extremely difficult!
But we all made it to the end and what a beautiful trail and view! We stopped and ate some snacks and the misquitos were trying to take off with us. It wasn't long before we left.
The best part about the trip...there were blueberry bushes all along the way with tons of ripe blueberries. In my life, I have never seen wild blueberries. We picked and picked and still could have picked many more if we wanted to stay there longer.

The boys would ride ahead and then stop and eat blueberries.
Here is April pulling my 2 kiddos...she is the best! I owe her big.

Now here is the question of the day....Anyone want to go berry picking??

The USS JUNEAU

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS AND ALL MEN/WOMEN THAT SERVE IN THE MILITARY!!!

We heard on the news that the USS Juneau, a navy ship coming from Japan on route to San Diego, was in town. They offered residents the opportunity to tour the ship. Me and the kids arrived around 2pm and stood in a line for over 2 hours! The line wasn't that long but the tour tolk smaller groups and lasted 1 hour 15min. But, we survived the line and made it in at 4pm. The ship was 560 feet long and had been in fleet for over 40 years. This crew was taking it to Sandiego to get it decomitioned and eventually go on standby. There was a lot of stairs! Morgan got pretty good at them.

There are a lot of defense weapons on the ship. I didn't catch all the names but they were big. Overall, my most memorable part of the whole trip was seeing all the men in uniform. It just made me remember the sacrifices they are making to serve our country.

Fishing in Juneau

We finally got our boat running! If you only knew what we went through to get it running you would understand my excitement. Boat...do we all know what it stands for?? Bring On Another Thousand...and it is pretty true to it's name. But when all is said and FINALLY done, it is worth it. The fishing up here is awesome. Personally, my favorite part is sight seeing and realling in the fish. This was the second time I brought Mattie on the boat this year and it is really hard. She just wants to run and she can't. And she doesn't like her lifejacket on so she spends a lot of time crying...lot's of fun, let me tell you. This last week, the boat survived a couple fishing trips with some avid fishermen...and women. Luke snaged a 16 pound silver as we were trolling back to the dock! Right before that, Jamie got an 18 pound king. We were not expecting anything.
Then Morgan caught her first fish!! She was so proud! 4 years old and now she is hooked for life! It was so cool because all the other kids caught one and then she got a chance to jump in on the action. She is growing up so fast. I can't believe next year she will be in Kindergarden.
So, now onto the good stuff. Halibut fishing. Such a delicate fish to eat but if people only knew how hard it is to catch, then they would understand how hard it is to give it up to family!! (Inside joke). (Tiffany only got 3 packages out of the deal when her mom brought home about 75 pds of halibut, how sad is that.)

Here is Jamies catch. She actually caught 3 halibut.
Then Trey, he loves to halibut fish. And he is quite good at it too. He caught 2 halibut this day.
But Sandy got the monster at the bottom of the sea. It was 140 pound halibut! Look at the size of this monster. It tolk her 45 minutes to get it in. The guys had to pull the pole up for her. And then trying to take this picture it bent the gauf! Needless to say, they have pletty of halibut now.

So here is my question, anyone want to go fishing???

FIRST AID AT NATIONALS

Brighton got his face painted like a pirate at Circus Circus! He has grown up so much. He isn't much taller but he is smarter and funnier.
Look how good tiffany looks ya all!!

It sure in nice to swim outdoors! You forget how much you enjoy it. The one part I do not like is being in a bathing suit because I don't look as good since I have had kids. Rolls in places they aren't soposed to be YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!??? It's like, enough rolls to open up a bakery!! LOL....

This last week, Andy and I went to Reno, NV for the Mine Rescue Nationals Tournament. There were 33 National teams and 7 international teams. We flew in on Sunday from a long day of flying and was greeted by tiffany and the kids! I was so happy to see them. The first thing I noticed was how extremely tan they all were! Like little mexicans with blond and red hair. It was in the 90's and SO nice! The air was a little smokey from all the California fires but it didn't bother me too much, at least it wasn't rain.

So the competition in the first aid division. The team in first aid consists of 3 guys, Andy, Jay, and John. They were 8th so there were 13 teams competeing before them. They were in lock-up all day until it was there turn. When it was there turn, they came out and you could see how nervous Andy was. They had 20 minutes to complete the task. This man is bleeding from his head, arm, and leg. They are stableizing his head and then stopping the bleeding. They have to do everything correctly from the second they get to the scene until the ambulance arrives.

Half way through this lady comes running up to the victim histerical! She faints and Andy goes over and makes sure she is ok. Then she comes to and is yelling "I have to see him, I have to hold him". Andy then has to hold her back and calm her down. He did such a good job and stayed really calm. Come to find out, the Polland team hog tied her!

Then it came to the time to do CPR on a dummy. Andy did it FLAWLES! It was the best the judges has seen in the whole competition and I didn't even know he could do it!

All together, the team only got 15 points deducted out of, I don't know, say 500.

They ended up placing 2nd in the Nation in the First aid division! I am so proud of him and the team. I am just amazed, 2nd...IN THE NATION! What an honor to have. Not to mention, it is the first for Greens Creek Mine ever to even place.

IF YOU SEE THEM, CONGRATULATE THEM. THEY DESERVE IT.

The new Trampoline

Thanks to Bruce and Amanda, we now have a family trampoline. The kids love it! They were so excited to get it set up that Trey and Luke set it up with out me! Morgan had to get the first jump!

Then Mattie, gets on the tramp and runs around full of excitement. She is growing so fast and getting extremely cute! She also dances! Morgan getting air!

15mile hike to Eagle Glacier

Last Sunday Andy, Jordan, and I went on a 15 mile hike to Eagle Glacier. We started at 2pm and it was a beautiful day in Juneau. We were having a really good hike.Jordan found a water hole that was shaped like a heart. He had to take a picture by it to send it to all the girls he loves. He really thinks he is the man.
Andy had to take a break because I was so slow. What can I say, he has really long legs.
7 miles into it we got to a cabin and there was already people staying at the cabin. It was a beautiful setting, right at the base of the lake in an open area where the sun was shinning right on it. It was almost like an invite to the end of the trail. The people were really cool. Jordan and I walked on about 1/4mile and there was the coolest waterfall I have ever seen. It had so much power and we were right there.
So it was 5:30pm and we wanted to get to the glacier. It was really hard after that. Scailing rocks and cliffs. I actually gave up on them and sat and waited. Which was really good. But, the view was worth it.
Here I am at the waterfall again.

Here is the cabin.

And the lake!

At the end of the day, we got back at 10:30pm and we had hiked over 15miles. I had 6 blisters on each foot and Andy was hurting. He kept saying how old he is getting! Wineer! We had a good time. Something about doing something extreem and surviving to tell about it and completeing it that makes it all worth doing it again. The feeling of acomplishment is great.

Tracy Arms Tour

Tuesday, we got up 730am and were down town by 8am ready to go on the Tracy Arms Tour. It is an all day tour outside of Juneau but well worth the money and time. It was actually a beautiful day! the water was pretty flat and the there were very few clouds. Dad sat outside the boat almost all day.
This is one of many waterfalls. It came off of a glacier. Look how smooth all the rocks are.

Jordan was volunteered to do this thing they called the Glacial Facial...but when it came down to it the captain put the front of the boat right in a waterfall! We all got drenched but Jordan got it the most!Beautiful Glaicial