Summer Vacation Pics

Here are a few pics from our vacation. The big group is everyone that vacationed together in Branson, and yes they are all wearing T-shirts with my picture on them since they threw me a surprise 40th B-day party (Thanks KM!!!). Other pics are Nick's first day of school this year, a double rainbow near our house, and a picture with my Grandfather in Minnesota. More soon. Storm

Finally!

Well, the Olympics are finally over and now we can get back to our normal lives. Which means downloading and posting vacation pics. Since we last posted we spent 11 days traveling, visiting St Louis, Branson and Minnesota. We saw lots of friends, a great many relatives and had a great time (although it was waaaay too hot!)

So here are some photos. Before we left on our trip I made a quick journey down to the Kenai river to procure some Red (Sockeye) Salmon for our freezer. The first pic is of the great view I had looking at Mt Redoubt which was across the inlet from the river, the second pic is of all my fish. We also have a picture of the boys posing in one of the many climbing areas at the City Museum in St Louis, and of Alex struggling to reel in nice big Pink Salmon. Lastly we have Alex and Max posing in their favorite tree out at the Eagle River Nature Center.

Right now we are just getting back into the school routines. Nick started 2nd grade this week, Alex starts Kindergarten on the 26th and Max goes to Pre-school the week after that!! Our house might actually be quiet for a few hours each week!!!! How strange that will be. I will keep posting photos as I get to them, no promise they will be in order though. Thanks for looking. Storm

Summer Fishing

Hello

Well, in spite of the weather (to this point this has been the coldest summer on record, we'll see how the rest of the summer plays out. So much for global warming!) we went fishing to try and catch the boys a fish. We went to Hope which is basically across the water from Alyeska in Turnagain Arm. We went for pink salmon as during even years they are extremly plentiful and relatively stupid (read easy to catch) plus they are small enough that the boys actually have a chance to bring them in. Overall the day went well, Nick landed a 4 lb Pink (also known as Humpys since the males develop a pronounced hump when they go to spawn) Alex landed a nice Steelhead/Rainbow trout, but I didn't know if it was legal to keep it so we threw it back, and Max got to fight several fish but they all spit the hook before we could get them in. So here's a few pics of fishing and of the young Brown Bear we saw a few weeks ago at the Russian River. More soon. Take Care, Storm

Dogs, Baseball, etc..

Here are some more pics of the kids. No, the puppy Max is holding is NOT ours. More soon, Storm

More Summer Pics

Well Summer hasn't really arrived in AK this year, but we are having lots of fun anyhow. We've had a busy schedule with all our commitments (soccer, baseball, swimming etc) however most of that is over now and we have some good things planned for the next few weeks. The pics in this issue are of all of us fishing for King Salmon up in Montana Creek, Gracie being reintroduced to her Mother, and a young moose waiting for us outside the door at swimming lessons. We didn't have much luck fishing, but after casting for a half hour in one spot I had some guy walk up next me and throw 3 casts in the same spot I was fishing and catch a 35lb fish. Sometimes you've got it and sometimes you don't I guess. Perhaps I'll have better luck with a dipnet here in a few weeks!! We fished with some neighbors and friends that you see in one picture and my Mom, Pat, was here and in some of the photos as well. More pics soon. Take Care, Storm

Strange Summer

Hello Folks, yes I realize that one post a month doesn't really cut it. I'll try to do better. Hopefully our Alaskan summer will cooperate. So far this year the summer weather has been absent, we've had endless overcast days with temperatures well below average. In addition the Salmon return to the rivers this year has been absolutely abismal, so between the 2 there are a lot of unhappy Alaskans running around right now.

So far this summer we've put a large deck on the front of the house and had Kevin, Cara and Kyle come visit us. Beyond that we haven't had any exciting adventures. We've spent lots of time at the baseball and soccer fields with sometime at swimming lessons as well. So all that combined with a miserable work schedule for me in June hasn't left a great deal of exciting photo opportunities. With any luck the next 2 months will be better. We have some local trips planned, plus a family foray to Branson MO at the end of July.

In the meantime here are a few pics of summer so far. The biggest halibut in the fish pictures was about 70 lbs for anyone wondering, it was caught by Kerry's brother Kevin and wow does it taste good!! Hopefully we'll be adding lots of Red and Silver (Sockeye and Coho) Salmon to our freezer here soon. Take care and thanks for looking. Storm

Busy, busy

If anyone is still out there, sorry for the lack of posts. I guess I've been overcome by events. That and a serious lack of sleep due to a puppy in the house! Here's a few pics of the kids, the puppy and life in general. Storm