Big Lake Fun!

First I have to mention how wonderful two of our friends from Akiak have been since we arrived. Julie and Beth have made this transition so much easier! Beth has driven up from Anchorage three times now to help haul us from the airports, and help haul our stuff with her truck, and then again to help us pick up beds! Julie kept her promise and made sure we had not just one six pack but two six packs of Alaska Ale for our first day here, and thanks to her son and daughter-in-law we also have a twin bed frame for E's room, and the Queen size bed for ours! Most of our time, since we have arrived, has been spent trying to get acquainted with our new town, and trying to find furniture for our home. 

Of course we also had to put a bit of furniture together, before O arrived I bought a cheap t.v. stand and a computer desk, A helped me build both, and then M wanted to help out with the t.v. stand. I think he figured the quicker we got it done, the quicker he could plop his behind in front of it! 
 We had a bar-b-que for O's 41st birthday (wow hard to believe we are getting that old, where did our 20's go?), poor O had to spend the day picking up beds. Thanks to two friends from Akiak, Julie and Beth, we were able to get beds for everyone in one day!

Julie  invited us over for the day last week, and what a wonderful day it was! We spent it up at Big Lake, and the boys all had a blast! Her grandsons are absolutely adorable!

Views from two different angles of the lake

The boys spent more time in the paddle boat then they did actually swimming, they absolutely loved it!

Apparently Julie's grandson loves to pick lily pad flowers. I had never seen one in person and found them to be so beautiful and strange!

Another favorite activity, swimming around on the raft, which happens to have a clear window so they could float and watch life under the water. The water was so clear in the lake you could see the bottom!

W got his first trip in a canoe, A taught him how to paddle it and they enjoyed some time away from the younger kids.

Of course where there are kids, there must be snacks, Julie provided some super yummy juice pops, and Capri suns,and we provided apples, bananas, and some not so healthy koolaid bottles...I was so impressed with all the kids, they behaved very well, and they all had so much fun playing together! It was an amazing day..and to finish the amazing day, we got another amazing beautiful ride home

Yeah, life is pretty sweet right now! I get to stare at  mountains everywhere I go! Have I mentioned lately how beautiful Alaska is? Every state has it's beauty, but there is definitely something special here!


So on to news about the new blog. Mostly I will be posting about life with my crew, but I will also be sharing some new things we are trying, and will let you know how well they work for my crew. Take into account, I am in a household of Alpha's, with maybe the exception of D, all my children, every single one of the seven, all want to be leaders.  That means they don't take orders well, and they do love to boss each other around. It also means changing behaviors is rather challenging. They are stubborn, but so am I. I love my alpha children, and I know they are all going to do amazing things in life, but it is a challenge raising them. I've been asked a lot recently how I can be so patient. Well I'm not, patience has never been something I am good at, but my stock answer is; "I asked God to give me patience, so he gave me seven strong-willed children!"  I do the best I can, and often I don't feel like it's enough. I am always looking for opportunities to teach and guide.  On that note, we are starting some new ideas I have picked up recently, and I have already started a few, and am excited to report that the first, the Porky Yorkie, is a huge success. I will post details about it in another separate post. I will also share some favorite recipes that I have created, or found and let you know the families rating on them, as well as how easy or fast they are. In short I'll experiment, and hopefully you will benefit from my failures and success! I am also planning on posting weekly, I would promise to, but my Grandma would say that is a pie crust promise, easily made and easily broken. Instead I will just promise to do my best at keep this sight up to date!