Super Dad/Husband

Yesterday, I awoke with a relapse of the flu that I had last week! Ihhh! As I made my way from our bed to the toddler beds to the chair to the futon back to the toddler beds (you get the picture) all day long, I enjoyed watching Jacob with the boys. He didn't just do the bare minimum to get by...One time when I came downstairs, he had already helped them cut out an entire airport with runway and airplanes from a cereal box and they were busy painting it and then later played with it! He built a "house" with them out of boxes filled with clothes awaiting the next church rummage sale. He fed them 3 meals and countless snacks! At the end of the day, as I lay on the futon and he sat on the couch making up stories for the boys as they all drew pictures of the stories, I noticed that it was quiet for awhile. I opened my eyes to find the boys happily drawing while Jacob's head was back and he was sleeping. After awakening, he said, "I haven't really been feeling 100% today." News to me! Thanks to an amazing dad and husband.

Last Sunday

I'm going to interupt the vacation posts with a current post or two. This one highlights Logan...my dear child:) We were sitting in church last Sunday when Jacob asks, from the pulpit, "Are there any other announcements?" It is this moment that Logan decides to tell me, in his typical loud Logan voice, "My foot hurts." I heard a few giggles from the pews behind me. Perhaps that would have been better if stated after, "Are there any other prayer requests?" Later that day, the boys were playing upstairs when I hear Owen crying an "I'm hurt" cry. As I went upstairs to see what was going on, Logan intervened in my path, put his hand gently on my arm, looked me in the eye and said, "I just wasn't thinking Mama." Hmmm...so would you like to elaborate a little bit more on what you did to your brother?!

The Columbus Zoo

We spent a day at the zoo. In Savoonga, when we "go to the zoo" we look at animals on the zoo website, so it was quite a treat to actually see them in person. Although, it did occur to me, that some of the "zoo animals" are ones that we live with...polar bear, walrus, seal...I think the people here would wonder why people are keeping such good meat behind bars for people to look at rather than eat! I'm just realizing that the only pictures I posted aren't with real animals! Obviously the boys enjoyed climbing on the statues as much as viewing the real thing.


Logan hugging a penguin.


Owen hugging a penguin.


The whole family on a tiger.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a great pumpkin patch in Ohio. The owners were very creative in building fun fall activities for children and adults! They had 3 corn mazes, a playground made out of stuff you'd find around a farm, an elaborate 2-story "home" for their goats to play, and a wagon full of corn for kids to play. There were tractor rides and a hay ride. They also had 2 slides that landed in a bin of corn...one for kids and a bigger one for adults. We had so much fun that we almost forgot to pick out our pumpkins before they closed!


Me and the boys.

Logan driving the tractor made out of hay.

Owen driving Logan on the tractor.

Jacob and Owen in the pumpkin carriage.


Logan milking a cow.

Owen milking a cow.

The boys having fun in the corn wagon. They spent most of the afternoon here!




Finally picking out the pumpkins. We had two very tired boys by this time!:)

Ohio - Pine Tree Barn

We flew to Ohio to spend a couple weeks with Jacob's family. We had a nice visit and stayed very busy seeing the sights. These are some photos from one of our favorite places - Pine Tree Barn (restaurant, unique furniture etc.,) in an old barn.

Owen with a penguin.

Jacob walking down to the pond with the boys. It was beautiful weather! A special treat after thinking that we'd totally missed out on summer this year by not travelling out of Savoonga until October.

Logan running to throw a rock in the water.


Jacob, Owen, Grandma, and Logan

First Visit in Seattle

We spent a few days in the Seattle area before heading out to Ohio. My Grandma came out from Minnesota.

Logan is always a big help when she tries to knit! Somehow she managed to make them each a sweater and hat...despite all the extra help:)

Riding our old tricycle with Grandpa. Is it too much to ask for just one of the three to look at the camera! I'm such a good photographer:) I believe my photo command was "Look up" and look up they did:)

We spent a few days with my sister and family on Whidbey Island. The boys were pretty excited to see their old wagon again.

Family shot: Buddy, Michelle, Me, Grandma Roth, Mom, Dad, Logan, Caleb, Owen in the wagon.

We had good fun at the pumpkin patch. Owen picking out his pumpkin.

Logan struggling with his.

Michelle made her annual pumpkin stew so we had many pumpkins to clean.

This is how the pumpkin carving ended. Where's Logan and Owen? I believed they had retired to the playroom, but Jacob and my Dad seemed to enjoy themselves:)

Logan, "Gampa", and Owen with their pumpkins.

Barrow in October

Barrow is the northernmost city in Alaska. It was the first stop on our "vacation" because the Fall Presbytery meeting was held there. When you live in Alaska, you think of Barrow as way out there, but we experienced some culture shock upon landing! They had cars and paved roads, a full-size grocery with fresh produce and city buses! I knew these things before arriving, but it was still an experience to see it first hand right out of Savoonga. We had a nice weekend. A group of native pastors from Taiwan attended the meetings and the boys and I were invited to go sightseeing with them while Jacob stayed for the meetings. I know from talking to people who have lived in Barrow that it can be a hard place to live...issues of alcoholism, abuse, suicides, etc., but it also has a rich cultural identity and a lot of health in different segments of its population. Of the 4000+ people who live there, 40 some ethnic groups are represented. We were able to mesh with some of them. Of course the only photos I captured were at the playground:) Maybe you can see the city in the background.