The Library

So far on our trip, the one place we have probably spent the most time, besides our cabin, is the library. For a small town, Haines has a fantastic library. Holly, one of the workers there, has created a great children's summer program. Between ukulele lessons, walks to the shore while learning about edible plants, spanish lessons, fairy tale theater, and puppet shows, the kids are having a great time. They have particularly enjoyed the ukulele lessons, which they have 3 days a week. They even taught the entire group the song "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree". They pretty much already knew all the other children songs that they sang. We can thank Primary for that!






The library









MMMMM, yummy weeds!








Caleb thought he'd try them also
























Ukulele lessons

In Memory Of

When planning our trip to Alaska, one of the first people I contacted was the Branch President in Haines. I thought he might have some connections when it came to me finding a place to stay, car to drive, etc. Over a couple months we spoke on the phone several times and sent many emails. We became friends, but had never met. He was about my same age, had children close in ages to mine, and was from the lower 48. We developed a long-distance friendship, and I was really looking forward to meeting him.
Our first meeting was at church our first Sunday in Haines. A good, strong handshake, a pat on the shoulder, and a “we’re so glad you finally made it” made us feel at home in our new church family.
Sadly, 2 weeks after our arrival, and 3 days before Father’s Day, Jason disappeared. They found his truck, dog, and fishing nets along side a fast moving river where he had gone to fish. Search parties searched the waters for over a week, but they have called it off now. They have declared it a death by drowning.
President Allgood was a good man, a spiritual man, who had a great positive influence on many people here in Haines. I’ll always remember the spirit I felt as he shared his testimony on the 2 Sundays we had the privilege of being a part of his branch. It was an honor to be considered a member of his flock. May God bless his family with peace and strength, and the rest of us with a greater appreciation for the time we have with those we love!

Da Bears!

So the other day we got a call from our neighbors telling us there was a bear in the cove that is right next to our cabin. We hadn't seen a bear yet (well, the kids hadn't--Kristen and I caught a glimpse of one, for about 10 seconds, out our window early one morning) so we hurried out to see it. I couldn't see it at first, so I made the kids stay on the porch until I was able locate it. It was a mama brown bear, eating the grass in the cove, about 200 feet away.


About 2 hours later, we were in the kitchen making dinner, and I happen to glance out the door, and there standing right in front of our car, was another bear. This one was much closer (about 30 ft. outside the door), and much bigger! This one was a black bear. It caught me so off gaurd, I think I yelled something like, "Holy cow, there is a bear right there!" I think I scared my poor wife to death. We watched her through the windows, until she got far enough that we could go onto the porch and watch her. It was pretty awesome. We've seen bears a couple different times since then. It's crazy! We make lots of noise now whenever we go outside!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB

I can't believe my oldest boy is 11 years old today. Caleb is such an incredible young man. He is such a responsible, kind, dedicated, and tender boy. He is a hard worker, and a loyal friend. He always tells us how hard it is to be the oldest, but we're sure glad he is. He's a great brother, and an amazing son, and we sure love him.

Transportation

So one of my main concerns coming to Alaska was how we were going to get around once we got here. We considered driving (which Kristen actually wanted to do the most--she thought it sounded exciting), but the 2500 miles one-way, a new baby, and it being more expensive than actually flying, all kind of turned me off. We thought of renting a car, but since our options in the town were very few, they can charge whatever they want. Most places wanted about $100 per day. That wasn't going to happen! So, we decided we would just buy one (nothing fancy, just big enough to get us all around), and then sell it when we leave. It took us about a week and a half to find one (and we were very grateful to the man we are renting from for letting us use his mini-van in the meantime), but we ended up with a 1990 Mazda MPV--and it's perfect. Kristen has always said she would never drive a mini-van-- she can't say that anymore! :)

Our house (nuh nuh nuh), in the middle of the....woods!

Our home for the summer is a comfortable and cozy 2-bedroom, 1 1/2 bath, small family room, with a newly remodeled kitchen, cabin. It is perfect. It is nestled up against the mountain, and right on the water. It has a very nice deck going along the front, with a spectacular view of the inlet bay. Unfortunately, the blasted mosquitoes have made it a little difficult to spend too much time outside. However, I put up a net tent, that has made it much more enjoyable. There are nests of bald eagles all around us, and we see them flying around outside our windows pretty regularly.





A picture of the cabin taken from the shore






The view from the deck







This picture is taken across the bay, driving out to our place from town







A little closer view







This gives a better perspective of our little cabin nestled at the base of these huge mountains

Haines--A history

Here's a little history on the town...

Haines is located on the shores of the Lynn Canal on the Chilkat Peninsula between the Chilkoot and Chilkat Rivers. The town is bordered by the spectacular Chilkat Mountain Range on the west and the Coast Range on the east. The historic routes to the Klondike gold fields - the Chilkat, Chilkoot and White Pass - are to the north of the community.

Haines is 85 air miles north of the capital city of Juneau and about 600 air miles southeast of Anchorage and Fairbanks. It is connected by road to the interior of Alaska and the continental United States by the Alaska Canada (Alcan) Highway.

The Tlingit Indians were the original inhabitants of the Chilkat Valley. These Natives controlled the trade routes (trails) between the coast and the interior, which became some of today's roads. The village of Klukwan, 22 miles from Haines, is still the mother village for the Tlingit nation. Their culture and totemic art is seen throughout the community of Haines.

Haines enjoys a mild climate and some of the sunniest weather in Southeast Alaska due to the influence of interior weather patterns. Temperatures range from +50 to 70 degrees F in the summer and +10 to +35 degrees F in winter. Average annual precipitation is 52" and average annual snowfall is 133".

HAINES, AK.

The city of Haines is going to be our home for the summer. I have been here before on one of my trips, and fell in love with the town. I thought it would be a great place to bring my family. When you arrive to town on the ferry, the view is breathtaking. We are actually staying about 10 miles out of town, right on the end of the Lutak inlet.





A view of the town coming in on the road from our cabin







The boat dock in Haines







A picturesque town, nestled in the mountains








The last light from the sun shines on the Coast Range Mountains







Map of the Chilkat Peninsula (notice where we are on the map)

Ferry to Haines

No more airplanes for us! From Juneau, we took a 2.5 hour ferry ride north to the city of Haines. Talk about travelling in luxury--plenty of leg room, able to walk around and go to the snack bar, restrooms, etc. It was great. A 180 degree turn around from our previous day's travels. Not to mention the beautiful views of glaciers and snow-covered mountains that we passed on either side. We were told that often you will see whales on this little trip. The boys kept a close watch, but unfortunately, no whales.

Juneau

Juneau, the capital city of Alaska, is a beautiful city. For you trivia buffs, it's the only capital city in the continental U.S that you can't access by road. Again, we decided to stay the night before moving on to our final destination and do a little sight-seeing. After checking in to the hotel we decided to go see a movie. I mean, our first time to a new and beautiful city, what better thing to do than go and watch Shrek, right? (I hope you're sensing the sarcasm!) Well, after sitting on an airplane as long as they did, I figured the least I could do was take the kids to a movie. It was great, too, because we were the only ones in the movie theater. When the movie ended, Katelyn went up onto the stage and danced around in the lights from the movie projector. She quite enjoyed herself. I think she thought she was in the movies.

Afterwards, we took a bus downtown and had dinner at a famous Juneau restaurant called "The Hangar", and boy did they have some amazing fish and chips.

The next morning before leaving Juneau, we took a couple hours to go see the Mendenhall Glacier and surrounding waterfall--they were absolutely beautiful!





Overlooking the water on the boardwalk in downtown Juneau







Kristen and Kylie









Mendenhall Glacier and waterfall

Seattle to Juneau

(***Disclaimer*** Kristen says I write too much. First of all, I apologize. Secondly, it won't hurt my feelings if you don't want to read my long and wordy, oftentimes mundane and silly, sad attempts at creative writing. It's for my benefit more than yours. What can I say? I'm doing my best to be a thorough family historian. So feel free to just scroll through the pictures--they're probably the best part of the blog anyway!)

Our flight left Seattle the next morning at 6:30 am. And let me tell you how easy it is to get a family of 6, including 4 children and a wife who has been up all night nursing a baby, to the airport early enough to catch a 6:30 am flight. I can assure you it is not very easy! We were flying on alaska airlines, and for whatever reason they wouldn't let me pick our seats online when I bought the tickets. They wouldn't even assign us seats when we checked our bags! It wasn't until we actually got to the gate that they were assigning seats, and since we didn't get to the gate very earlier (and I might add that going through security was a joke/nightmare!), by the time we were assigned our seats every single one of us had a single seat spread all around the cabin. Not one of us was sitting with someone in the family. And to make matters worse, it wasn't just a direct flight to Juneau either--it is what they call the "mail run" flight. The plane stopped in Ketchikan, Wrangell, and Petersburg, before finally arriving in Juneau. And at each stop, they wouldn't let us off the plane. So what should have been a 2.5 hour plane ride, ended up being about 7 hours on the plane. Not very fun! So before leaving Seattle I drugged up all the kids with Dramamine and prayed for the best. It was a long trip, but somehow we made it.

Alaska (via Seattle)

OK, so for those of you who don't know, the Reeses have decided to spend the summer in Alaska. Kristen thought it wasn't fair that I got to go to Alaska, but her and the kids had to stay home. So, last summer we started planning a family trip for the summer of 2010. Well, at the time we made the plans, we didn't know we were going to have a baby. I thought that would change things, but nothing can stop Kristen when she gets her little adventurous mind set on something. So on May 31st, the day after we said goodbye to our exchange student, and 3 weeks after having a baby, we packed up and headed to Alaska.

First stop along the way was an overnight layover in Seattle. I intentionally had us stay the night there because I know Kristen likes to take any chance she can to go and show the kids a new place. So with only a couple hours to spare, we went downtown to Pikes Market and the Space Needle. Somehow on the way there (we rented a car) we drove past the exit for the market (how was I to know? I've never been there!) and I think we almost made it to Canada before I realized it. Everybody else had fallen asleep in the car (and I was about to myself, considering I was going on about 3 hours of sleep from packing the night before). I finally had to stop at McDonalds and get a shake to wake me up, and that's when I discovered I had gone way too far. Anyway, we finally made it, and had a fun time walking around the market.

SLC airport--ready to go!






Due to rising costs of checked bags, all the kids took was a carry-on and a "personal item" (their backpacks). Everything they would need for 2 months!









Lots of sea food at the market. But what do we need to buy salmon for? we'll be catching our own before long!








Kristen, Kaden, & Caleb in Pikes Market








Family shot outside the market

Space needle. Ok, so we didn't go in the Space Needle. Just got close enough to take a pic and say we were there.

Karin van der Velde

After 10 months, our adopted 18 year old daughter (foreign exchange student) is going home. Karin is a girl of great confidence, intelligence, and motivation. I have no doubt that she will accomplish great things in her life. It was fun for us to get to meet her dad and brother who came to pick her up. It was a pleasure for us to have her as a part of our family, and we will miss our "Coco" (as Katelyn lovingly called her).








Karin and her new "little sister", Kylie.







Caleb & Karin--we ate our last "family night" meal at Tepenyaki (we've been telling Karin we wanted to take her there the whole time she's been with us, and we finally made it the last week.)








Caleb, Hans (Karin's dad), Karin









Edward (Karin's brother) and Katelyn









Hans, Edward, Karin, Kristen, Kylie, and Katelyn in Park City

Baby Girl

Kylie Reese, born May 7, 2010, weighing 7 lbs. 12 oz., and 20 inches long.

We went in to the hospital for a 7:30 am induction (actually arrived about 7:45--surprise, surprise), hoping for a quick labor and delivery. Didn't happen! She was high up in the birth canal and didn't want to come down. After turning sideways a couple different times, requiring a little extra love and attention from Dr. Hasket, (and succeeding at making things a little more difficult), and after patiently waiting for her to make her move, she finally decided to join us about 4:30 pm.
Everything was good at first, but then after several hours, for some reason, her oxygen levels started going down. However, after a round of antibiotics, and a couple extra days in the NICU for monitoring, she got to come home. And wouldn't you know it, the night before coming home she got a little jaundiced. So we got to bring home the "lights" for her to sleep under. Wow, how many girls can say they spent the first week of their life on a tanning bed? What a lucky girl!
And speaking of lucky....I'm a fortunate man to have such an amazing wife, incredible family, and a new, beautiful, and healthy baby girl!