SUPER MOM

My wife is a super mom!

Usually when I come home from a trip to Alaska I like to talk about how crazy and adventurous my trip was. However, this time I decided to summarize how crazy things were back home. Remember, this all happened in only 12 days, and while Kristen was being a single parent.



--Katelyn gymnastics 3 times a week (and since she got picked to be on a new team, a couple of those days were twice a day practices).

--Katelyn dance lessons twice a week

--Kaden started tryouts for a soccer club (every day, Monday thru Friday, the entire 2 weeks)

--Piano lessons for the boys (2 times each)

--Babysit a few different times for a friend of ours that just had a baby

--Young women weekly activity night (twice)

--Caleb's talent show at school

--Run a half marathon race in Ogden (not to mention all the training that is involved)

--Work at Tres Jolie as much as possible to fill in while I'm gone (4 different days)

--Get Katelyn to school (twice a week)

--Katelyn's dance recital

--Play futsall at stake center with other women in the stake

--Visit teach

--Babysit and clean a couple times for a different neighbor who is packing up to move

--Coming home to find the police at our house (since one of our children and a friend were sure they saw someone in the house, and called 911) and not be able to get in until it was OK'd by the police.

--Meet 2 different times with a lady from International Student Exchange, and fill out all the paper work to try and get accepted as a host family

--Have car towed because tire is completely flat (and couldn't find anyone to help her fix it)

--Get emergency call from friend who needs Kristen to run to her house for something (while the tow truck is waiting in our driveway. She asked the man to wait. He was a nice man)

--Pinewood derby (not only go to the race, but help both boys make their cars also)

--Young women 3 hour presidency meeting

--Up all night one night with a sick child (Caleb got sick and threw-up over the side of his bed. Kaden, wanting to keep his brother company, was sleeping at the side of Caleb's bed. You can imagine how that ended)

--Katelyn's end of year program at preschool

--Parent/teacher conferences

etc., etc, etc.



Honestly, I can't imagine any more major events that could possibly happen in a 12 day time period--and they all happened to be while I was gone. Seriously, imagine fitting all of that into just 12 days. It's wearing me out just thinking about it. Now I know that all moms are busy, but this took things to the extreme. My wife is amazing. She definitely earns the award of "Super Mom of the Week". I don't know what I would ever do without her.

BACKWARDS DAY

Kaden's class at school was having a "backwards day" day. He couldn't miss the chance to participate.

Clothes and backpack on backwards.

Face painted on back of head.

Final product.

Silly kid!

Alaska Trip--April 09

This trip was as is every other trip--an adventure! It started with my being delayed by 3 days because of an active volcano just outside of Anchorage, that was spewing ash. Flights were not going into Anchorage. Fortunately, I was still in Salt lake when they started cancelling flights (and not in some other city), so I was able to go home and wait. Once I finally got there, it was business as usual. This trip took me to 5 villages (4 of which I have been to before). They were Togiak, Manakotak, New Stuyahok, Dillingham, and Naknek. Here are a few of the highlights:




My first flight from Anchorage to Togiak took us directly pass the volcano--Redoubt. We had to go around it the long way, so as to avoid the ash. Here's a shot from out my window. We were pretty close.









In New Stuyahok I had the opportunity to watch a village Elder skin an otter. He brought it into the local school so the students could watch him. He just flopped it on the ground on a piece of cardboard, and went to work.
I asked the teacher how they got the otter, and she said, "Oh, we chased it down this morning on our way in to work, and ran it over with the snow machine." Not quite what I had imagined the answer would be. But I guess they have road-kill here too!




In Manakotak, a patient said she was going ice fishing that afternoon, and that they would bring us some back if they were successful. Well, they were. They charged us $40.00 for 3 beautiful rainbow trout. Unfortunately, they weren't delivered cleaned and cooked, with a side of vegetables, and a loaf of home-made bread. It was all up to us to clean and cook them. On a funnier note, Sach and I were right in the middle of cleaning the fish (hands covered with blood and a bloody butcher knife in our hands), when a patient from earlier in the day came back to ask us something. They took a look at us and their eyes got as big as saucers. I guess we did look a little like crazed maniacs.




Here I am waiting at the "airport", standing on the side of the run-way, waiting for our plane to come and get us. Global warming is pretty obvious, isn't it?










Flying to one of the villages I noticed a herd of moose down below us. I tried to get my camera out to take some pictures before we passed them. The pilot noticed what I was doing (since I was sitting next to him in the co-pilot's seat) and asked if I wanted a better angle. So he circled the plane around and got a little lower to the ground, so I could get this picture. They're still pretty small, but there were at least 16 moose just laying down there in the snow. I also saw a bear about 5 minutes later along the river, but I didn't get my camera out soon enough, I didn't dare ask the pilot to turn around again.

Signs that Spring is in the air--the ice over the rivers is starting to crack. This trip was a little warmer than the last--upper 20s to low 30s. Beats 20 to 30 below zero from the last trip.

AN EASTER MESSAGE

I was sitting at my desk working on my computer when Katelyn, Caleb, & a friend walked in. The friend pointed to a picture of my brother that I have on my bookshelf and asked Caleb who it was. "That's my uncle," Caleb said, "But he's not here anymore. He's dead." To which Katelyn emphatically replied, "He's not dead, he's in Heaven!"
An Easter message from a 4 year old.

The Perfect Belly Button

The other day we took Grandpa Green to the Alpine Arts Museum (where our Tres Jolie office is) because he wanted to take some pictures of the foundry. Grandpa and Katelyn went into the studio where Deon Duncan, one of the sculptors, was just finishing up a sculpture of a little girl. She was literally taking the statue apart to take it to be bronzed, when she felt something just wasn’t right with the little girl’s belly button. Noticing Katelyn standing across the room, she asked, “Do you have an innie or an outie belly button.” Well, Katelyn wasn’t about to show her,

but when Grandpa told us about it we took her back into the studio and convinced her to show Deon her belly button. Deon was ecstatic--it was perfect. So Katelyn had to stand still for several minutes and model her belly button, while Deon put the finishing touches on her sculpture. It was adorable!

Lunchroom Duty

Once every few months, a couple students in Caleb’s class get picked to do lunchroom duty. Caleb got picked this time. He was actually really excited to do it. Not only do they get out of class a little early to go set up, but they get to stay a little later (which means more class is missed), have lunch for free, and get extra desserts. What more could a boy ask for! Mom and Katelyn even went to have lunch with him, but he was working so hard that he didn’t have a chance to eat with them while they were there. I wish we could get him to work that hard at home! :)

Draper Temple

We had the opportunity to attend the Draper Temple open house. It was a great opportunity for us to go into the temple with our children, and talk about why they are so important to us. It was a sweet experience to stand together as a family in one of the sealing rooms, look into the large mirrors on both sides of the room, and see our reflections go on and on and on. A lot of great questions were asked, and simple answers given. It was a great learning experience for all of us. And the icing on the cake came when on the way home Kaden said, “Mom and Dad, thanks for taking us to the temple.” Now, every time we drive by the temple and sing “I love to see the temple, I’m going there some day…”, I hope it will have a little greater meaning.