Lately...

I have way too much to get done to justify sitting at the computer playing on the blog. But it's been so long since I've updated it, and I'm afraid people will give up on reading or even checking in on The Coke Connection. I thought I'd give a "quick" update.

We just returned from a 8 day trip to Illinois for Jeremy's oldest brother's wedding. Jeremy was a groomsman, Anna was the flower girl, Isaac was the ring bearer (even though he didn't bear any rings...just a "slippery pillow"), and Ryley and Josiah were candle lighters. I sat on the pew wearing the supportive and somewhat emotional mom-face. They were all just amazingly cute and I was so proud. I loved it when, for a moment during the ceremony at communion time, they all came and sat with me. Then everyone in the church knew those amazing people belonged to me. The highlight of the entire trip, according to Anna, was when she and Daddy got to dance together at the wedding reception. As there were photographers everywhere taking tons of pictures, I didn't snap any. I couldn't focus the camera anyway, because of the tears blurring my vision and mascara. I WILL be ordering some from the pros, though. It was such an emotional and beautiful thing.

To celebrate the birthdays this year, Grandma and Grandpa Coke took us to Six Flags Great America, close to Chicago. As it turned out, the day we went the park was closed to a private event. That event happened to be Homeschool Day, so we were treated to non-existent lines at the rides, a great atmosphere, and a discounted ticket price! All my kiddos went on real roller coasters and although we all felt queasy on and off all day, no one got sick. Jeremy and I even went on the Super Drop, where we rode 277 ft. straight up and were held there for what seemed like forever, then we free fell all the way down. I think the adrenaline is still coursing through my veins. The grandkids have amazing pull, as they were able to convince Gma and Gpa to go on lots of rides with them. Jeremy's younger brother Jon was also able to go. Ryley and Josiah enjoyed going on the crazy rides with him.We were so thankful to be able to spend a good amount of time with Jeremy's Uncle Mike, Aunt Linda, and cousin Marissa. In the picture below are, l to r, Linda, new sister-in-law Megan, and Marissa.We also spent some time with my grandparents. The kids lit up the faces of folks at the nursing home where Gpa Jacobson lives. Gma and I spent time going through pictures, doing a bit of shopping, going out for a "ladies lunch" with Anna and Mom Coke, and taking Gma through her first ever automatic car wash.

And somehow, in the middle of the trip to the apple orchard, visits with relatives, an afternoon of swimming, and all the rest, the brothers were able to carve out some "down-time" and play video games together.

Now, I better get back to work. We have decided to rent out our house for the time being, and we have people lined up to move in Nov. 1st. All we have to do now is get our property ready for us, pack up the house we've lived in for 10 years, and move out!

"13 Happy Years"

Today is our 13th Anniversary! This morning as Josiah was praying over breakfast, he thanked Jesus "that mom and dad have been married for 13 happy years now". What a blessing it is to hear our children acknowledge the importance of and their thankfulness for our happily wedded life. Thanks for a bunch of amazing years, Jeremy!! I LOVE YOU!

(Anna took both the above picture of the two of us, and the header photo. Both were taken in Halibut Cove. The header picture was intended to capture the eagle in the tree to the right of Ryley's shoe.)

Cupcakes

The Horsman Family came over last night to celebrate Ryley's birthday. Uncle Nate picked out the perfect shirt for a 12 year old boy. See the look of sheer joy on his face?
Josiah suggested that the kids decorate their own cupcakes, which was quite fun. Thanks for coming over, Horsmans! We love you!

Fishin' with Friends

This past weekend found us on the Kenai with our good friends, the DeLongs. They, like us, have three boys and one girl...in that order. We were also married on the same day in the same year. So naturally, we've become friends. ;-) They invited us along to go dipnetting, where they don't camp. I wondered why a camping-loving family would choose to get a room instead of pitching a tent. I soon found out their reason. (We've never dipnetted there before; Jeremy has always gone to Chitna to get our limit of salmon.) Boy was it an experience. I was astounded by the vast amount of people camping out on the beach. There were thousands of tents, vehicles, four wheelers and people lined up on the beach. Both sides of the river were crowded with people out in the water, shoulder to shoulder, trying their luck.

The kids had a great time building sand castles decorated with fish heads while we cheered on the dipnetting dads.

We shared adjoining rooms both nights. The second night, Chris and Karla tried out their new airbed. Here the kids sat, waiting for the evening's entertainment and the big unveiling of the bed...

Thanks, DeLongs, for a fun-filled family weekend!

We stopped by a good kid-fishing spot on our way home. The light drizzle was nothing but a mere annoyance, and the slight breeze had us looking forward to calling it quits to eat a picnic lunch in the truck with the heat on full blast. After cleaning up and stopping in town for a Blizzard to-go, we were on the road again for our long, cozy drive home.

Ryley's 12!!!

We celebrated Ryley's 12th birthday last Thursday. We are so proud of him as he begins the transition to young adult-hood. We Love You Ryley-Boy!!

Gluten Free Goodness

We have been gluten free around here for almost eight years, since Josiah was diagnosed with Celiac Disease as a toddler. There are now four of us who have to avoid gluten, but the other three of us were just diagnosed about a year ago, so although we're excited about cold cereal, none of us is more excited than Josiah.

Cold cereal would not make an appearance at my house any more often even if we could eat gluten, because of its lack of nutrition (might as well just eat half a dozen cookies to break the fast ) and exorbitant price, but we're thrilled to have more choices for an occasional easy, quick breakfast (so we can then fry up some eggs about an hour later because we're starving due to the lack of protein at breakfast, therefore extending our breakfast hour almost up until lunchtime).

I had to snap this picture showing Josiah's excitement, although I've always chosen not to make a big deal out of the dietary differences. Years ago I was asked by the specialist in Anchorage to start a gluten free support group here in the Valley. I declined. I inwardly cringe when people refer to Josiah's food as "special", as in, "No, Johnny, you can't have any of those cookies. Those are Josiah's special cookies. Here, have some of these [not-so-special] cookies." Last time I checked, cookies are special just for being cookies! In an effort to make a gluten free kid not feel unusual, well meaning people make him feel "special" instead. Just like those "special" Olympians. Food is food! There is a magazine out there which is filled with great information, but I absolutely refuse to subscribe because of the victim-like mindset obvious in the title, Living Without. We don't "live without", we live with! The amount of creativity and new grains introduced to our family's meals after Josiah's diagnosis has been nothing but a joy! (Okay, sometimes it's not so joyful, as I've been through frustrating times with baking. But my baking skills sure have been challenged and refined.)

Don't get me wrong; I don't advocate being in denial. I have always tried to validate frustration (either within my kiddos or myself). But after we've had a few minutes feeling sorry for ourselves, we take the Pollyanna approach and remember that if we have to have a disease, this is definitely is the one to have. And if they still feel bummed, I can remind them that it could be worse. They could be without gluten and dairy, like their mother...;-)

3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th of July

We celebrated the 4th in a fun way this year. The Murphys, my sister and her family, came down to Wasilla from their new home of Fairbanks to camp out at our property with us. We set up camp on Thursday evening and came home Sunday afternoon. On the 4th, Nate (brother)and his family came out to have fun with us. The kids all had a great time. They played in the creek on and off all day. They caught fish, dared each other to sit down "all the way", and of course, threw rocks. Quaid and Roanen especially enjoyed that part! The weather couldn't have been more perfect. We skipped the Wasilla 4th Parade this year in favor of having one of our own. The kids got started working on putting it together after breakfast and the event took place about 3, when the Horsmans arrived. At the end, we spectators threw candy at the participants! Here is Isaac, in his "army guy hat".

We were saturated with smoke and the dirt was well glued to faces via marshmallow residue, although it sure was nice having the creek there for those brave (crazy?) enough to wash off in it. Here Brendon helps Roanen roast marshmallows.

Thanks, family, for helping us break in our new property! We enjoyed having all of you there. And a double-thanks to Jeremy, Brendon and Ryley for getting the outhouse built! It's got to be one of the nicest outhouses in town.

Ruth and Nate

The kiddos and their catch. Farthest on the right are Kaylie and Jacob, Ruth's kids.

"The Mama", the elusive fish they finally caught

My Little Helper

This morning after Anna woke up, she came and asked me if I was going to make my bed soon. I usually do that right after I get up, but today I was too intentional on updating my journal first. When I walked into my room, here's what I saw! Not only had Anna made my bed for me, but she'd also picked flowers to lay on it, and written little letters to both "Daddy" and "Mama".

Wildflowers

Look what I woke up to this morning! At 6:30, when I walked into the dining room, I was greeted by this cheery sight. Jeremy must have picked them early this morning before leaving for work. What a sweet, thoughtful guy I'm blessed with!!

Eklutna

The sun was shining this morning, so I shrugged my way out of a commitment (a very casual one, though) and we stacked up our five bikes in the back of the Yukon and drove up to Eklutna, one of our favorite places for biking. We took turns taking silly pictures on a rock at our snack stop.

The End.

June Happenings

The weather has been so unpredictable. I've decided this "abnormal" summer is actually pretty normal. It's so funny that we Alaskans hang on to a summer or two in recent history which was unusually warm and sunny and decide that somehow, that was a "normal" summer. Then when we get summers like this (which is usually what we get) it is considered a quirky, weird summer.

So we've been doing what we do most summers and get outside to enjoy a sunny day as if it is the absolute last day we're gonna actually see the sun for a long time. Laundry backs up. Dust layers itself all over the house. The floor begins to feel sticky on our bare, dirty feet. And this summer, eventually, regardless of the weather, we have the inevitable "house showing" and I have to clean like mad. Even if I have to miss the sun.

The kids enjoyed a rousing game of Monopoly in front of a cozy fire one fine June morning.

Then the sun came out (kinda) and we seized the moment and hiked the Butte.

The Adventures of Tom

We have a new family member. We adopted the little abandoned bunny and named him Tom, after the man from whom we bought our property. He was in the same place on Sunday that we left him the day before. Lucy, our dog, found him. Ryley saved him from certain death and Tom was left no worse for the wear...with only slobber-covered fur. Jeremy pointed out that if our kids were able to catch him, so could anything. So we brought him home and borrowed a cage from some bunny-loving friends. We currently feed him raw cow milk out of a dropper. It's a very laborious job, as this rabbit seems to always be hungry. I think we need a miniature bottle with which to feed him.

The current plan is to keep him until he's bigger and then release him back into the wild. But I'm admittedly getting pretty attached. So, we'll see...

Our Saturday

What a beautiful, fun-filled day we had. We were at the property (checking out the progress on the driveway!) and as Jeremy and I worked around the cabin (I even mowed the "lawn"), the kids started work on their tree fort.

Ryley spotted and caught this sweet little bunny. We all took turns holding and petting it, then we released him back where he was found. We were a bit sad to see him hop off, but "'tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all". It was truly love-at-first-sight. We're dreaming that maybe he bonded with us because he's so young and impressionable, and he'll stay around and occasionally play with us!

Coyote, and Foxes and Bears, OH MY!

Construction on our "driveway" is now underway!
We were up there the other day and saw these fairly large bear tracks right on the trail, ahead of the excavator. (Isaac's little bear paw is there for perspective.) The tracks were fresh and we know they were made just that morning, as Jeremy had been there the night before and there were none. Also found on the trail was either coyote or wolf scat and fox tracks. None of these signs are unusual for that trail, but these bear tracks were the biggest we've seen yet. Although I do pack a handgun when were playing/working up there, I seriously doubt we'll ever need it. Unlike the Anchorage bears, these still have that healthy fear of humans.

And although at times I'd really appreciate some silence, we are pretty much unable to sneak through the woods.

FamilyFriends

This post title is not a typo. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between the two. Often, they are one in the same. And that pleases God, I believe. Our near 13 years in Alaska have been remarkably blessed both by the natural and the non-blood family our Heavenly Father has brought into our lives. I occasionally wonder where we would be...who we would be...without their spiritual impact on our lives.The DenBleykers blessed us with their presence for dinner and a long evening. "Aunt Marva" and "Uncle/Grandpa Mike" are so special to our kiddos.

Our good FamilyFriends the Morris Family came to see us the other day (all but Jamin, who's out fishing...) We played around on the land and in the creek and had such a fun afternoon.

My dad has been in the state for a couple of weeks doing several horse clinics and we were thrilled to have him here on his big day! Between our family and the Horsman family, Grandpa was well loved!

Missing from the grandkid photo are Kaylie and Jacob, (whom he got to visit in Fairbanks also) and Grandma Horsman, who was unable to come this time around. We missed you all!!