The Sun!

Hello! I hope today was as beautiful of a day for you as it was for us up here in Alaska. Justin had to work, boo... but Jenssen and I enjoyed a fun afternoon at the park with our friends the Nelsons. It was supposed to rain, like always, but it was a beautiful sunny day. Jenssen is getting pretty good at climbing and sliding down all the play equipment. It does help that he has 6 Nelson friends to show him how to do it all. Izzy even joined us today, and I must thank the Nelson kids for helping entertain her. I think she has now licked her share of kids for the week. Near the end of our play date, we had an MP (military police) come up to us, and inform us that a black bear has been hanging around the park for the last few days. He himself chased it around for about 30 minutes yesterday, and instead of running away (like they normally do) the bear just kinda hung around and almost played with him. He didn't say we had to leave, but was just letting us know. Well, keep in mind, we are IN Alaska, so I always keep in mind that there are probably 5 bears and 3 moose near me, but, no need to make myself bear bait. So, we headed home. Still a beautiful day though!


Ah! Maybe it rains so much here, so that you appreciate the sun that much more! 70% chance of rain on the 4th, paired with 20 hrs of sunlight made me think the 4th would be just yet another day this year. But, we enjoyed some local festivites, and ended the night with a BBQ with friends.

I had heard of a parade and 4th of July festival downtown, so we headed out to check it out. Now, had we tried to get to the parade on time, and find a good spot to watch it, we would have been late and sitting in the back. However, we headed out whenever we felt like it, loaded up, took our time, found parking in the first place we looked, and arrived just in time to see the parade start from one of the best seats in the house. Interesting.... Jenssen was pretty unimpressed at first, as you can see. But he livened up once he saw a few trucks drive by.



Jenssen worked for quite some time on trying to put his hat back on his head. I think I still have a job to do as a mom for a while.


Alaskans have some interesting floats. Justin's favorite, by far, was the 2nd Amendment group. Wonder why?


Mr Jenssen, looking dashing as always.

Back on the interesting floats, this was for the blood bank. Buddy, the drop of blood, reminding you all do donate. That was creepy, especially since each time they said "buddy" it sounded like "bloody".

At noon they had the reading of the Declaration of Independce. It was really neat, and something EACH and EVERY American needs to read or listen to. Wow, I can't stress that enough. We decided to try out a Turkey leg. Yes, yes, I know. Kim, mom, Cori, j-lo, you are hinting that I should have learned my lesson last year at Cottonwood. Well, it smelled good. However, still tastes like ham. We still enjoyed the people watching (Justin has all the pictures to show ya) and Jenssen enjoyed running in the grass. Izzy even made the trip, and was well behaved in her stars and stripes bandanna!


Quick little garden update. Sorry, it isn't supposed to be artistic, Jenssen was just being too helpful with the pics. Everything is looking green, which is good. The peas are climbing like crazy, but still no blossoms. The carrots, after being thinned out like 10 times, actually look orange and are looking more like a carrot than a root. I have used a few onions, and lettuce and spinach are part of each meal it seems like. My sweet pepper has a little pepper on it, with a bunch of blossoms, but the jalapeno is puzzling. I don't think it has grown a leaf since I transplanted it, nor does it have blossoms. Hmm, maybe it just needs more time. The tomatoes are needing some TLC. I think they are suffering from blight. I'm thinking the constant rain and wet leaves didn't help. Fred Myer has hooked me up with some fungicide, so let's hope it works. They have lots of blossoms, but they get spotty and fall off. I'm hoping to see a tomoato soon though! I'm sad to report that our new addition, Julie, didn't make it. I think she was too big for the topsy turvey when I put her in. Maybe next year.


As for the cucumber, who I basically left for dead only a few days after planting it, well just look! Look at that cucumber! There are about 12 blossoms behind that too. I'm excited! Maybe when dad is here he can teach me how to make pickles for Jenssen.

Well, tomorrow I pick up Brent and Kim from the airport, yay! We are going to do a lot of hiking, and just taking in Alaska. Let's hope we don't need our rain gear!

I must give a final shout out to my sister Amy. It is her birthday tomorrow, July 7th. Happy Birthday Amy! Love ya and Miss ya!