The kids got their pictures taken with their letter, except for Brooklin. She chose A because it was close, and because she is the first kid. And for Levi, they spelled out "CALI" for you!
18 August 2008
CA Adventures Pictures from 07/08/08
The kids got their pictures taken with their letter, except for Brooklin. She chose A because it was close, and because she is the first kid. And for Levi, they spelled out "CALI" for you!
17 August 2008
Thumbs up - house signing. Thumbs down - Frontier Inn & Suites
Tomorrow we are closing on our house!! We are so excited to not be in this hotel anymore. And just for the record, if you ever come to Juneau, and don't stay with us: First of all - Why would you do that! Shame on you! And second of all - DO NOT stay at the Frontier Suites. We have been here for exactly three weeks now, and our room has only been completely cleaned ONCE. We have had to take out our own trash EVERY DAY, we have run out of toilet paper twice, the sheets were only changed once - three days ago, (except for Isaiah's...he had a night accident, and I had to change the sheets myself.), and there isn't anywhere to hang the TWO towels they give us so they end up on the floor, and we have to ask for extra (make that any and all) towels EVERY DAY. We have even hijacked a vacuum cleaner from down the hall, and vacuumed the floor ourselves, because it was so gross. Just this morning, we had about 15 squares of toilet paper, and only hand towels left, so I went at 7am to the front desk and asked for towels and toilet paper. When we got home from church at 12:30pm, they still hadn't brought us any, and I had to go and track down a cleaning lady and ask her for some. This is the WORST service we have ever had at a hotel. The only time we've had a worse hotel experience, was in the roach motel next to the Laie Temple, but that was not because of the service...lol...and we ended up leaving there at 10pm to go to another hotel that had less critters roaming the room.
So anyway, we are grateful we had a place to stay, and especially that it had a full kitchen, so we didn't have to eat out everynight, and that the Coast Guard paid the bill, but we will never be staying here again.
This evening, we went on a short walk with the kids on a trail by the airport. We tried to find a geocache, but came up empty. =( There was a really creepy guy on the trail, so we didn't stay around and explore the area very much and luckily, no one won the dog poop award this week, yeah!
One thing about everyone.
Darwin: He seems to be at work longer and later here and has more phone calls about work. It could also be that we are all used to having him around all the time, and need to remember what it is like to have him working.
Melissa: I went into Joann Fabric on Friday, so Brooklin could get a little project to work on to keep her busy. I walked out of there with 60 yards of 20 different fabrics that only cost me $88!! They were having a really good sale, and I totally scored!
Brooklin: She went to girls camp here from the 4th to the 11th of Aug. and had an absolute ball. Her favorite things were kayaking and making new friends. She sang the songs she learned at camp so much, that I had to "hide" her camp songbook.
Caleb: We went walking out in the harbor in Douglas on Friday night, down all the docks, and found Caleb's best friend's family's boat. They have lived on it for the past four years, and we had heard that they were moored up in Douglas for the summer. They just happened to be home, and we got to catch up with them. His friend wasn't there, but his friend's brother and mom were home, and it was so fun to see them again.
London: She is being a good girl. We had to buy her some new pajamas this past week, because she is aparantly growing, and they were just way too small for her. She is almost as tall as Caleb!
Isaiah: We had to explain to him this week, that it wasn't ok to pat grown ups on the butt when greeting them. We would greet someone we hadn't seen in three years, and then while chatting with them, Isaiah would be walking around behind them and whacking them on the hiney! We kind of do that at home...kind of like love pats, and so I guess he thought that was how you said "Hey. How ya doin'. What's new?" He did this to a friend of ours in the store, and then he did it to our loan officer, who is a great big dude! It was getting really embarrassing.
Well, no pictures again, but this week we should have a few to put up. We get to sign papers on Monday; move in, go to a cub scout potluck, achievement days (London), and mutual (Brooklin) on Tuesday; and register the kids for school on Friday. We are leaving Wed and Thurs open to get a little settled. If I don't post for a week, you will know why!
C-Ya!
So anyway, we are grateful we had a place to stay, and especially that it had a full kitchen, so we didn't have to eat out everynight, and that the Coast Guard paid the bill, but we will never be staying here again.
This evening, we went on a short walk with the kids on a trail by the airport. We tried to find a geocache, but came up empty. =( There was a really creepy guy on the trail, so we didn't stay around and explore the area very much and luckily, no one won the dog poop award this week, yeah!
One thing about everyone.
Darwin: He seems to be at work longer and later here and has more phone calls about work. It could also be that we are all used to having him around all the time, and need to remember what it is like to have him working.
Melissa: I went into Joann Fabric on Friday, so Brooklin could get a little project to work on to keep her busy. I walked out of there with 60 yards of 20 different fabrics that only cost me $88!! They were having a really good sale, and I totally scored!
Brooklin: She went to girls camp here from the 4th to the 11th of Aug. and had an absolute ball. Her favorite things were kayaking and making new friends. She sang the songs she learned at camp so much, that I had to "hide" her camp songbook.
Caleb: We went walking out in the harbor in Douglas on Friday night, down all the docks, and found Caleb's best friend's family's boat. They have lived on it for the past four years, and we had heard that they were moored up in Douglas for the summer. They just happened to be home, and we got to catch up with them. His friend wasn't there, but his friend's brother and mom were home, and it was so fun to see them again.
London: She is being a good girl. We had to buy her some new pajamas this past week, because she is aparantly growing, and they were just way too small for her. She is almost as tall as Caleb!
Isaiah: We had to explain to him this week, that it wasn't ok to pat grown ups on the butt when greeting them. We would greet someone we hadn't seen in three years, and then while chatting with them, Isaiah would be walking around behind them and whacking them on the hiney! We kind of do that at home...kind of like love pats, and so I guess he thought that was how you said "Hey. How ya doin'. What's new?" He did this to a friend of ours in the store, and then he did it to our loan officer, who is a great big dude! It was getting really embarrassing.
Well, no pictures again, but this week we should have a few to put up. We get to sign papers on Monday; move in, go to a cub scout potluck, achievement days (London), and mutual (Brooklin) on Tuesday; and register the kids for school on Friday. We are leaving Wed and Thurs open to get a little settled. If I don't post for a week, you will know why!
C-Ya!
14 August 2008
Adoption update
I haven't written anything about how our adoption journey is going recently. July 3rd, we got an email from a mom of a 4yr. old Africian American boy. I sent her an email, and she was having some medical issues, and was worried about being able to take care of him long term. July 9th, another email from parent profiles. A lady in AZ that had an adopted child and wanted to relinquish him/her. July 20th, email from parent profiles: a woman with an 8 yr old child who said it was really hard to raise her (she had her at 16 and I'm guessing she was single). And for the last of the emails from parent profiles: A woman wrote me a very long (and kind of confusing) email about a little boy who is eight that needed to be placed. I'm not sure how (or if) she was actuallly related to him, but it sounded like he had been through a lot.
On Aug. 1st, Sally (our adoption worker) called me and told me that she thought she had found our baby. I was at Wal-Mart, and was a little in shock. She was going over to meet with her as soon as she got off the phone with me. After the meeting, she called and gave me her name and number. I called and talked to her, and it sounded good. I tried to call her two days later, to see how she was doing, and she didn't answer. The next day, I tried again to call her, and she didn't answer again, but called back about 10 min. later. She saw she had missed a call and was waiting for a call back from a hair dresser, and thought my number was it. She didn't want to talk to me, and got off of the phone really fast. I called Sally, and she said to go ahead and send her a little care package, but that the woman (who is 37) had kind of changed her mind, because this may be the last chance she has to have a baby, and was thinking about keeping it instead.
On a much happier adoption note, my brother Joel and his wife Lila got a call on Monday, Aug. 4th from their adoption worker. A birthmother had chosen them and wanted to meet them the next day. She had already given birth (2 weeks previous) and if the meeting went well, they would be bringing home a son on Tue. the 5th. The meeting went very well, and they were able to bring Calvin home that afternoon. They had less than 24 hours notice! One day she was at work, and the next day she was a mom! They started their paperwork back in Feb (I think) and had just finished it up in June and only had to be in the waiting pool for 8 weeks! We are so excited for them. They have been married for 4 1/2 years, and have been struggling with infertility. We are so grateful to their birthmother, for helping them to become parents. It was just an amazing story. You can read their story by clicking here. The first picture (on their blog) is of their birthmom with her baby, and the other one is of them with their new son.
On Aug. 1st, Sally (our adoption worker) called me and told me that she thought she had found our baby. I was at Wal-Mart, and was a little in shock. She was going over to meet with her as soon as she got off the phone with me. After the meeting, she called and gave me her name and number. I called and talked to her, and it sounded good. I tried to call her two days later, to see how she was doing, and she didn't answer. The next day, I tried again to call her, and she didn't answer again, but called back about 10 min. later. She saw she had missed a call and was waiting for a call back from a hair dresser, and thought my number was it. She didn't want to talk to me, and got off of the phone really fast. I called Sally, and she said to go ahead and send her a little care package, but that the woman (who is 37) had kind of changed her mind, because this may be the last chance she has to have a baby, and was thinking about keeping it instead.
On a much happier adoption note, my brother Joel and his wife Lila got a call on Monday, Aug. 4th from their adoption worker. A birthmother had chosen them and wanted to meet them the next day. She had already given birth (2 weeks previous) and if the meeting went well, they would be bringing home a son on Tue. the 5th. The meeting went very well, and they were able to bring Calvin home that afternoon. They had less than 24 hours notice! One day she was at work, and the next day she was a mom! They started their paperwork back in Feb (I think) and had just finished it up in June and only had to be in the waiting pool for 8 weeks! We are so excited for them. They have been married for 4 1/2 years, and have been struggling with infertility. We are so grateful to their birthmother, for helping them to become parents. It was just an amazing story. You can read their story by clicking here. The first picture (on their blog) is of their birthmom with her baby, and the other one is of them with their new son.
Here is a picture of their new son, Calvin Kirkham Strasser.
11 August 2008
My Vacation Craft
So, there is no way I could go for a whole month without creating something, so this is what I have been doing for the past 8 weeks. I have dearly missed my sewing machine, but this kept me plenty busy. It is a completely hand stitched (check out the bears' scarves!) and beaded Christmas stocking. My friend Ketra asked me to do one of these for her son for Christmas, this spring. I had never heard of these, and so I didn't know how intricate they were...so I told her "sure, no problem". At first, I was a little intimidated, but it turned out to be totally addictive and fun. I did about 70% of the one for my friend's son (which was a jolly snowman with a string of Christmas lights), and then she wanted to try to do some of it. I was so excited about doing another one, I went online that night and bought seven kits. The kits (by bucilla) are between $12 and $18 and come with pretty much everything. The best part is the finished ones sell for $100 online. I am not keeping this one, but am going to try and sell it here (or online). It can be personalized (the name goes across the top, and attaches to the smoke coming out of the chimney). I have already started another one called sugar plum fairy. Hopefully I can sell them, and have some extra money for Christmas this year!
10 August 2008
Family walk
This is our walk for this week. It was a little rainy, but not enough to keep us in =). Sorry we all have red eyes. I don't have photoshop on this computer, so I can't fix any of the photos. It was a little dim, so we all ended up with them. We found a geocache along the trail, and then hiked back to a little river. Most of the trail was boards, and since it was wet, the boards were really slick. Isaiah slipped and went straight onto his back, and Darwin almost fell, but caught himself. Caleb also won the "dog poop" award. Last week Brooklin and Isaiah stepped in some, and this week Caleb did. I really wish people would clean up after their pets!!!
Enjoying nature on the sabbath day
We like to take walks on Sunday. It is our day of rest, and we don't do too much besides going to church, but we do like to take a Sunday walk. This week, we went to a boardwalk trail over Jordan Creek. I'm not sure what the real name of it is, but it was beautiful. We of course found the trail by way of geocaching, so that was a little bonus...but the cache was right at the beginning of the trail. We walked really far back into the trees to a little river. The weather (as per usual) was slightly rainy, and the clouds were just resting in the trees. It was so beautiful the way the mist just hung in the trees. I was able to get a few really good shots of it. My favorites are the first one, and the fourth one.
First house picture!
Here is a picture of the house we are buying. We're not entirely sure when we get to move in, but it will be by the end of the month. The elementary is right behind the house, and the middle school is within walking distance. We can't wait to be out of this tiny hotel room. We have been "homeless" for almost 8 weeks now, and I really just want to go home.
07 August 2008
What!?!
I bet you all weren't expecting this type of picture! Neither was I really, but it got up to 70 DEGREES yesterday!! I went over to my friend Wendy's house to do our laundry yesterday, and the kids asked if they could run in the sprinkler, because it was hot. I totally thought they would get out there, and get the first few drops on them, and then come and say it was too cold...but they stayed out for about 20 minutes! They borrowed suits from their friends, and ran and screamed and had a ball. So much better than being cooped up in the tiny hotel room. They stopped to change the type of sprinkler they were using, and during the pause, Isaiah got a huge splinter in his foot from the deck. He screamed like a banshee while we tried to get it out. When the show was over, the clouds had rolled in and the sun went away for awhile, so the fun was over, but we did get warm yesterday and Tuesday it was sunny also. I am grateful for the sunny days we had. Now it is 9am, overcast and 57 degrees.
03 August 2008
DI PAC ~ Douglas Island Pink And Chum
On Saturday, Darwin took the kids down to DIPAC (die-pack) to see the salmon (I woke up sick on Saturday with chills, aches, and a fever, so I stayed home and slept most of the day). DIPAC is a fish hatchery here in Juneau. It has a big fish ladder and when the salmon make it up to the top of the ladder, the workers extract the roe (eggs) and sperm and mix them together and incubate it over the winter. In the spring, they release the smolt (baby fish) back into the channel. The hatchery is permitted to incubate 121 million chum (dog salmon), 50 million pink (humpy salmon), 1.5 million coho (silver salmon), and 950,000 chinook (king salmon) annually. After visiting the fish ladder, he let them each catch...and release...their own fish.
The kids at DIPAC
The fish ladder.
The kids at DIPAC
The fish ladder.
More of the ladder.
Caleb watching a dog salmon.
Thousands of fish!
More fish
Brooklin with a fish on.
Caleb reeling one in.
London's fish.
Isaiah fishing.
Brooklin picking up a fish.
Caleb holding a dog salmon.
01 August 2008
1st test done
I forgot to put in the update post that I went in to the university on Thursday and took my first college placement test. I took the English one, and a happy to announce that I am not a bonehead! The test placed me in English 111, which is regular college English. I was a little surprised, because I hated English in high school, and I slept through my entire jr. year of English class. I am going in on Mon (I think) to take the Math placement test. I also changed my major with the help of my counselor. My major is Associates of Business. I can't even remember the original one I signed up for, but she said this one would be better for me and what I wanted to do.
1st Photos of Alaska ~ by Brooklin
The Mendenhall Glacier Park
A salmon
A salmon
The Mendenhall Glacier
Family at the glacier...yes we are freezing! (well Darwin isn't...he is finally comfortable)
Another family shot...with shakas!
An eagle...they are everywhere!
Caught!
We found Brooklin's camera, and while I was pulling the glacier pictures off, I found this lovely picture she took of me. I'm not sure when the first time I tried Nutella was, but it is one of my favorite foods. They didn't sell it in Maui very often, so I haven't had it in three years. Darwin got some at IKEA when he went to Florida this spring to visit his brother and this is me cleaning out the container. It was basically empty, so someone tried to throw it away, and I totally grabbed it and started licking the jar!! It is that good!
Almost Home
Well, we have been really busy. It seems like we got here weeks ago. Darwin went back to the dealership on Tuesday, and we got a good deal on a 2004 Ford Expedition. It is black and it seats 8 people. They kept it until Wed. so they could detail it and get the plates and everything on it for us. We also found out on Tue. that our van would be in on Wed, so we have both cars, and only had to rent a car for two days....saving us $1000.
We went out on Tuesday with the realtor again, and she showed us seven more houses. Of those, we really only kind of like the first one, and it had some noticeable roof issues. By the end of the day, I had told Darwin that I just wanted to rent, and not give all our money to any of the houses we saw. I still wanted to take him back to the FSBO I had looked at very first (and for those wondering...FSBO is For Sale By Owner) but I had left a message and not heard back from them. We went out shopping after dinner, and while we were out, we got a call from the FSBO house. They said we could come right over. After walking through it again with the family, I was ready to offer right then and there! It is a 4 bd/2 bth, 1800 sq ft., built in 1996 and in our price range. I actually called them back right after we left and told them we wanted to make an offer, but needed to get the earnest money agreement from the bank first. It is in the middle school boundries we wanted, but it is in the other ward (the church here has two congregations, and it is not in the same one we were in before). We went into the bank on Thurs and got the paperwork, and met the owners at 3pm. We offered them $20,000 under their asking price, and they settled for $15,000 under! They still have to move out and such and we have a lot of paper work and other stuff to complete (the inspection and appraisal, etc.) but hopefully we will be in a house we love by the end of the month!
I'm really excited, and I hope everything goes well. This morning we went back to the bank to fill out some of the pre-closing paperwork and then I went grocery shopping because I am tired of paying for fast food. After we find where Brooklin left her camera, I will put up a picture or two of us at the Mendenhall Glacier...to prove we really are here....lol!
We went out on Tuesday with the realtor again, and she showed us seven more houses. Of those, we really only kind of like the first one, and it had some noticeable roof issues. By the end of the day, I had told Darwin that I just wanted to rent, and not give all our money to any of the houses we saw. I still wanted to take him back to the FSBO I had looked at very first (and for those wondering...FSBO is For Sale By Owner) but I had left a message and not heard back from them. We went out shopping after dinner, and while we were out, we got a call from the FSBO house. They said we could come right over. After walking through it again with the family, I was ready to offer right then and there! It is a 4 bd/2 bth, 1800 sq ft., built in 1996 and in our price range. I actually called them back right after we left and told them we wanted to make an offer, but needed to get the earnest money agreement from the bank first. It is in the middle school boundries we wanted, but it is in the other ward (the church here has two congregations, and it is not in the same one we were in before). We went into the bank on Thurs and got the paperwork, and met the owners at 3pm. We offered them $20,000 under their asking price, and they settled for $15,000 under! They still have to move out and such and we have a lot of paper work and other stuff to complete (the inspection and appraisal, etc.) but hopefully we will be in a house we love by the end of the month!
I'm really excited, and I hope everything goes well. This morning we went back to the bank to fill out some of the pre-closing paperwork and then I went grocery shopping because I am tired of paying for fast food. After we find where Brooklin left her camera, I will put up a picture or two of us at the Mendenhall Glacier...to prove we really are here....lol!
29 July 2008
We're here!!
Well....we all made it to Juneau safely. Our plane unloaded us right onto the ground, and it was like stepping into a freezer to me. It was 50 degrees, misting, and cloudy....and it has been that way ever since. I'm not complaining, I was just really hoping that we were going to have some time to gradually adjust to the cooler temps. Oh well.
We got into Juneau at 9:45 pm on Sunday night, and after getting the rental car and hotel situated, I left to go and get milk and cereal for in the morning. When I got into Safeway, I had the most extreme case of deja vu I've ever experienced. It was very weird! It has been really interesting to drive around here and see all this stuff that I was very sure I wasn't ever going to see again.
Yesterday, I went and looked at an FSBO, and then went to visit the realtor that sold us our home here last time, and she took us to look at six houses. We are meeting with her again later this afternoon to look at seven more houses. Miss Wendy offered to watch the littles for us yesterday and today, so we wouldn't have to take off and put on six pairs of shoes....I am so grateful to her and her family for being such good friends.
After we ate dinner, we went to look at some trucks at the car dealerships around here. We waited until we knew they would be closed so we could look without pressure. At the last one, we were noticing that it appeared that the dealership was going through a name change, or maybe it was under new managment....the sign said one name, and all the cars had another name on the plate covers. Anyway, we know the guy who's name was on all of the plate covers, and were wondering if he had bought the dealership (we know that he owns at least two dealerships in the area, but he lives in Ketchikan) and just then this guy comes out, and it is him!! He sold Dar his gold and black truck that we had when we were here last time, and it was really crazy that he was here and that we saw him. We got to chat with him, and he told Darwin to call him directly to get a deal on a truck, and he would take care of us personally. I guess that he owns five dealerships now...and he said, "Paying tithing really works!!" It was funny.
Anyway, I need to get out of the house. I need to go and visit the bank and the university sometime today. Pray that we can find the right house quickly!
MeJ
We got into Juneau at 9:45 pm on Sunday night, and after getting the rental car and hotel situated, I left to go and get milk and cereal for in the morning. When I got into Safeway, I had the most extreme case of deja vu I've ever experienced. It was very weird! It has been really interesting to drive around here and see all this stuff that I was very sure I wasn't ever going to see again.
Yesterday, I went and looked at an FSBO, and then went to visit the realtor that sold us our home here last time, and she took us to look at six houses. We are meeting with her again later this afternoon to look at seven more houses. Miss Wendy offered to watch the littles for us yesterday and today, so we wouldn't have to take off and put on six pairs of shoes....I am so grateful to her and her family for being such good friends.
After we ate dinner, we went to look at some trucks at the car dealerships around here. We waited until we knew they would be closed so we could look without pressure. At the last one, we were noticing that it appeared that the dealership was going through a name change, or maybe it was under new managment....the sign said one name, and all the cars had another name on the plate covers. Anyway, we know the guy who's name was on all of the plate covers, and were wondering if he had bought the dealership (we know that he owns at least two dealerships in the area, but he lives in Ketchikan) and just then this guy comes out, and it is him!! He sold Dar his gold and black truck that we had when we were here last time, and it was really crazy that he was here and that we saw him. We got to chat with him, and he told Darwin to call him directly to get a deal on a truck, and he would take care of us personally. I guess that he owns five dealerships now...and he said, "Paying tithing really works!!" It was funny.
Anyway, I need to get out of the house. I need to go and visit the bank and the university sometime today. Pray that we can find the right house quickly!
MeJ
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