So it has been almost a month since I have posted a blog, Sorry! As many know I spent 8 days in Vancouver at the end of June/beginning of July. It was sooooo nice being home and we can't wait to move back. I will start seriously looking for work in Vancouver in a month or two, we are both very homesick and are not looking forward to another winter here. We tell everyone that this is a nice place to visit, but living here away from family and everything familiar is very hard.
While in Vancouver I did lots of shopping to feed my need, shopping at Fred Meyer and Wal-mart gets old really fast! I went to Kohl's, Nordstrom Rack, Target, Borders, Old Navy, Adidas, Columbia Sports Wear, Forever 21 and Macy's. I ate at some wonderful restaurants, saw Twilight Eclipse with mom, Ruth and Jamie (yay!), rode my horse (I missed riding so much), got a new cell phone, helped throw a partial surprise 50th birthday party for mom, went to drill practice, watched movies while painting nails with mom, visited my house in Camas, visited with some close friends (Rachel and Kara), saw my Aunt Willy from Texas, went to church, watched Sophie at dance practice, got my groove on to Wii "Just Dance", had some much needed R&R with family, looked at some dream property in Battle Ground, drank coffee from Starbucks and Brewed Awakenings (so good!), slept with kitty cats, got heat stroke in the 95 degree heat (j/k), heard all the crazy fireworks, and much more. I am sad that I did not take more pictures, but I was having way to much fun to remember that I had a camera with me!
See at the very end of this post for a great video of Eric and Sophie's friend Brittany bust'n a move to Wii "Just Dance" game! Very funny!
Mom, Valerie and I went trail riding at whipple creek. We were originally going to go the beach with the horses but the weather was not cooperating, it was going to be too cold. I had a great time (aside from the mosquitos), we raced along the raspberry fields, Curly won of course! Curly and I below, she was enjoying some very yummy clover after our ride.
Henry and Raymond (mom's kitties) found it necessary to spend their day snoozing on my suitcase. As you can see the lid is closed, I learned my lesson the first day when they covered my clothes with kitty hair because I left it open!
Snapshots of mom's 50th birthday party, she had no idea that we secretly invited a few friends to join us. Pictured here is mom, Carol, Kathy and Ruth.
My great Aunt Willy and brother Eric. Aunt Willy stopped by in Vancouver on her way to Germany. The party was a joint celebration of mom turning 50, uncle Mark turning 49 and Aunt Willy turning 80!
Omie and Kris.
The cake featuring a picture of mom on her first horseback ride!
Make a wish!
My adopted sister Mia, she has now been with my dad and step-mom for almost a year. She recently underwent surgery to have both of her clubbed feet straightened and was just beginning to walk again while I was visiting. She turns 6 in September.
Back in Kenai, dip-netting a huge tourist attraction in Kenai has been under way since I got home from Vancouver. People from all over the state come to the mouth of the Kenai river with huge nets and stand in the water all day netting Red/Sockeye Salmon. They are allowed to keep a certain number depending on the size of their family. This is only for residents of Alaska, since we have not been here a year we cannot participate. People line the banks of the river near the mouth trying to catch these fish. The picture below is a shot of couple weeks ago, there are way more people now!
If you look closely, he has caught one. He is fighting the muddy bank trying to get to the dry bank to get the fish out of his net and start again.
The Reds are here!! All the locals talk about the Reds or Sockeye Salmon, when they say they are here it means they are running up the Kenai River to spawn, and in huge numbers! I think yesterday, around 66,000 reds ran (swam) up the river! The pastor at our church has been very gracious and invited Adam to fish with him several times since fishing season has begun. He and Adam along with a group of visitors from Texas boated up the Kenai river this morning at 4 am to a spot on the bank to fish for reds. Adam caught his daily limit (3), and then helped the visitors from Texas (doing some local service/ministry work) catch theirs as well. Below is a pic of one of the 3 Adam caught.
Adam with one of his fish. Apparently they start turning red when they get further upriver.
The 3 salmon he brought home before cleaning/filleting them. They look a lot bigger in real life, pictured with them is the filleting knife for comparison.
With Adam's hand for comparison.
After we packaged them up for freezing. We have 6, gallon size freezer bags half full of salmon, actually 5, we all had one for dinner! I have to say that this was the best fish I have ever had in my life! Now I really know why people come to the Kenai river to fish for these salmon. I have never been a fish eater, but would always force myself to eat salmon occasionally only for it's nutrional value. I would gladly eat a piece of this salmon every night! I marinated it in Yoshida's teriyaki marinade with a little garlic powder for 2-3 hours, then threw on the grill. It was FABULOUS, everyone loved it! We will definitely be fishing again for these yummy fish, and will figure out a way to send some home for family to enjoy. Uncle Mark, get your smoker ready!
Butch was able to enjoy the grilled fish skin, he loved it!
Below, the video of Eric bust'n a move to Wii's "Just Dance"! If you can't understand what I am saying in the background, you should all know that I whooped my dancing sister's butt (Sophie) to Spice Girls!