Sewing 101

Last summer Savannah poured over the fabric and played with the colors and watching her stack them into piles and rearrange them was so interesting. She has a very good eye for color and design. This summer we decided to make some quilts for her dolls.

She selected 12 different fabrics, we cut them into strips and then into squares and pressed them.

Savannah proceeded to sew the squares together in sets of two, then four, then rows. After more pressing and layering with the batting and then backing, she quilted them on the machine. One is a diamond pattern and the other was quilted in a squares pattern. They both turned out beautiful.

I helped with the binding and she did some of the hand stitching on the back. They were so pretty that now I want to make a big one for me! Savannah's dolls are very lucky!

Just Some Sweet Photos

As I've been blogging I've run across some photo's here and there that have touched my heart and caused me to ponder how lucky I am to have such a wonderful life. Here are just a few of the reasons why! This is Meg just before we took her to the MTC in April.

What a happy guy! And he's mine!

Precious little angels. Until they wake up - and then they are still pretty amazing!

BFF's!

Together again!

The Brayton's on 4th of July in Seward. Krystal was one of my seminary students in Seward.

The cutest little villain ever!

A perfect day! Biking and treats! Wish I had been there.

A babe and her dog! Does life get any better?

Playing in the sand! With a head balloon!

True love!

I am so blessed!

Belgian Waffles

When we ran out of cold cereal we had to come up with another idea for breakfast that four people could agree on. It was Belgian waffles. While Savannah was cooking bacon and Grandma was heating the hot chocolate, Ethan was mixing up the batter.
The recipe is from the original Better Crocker Cookbook complete with whipped egg white blended in to make them nice and fluffy! They turned out very good!
Hence the smile only Ethan can make!

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy!

While Dave was here getting ready to go into Trooper School, we were lucky enough to get an invitation to go out on Fred's boat with Fred and his dad, who was visiting from Virginia.

Dave was the best dressed of us all. Total state of the art fish-killing wear. Or just killing wear for that matter.

Waiting for the fish with his smart waterproof all weather hat.

The boys docking the boat.

Silver salmon.

Mom's prize, a small king salmon, my first for the year. It was a beautiful day - warm and sunny - we caught our limit. Dave's fish are being babysat in our safe little freezer until he returns to collect them. Looking forward to lots of yummy fish dinners!

Ethan Learns to Pack Fish

Ethan wanted to help vacuum pack the smoked fish.
So we showed him how and he was a pro!
It's so nice to have help in the kitchen!
Nice job Ethan. Savvy helped too!

Killin' on the Kenai

I've always wanted to dipnet on the Kenai and this was the year! We we decided to camp and fish a couple of tides to increase our chances of getting some nice fish. Usually we go to the Kasilof because it's more user friendly and we just sleep in the car or not sleep or whatever, but with kiddo's we decided to officially camp. Here's our sweet little set up on the beach of Kenai river along with about a million other people.
It was a long trip for a little guy.
Grandpa filleting the fish he had caught on Friday evening.

Grandma on Saturday morning during the century old record breaking fish count frenzy of 2011. I've never seen so many fish in my life! They were literally jumping out of the water all around us. It was great! Savvy was chief fish bonker!
I got a little sunburned as you can see. And the trek from the water to the beach was killer. I am so glad I didn't have a heart attack! Ethan and Savvy were terrific and played on the beach in the sand most of the day. Except when Savannah took breaks to bonk the fish!
Altogether 18 beautiful red salmon. Lots of salmon dinners and some smoked ones as well. I love subsistence fishing. So glad we are residents and get to participate along with those who have been doing it this as a way of life for a very long time.

Downtown Seward AK

After riding the train to Seward and walking over to Grandpa's office, we got our free tickets to the Sealife Center. The flowers out front were so pretty this year. Someone refused to be part of the photo shoot. He shall remain nameless.
Woody the sea lion. He just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Ethan was so put out that Woody wouldn't get out of the water and and climb up on the rocks for us. But he would swim by and peer at the kids.
A fish.
Ethan literally fell asleep waiting for his pizza.
Finally, the dynamic duo together at last in front of the sealife center.

The McKinley Explorer

Grandma, Ethan and Savannah rode the Alaska Railroad McKinley Explorer from Anchorage to Seward on one of the most beautiful days this summer.
One of the most spectacular scenes was upper Trail Lake. It was almost a perfect, windless day and the reflection was beautiful.
I'd never seen Spencer Glacier because it is behind the mountains that lay between the glacier and the Seward highway.
The area near Cook Inlet.
The train in Seward.
Breakfast in the train. Very nice.
Getting on the train in Anchorage.
Our dining car.

Cranberry and custard stuffed french toast. Again, the photos are out of order and I have decided it was because they are coming in number order and not the order we select them. Things to remember the next time. It was a beautiful day and the trip was amazing. I'd love to do it again. After arriving in Seward we met Grandpa for lunch, visited the Sealife Center and played at the park.

Once Upon A Time in Alaska

Once upon a time, in Alaska, there were two grandparents who wanted to spend special time with their grandchildren, Ethan and Savannah. So the grandparents convinced the parents to send the grandchildren to Alaska on a plane all by themselves. The children were wonderful and loved the plane ride and arrived in Alaska safe and sound. Only problem was, when grandma tried to blog the event, the photos wouldn't post in the order she requested. So now the grandma's blog post appears to have some sort of disassociation with reality and order of events syndrome. But no matter, all the wonderful adventures will eventually come to light.
When the children arrived at the airport, they were a little hungry and they wanted to get a burger and some fries. Due to construction, the closest burger establishment was in Mountain View, a quaint little village near the edge of town known for it's cultural diversity.

Ethan and Savannah brought a few things with them that they would need for the journey to Alaska.
They were very loving and adorable at the airport and lots of people looked at them and marveled that they were so young and traveled so well.
The mother had taken a photo of them in the Utah airport so she could remember their sweet faces and what they were wearing.
The burgers and fries were a bit small, so they children needed some ice cream to fill in the gaps in their little tummies. Alaska is a wonderful place!
More adventures to follow.