Halloween and Thanksgiving

Josh and his buddies warming up on Halloween night!

Nate (in the monster mask) and his friends "hangin" on Halloween night!

We went to the church carnival put on by the youth.  They had fun, and Josh even came home with a new pet gold fish....Thanks a lot!

We had a great Thanksgiving with our Alaska Family, The Teeples, Kellers, Huntzingers, and Moncurs.  As you can see we had a lot of food and TONS of pie!  The woman hung out at their table and the men at theirs....and the kids, where ever!  We had a great time, and Stephanie was a wonderful host as always.

Catch up

New Christmas ornament (from Grandma Swenson), Beautiful sunny Alaskan day, Breakfast in bed courtesy of Josh, Freezing at the Tree lighting ceremony, enjoying chocolate covered bacon, CrAzY hair day, and freezing at a football game!

Church basketball Champs!

Family Pictures

 Thanks Cherie for taking such great family pictures!

Pheasant Hunting

Jared took the boys pheasant hunting a few weekend ago.  There has been a little depression running through our house since we lost Pete, so Jared decided to take the boys hunting.  They haven't been pheasant hunting since we lived in Iowa, so they were really excited.  They went to a farm, so pheasants were abundant!

 Josh was so excited because he killed his first pheasant at age 11 and Jared killed his at age 12.  Josh thought he was really cool.  Jared went with some other doctors from work, who had dogs.  The boys were happy!

Jared stopped and took this picture on the way home.  That is an old stranded boat in the middle of a lake. Sure there is a story behind that!

True Blue

Displaying our Cougar Pride up here in Alaska!

Camping

*First off, THANKS Cherie for all the pictures...I stole them without asking! 

If any of you know me very well, you know that camping is not something I enjoy or look forward too...in fact, I really despise it!  However, I had to make an exception.  Joshua and Kaulani had to do a overnight campout for some scouting merit badges.  Since they were the only 11 year olds in the troop, families were invited to join.  Jared said he would get a cabin for me, so I wouldn't have to sleep in a tent.  I thought that was thoughtful and was excited to sleep in comfort.  Well, the only cabin available was a one room, cement floor hut, with no electricity or water...basically a hard tent.   I put on a happy face and went anyway...after-all, it was only for one night!  Kalei and I shared the cabin (we slept the best) and the other die hards slept in tents.  These two were so excited for the adventure.

The Oldham's took their kayaks and the boys had lots of fun out on the lake.

Part of the boys responsibility was preparing all the meals.  We dined on hotdogs, chips, cobbler and smores!  YUMMY!  For breakfast we had pancakes and bacon!

The older kids spent the night playing games.  They were so nice and included the younger kids too!

About 3 in the morning we heard sirens, when we woke up we learned that one of the cabins not far from ours had burned.  Glad it wasn't ours.

We had a great evening with the Napoleon's and Oldham's.  Just glad it was only one night!

On his way to Eagle!

Joshua earned the rank of First Class in Scouts last night.  He also earned his Leatherman, First Aid, and Fingerprinting merit badge.  We are so proud of him.

Joshua's friend Kaualani, also earned his First Class.  Thanks to their awesome scout leader, Brother Oldham!

First Day of School

Freshman in High School, 9th grade

Last year in Elementary School, 6th grade

Meet the Newest member of the Cardon Family!

Jared finally got his Caribou back, and he is so happy!  And NO, I am not happy!!!!!

We have a 15 year old!

Nathan turned 15 this year!  He is such a great kid and we are so proud of him.  I can't believe how fast they grow up!  We only have him for 4 more short years!  We celebrated on his birthday with family.  He wanted his favorite cake....German Chocolate!

He got an IPhone for his birthday and was SO surprised....what have we done!

Fishing

My Dad, my brother Eric and Jared spent 3 days down south fishing for salmon, trout and halibut.  They had a great time, but didn't catch too many.  Josh got to go Halibut fishing, because Jared gets too sea sick.  We did get a couple small halibut for the freezer.

While they were all out fishing, we took my nephews, Tyler and Jacob on hikes and exploring...just what little boys love!

Wildlife cruise

While my brother and his two boys were here, we took a wildlife cruise out of Seward.  It was stormy that day and the water was rough, but we were able to see a lot of animals.  We saw whales, sea otters, sea lions, puffins, and bald eagles.  The scenery was beautiful.  We stopped at Fox Island and had lunch: salmon, prime rib and crab legs!  This Island that the most smooth, flat rocks, and the boys had a great time skipping them.  It was a great day, but Grandma and Grandpa were beat!

Glacier Fun

We also took the family up to the Matanuska Glacier.  This is a huge glacier that you are able to hike out to and walk all over.  It is amazing.  It was a beautiful day and we all had a blast.

River Rafting

We took the family rafting on the Matanuska River.  One night, we rounded up a ton of rain gear, boots, life jackets, etc.  and loaded into the cars and took off.  We drove about 1 hour and put into the river about 7:00 pm.  It was so much fun.  The current was fast and the rapids were big.  I think some of us were extremely nervous, but we made it!  We all got a little wet, but it was worth it....right, Mat?

Talkeetna, Alaksa

One day we drove up to Talkeetna.  It was really cloudy when we left and I just knew that the mountain (Mt. Mckinley) wouldn't be out, but it was the only day we had.  As we made the turn and headed into town, I looked out my window and just screamed....Katie thought it was a bear, but it was the Mountain.  So beautiful!

Of course we had to make a stop at The Roadhouse!  The best place ever for Sour Dough Pancakes!

Homer, Alaska

We took my parents and Katie and her family down to Homer for a couple of days.  We spent some time at the beach...it was really cold and windy.  The boys had a great time and watching them you would have thought they were in California!  It was a beautiful sunny day!

Our beach toes!

And what would a vacation be without yummy food?  We ate a lot of Alaskan seafood!  Sushi, Shrimp, Halibut, and Nathan even tried his first "FRESH" oyster....yummy!

Mt. Baldy

There is a mountain not far from our house that is called Baldy.  It starts off with thick trees and vegetation and then as you get to the top it turns into tundra and open land....hence baldy!  We took the kids on this hike multiple times.  It isn't very long, but really steep.  It is beautiful all the way up and the view on top...although one night we got caught in the clouds and could't see much.  One night, Jared decided to take us down a different way then we ever had before.  It was a disaster!  VERY steep and lots of loose rocks and dirt.  My dad and mom both biffed it.  My dad did multiple summersaults down the mountain with hid nice camera in hand.  My mom tried to hurry to help him and fell herself.  It was a nightmare.  We all came away ok,  but we will NEVER take that way again!

We also found wild blueberries growing on the way up.  We all spent some time picking them and of course eating them!