Ode To Dad's Fort

Back in circa '82, there was a fort and it was new,

Back behind our house it stood, it was made of mostly wood.

The fort was built there by my Dad, what a talent for building that he had.

For more than 25 years have now passed, but that fantastic fort still stands at last!

A little bit smaller it seems to me, but three feet taller now I must be.

The trees are now all overgrown, and a little more wear the fort has shown.

It just shows our Dad is an amazing dude, with strong character and 'fort'itude!

By Erik

Everett home visited by Erik and Emily and Reid on 26 July 2008.

Coming out of our ears

News that is. News is coming out of our ears. Things are changing at a very rapid pace lately. Let's break it down.

1. The news I'm most excited to share is that we went to Anchorage on Wednesday for an appointment with a specialist, a perinatologist. We found out at 10 weeks that we were having twins, and since then we've had 4 or 5 ultrasounds, all showing that the babies are in one amniotic sac and share one placenta. That makes them "mono/mono" twins if you want to wikipedia it, but the bottom line is that it's the riskiest kind of twins you can have...well, second to conjoined twins. The mortality rate for mono/mono twins is 50% and they frequently elect to deliver them early, like at 32 weeks or so, because of the risk of entanglement (which is the cords wrapping and kinking on each other). Basically, it's no good. On Tuesday night I asked our good friend Ben Borrego to come over and be there when Erik gave me a blessing. The two of them gave me a blessing and I felt very peaceful about the appointment. Well, on Wednesday we very clearly saw a division between the babies...meaning there is membrane between the two...meaning they are in their own sac! This is incredible news for us. This means that the entanglement risk is gone, and depending on how the babies grow (if there is any complications of Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome or not, wiki that one too if you're interested) I may be able to carry them until 37 weeks or so. I had prepared myself for very small babies and lots of hospital time, and while we're not out of trouble just yet, things are looking so much brighter. For me, it was a miracle and an answer to many, many prayers to see that they are in separate sacs. I'm just elated.



2. On Friday and Monday the packers came and boxed everything up, they loaded the truck on Tuesday, and Wednesday morning we signed out of our house. It all happened so fast, but amazingly everything has gone very smoothly. We stayed up until 2 am cleaning to be ready for our housing inspection, because we couldn't really start cleaning until after the packers moved everything out (actually, until after we got Reid to bed). We put a lot of work and elbow grease into it, and the inspection went a little something like this: they walked around, pulled out the fridge and made sure it wasn't gross back there, and then said when we're ready we can sign the papers. I was so jazzed that it went so well, but I actually wanted her to praise me, profusely, for the stellar cleaning job that I had done. Especially the stove/oven. You should have seen how sparkling clean that thing was. Oh well. It's done. That's good enough. I guess.



3. This morning we fly out of Alaska for good. We've been here for three really wonderful years, and it's hard to believe that it's already over. I'm all nostalgic about my cherished Alaskan memories lately, but I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the summers are so gorgeous. I'm glad we're leaving on a high note. If we were leaving in January or February, I don't think I would be so nostalgic.



4. We're still on the hunt for a house. We've done a LOT of looking online, but hope to meet with a realtor soon after we get to CA and start making something happen. I can't wait to get settled. I've got a crazy nesting instinct lately, but no nest. This little mama bird needs a nest for all her babies. We'll be on the road until next Friday, so catch us on the cell phone for a chat.



5. So, today is the day. The day we leave Alaska. I've really loved it here, it's been a wonderful home for Erik and I to grow together as a family. We've met some lifelong friends that I pretty much regard as family now. Being away from my own family was hard, but we were really blessed with the right friends, right when we needed them. Ah, I am getting all nostalgic. I think I feel a certain Green Day song coming on. No, wait...it's a Sarah McLachlan song. I think you know the one.

The Olsen twins

Our newest news is that our identical twins are little boys. So, while we can't name them Mary-Kate and Ashley, we're consoling ourselves by referring to our as-yet unnamed boys as Rod and Todd. Yes, I know that the Flanders boys weren't twins, but they have such great names.

My hike to Denali, Part II

The squiggly road below is Eielson Visitors Center, mile 65. The view is from our hike above. Click on the picture for a larger shot of this panoramic view.
A shot for posterity.
Just a snapshot of my journey into the wild.
This guy was just swaggering down the road beside the bus like it was no one's business.

My Denali Hike (the Park, that is)

This is a stitched photo from this weekend on my trip to Denali National Park. Me and a couple buddies from work took the bus to the end of the line and stayed two nights at Wonder Lake campground. Click on the panoramic photos for a larger view in your browser.
On Saturday morning the clouds parted and the mighty Denali showed itself in its entirity. This is another shot from our camp.
Wonder Lake is to the north of the mountain. This is a shot from the shoreline back at the mountain.
This proves it, I made it, all 85 miles.
This is from the Eielson Visitors Center at about mile 65. We hiked up the hill on the north side of the road and this is the view from the top towards Denali. We'll say that person is Emily (it's not).
We had a good time, the weather was kind to us on Saturday, then clouded over again on Sunday and we awoke to the patter of rainfall. The most difficult part of the trip were the mosquitos. Out at Wonder Lake they were like clouds and would swarm around us as we ate, or just about anytime you were standing still.
On the bus ride we saw some bears off in the far distance, some goats on the hill, and some caribou in the field. As the bus would stop and pick up other campers we would swap stories of our adventures and our homes. A good time was had by all. -Erik

Don't you just hate it...

when you bite your cheek or your lip? Man, I hate it! On Tuesday I bit the side of my lip accidentally while I was eating dinner. But once you bite it, then it gets all swollen and in the way, so yesterday I bit it again in the same spot...twice! I spent all this effort making a Thai peanut chicken dish that I've been trying to perfect, and in my first few bites I totally chomped on that dumb spot, and I just didn't have it in me to eat anymore. It wasn't worth the risk of biting my very sore lip.
So, that's all. Nothing too big to report.
But seriously...don't you just hate it?!