Slow Down Summer!

Slow Down Summer!!

Here we are almost 2 weeks from my last post and boy have we been busy.  The week of June 8th found Papa and the kids doing some shrimping in Whittier.  The kids had a blast! I was starting my summer school teaching job and was very thankful the kids and Leif were happy camping.  My expectations of my summer school teaching is a complete 180 degrees than what I thought.  It was a very long week and I was thankful that I could just focus on getting the program up and running and knowing that my family was having a great summer adventure.

(Digesting S'mores and waiting for the sugar to kick in!)

I did make sometime for myself to relax after some very long work days. 

I've been wanting to hike Mt. Magnificent here in Eagle River - so I did! The peak above my head is the first false summit. I just loved the wild flowers and the sunshine in my face! Happy (almost) Birthday to me! Turning officially mid-thirty is not too bad!!

I was so excited to see the chocolate lilies on my hike as I have not seen them since our time in Cordova.  I love these beautiful flowers and to see them up in the mountains just made me smile even more. 

The last false summit before Mt. Magnificent (peak on the left).  I wish I could fully express the way my heart and soul feel when I'm up in the mountains.   

I also spent some time hiking some flatter ground with my dear friend, Heidi, as we got together to officially celebrate the end of school, our birthdays, summer and life.

A short drive to Kincaid Chalet and down to the coast we went! It was was an amazing evening on the beach followed by an excellent dinner! 

This past week was just as packed!  Having Papa and the kids home was good and the weather just continued to be hot! I mean, hot by Alaska standards. Hitting 80 plus degrees for multiple days in a row is just not something we are not use to.  The kids had fun running through the "sprinkle-a-late-or" as Brother calls it and keeping Papa busy while I worked this past week.  I only work 3 days a week, but it's an exhausting 3 days.  I will forever appreciate my 'normal' job during the school year after this experience this summer.

To keep my mental health in a positive place, I told Papa that I needed this summer to be filled with hiking and quality time both for myself and with the family. Up first - quality time for myself which means another mountain peak to climb. 

Black Tail Rocks 

First Heidi and I had to summit Baldy

and then we headed along the ridge to Black Tail Rocks.

The final summit is the last peak on the left and I went all the way! Heidi was content to enjoy the views from the last false summit.  

This hike is beyond words. 

Heidi and I at the last false summit.

A view of the valley

and the official summit of Black Tail Rocks!  I can't even find the right words to describe this day. Quality time with Mother Nature and with a deep and true friendship was just the way I needed to start this weekend!  

Yes more hiking - a family hike today with another family.  We headed to Thunderbird Falls which is a very short hike and wide trail for the kids to be able to run and enjoy. 

 More quality time in Mother Nature and this time with family and friends.  

My heart and soul are full as we go into the rest of the weekend.  

I'm sure I'll find myself finding new and old hiking trails as summer continues. I wish I could express the experience of being in the mountains and then again, maybe it's just meant for me to savor in my heart, mind and soul. Regardless, I hope you enjoy seeing the pictures of our adventures.  This week to come will be full of me teaching and Papa and the kids meeting up with Pope and Grammy to do more camping and shrimping in Whittier.  I hope to go join them on the weekend.  

Happy Father's Day weekend everyone!!

Hiking Adventures

We started our week off with dog sitting for this adorable guy, Tatanka. He is a fun loving dog who was delighted to soak up the sun in our back yard.  Having Tatanka for a few days really set in my heart (and the kids) that we want to get a dog.  I'm a bit hesitant only because Papa is going to be coaching so much this next school year that having one more responsibility on my shoulders may be too much.  So, we'll just keep looking and if the right dog for our family becomes available then we will know the timing was meant to be.

Our first hike of the week was to the South Fork waterfall with our friends.  It's a pretty short hike and the kids had fun seeing the big waterfall. 

Next up ~ Mt. Baldy

Sister has been asking and asking for me to take her on one of my big hikes I go on.  So, with Brother taking a nap, Sister and I headed for the trail head.

 I told her this was a long hike and she had to stay positive the whole way otherwise we'd have to turn around and head back down.

This girl just had way too much fun. It had rained the day before so some parts of the trail were a bit muddy. It didn't stop her - she had a blast!

Momma was so very proud of her for making it to the summit. You can see it was a bit windy up there, so I was holding her tight for fear she would blow down the mountain side.  The smile on her face and seeing the sense of accomplishment in her eyes was priceless.  

She must get her hiking passion from me, as I am finding myself out enjoying more and more of the hiking available in this area.  I just find myself feeling alive when I'm in the mountains and making it to a summit is not only breath taking, but exhilarating for my heart and soul.  This is Rendezvous Peak with the trail head starting in Arctic Valley.  A group of ladies went to the peak arriving at 8:45pm - I love the land of the midnight sun.  Even though it was overcast, the view from the top was still amazing. 
  
Three hikes in one week and it's not even the weekend yet - I love summer time!  I'll actually be starting to teach extended school year (ESY) next week for three days a week.  Papa and the kids are going camping and shrimping with Grammy and Pope, which will be nice that I will just be able to focus on getting ESY going and not have to feel guilty about staying late at school if needed with Papa and the kids waiting at home. Since Papa coaches so many sports during the school year, I told him teaching summer school was a way for me to help bring extra income in for our family.  Plus, with only 3 days a week - it will be the perfect balance of summer and a little bit of work :)

Hope you all had a wonderful week!

June 3rd marked our 9th wedding anniversary! 
(Where does the time go?)

May in a nutshell

What happened to May? 

I know, I know...

We officially recorded the sale of the house on May 4th. Leif and his dad did our first remodel/upgrade to our new house that very next weekend.  The carpet you see on the left was clear into the dining space and then there was really old linoleum in the kitchen.  So, we decided it would be easy to put a new flooring in before we moved over. 

Check! 

Leif and his dad did an amazing job and the new floor looks awesome!

The next weekend was moving weekend and Mother's Day!

This is the kids idea of helping us move.  It was a weird move in the sense that we are just about a half a mile away from where we use to live.  No real need to pack things carefully - just load up a vehicle and go unpack it at the new house.  

 

We were so thankful for Leif's parents help and for a few friends who came to help lift heavy furniture and another set of friends who took the kids for a morning to let them 'be out of the way' I mean play.  I love that the first item in our fridge was beer. Well deserved after a very busy weekend of moving.

Mean while, school is still happening and we now enter the third week of May.  This was the last week of school and I think it was the longest week ever.  Between working late to finish up progress reports, to working late to get the old house all clean and ready for final walk through with our landlord, to celebrating Leif's birthday to Lukkas getting sick - man you name it and it happened this last week.

However being able to sit on my deck and enjoy a cup of tea in the morning sun - it just recharged me for the day ahead.  One day at a time, one task at a time - we made it through the last week of school!

Lukkas did end up sick with a slight fever and nasty cough (oh wait, me too and Leif - sigh... it's been a long month).  I couldn't take a sick day for the last day of school with needing to get checked out and such.  

So - he was my helper for the morning. I'm so thankful for an awesome principal who understands. I was also thankful that I didn't have much to do and we were able to get checked out and headed home a bit early on Friday.

And for the last week of May...

We have some awesome neighbors who baked us some cookies and welcomed us to the neighborhood. We are looking forward to getting to know them better. We already have young children about the same age in common - so that will be fun to get the kids together for play dates.

 The kids are loving our new house - especially the chalk wall.  I often find them in their little nook space drawing away.  The kids did go to day care this last week of May - 1) since we paid for it and 2) gave Leif and I a chance to finish unpacking and relax a little before summer kicks into full swing!

 

We hope you all have an amazing summer!

Now that this crazy month is over - I hope to return to weekly blogging about our adventures.

Our New Home!

That's right! We are making Eagle River our official home for the next few years with the purchase of our home.  We are literally 4 blocks from our current rental. We love the neighborhood and are excited to continue to deepen our relationships here in Alaska.  For those you in the lower 48 - I know you were all hoping we'd be moving back soon, but that's just say that our invitation for you all to come to Alaska to visit is now extended!!

This will be my new view! I can't wait to see the sun rise over these mountains and then the brilliant colors of the evening sky. 

We are also very excited to have the fenced in yard for the kids to able to safely play.  Really, we don't have snow anymore - this was taken about 1 1/2 months ago.  It's been so hard not to shout on 'social media' that we were buying a house - but Papa wanted to wait until things were official. Well, we closed today- Yahoo!!!

May is a crazy month to try and be moving, but the nice thing is that our rental lease is not up until the end of June. We said we'd be out by the end of May in hopes that they can get new renters in right after us - but either way - it will be nice to be able to do a few upgrades to the new house and then get serious about moving. 

With evening skies like this - its affirmation that this is where we want to be. We hope you'll make plans to come see us soon!! 

Sickies Just Won't Leave

Still trying to get over the sickies at our house - seems like once one of us is feeling better the other three go down.  Even Sister who rarely gets sick was not doing well this past weekend. 

We tried to make the most of not feeling well by making a fort in their room.  It was fun for awhile and then the coughing, fever and chills returned. 

Finally by the end of the week - we all started to feel better.  It turned out that Brother had double ear infections - poor kid.  Sister, Papa and I just had a nasty head and chest cold. At one point around dinner time, all four of us had a coughing attack - then we started laughing which made us cough some more.  Our neighbor even sent me a text to make sure we were all doing okay- I'm sure it sounded crazy through the wall!

Since we started to perk up, it was time to get creative on what to do.  First we used the digger to dig a 'hole.' Then we used the ribbon to make a 'lake'.  Our red pipe cleaners? Fishingpoles and fish of course!

Oh they had so much fun...

and were quite proud when an actual 'fish' was 'caught'!

I really hope we are all on the mend. It certainly has been challenging to have us all sick at the same time.  Happy last weekend of April!

Is it spring?

Is it spring? 

After such a mild winter, we were all a bit surprised to have more fresh snowfall this past week. It didn't stick on the ground in the lower elevations, but the mountains look lovely with a new blanket of snow.  This view never gets old - so blessed to call this my home. 

Sister surprised me with a project this week. She was very secretive about it too! After getting the need supplies, she told me to go away so she could make it.  I just don't have the words to describe the way this little girl fills my heart.  She's definitely growing up way -- too -- fast!! 

Brother has been dealing with another serious cold which turned into major asthma attacks again :(  Although, you can't tell from the picture - we were home Monday and Tuesday with him and of course that meant that both Papa and Mama caught the cold too. Isn't there some parenting rule that states both parents shall not be sick at the same time?!?  Ugh... as we pushed through the week, at least Brother is feeling better. Papa and I are having a hard time getting over this cold - probably because we are not taking the time to just stop and rest. Such a busy time of year...   We all tried to get as much fresh air as we could this weekend - fresh air always seems help!

Hoping you all are healthy!!  ~ Love and miss you all

Happy Easter

 Happy Easter ~ April 2015

We sincerely hope all of our friends and family who follow/read our little blog had a weekend full of many blessings.  We apologize for not keeping up with our weekly updates - things have been a little crazy in the Jacobsen household. 

From Papa coaching track, illness making its rounds, the day to day busyness this time of year at school... well, you get the idea. I have thought many times I should update the blog, and then have found myself nodding off on the couch with laptop in hand.  

We had a wonderful Easter Weekend and hope you enjoy seeing some pictures of our adventures.

We colored eggs in a non-traditional way this time. I found roll on paint for the eggs.  It was pretty messy, but more engaging for the kids instead of watching the egg sit in the cup.

We also attended a very unique Easter Egg hunt.  The church I attend in Eagle River, (ACF) dropped 10,000 Easter Eggs filled with candy from the helicopter.

When the all clear was given, kids and parents rushed to the hay piles to find the candy. I think maybe 2 eggs survived the fall and did not crack.  It was a lot of fun and had a great turn out from the community.  That's what I love about ACF - they are always thinking of ways to reach out to our community. 

Easter morning we were reminded that He is Risen and washes us white as snow!  After not much snow fall this winter and with spring like weather the past month, it was a bit of a shock to have snow on the ground.  It snowed most of the morning, but quickly melted away by the afternoon. 

The kids had fun finding the hidden eggs around the house and then enjoyed opening their Easter baskets. 

They also enjoyed their special gifts from Grandma Julie.

It was a very busy weekend, but we are so blessed to spend it with our family. 

Happy Easter ~ Much Love ~ The Jacobsen's