Happy Birthday Papa!

After a long weekend of snowmachining and traveling to and from camp, we relaxed today. That is, we relaxed until about 7:00 p.m. That is when I realized the date. Today is the 19th... my dad's birthday! I am such an idiot about these things sometimes. I can't call... it is too late in Central Standard Time. So Patrick suggests the fix. We can create a sign and make a post to wish Papa a happy birthday. That way the birthday wish still goes out and we can talk to Papa later to confirm that he knows we love him and were thinking of him on his birthday... while he was getting a good nights sleep (and he was probably thankful not to be awaken late at night with a phone call.) So here it is... HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA! all the way from Alaska

Getting there is half the fun

These pictures represent our flights to the Midwest in December.

1-- We waited for an hour on the runway in Anchorage. We were split into 2 seats and 2 seats so we kept passing Phoenix back and forth. Neither person sitting on the aisle wanted to trade and allow us to sit together to handle Phoenix.

2-- Upon late arrival in Seattle, early departure of our flight to Ohio allowed us the opportunity to spend the night in the Sea/Tac airport. As you can see, the kids actually slept.

3-- At 3:00 a.m., Phoenix decided that he had had enough sleep. He played "can't catch me" for about an hour and a half before we moved closer to the ticket counter where we would try to catch a stand-by flight.

4--Phoenix was still full of energy.

5-- We finally caught a flight out of Seattle to Atlanta. The ticketing agents in Seattle were not so helpful, but they were certain that if only we got out of Sea/Tac we would be fine. Seattle, afterall, was where the problem was. They had gotten the fallout from Denver closing the airport. So here is Kira making friends in the Atlanta airport while we wait for our flight.

6-- Our flight from Atlanta to STL has been delayed. An hour later a flight across the hall is going to STL, but we are assured that our flight will be leaving shortly. We don't need to get on that flight. The other STL flight boards their standby people. We need a distraction, a real meal and a comfortable chair (or any bed). Now our flight is one hour and forty five minutes delayed. Mechanical problems that they assure us will be fixed. A flight to Bloomington is boarding in 10 minutes, maybe we should try to get standby on that. The ticketing agent tells us our flight will be leaving shortly. The flight leaves for Bloomington without us. 15 minutes later... our flight has been cancelled due to mechanical issues. The next flight out to STL is tomorrow at 1:15p.m. It is 5:00 p.m. and we have been in airports and on planes for the last 25 hours with 2 small children and 3 tired adults.

7-- The guy next to us is entertaining Phoenix with his cell phone, and Kira is sharing Teddy Grahams and crackers with their son.

A few hours later we finally catch a flight stand-by to STL. When we arrive, Delta has lost our luggage and we can't leave the airport with no car seats. We stay at the airport trying to convince Delta that they need to give us loaner carseats until our luggage is located. They had one for Phoenix, but none for Kira. Every Delta employee that we had dealt with up until now had been just a plain attitude of "sorry you're out of luck, and it it time for my break so... see you later." We convinced the guy to beg, borrow or steal a seat from a partner airline so we could leave. After being in airports and on planes for 30 hours, it seemed that driving 4 hours to go camping in Homer wasn't such a long trip. The rest of the trip was excellent. We had a great time seeing family and spending time together. On the flight home, Delta cancelled another flight and lost our luggage again... of which we are still missing some. So now we have a new catch phrase. If something has been lost or is just plain going wrong, "It's gone Delta."

And a Tribute to Their Wives

The wives of the brothers. Christina Hewlett (with Weston on her lap), Faith Hewlett, and Julie Hewlett.

Someone asked on this trip back to the Midwest "Why is it always a picture of just the guys? Don't the guys want pictures of the whole family as it is now? Or at least pictures with the wives?"

So here it is... the picture of the wives. ;)

Picture of the Brothers

Getting a picture of all 6 brothers together is one of the standard objectives of any trip to the Midwest. Trying to get a decent picture of all the guys facing one direction and smiling is usually more difficult than getting there. So we have learned to take pictures of the whole picture taking process.

A Whirl wind Trip

Our trip back to the Midwest was a quick trip, but it was full of excitement and playful times.

Peek-a-boo

I see you

I like to eat, I like to eat

1--What do you mean the food is all gone???

2-- I will lick every last little scrap off of this tray.

3-- Hey there is some on my hand.

4-- I will chew on my hand until all the food has been consumed.

Hamming it up

Let's start with my theory of taking pictures; take tons of pictures of everything in your life. You will want to remember the good times, forget the bad times, and have blackmail for all of it. Seriously though, I am not the greatest on framing pictures and seeing the artistic angle of taking pictures so figure that if I take lots of pictures, I will end up with a few usable ones that will preserve my memories forever. Besides, how many of you have seen how fast my two kids constantly move. So you might ask..."what's the deal with these four pictures that are virtually the same?" Here is my answer:

Phoenix and Ben were sitting together so sweetly that I wanted to get a picture of it. Ben is Phoenix's buddy who loves to "take care" of him. If Phoenix is hurt, Ben will hug him and tell him it is OK. If Phoenix starts the throw a fit, or be upset over something that didn't go his way, Ben will pat him on the back and ask if Phoenix is OK. When Ben brings his Ohs cereal, Phoenix likes to be close to Ben and ask please. Ben's heart is so big that he will set out about 3 at a time on the table to share with Phoenix. Ben is proud of his sharing skills and Phoenix loves that Ben is sharing. Out of history and into the story, Phoenix climbed up in the chair next to Ben, and he sat there asking Ben "please." Ben was sharing away and I wanted a picture of these two. As soon as I got the camera out, Phoenix starts being a silly little boy for the pictures. Moral of the story- I never got the picture I wanted, but I still got some really cute ones.

Snowmachine Adventure

January 27, 2007, we decided to brave a trip out to Bible camp on snow machines, with the kids. We intended to take Phoenix as well, but for about 3 days prior to the trip, he progressively became sicker and sicker. So he spent half of the day with Paul and the other half with Raychel.

We drove out to the Nancy Lake Marina and then mounted our snow machines. Once on Nancy Lake, we followed portage trails through the lake system to end up at Midnight Sun Bible Camp on Lynx Lake. Hearing 12 snow machines (ranging from my little 380 to a couple of Bombardiers) rev up and take off together was fun for the whole family. For a few of the little ones (about 2 1/2 years old), the noise was intimidating at first. Once safely out at camp, we snow tubed, rode our machines around, had lunch and hot cocoa followed by more fun in the snow. So here is the low down of the pictures:

1- At the Nancy Lake Marina, Kira is just waiting to get going (huge helmet and all).

2- Patrick is ready too.
3- Lunch and hot cocoa at the "Hilton" at camp. You can see that everyone is still in snow gear because it was colder in the building than outside. We started a fire, but the building is big enough that the fire would take a while to heat it up.

4- The adults standing at the top of the tubing hill...I wonder who noticed I was taking the picture.

5- Matt Hickman is preparing to flip off of the "Hilton" porch into the powder below.

6- The aftermath.

7- Lori Guyer helps situate Kira and Quinn for a double ride down the hill on the snow tube.

8- Faith and Ben after picking him up and bringing him back to the top of the hill on the snow machine. (Several people picked up the kids at the bottom of the hill and let them ride up to the top because it took them so long to get up there via walking.)

9- Scott Guyer is proof that even the adults took a few turns sliding down the hill on the tubes.