Wednesday, January 30, 2008

More school-kid pics


Something a little more cheerful to help me forget about our Property woes..... :)

You win some.... you lose some.....

So I came home yesterday and happened to be online....
I often check the hometown newspaper to see what's going on back in Vermont.
This is the headline that greeted my eyes:

Montpelier property management firm, under probe by police, had extensive problems

as you may have guessed.... the property firm in question is indeed one
"Parkside Properties"... the very same folks managing our home while we are away.
They have closed up shop and are under investigation by the State's Attorne General's Office, the Police Department, and the FBI.

We haven't recieved our checks yet for December or January, and now I am beginning to understand why they wouldn't return my emails or calls.

All told, between us and our tenants, we are out about $5k. Not so nice.....

Read the full article at:
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080130/NEWS01/801300350

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Arizona Photo Collage...


Playing with this new software... here are some pics from our Xmas holiday in Tucson.

Click to enlarge... enjoy!

Weathered in at Kipnuk...


I went out to the village of Kipnuk (pop. 600?) this week to work with a kiddo there... supposed to just stay one night, BUT a pretty good blizzard blew in so ended up not getting back home until yesterday! It was really fine, I enjoyed getting a taste of village life... makes Bethel feel like a bustling metropolis!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Kuskokwim 300 and Bogus Creek 150


So this last weekend was a big one for the Delta... Bethel hosted 3 big dogsled races; the Kuskokwim 300, the Bogus Creek 150, and the Akiak Dash. We had great weather Friday for the start. I went down to the river early to help, and was lucky enough to be able to help at the start (you can see me in the red jacket in the pic at left). This really is a great race, and many of the Iditarod racers come here to continue their training. The whole town was involved one way or another, and it was great fun. Amy came down with friends and the boys to see the starts and for the fireworks later. The hovercraft floated in and gave out free hotdogs to everyone! See the video link on YouTube for a short and silly video of the start of the BC 150. The only problem was the weather really got bad later in the weekend, it turned very warm and very windy, and most of our beautiful snow melted away. We went to the awards banquet last night and listened to lots of war stories about dogs swimming in the overflow on the river and the trail markers floating downstream. Those guys and gals are damn tough, let me tell you. As of this morning there were still one or two teams still out on the trail, and I don't know how many snow-machines in the river. Welcome to Bethel weather! Click on the link below to see the dogs!!



Thursday, January 17, 2008

As heard today in Bethel

From Little Big Bro, oTis:
Upon postholing up to his crotch in the snow "Uff-da"
While looking out our window "Look, mom, Dog Team"
After tasting the Caribou Ribs Joe had just cooked up "yummm"
As a commentary on the 20 degree weather we have right now "Nice"

And the latest from Big Little Bro, Benny's mouth:
"hat", "truck", "all done", "cracker", "papa", and his favorite "WAHWAHWAHWAHWAH"

Backyard Ski

oTis and Joe out for a short ski at -20

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Alaskan Boy Dryer

The boys got a little soggy playing outside the other day, so I tossed 'em in straight in the dryer...
worked great!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Vermont babies rock!


The picture is Sam, baby boy of our dear friends Aaron and Christine in Vermont...wearing a shirt that Amy gave Sam. They attended a Hillary event in NH, and Sam ended up making the news!!

Below is Papa Aaron's take on events:


Dear Friends,
Many of the national media pundits have refused to acknowledge that it was an endorsement by Vermont Independent Sam Brondyke that nudged Hillary Clinton's campaign to victory in the New Hampshire Primary. Brondyke provided his endorsement at a January 5 rally at Merrimack Valley High School in Penacook, NH.

Near the end of this Fox News video, you can watch Sam personally being shown to his seat by Hillary Clinton. He is being carried by Christine, who is wearing the purple fleece vest. Chelsea Clinton removes the metal barrier in front of the stage to open up Sam's VIP seating, which is located stage right, immediately behind the Senator's water bottle:
http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/01/05/hillarys-new-hampshire-strategy/

January Notes....


All is well here, 29 below on this chilly mellow Friday evening. We are enjoying our first weekend since getting back from our trip to Az.The trip was great... really busy, and not especially relaxing, but nice for the boys to spend all that time with Grandma and for us to reconnect with the desert. I spent about 5 afternoons out hiking, and Amy and I had a wonderful 2 days down south at a B&B for our 10th anniversary, hiking and relaxing in the hot-springs. Nice.


Now it's actually good to be back to Bethel and our negative 20's. Came home to some Caribou meat on the porch, a gift from a friend.Next week is a big dog-sled race, and the teams are often out in the back getting ready. Things are quiet and slow-paced, just the way we like it :) We're looking forward to the Kuskokwim 300 Dogsled Race next week, hope to volunteer. And Cami, (pronounced 'Chami') a native dance event, will be here soon as well.


On a very sad note, our neighbors next door in our Apt. have experienced some trouble just last weekend. The dad and step-daughter (12) went 90 miles out on the snowmachine to hunt Caribou... and the sled went into some open water. They ended up being outside in 25 below overnight, and weren't rescued until 15 hours later while walking the wrong direction..... Some serious hypothermia and frost-bite, they were medevac'ed to Anchorage, where they are recovering. Our prayers go out to the young girl.....
and of course the goofy boys too...

Almost Vacation!

Some of the goofy kids at the elementary school....