Fall/Winter 2010

Karl, Claire and I got to go to Idaho and meet up with grandparents, cousins, and nephews and nieces. We stayed for a week and had so much fun. August.

We couldn't stand to put the wheelers away and went for one last long ride before packing up and heading out of the mountains. Thanks to Robert and Shelley everyone got to go along on bikes.

J.R. and Karl enjoy some "cousin" time. Pete and Kirsten didn't get to go on the trip since they were alredy think into football. Homer High School football went to the semi finals for the 2nd year in a row. Go Mariners!

What a great looking bunch of Idaho camping cousins. We sure miss being with our family more often.

Kirsten, Abby and Alain enjoying some girl time!

Megan, Claire and I went to the Alaska State Fair together. We camped out in our truck and camper and had a fun COLD time at the fair. We had to buy some wool hats to keep us warm. We were sure glad we had a cozy camper to sleep in. September.

The fair was in Palmer, AK. We already had lost all our leaves, but Palmer still have pretty flowers.

Alaska girl taking a nap with a black bear. Kirsten found soft pillow. October.

Claire and I (Lenore) got to fly up to Fairbanks for a 3 day weekend to visit Karl at college. We took Ben and Karl out to Chena hot springs for a warm up soak!

Karl found a new hobby at UAF, Fairbanks. He enjoys lifting weights, rock climbing, playing pick up hockey, intra-mural broomball and ultmiate frisbee. He is currently in the honors Mechanical Engineering program.

We got to tour Karl's dorm room.

Claire had a few friends over for her 13th birthday. Pete ended up shooting a petsky black bear and the dressed up girls raced outside for a photo shoot. October 26. Classic Alaskan girls. The bear had been in the chicken coop (all survived), trash, dog food, and compost. Kirsten, Pete and I all had blackbear tags so all was well. We are not eating black bear spicy Italian Sausage!

A typical beautiful view from our front deck.

Kirsten and Mariah both made Alaska All-State Choir. They singing was spectacular! This is Kirsten's 3rd year to make All-State.

Pete and Lenore in Cooper Landing. November.

This year, Kirsten was the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Homer Nutcracker. She stayed on stage for the whole 2nd half of the show as Castle Queen. Her ballet dancing is amazing. She is glorious to watch. December.

She still gets to dance "Snow" as well. The girls are warming up before going on for the real thing. They will peform 8 full-house shows by the end of the week.

Kirsten shines and sparkles when she dances. Casey is also in Nutcracker and does a wonderful puppet act.

Claire. Loving Life. Loving the outdoors. Loving Family. Loving God. Loving School. Really. She can't wait for Mondays to come around.

Blessings at Christmas friends and family. We hope you can relax and enjoy the holidays and put your focus on Jesus who is the center of Christmas. We will be in Tempe, AZ over the holidays with my family, and Precott with Pete's family. If you happen to be around PHX give us a call! Hugs and Kisses to all! XOXOXO

Spring/Summer 2010

We decided to stay home this summer. Well, at least some of us. Karl spent a month commerical fishing halibut. Kirsten went to Nicaragua on a Mission Trip, and Pete went to D.C. to encourage our federal government to make good decisions about Alaska education. Claire and I stayed home thankfully. One of our new projects was getting chickens. It started in 1st grade. In Krista's 1st grade class at McNeil eggs were hatched. This led to a 'chicken tractor'. This is a movable ark type chicken house that we relocate around our yard for 'organic' chickens and for free grass fertilizer.

Princess dandelion

Our latest addition to our family is Claire's new kitten. As of today, it is still nameless, but we are working on names like, Chestnut, Toffee, and Spice.

After Karl and Kirsten came back to Homer, we took a 3 day canoe trip with the Taylor family. We try to camp with them every year. We went into the Swanson Lake (yes really!) area and packed in (with land and water portages) 5 lakes. We set up camp there. Then the next day, we explored other lakes with just day packs. Our friends Tom and Sarah joined us for the first day as well. Pete, Karl AND Kirsten all carried a canoe by themselves during the land portages.. WOW. Karl actually carried 2, one at a time. Claire and I carried gear and paddles.

Wild Lupine likes to grow near the Swanson lakes, and all lover Alaska.

Kirsten, Grace and Claire enjoyed the outdoors. Really outdoors. We had no toilets, water etc. Just plain old good Alaska canoe and pack in.

Collecting bait for fishing at Lonely Lake.

Grandpa Swanson gave us this boat which we brought home last summer. She paddled along beautifully.

Claire and Ian carrying their 2nd load of gear and paddles.

Looking for bait. The loons called and 'sang' all day long, but especially in the evening.

Lonely Lake

Man and his dog. Acutally my man and his/my dog. This is a 1/2 mile portage..

Break and snack time. A little lounging and fishing on the way back out.

Kirsten and Casey in Nicaragua at the top of a volcano.

One of the highlights of the summer was Kirsten getting to take a Mission Trip to Nicaragua with her friend Casey. They went along with Grandpa and Grandma Stonoff. They spent a lot of time building, as well as helping at in the evenings with the Vacation Bible School. Kirsten really enjoyed her time, even when she tasted Boa Constrictor. Yuck. The guys, Kevin, David and Pete go out for a late evening fishing venture.

Claire and Amanda are strolling around on their scooters. Thank goodness for asphalt at our campground.

We are putting our 2 new canoes into action.

Grace, Ian and Karl go for a paddle on Hidden Lake.

Phil, Daniel, Karl and David have an airsoft war. Yikes.

Summer in Alaska means a lot of roasting marshmellows and campfires. This campfire pit is right outside my kitchen.

Karl and Tom are getting ready to set out again for another halibut run.

Beaver Dam on the far side of the lake.

The elder's from church spent 3 days together at Hidden Lake. Our families camped and played together. We brought our canoe's and Unlce Paul's boat along for fun. Claire went swimming even though the water was VERY cold. Guess that's what happens when you grow up in Alaska.

We went to the Homer 4th of July parade and then to some friends for a big 4th of July BBQ and party.

With both Kirsten and Karl gone for most of the summer, Claire had friends over to help fill the gap. These girls love to be in the garden.

The boys ran into a week of weather on their first trip out. They anchored up in a tiny town and spent a week of watching movies and walking the beaches. They created this crab pot out of scraps they found on the beach.

Cleaning up the boat after selling fish.

Clear the kitchen for a dance floor.

Greg and Megan Sullivan came and hung out with us before fishing at Bristol Bay. This is what we do in Alaska without T.V. :) Swing Dancing.

Pete was drawn for Brown Bear this past year. He 'harvested' one in June. He went hunting with our friend Mark on horseback. They ran into quite a few brown bears. This guy was close to camp.

Claire and Lenore get the giggles

Kirsten and Claire stop on the dock for a photo shoot.

Karl is putting bait on the line before heading out to fish.

Karl commerical fishing on the Julia Breeze.

Karl celebrated his graduation with his 4 closest friends. They call themselves the Bros. They spend all winter together snow machining and hanging out. Only Ben will be going to UAF with Karl.

Swanson Summer in Alaska started out with Karl graduating from High School. We were lucky enough to have Grandpa and Grandma, Auntie Britt and Uncle Pat here for the festivities.