I don’t take a lot of pictures…

I feel this is one of my biggest failings as person, and as a mother.  My kids will not have albums upon album to look back upon, or external hard drives filled with photos.

I am not an artist, I don’t have that special something that allows some people to take a blank canvas or lump of clay and make something lovely.

I, do however, fancy myself a storyteller- not an author, I am not that bold, but a teller of tales, both the true and the legend.   Someone who, on a good day, can take the words and put them together in just the right order, and sometimes the person reading those words or listening to them can leave where they are sitting and join me in the story.

I am compelled to tell these stories, for my kids especially.  the life that Dave and I have chosen, decisions about careers and school, mean that our kids  will not have a childhood  home that they can always come back to, a familiar building where the memories lurk in every corner.  For Kjell, Broder and Sunny, their childhood is not so much about where we are, but what we do.  And the memories of what we do, the everyday, and the extra special, the joyous and the frightening. This is what they will have.

So, I tell my family and friends and strangers these stories, in hopes that the pictures I don’t take can somehow be recreated with vowels and consonants, and inflection and punctuation.

I tell the stories in print and out loud, and sometimes in my head, to anyone who will listen and some who don’t.

The stories are my photo album.

 

 

It has been a long long time…

since I last wrote anything for this blog.  But for good or bad, I am back now. This last summer was so much fun, we were SO busy and there were so many things I should have written about, but we would get home and then turn around and leave again before I could get anything written.

So I kept thinking, oh I will sit down and catch up one of these days, and then something else would go on, and before I knew it, I was WAY behind in the chronicling of the life of the Lawrence crew.

and I know how you are all just waiting and waiting for my missives!

So, I have resolved to just start writing again, and then maybe, eventually post some “retro” stuff about all that went on over the last few months.  It was so fun, I really want to share it all with you.

But for tonight, I am just going to say “HI!!!!!, it’s good to be back!”

Happy Birthday Roy!

July 16th found us back in the truck, this time headed to Haines, Alaska for a visit with Dave’s folks.  The trip to Haines is always fun, for so many reasons.  And this trip promised to be even more fun than usual, as we were going not just for a visit but for a surprise party of epic proportions.  My beloved father in law, Roy, was turning 80 and it seemed a good reason to celebrate. 

My sister in law, Megan, along with my sister in law Mery,  my wonderful mother in law, Carol and even myself(I just had a tiny part in all this) began planning a party last summer.  Invitations were mailed around the country, and given out all around Haines, with strict instructions not to let on if Roy started asking questions.  A hall was rented, decorations purchased, a potluck arranged. 

The Anchorage Lawrence crew planned a trip to Haines, under the premise that July 16-21 were the only possible dates for us to spend in Haines, and wasn’t it just grand that it happened to coincide with Roy’s birthday!  We were just the foil.   We arrived early Thursday morning, and that evening, people started streaming into Haines from all over.  Over the next few days the roads between the ferry terminal and Haines International Airport were practically smoking as we made clandestine trips back and forth to pick up  friends and family streaming in from all over the state and the country. 

Megan and her friend Amy were the first in, coming in Thursday night from Washington State.  Then the next day the ferry brought Nina and her hubby, Christian and their little girl Naomi(Roy and Carol’s 1st great-grand baby), from Washington DC, and Deanna and her boyfriend Ben in from Oregon, Steve (one of Dave’s brothers) and his terrific and extremely fun girlfriend, Shellin, from Juneau, and a host of other friends and family.  Saturday morning brought still more guests. 

Haines is not a big place, and finding hiding places for all of these people was quite a challenge.  There were friends and family members stashed in houses and hotels on nearly every street.  All with warnings not to drive in front of Roy and Carol’s house, for fear he would see them and know something was up.  hiding someone in a town of 2000 might not seem like it is that hard, but try hiding a couple dozen, including children, grandchildren and a great grandchild of the guest of honor.  Now imagine that the guest of honor, from whom you are trying to hide these people, lives on the main street in town and the only road to the ferry terminal.  It was pretty funny!

Everywhere we went in Haines, for the first couple of days we were there, people would pull us aside and whisper something about the party, what they were planning to bring, what gift they found, what one of Roy’s necklaces they were going to wear, etc etc.  It is a good thing that Roy is now really hard of hearing!

And on July 18, it all came together in spectacular fashion!  A bit over 200 people crammed into the ANB/ANS hall in downtown Haines.  The place was decorated with balloons and streamers and a fantastic banner put together by Megan, with pictures of Roy thoughout his life. 

My kids and Dave spent the day with Roy and at 5:30pm, began a walk to the park.  As they walked past the ANB/ANS hall my kids urged Grandpa to go on in and see why all the cars were there.  Grandpa was reluctant, saying that there must be some kind of meeting and they probably don’t want to be disturbed.

Finally, Broder opened the door and peeked in,

 then a bit wider and in came Roy.  200 and some people stood up and sang “Happy Birthday” to a very overwhelmed and astonished Roy.

 

 

 To see the look on his face as he surveryed all those people there to celebrate his birthday, and then to see his face, and the tears, as he saw his children grandchildren and finally the great-grand child he had never met, only seen pictures of, standing right there.

 

I don’t have the words to describe what we all felt at that moment.

For the next couple of hours, people ate, and talked and laughed and laughed and laughed.  The whole town of Haines seemed to be there. 

Countless people told me how Roy has touched their lives over the years, things from teaching a young kid to ride a bike when the child’s own father was too busy, to giving of his drift net catch to a family of 10 that could really use the fish, to being the guy who gave the troubled kid a 2nd, 3rd, 4th chance, and the stories went on and on and on.  Roy is a a man who loves and is incredibly loved. 

 

 

After the party was over and the hall cleaned up, the family, headed over to Mery’s house for our own private after-party.  We all stayed up way too late, and enjoyed our selves very very much.  It was a wonderful time. 

Throughout all of this, I was reminded again, of how blessed I am.  I have the great family I was born into AND  the great family I married into.

51 years…

  Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! 

 Last year we celebrated my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary with a big party at their house in Minnesota.  This year I made a phone call.  

But, as much as I love a good party, I am thankful for this 51, even more than I was for 50.

In a little over a month, Dave and I will have been married 17 years. This seems hard to believe.  And I know that making it to 17 is in large part due to my folks making it to 51.  The example they have set forth, living out those vows nearly every married couple repeats: 

For better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do us part.

Over the last 38 years (34 of them that I can remember) I have seen them do those very things:

Love and Cherish

in each of the aforementioned circumstances:

for better, worse, richer, poorer, sickness and health.

51 years.

Thanks, Mom and Dad!

I love you.

3 days, 780 miles, one really big bruise…

and we are back from our adventure to Chicken, Alaska. 

I have wanted to go to Chicken for years.  Ever since I read the book “Tisha” which chronicles the story of a young woman who is sent to teach in the village of Chicken, way back when.  It is a wonderful story, and I recommend it to all of you. 

So, this fall, when our friends the Riopelles, told us about the 4th of July Chicken adventure they were planning, I was quick to invite myself along.  And boy am I glad I did. 

Chicken is located about 1.5 hours from Tok, Alaska, which is about 6-7 hours from Anchorage(depending on RV traffic).  So driving up there is a major time and petroleum fuel commitment. 

As it came closer for the time to go to Chicken, I was faced with a major decision:

Do I take the 13 year old minivan with 160,000 miles?

or

Do I take the 19 year old truck with 190,000 miles?

As Dave put is “they have equal chances of breaking down, take wahteverone you want”.  easy for him to say, since he wasn’t going on this trip with us (ah, the sorrow of having to work).  Why I was worried about this, I have no idea.  I mean really, I drove the Lord’s Van all over the Midwest!

After much discussion and debate, we took the truck, because, in the words of my 9 year old, “we could haul a whole lot more junk”.

Right here and now I want to publicly thank Sandy and Shawn Friendshuh for taking such great care of that truck!  It ran like a dream and took the frost heaves like an old pro.

I have driven the road from Anchorage to Tok many times, but never before had I taken the turnoff onto the Taylor Highway.  Alaska really is beautiful, and so vast, and the trip up the Taylor just reinforced that.  The landscape on the way to Chicken was different than much of what seen in my limited travels around the state.  The mountains are big, but not jagged, more like grown up versions of the rolling hills of northern Minnesota.  Trees and wild flowers and little lakes here and there, it was lovely. 

As we pulled into Chicken, it was everything I had hoped:  quirky, dusty, hot!  With a name like Chicken… 

I could never get a definitive answer on the actual number of residents in Chicken, but I heard 3 as the year round population a number of times, with 70 being the standard for fulltime summer residents.  These seemed to be mostly people there to work the various gold claims in the area and a number of people who ran the 2 rv parks in the area, as well as the bar, cafe and store. 

The kids and I set up camp at one of the 3 tent sites at the “Original Chicken Gold Camp” RV park.  The owners looked at me a little funny when I said we would be tent camping.  I guess that isn’t really popular among the retired recreational gold mining crowd.  Then we set out to explore.  it didn’t take long. In the town of Chicken there is one store, one bar, one cafe and a post office, which only processes mail 1x a week, on Thursdays.  There are 2 RV parks, each with the required gift shop selling “I got laid in Chicken, Alaska” bumper stickers and t-shirts.  I did not get those. 

Kjell and his friend, Sam, immediately began to gold pan, while the other kids ran around and got dirty.  We had a lovely evening settling in and visiting by the fire.  

I woke up Saturday morning feeling that a shower would be a lovely thing.  So I sauntered on over to the campground shower house.  Happened upon an empty shower, plunked in my quarters for a 5 minute shower and realized(in a near panic) that I had not remembered to throw my shampoo into my toiletry bag.  I was determined to get the most out of this pricey shower, and make it more than just a rinsing.  A quick dig in the bag revealed a nearly full tube of toothpaste.  I thought, “What the heck, it cleans my teeth”.  I can now say, with complete assurance, toothpaste will take the grime right out of your hair and is a truly lovely body scrub to boot.

On Saturday, July 4th the big community picnic.  this picnic is a yearly fundraiser for a Gold Prospectors Assoc. and draws quite the crowd, about 200 people, the biggest weekend in Chicken all year, by far.  It was a great picnic.  For $12 you get the biggest steak (or grilled chicken) I have ever seen and endless side dishes, with all the water, soda and beer a person could possibly consume.   There are activities all day long, gold panning competitions for all ages, a massive egg toss event, and the indestructible pinata to cap off the day. 

Kjell and Sunny participated in the gold panning contest and they both won their age groups.  It was very very cute.  Broder was my entrepreneur and spent his afternoon plunging his arm into ice cold water to retrieve beer and sodas for the picnic goers.  his line was “tips appreciated, but not required”.  I think the little guy earned about $10, but he put all but $3 into the donation pot. 

 

We had heard that there was a German tourist component to Chicken (I have no idea why this would be true) and we were not disappointed.  The kids got the practice their language skills with a couple families, both of whom were delighted and charmed. 

I walked away from the weekend with a bit of a sunburn, and the aforementioned, really big bruise.  While packing up the truck to go, I completely forgot we had installed a hitch with which to pull our boat (another post), and ran into the stupid thing, HARD.  As was observed by a friend, “those suckers don’t move”.  I can say without any doubt, my right shin was the loser in the “shin vs hitch” battle. 

We drove back on Sunday, dusty, smelly, and thoroughly happy to have made the trek. 

Next stop, Haines, AK, to visit with Dave’s folks.

whewfffshaaaaahhh……………

I am not certain that is a word, but it should be.  I think it is a verb, the action it describes is that thing that happens to a big fluffy pillow when you lay your head down on it.  There is an immediate output of air from the pillow and then the outflows slows down and your head sinks to just the right level and…. ahhhh.

That is exactly how I felt this afternoon when Dave got home after 3 weeks away:  whewfffshaaaahhh…..  I gave him a kiss and promptly laid down on the couch and took a 3 hour nap while he played with the kids.  whewfffshaaaahhhh. 

I haven’t posted in quite a while, kept meaning to, there has been so much to talk about, so much that has been going on around here.  Perhaps that is why, SO MUCH has been going on around here.  I have always been a fairly busy person, there have been times in my life where I have been too busy, taken on too many things, said yes too many times.  But, in the last few years, I have been able to break that cycle, I have gotten alot more intentional about what I commit myself to, and have stopped trying to do it all.  I found that I am a much better mother, wife, daughter, friend, co-worker when I set those limits. 

So how did the last 6 weeks get so crazy that the only thing I could say “no” to was my blog? 

I am not sure.  But boy howdy, has it been crazy.  It has been really fun too, terribly fun, the best kind of fun, late nights and busy days spent with people I love, days spent out in the sun, etc etc.  But now, the reset button has been hit and things are going back to regular speed instead of hyper-speed. 

the kids and I came back from our trip, a grand 3 weeks it was, and they only had 5 weeks of school left.  Those last weeks are filled with field trips and projects and parties and meetings.  Kjell was gone more than he was home, having a 6th grade camping trip that took the majority of one week, then a youth group retreat the next week, followed by yet another overnight trip later that week with school.  Broder had numerous field trips to concerts and plays and nature walks, even little Sunny got in on the act.  Then it was city wide clean up day, then Sunny’s Daisy troop had their night at the zoo.  And that took us to May 21.

In and amongst the fun both boys and the mama(that would be me) ended up with strep throat, lucky me, I got it 2x.  I lost a couple days in there somewhere.  I messed up my left knee as well, went to the Dr and he said ‘you’re getting old, kind of fat, and there is the beginning of arthritis.  Lose some weight, and buy large bottles of ibuprophen” 

I had joined weight watchers a couple weeks before the Dr appointment but I did stock up on the drugs at his suggestion, and the WW is working, slowly.  I have lost about 15 lbs, and have a long long way to go, but eventually…

On Memorial Day, Cathy, Jim and Kajsa Stanley-Erickson flew into town and we spent the next 10 days eating and laughing and staying up way too late wishing we all lived closer to each other.  It was so wonderful to have that time with them and to get to know Kajsa.  What a delightful little kid, and boys does she ever have great parents!   We got a camping trip in and everything. 

Starting with Memorial Day and for the next 17 days, we had company non-stop.  On 2 different occasions the bed and floor space at the Lawrence Hostel was completely full and an annex was erected in the back yard (other people call it a tent, but I think annex sounds so much better).  Over that time period we  had 15 people from all over staying/visiting at our place.  We made endless batches of eggs for breakfast, thanks in large part to some of our guests who brought us several dozen farm fresh eggs, yum yum.! We put the backyard fire pit to good use introducing many of our friends and visitors to the joys of camp pies and smores with reese’s peanut butter cup centers. 

 the Stanley-Ericksons, the Bruces(who didn’t stay at our house but counted as visitors anyway since we hadn’t seen them in ages and they did spend the day with us), good friends from Kenai who based out of our place for a week while they helped to rebuild a deck for a woman who couldn’t do that on her own, Roy and Dorothy, my aunt and uncle who had a few days with us before departing on a cruise to celebrate their 50 years of wedded bliss, and Emma and Barret, the darling couple we met while camping in Seward who spent  a night in our backyard and gifted us with several pounds of chocolate on their departure(these are good people!).  It was great fun, and truly exhausting. 

Dave was with us for most of the Stanley-Erickson visit, then it was back to work for him.  He came home for 26 hours a couple of weeks ago, just enough time to go to dinner with Roy and Dorothy, have lunch with the Bruces the next day and hop on a plane to Texas where he spent the next 2 weeks in a series of training classes. 

Last Monday I got a surprise call from Carol Lawrence, my beloved mother in law, and the kids and I spent the next 2 afternoons getting in a little Grandma time.  That was an unexpected bonus to our week! 

the weather has been great, we have been biking to church a bit, and spending as much time outside as possible.  The house is a disaster, but that is ok, it will rain soon enough and the floors can get done then. 

Over the next few weeks, we don’t have visitors scheduled, but we have stuff going on.  Just before Dave left for Texas we bought a boat and this weekend we will be putting it in the water for the first time.  Pretty exciting stuff.  I am hoping to get comfortable trailering the thing so we can use it even when Dave is gone.  We are going to head out of town to a couple of lakes north of here and camp and practice practice practice, driving the boat, putting it in the water, getting it out of the water, back in the water, etc etc.  We hope to find a good camp spot on the far side of some lake and settle in for a day or 2. 

Over the 4th of July, the kids and I will be joining friends for a trip to Chicken, Alaska.  Never been to Chicken, but I hear it is a great place to visit, and supposedly there is a large German tourist component there, so perhaps the kids will get to practice their language skills a bit. 

July 15th we head to Haines, Alaska, Dave will be with us on this trip.  We are going to visit Dave’s folks and spend some time playing on the beach, and relaxing with the Alaska side of the family. Haines is a lovely town and it will be very fun to be there. 

Then it is back home, for the last month of summer.  the kids start school again in late August, too soon if things keep going at this pace!  there is lots of fishing to do in that month.  And then starts hunting season.  Dave is hoping to take the boys on a float trip and “catch a moose” as Sunny would say.  I am thinking that I will make a trip to one of Alaska’s hot springs while the guys are gone, anyone want to join me?

What a change from last summer, the packing and moving and medical that defined our lives for those months last year. 

I am so thankful for the flexibility that my little job offers, being able to take off and do all these things.  I am thankful too, for Dave’s schedule, even though he is away much of the time, when he is home, he is not bound to the office. 

 And I am so thankful for God’s provision, the bounty He has provided us, so far beyond what we could have ever hoped for, in the form of good jobs that allow us to give and play, and better yet, our fabulous loving friends and family!

Whewfffshaaaahhh….. yep, that’s it, life is good.

UPS fun….

This afternoon the UPS guy came by with a little box of joy for the Lawrence household.  Well, ok, it was a box of joy for me and Dave, as it was a shipment of wine.  The UPS guy is pretty friendly, and we get a lot of UPS shipments (not all wine, don’t panic, Mom), and he often chats for a moment.  I find out neat stuff about the neighbors, several others get wine shipments too, apparently our neighborhood has about the highest per capita wine deliveries.  I think that is because we are all so sophisticated and urbane.  That must be it.  Lots of other book lovers in the are as well, judging by the number of Amazon.com boxes. 

So, today, I meet Mr UPS at the door, and he hands me my wine box(not to be confused with box wine, although some of that is not too bad).  We say nice things about the weather and the upcoming weekend. 

Then he says:   ”so, do you work?” (is it unusual to find someone at home EVERYTIME a package is delivered?). 

And I respond:   ”no, not really” (too hard to explain the working 12 hours a week thing, it doesn’t really count as work). 

And he says:  “oh, because you’re rich?”

And I am thinking:  well that would explain the tiny house, 12 year old minivan and 17 year old pickup

But instead I say:  “No, because I am lazy.”

Dropped jaw, stunned silence.

And finally:  “Well, ummm, you’re honest.”

More vacation photos

the ever adorable Kajsa Stanley-Erickson

The closest I am willing to come to a picture of me on the beach. 

our little beach buddy.  He was crawling all over our snorkel gear one morning.  We watched him for a long time and took LOTS of pictures.

Birthday party….

All of my siblings and my parents live in the greater Minneapolis area.  We live in Anchorage.  There are about 4000 miles between the 2 cities. 

This makes getting together for birthdays and holidays a bit of a  challenge. 

I was feeling a bit sad that I had missed out on so many things over the past 8 months and really wanted to celebrate SOMETHING while in  Minnesota. 

So we had a birthday party:  for all the cousins.  It was a ball.

Mom and I went and got cards for all the kids.  Lucy picked up Dairy Queen gift certificates.  A cake was ordered, ice cream procured.  And we partied. 

We started out by having everyone write on everyone elses’ card.  It was very fun, each kid got a card that was signed by all of their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents on the Showalter side of the family. 

We sang “Happy Birthday” and found that it takes a lot longer when you have to run through 13 names at the “happy birthday dear…” part of the song.

That night somewhere between 5 and 5000 cousins spent the night at my folks house.  It was as it should be!

Vacation, vacation, vacation….

It was a busy 3 weeks.  We packed a lot of fun and family and food into those 21 days.  And yet, there were so many people I did not get to see.  And those I did see, it was not enough.  But, we had a great time, and we made it home safely.  Can’t ask for much more than that.

We left Anchorage March 24, taking a non-stop red eye to Minneapolis.  Somehow, the captain and crew found out that it was Kjell’s birthday on the 25th and around midnight, the senior attendant showed up at Kjell’s seat with a piece of fudge cake.  Kjell was completely impressed.  As we began our descent into Minneapolis, the Captain came on and wished Kjell a happy birthday.  The entire plane clapped and said Happy Birthday, and my 12 year old was beaming , beaming, beaming.  It was adorable. 

We spent the first day and night wth mom and dad.  All the kids soaked up a little grandparent time and I enjoyed having a few hours of mom and dad before the whirlwind that defines my trips to Minnesota began. 

By dinner time, the first of my siblings arrived!  Yipppeee.  It is so great being a part of a large family.

The next night found us at my sister Lucy’s house.  All 5 of her girls were around at one time or another and the cousins had so much fun.  Lucy and I stayed up until about 2am, laughing and talking and laughing some more.  Her kids were on spring break, and that was just wonderful, as they are so busy we would have had a hard time fitting in a visit otherwise. 

I will break this trip into several posts, as to not overwhelm!