Lilla and Daddy

Bilirubin too high

Her Bilirubin was too high and she had to lay under the ultraviolet lights for 24 hrs. She was cold and shaking and just CRIED AND CRIED. They said 9 out of 10 babies do that....When I woke up I saw the one of the most precious sights I had ever seen. Iran rigged up the lights and special blanket where they were on top of him as well as her and she was silent and calm next to her Daddy. The doctor and nurse walked in and said "That is ingenious! We have never had anyone do that before!"

Granny came

May we present Lilla Raffyella

Before Lilla Raffyella

Finding out I was pregnant after 10.5 years of being married was a big well wanted surprise. I put everything in God's hands...did not not to post anything on here or on facebook in case God decided to keep her.
Here are a few pics before Lilla................all taken in the glamorous restroom at work!

Frying halibut for Iran

I had to laugh at this picture Iran took....of our messy tiny kitchen....I look like I have a rather fake smile on my face...looks like out of a down home cooking magazine.

Papa Bears Adventures

Our friend Boris whom we met last summer was a pilot for Papa Bears Adventures here in Bethel. A wonderful couple runs it....they bring hunters out to remote places to do things like hunting and fishing. They do all kinds of things.....drop people off...pick them up days later if bears have not eaten them....etc. :) Many of the hunters get a moose for the prize antlers not the meat....even if they want the meat a moose is so huge they can't take it all back with them from wherever they came from. So there is one day out of the year in Aug you can call Papa Bears Adventures and have the owners put you "on the list" if a hunter has extra meat when they come in from a trip. Even though Iran got a moose this year....we share so much of it we were almost out already..... so I put us "on the list"....and out of the blue I got the call from the super nice owners saying we have some meat at the lake for you...come get it.  So Iran goes to get the moose leg.......A LOT of meat in one leg. They had it all bagged up in a nice game bag and the meat was super clean...doesn't get much better than that...AND IT'S FREE!! We have already made so many moose dishes this week....so good!

Just have to ignore the prices here and move on

I ran out of flour.....flour must have gone up in "Big B" because I don't remember it being this pricey! Oh well....gotta have it!

Burnt again

I CAN'T STAND OUR OVEN!! This WAS my oatmeal fudge bars.....our TINY oven either burns things....it's raw in the middle or you have to cook something for way longer than the directions say. Every day seems to be different with no consistency!!Oh and it cooks unevenly....While half the cookie sheet of cookies is burned...the other side is almost burned. The one thing I enjoy is baking and our tiny oven that I can't even fit a regular cookie sheet in is going to be the death of me...I'm sure of it! :) Or at least close to it!

Cranberry Chutney

Well.....the berry season this year has been not good....pretty much no blue berries or salmon berries but there was some cranberries. I have not been able to go out and pick berries like I have in the past. This year what little we were able to get my sweet Iran went out with me and picked away....I have to add his heart was NOT in it at all but regardless he went anyway and I truly appreciated it and he did a great job! :) We were at least able to make a little bit of yummy cranberry chutney with what we were able to pick...we weren't able to make much but am thankful for what we could make.

Another beautiful rainbow in Big B!

Iran and his buddy Brian out duck hunting

Fresh green beans and zucchini from "home"

My sweet mother sent me some green beans, zucchini and summer squash out of their garden as well as pears off the ol' pear tree....talk about making me miss home!! Tasted so VERY good!! Good comfort food. :) One of my very favorite things to eat is fried zucchini....reminds me of those hot summer nights in Missouri. :)

Rainbows left and right here in "Big B"

RAVEN

I know the Raven birds are "sacred" but I personally CAN'T STAND THEM!!! They are so smart it is scary. In Nome we would see them OPEN trash cans and literally carry white fully loaded trash bags with their "talons" off down the street. They would carry ducks that Iran and others had shot out of the back of our friend's truck and carry caribou bones off. CRAZY!
Iran snapped a pic of this bad boy who was not scared and would not leave.

Delphiniums

Our friend is a master gardener...and he had some delphiniums from New Zealand that apparently can grow in Ol' Bethel. I guess he had grown way too many and offered Iran and I couple. Since we both are not too good at keeping any plant alive we were hesitant...but we say sure we would love to have a couple. The blooms are so heavy it causes the plant to break....I was SO excited when I saw one was blooming...went out the next day and it had broke! So Iran tied the other ones up to the willows and to our shock it worked and they are blooming! These pictures of them are taken over the last six weeks.

"God keeps His promises"

Saw rainbows on two different days this week here in ol' Bethel....brought a big smile to my face. A rainbow means..."God keeps his promises". 

Salmon

By God's grace we got put in our freezer 95 lbs of salmon fillets! Thanks to our friends Bryan and Sheila for taking Iran fishing in their boat!

Our friend Bryan

My sweet Iran