“I just love my trips. We went to Sitka. We started in Anchorage. And then we went to Barrow and then we went to the places we wanted to go to. We went to a pizza place in Barrow. I loved Barrow… So much that I wanted to stay there forever! We went to a park in Barrow and I just thought it was great. We went to the beach but we didn’t go swimming because it was super cold! We saw whale bones. It was cool. One time when I was by the whale bones and Daddy told me to take a picture I wanted to be in the middle but Jadon didn’t let me. I loved being on the Top of the World. The airport was so small. My Daddy was awesome. He was the leader for our trips.”

Barrow, AK 8-8-2017

 
“We went ocean kayaking in Sitka. It was so great. We saw one otter and five sea lions. I ride with Dayton in his kayak. I didn’t have to paddle at all. My sister and brother did. That was sad for them. We walked in a house through a gate and we had to stay on the rug and we could only touch the railing. We had a tour guide that made us Junior Rangers with a book. I really liked it. We saw like 15 totem poles. We almost saw 40. There was a church in the middle of the road. I don’t know why. We climbed up a hill and then went back to the airport.”

Sitka, AK 8-7-2017

Love,

 Rahab

August 9th, 2017
Today we are having a slow morning as we recover from our last couple of travel days. I’m on my third cup of coffee and it is really nice to listen to my children playing contentedly downstairs. We are back in Anchorage after spending the last two and a half days on the road around Alaska. Our travel this week was unexpected and spontaneous because we were expecting a visit from Tim and Kaley. Tim called on Saturday evening however and cancelled on us so we had some unexpected freedom in our schedule. One of my favorite things about being married to Chris is her willingness to be spontaneous with me and so we quickly planned a trip to Sitka in Southeast Alaska and a trip to Barrow in Arctic Alaska. 
We attended church on Sunday at Eagle River Covenant Church and enjoyed it very much. It was Jadon’s first chance to participate in Communion in a regular church type setting and he was very excited. Afterwards we returned home and planned out some details for our trip. We caught the evening flight down to JNU and on to Sitka, arriving at around 11:30 pm in Sitka. I had found a last minute room at the crew hotel at a pretty good discount. Everyone was quick to sleep on Sunday night.
When we woke up on Sunday we had a breakfast of bagels and bananas in the hotel room and then headed out to the local grocery for donuts and coffee. We took our donuts and coffee down to Sitka National Historical Park and walked around the totem pole loop. We had to walk semi-quickly in order to make it back to our kayak appointment at 10:15 with Sitka Ocean Adventures. The kayaking was the highlight of the trip. Our guide was wonderful with the children and we got to see all kinds of wonderful ocean things: Sea-Lions having breakfast, Sea Otters, Star fish, and an old WWII fort complete with some old bunkers. I love watching the wonder on the children’s faces when they came face to face with a 1,000 lb sea lion just feet from their kayak! Another highlight for us all was watching flight 62 roll down runway 11 from the vantage point of the water right next to the runway. It’s not often the kids can be that close to the jet when it is moving that fast! After the kayak and a quick lunch at Subway we toured the Russian Bishop’s house, walked the downtown, and climbed up Castle Hill. All together it was a fantastic day. 
After making it back to Anchorage we had a short night at our condo here and then were back at it the next morning early, to catch the 7:40 am departure up to Deadhorse and Barrow. We caught the last four seats on the airplane and with me in the cockpit jumpseat we all just squeaked on! After waiting for Barrow weather to get better in Deadhorse we finally arrived in Barrow around 11:30 am to 45 degrees and misty clouds. It didn’t take long for everyone to get pretty chilly. We walked the town and found the beach and the Arctic Ocean, had our lunch in a playground next to the beach, and then found the famous Top of the World Whale Bone Arch to take a picture under. The kids really enjoyed the native heritage center and learning all about native whaling and life in the arctic. After stopping by the Post Office to send a couple of post cards we walked back to the local pizza joint “Arctic Pizza” (which was surprisingly good) and then walked back over the airport just in time to catch the 7 pm jet back to Anchorage. Pretty amazing to think that Sitka and Barrow are almost 1,000 miles apart and we did them both in two days! I’m thankful for my family that loves to adventure with me and for all of the things they are learning along the way. Now I’m off to find my fourth cup of coffee 😉 

Greg Ireland

July 22-26, 2017

We went to pick up Uncle Mike at the airport. Then we spent the night at our house in Anchorage. The next day we went to Seward. We met Guy at the harbor. We went to Guy’s campsite. We hiked to Exit Glacier. The hike was really easy. The glacier was really big. Uncle Mike stayed in Seward to go fishing ?. He caught a really big fish ?.  We also went to Thunderbird Falls and Eklutna Lake. It was a hard hike for Thunderbird Falls and an easy hike for Eklutna Lake.  
Jadon Ireland

His special trip with the Ireland’s.  
When we picked up Uncle Mike, he was on the drop off and we were at the pick up spot. Momma called him and told him we are in the drop off. He came down to find us. We took him to our house in Anchorage. Then we rollerbladed to the best milk shakes in Anchorage. Guess what happened next, we went home.  
The next day we went to Seward and dropped off Uncle Mike. He caught a big fish!  
The next day we went to Thunderbird Falls. It was pretty. We went up on the higher cliff and the lower cliff. It was a great time. I liked it so much. Esther and Jadon were so good. Uncle Mike was so good. I really like him.  
Then we bought cough drops and fish boxes. I am completely right. 
Rahab Ireland

Thunder Bird Falls

       

                   Misty, Loud, Spraying, Beautiful, 

                       Describes Thunder Bird Falls,

                   25 Feet High,

                       Pouring Down

                   Misting, Spraying,

                       As Water Tumbles 

                   Making Loud Beautiful Sounds,

                       Make you want to close your eyes,

                   I Love Water

                               Falls.

                                              -Esther Ireland
I had a really fun time in Alaska with Uncle Mike.

Esther Ireland

The first 3 miles were really easy. The next 4 miles were really hard. We hiked up to Flapjack Lake in WA. We camped at Flapjack lakes. There is two lakes and three streams. The next day we ate an oatmeal breakfast ?. Then we hiked 4 miles to Big Log. There was lots of big logs there. There was also a river. We spent the night at Big Log. The next morning we had an oatmeal breakfast. We hiked back to the trail head for 4 miles. When we got back we drove to have burgers and ice cream?. Then we went home.  My favorite part of the trip was burgers and ice cream. I hiked 19 miles. I also carried my backpack the whole way.   
Jadon Ireland

The joy of having my family visit me at my house was awesome!  It’s the first time I got to host all of my Mom’s family!  Esther and Rahab built a fire all by themselves.  They were excited to roast s’mores and carry on Uncle Mike’s tradition of roasting starbursts!  I also enjoyed all the music that was played and sung in the house.  Rahab was captivated by the aunts and their singing.  The main reason for the visit was we were the pit stop before getting on the cruise to Alaska!  They were all cruising together to celebrate my Grandma’s 85th birthday!

Before the went cruising we explored the great city of Seattle.  I was thankful to have Mack join in on the tour guiding, as she knows the city way better than me!  Now I have a few more spots I can show off to people who come for a visit.  Our tour included Kerry Park as it’s the best view in town!  We got to explored the Ballard Locks for the first time.  I love watching them move boats from the Pudget Sound to Lake Washington! From there we went to the Space Needle and my favorite the fountain!  I love watching it as the music is playing in the backgroud.  We also rode the monorail making the walk to Pikes Market much shorter.  While the family explored the market, I got the opportunity to visit with my Grandma while over looking the Pudget Sound.  The highlight for Esther and Rahab was the gum wall!   

Hope for another visit in the future!  Love hanging out with my family!

-Chris

July 30th, 2017

Greg and I took the opportunity with my grandma, aunts, uncles and parents, all at the same location, and did Jadon’s first communion. When my Mom’s side of the family gathers we usually do church at home.  It has become one of my treasured moments with my family.  Truly an authentic time of worship.  Greg was able to serve Jadon communion.  Then Jadon served communion to the rest of the family with Greg.  Greg read to Jadon 1 Chronicles 28:9-10, 20

1Chr. 28:9 ¶ “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

1Chr. 28:10 Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”

1Chr. 28:20 ¶ David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.

Jadon as you walk with the Lord, be brave and courageous!

This past week we had a wonderful visit with my brother!  We used every minute with him.  The night he got in we took him rollerblading down Campbell Creek trail to find a milk shake!

The next morning we took off to Seward, AK in hopes to get a tour on the boat, but it was too windy.  Instead we enjoyed a tour of the Seward shoreline and a quick hike up to Exit Glacier.  We had our own personal tour guide, Guy and his son Jeff.  The also spoiled us with fish tacos for supper.  The kids and I headed back to ANC to meet Greg.  While Mike took the opportunity to stay and catch salmon the next day with Guy and Jeff.  Even though I missed hanging out with my brother, I’m so thankful he got the opportunity to go fishing!  What an experience!  He caught the biggest fish that day and caught his limit!

While Mike was fishing, we headed to Russian Falls.  We hoped to see a bear feasting on salmon, but no such luck.  It was a great hike and fun to watch the salmon jump the falls!  Loving these adventures with my family!

Our last day with Mike we did two shorter hikes.  Greg was off to work so the kids and I were playing tour guides!  We did one new and one old hike for us.  Our new hike was to Thunderbird Falls.  Wow, what a beautiful hike and an amazing waterfall!  After that we headed off to Eklutna Lake.  Even though it overcast, the views were still fantastic.  I loved being able to explore with my brother and my kids!  Creating memories that will last a life time!

We got up early the next morning to head to SEA and Mike off to MSP.  Flying this time of year out of ANC can be quite challenging, but I’m thankful to say it only took waiting for 3 flights to get us all home.  Esther and Jadon did their first unaccompanied minor trip.  They loved it, and I’m thankful it went off without a hitch!  Rahab, Mike, and I were on the next flight about an hour behind them.

Can’t wait to explore the next state with my brother and my family!

-Chris

 

   I think the Bowen’s are great! We had a campfire with the Bowen’s. We roasted marshmallows. Eliana is so great because she is 5, too. Her is my best friend. She has a sister, Nadia, that is 3. Both of the sisters have a baby brother, Ivan, that is 1.   We went camping in Seward, AK. We went to the SeaLife center. We saw a baby walrus. We got to stick our fingers in the water and touch the animals that were really alive with only two fingers. The water was freezing cold. The animals felt soft or rough. One time I felt one that was actually a rock.  

   The fishes were huge that daddy caught. I didn’t like the smell.  

   Because it was raining we left Seward the day after we came. On the way home we saw a bear when we were at the restaurant.  

   I lost a tooth in Seward!  

   We watched the bears at the Wild Life Center with Eliana, Nadia, and Ivan. The bears were eating. We loved it!

It is fun in Alaska!

Rahab Ireland

   The Bowen’s got to our house really late. The next morning we had pancakes and we played. The mom’s went shopping and the dads took us to Lake Hood. Which had a lot of float planes on it. Then we got the RV and I got to ride in it. We went to Seward that night. We had s’mores and Jadon and I explored the campground. In the morning it was rainy outside. The dads went fishing and caught lots of fish. We did not go fishing, but we went to the SeaLife Center in Seward. There we got a smashed penny. We saw lots of fish, octopus, seals, otters, and sea lions. We got to touch starfish and other things. They were really cool. Some starfish were gooey. After the SeaLife center we went and got the dads. We saw all the fish that they caught. They each caught six silver salmon and some rockfish. Then the dads decided to go back to Anchorage, but I didn’t want to do that. On the way back from Seward, we stopped at a restaurant. There was a metal garbage can with a black bear trying to open it. I thought it was a dog, then I thought it was a bear. A dog came out of the restaurant and starting chasing the bear. Then the bear went away.  

   The next day we went to the Wildlife Conservation center. There we saw bears that were getting fed. We, also, saw moose, elk, bison, fox, wolves, and a cub black bear.  

   The next day we watched a movie and went to Eagle River. We saw lots of mountains and played. The mountains were really pretty.  

   Then the Bowen’s had to go back to their house in Washington.

Esther Ireland
   
We got a camper. We took the camper back to our house. We loaded the camper to Seward. My sister, the daddy’s, and I when we got there we made a fire ?. We had s’mores and went to bed. We went to the sea life center and the dads went fishing ? for silver salmon and rockfish ?. Then we went home ? we spent three more days. With the Bowen’s we saw a black bear ?. 

Jadon ??

This past week the Bowen Family joined our Alaska Adventure. It was sure an adventure this past week! Our plan was to go camping for 3 nights in Seward. Greg and Ryan scheduled a fishing charter and rented an RV off of RVshare.com. We got all packed up with lots of food and a RV that well, was questionable, but we proceeded forward with the plan and adjusted as the new plans came our way. This week was filled with unexpected blessings!

1. Sunday/Monday my cousin and his wife came up for a last minute trip to watch the bears! We got to enjoy all their wonderful stories and amazing pictures of the bears eating salmon! What a special treat!

2. Our new friends up here in AK, offered us their Excursion while the Bowen family was here. This seriously was a need we really had no idea we needed until we took off to Seward. Love when God provides for us when we didn’t even know our need. Blessed! Thank you Ness Family!

3. The questionable RV, yes it was that bad-Greg confirmed bad, was a blessing. It poured in Seward and forecasted to rain our entire trip there. Image 6 kids (10, 7, 5, 5, 3, & 1) all in two RV’s (the one we rented and another one we borrowed from my cousin!). The one we rented leaked from the pull out, result sopping, wet, dirty, carpet. We didn’t find the wet carpet until we were getting ready for bed on Monday night, night one. Greg and Ryan were getting up at 5am to go fishing on Tuesday. We preserved through night one, and that was all! Because the camper was not functioning well, we were able to return to Anchorage the next day and get a refund for the RV. Now if you want to hear the refund story talk to Greg or Ryan! Thankful for how God provided again!

 

4. Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, AK is amazing! Definitely worth the trip. Side note if you do come and have a zoo or aquarium membership bring it you could get half off! Dana and I were thankful for a dry spot that kept all the kid’s interest. My favorite was seeing all the different kinds of Salmon.

 

5. Silver Salmon and Rockfish a plenty! Greg and Ryan caught their limit 6 salmon! Rockfish was a bonus. It’s an ugly fish, but very tasty! The 4 oldest kids and I met Greg and Ryan on the pier with all the fish from the charter. They hung up the fish, to capture the exciting moment! We also watched them fillet the fish. We were soaking wet when we left, but worth the trip. The fish was awesome!  

 

6. Trash bear sighting! Since we left Seward Tuesday night we found a place in Girwood to have supper. When we arrived we spotted a black bear trying to get in the dumpster. Pretty cool to see the bears this close. Not too worry no one was hurt, in fact we were all pretty excited at our bear sighting!

7. Exploring new spots! Even though we planned to explore Seward and I do hope we can go back. We went off to explore the Alaska Wild Life Conservation Center near Portage, AK. We arrived just as there were feeding the bears, 3 grizzly bears and 2 black bears! What a sight to see them eat so close. We also spotted a black cub high up in a tree! Crazy to think they can really climb trees! We all enjoyed watching the different animals! 

 

The second place we got to explore was Eagle River. Praise the Lord it wasn’t raining! We even saw the sun! We did a 3 mile flat, loop hike, called Albert Loop. The scenery was suburb and the hike was perfect for our group! 

 

8. This blessing wasn’t necessarily unexpected, but an appreciated blessing. Our visit with the Bowen family. We don’t often gather together for more than one night at a time. This trip we got four days in a row! Blessed to really get to know them more this trip.    

Chris Ireland

We woke up early to go to Nome. When we got to Nome we decided to go hike to a waterfall called Dorthy Falls. The waterfall was really pretty it was about 20ft high and 10ft wide. To get to the waterfall we had to climb over the White Mountains and there was no trail either but it was really fun. After hiking to the waterfall we went to a ghost town and a hot springs. The old ghost town had a old orphanage, church, a school, and some houses. The hot springs was 170 degrees fahrenheit it was very hot and I swam in the water. On the way to the hotel we stopped to get some fresh spring water strait out of the ground it was very good water. The next day we went to the place were the Iditarod race ends. Then we went to dredge #5 (the biggest dredge ever built). We climbed all over it and saw lots of different parts of the dredge it was really cool. Then we went to White Alice Radar Station. It was made for the Cold War. Then we went to the beach with all the gold in it we swam and panned for gold we got some gold but it was really small it was just dust. Then we went to the airport (the airport is so small it is just a room) we got on the airplane and went home.
Esther Ireland

We went to Nome we hiked to dorthy falls. We also hiked to the pilgrims hot springs. We also hiked to an old town. It was overgrown. It was not hot. There was an old church that was empty. I didn’t want to stay there forever. There was a really hot hot springs there. We changed into our swimsuits and tried it out. It was really hot. The next day we drove up to White Alice Radar Station. It was on a high mountain. After that we walked on the Nome beach. I went swimming. We also panned for gold and built a sand castle. My favorite part of the whole trip was dredge number 5. Because we got to go on the dredge. It was really old and falling apart. We went high and low on it.  

Jadon Ireland

So… I went to Nome for a trip and my name is Rahab. We went to a gold beach and played there. And we were there for two days! We hiked to a waterfall, I got to take my shoes off and play in the water but the pictures we had to take was so boring. The waterfalls name was Dorothy. We had to hike over the mountains and a river to get there. After, we went to a hot springs. I stuck my foot in and got a burn on my foot. I wasn’t tired all the time. After that we went to bed. The next day we went to number 5 dredge… so cool. At first Jadon thought we couldn’t get in but then we went in. There were some missing steps. Daddy went first cause he needed to help us but he got grease on his hands and then I didn’t want to hold his hand cause I didn’t want grease on my hand. At the hot springs we saw an orphanage. I definitely didn’t want to live in that orphanage. One more thing, we lived in a hotel for two days. It was fancy but we still had to go to the grocery store to get our donuts for breakfast.

Love,  Rahab