Christmas for the Birds

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6:26

After hearing this verse used in a sermon at church, it got me thinking about those sweet little birds (and our pet squirrel Elizabeth). After all, it was almost Christmas, and they should get a special something for being our feathered and furry friends... Sure, the Lord takes care of them. But maybe we could do something extra special for them in this happy Christmas season?

So one evening before Christmas, Quinn and I set to work. We gathered bird seed, and using a recipe I found here, we started making ornaments.

The recipe used corn syrup, and it made the mixture super sticky! Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult to press into our cookie cutters.

Now it was time to make the holes for hanging them!

Some colorful bendy straws made the perfect thing to make the holes. 
Now all we had to do was wait...

But we're not the type to just sit around, so we spent the rest of our evening making popcorn, cranberry, and peanut garlands. 

We were going to make some birds very, very happy!

The next morning dawned beautifully, with a cold wind blowing snow about in the meadows. With no snow or rain coming down, it was the perfect time to take a walk.

We gathered the family together and we were off down one of the forest trails near our home to find the perfect tree!

Laura followed behind us, skipping all the way:

Soon we left the main path and wandered out in the meadows and muskegs for a bit, searching around carefully.

Abigail and I each carried a basket packed with the tree trimmings Quinn and I had made the night before.

Finally, we found what we were looking for!
And adorable little hemlock tree, the perfect Christmas tree for the birds and little creatures of the meadow.

The birdseed ornaments we had made turned out wonderfully, and oh-so pretty to look at!

A twist of candy-stripped baker's twine to hang them and they were ready for the tree!



Now all that was left to do was to decorate the tree!

Everyone had a wonderful time trimming the little hemlock tree with presents for the birds, and the tree looked magical when we finished:

A very happy sight to be seen just off the trail.

Oh! But don't worry, we remembered the friends at our home too! We made something very extra special for them...

With some leftover birdseed and cranberries, we made them a yummy wreath as a Christmas present.
Our squirrel friend Elizabeth has inspected it and we think she approves!
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Don't forget your feathered and furry friends this cold season, I'm sure they would all like to wake up to a birdseed wreath hanging up in your garden.

An End to the Summer

Today marks the last night that we will be playing on the Princess Cruise ships this summer. We are excited to leave for our Fall tour (This coming Sunday evening! It's almost here!), but playing on the Princess Cruise ships has been absolutely wonderful!

A few key things we will be missing:

1.) The FOOD - Paul especially has loved filling a plate (or two...or three...) every night (and yes, sometimes at lunch too) before a show. We just wish Melissa had let us go up and try the ice cream and milkshakes, but sadly, dairy like that just isn't good for the voice before a show. 

2.) The stage crews - Wow! If we could talk a few of the people we've come to know this summer into traveling with us, we would never have to set up, take down, do sound or our own lighting ever again! It would be heaven... One of the best things about playing on the ships was being able to show up, practice a little bit, and step right on stage. They had everything done for us.

3.) The BIG fancy stages -  After working lots and lots of summers at the Mount Roberts Tramway (which we adore for different reasons), a big stage to really move around on was extra special and made us feel like rock stars (even when only eight people showed up for the show - YES, that really happened).

One thing we will NOT miss:

1.) The evil looks we got from security when we were late getting off the ship because they scheduled our show right before departure leaving us no time to get paid or pack up - One guy DID look like Hugh Jackman though, so that was sort of a consolation prize...

We thought we would show you a little bit of a look at the Coral Princess Cruise ship as we get on to play our last show. Hope you enjoy it!

An Evening of Music

   Not too long ago, we heard the sad news that our dear friends the Truitts were going to be moving away from Juneau. This called for a going-away party filled with music and yummy desserts (I mean...dinner). 

   Lots of our friends came over for the evening to wish the Truitts off on their new adventure, and the evening ended wonderfully with home-made raspberry pie (made by Quinn and I from our very heavy raspberry bushes). 

Now, we need to clear something up with you. 

Very often in our travels (and sometimes even here in Juneau), people will come up to us after a show and they seem to think all we do in our free time is sit in front of our fireplace on cold winter evenings and play music happily together. 

And that's sort of true...

Yes, there are lots of cold winter evenings.

Yes, there is a lot music played in front of the fireplace.

But no. We are practicing. 

We very seldom just get together and play for fun.

(though yes, practice is a lot of fun sometimes)

Getting together with friends and just playing music seldom happens outside of Folk Fest week here in our house, so this evening spent with four guitars, two fiddles, a banjo, a bass and a piano was absolutely wonderful.

The night turned into a worship service/talent show, and we filmed parts of it to capture the moments we shared with everyone. 

We hope you like this little look into a very special evening:

"For where two or three gather in my name,

 there am I with them."

Matthew 18:20

A Day Spent Out in the Boat

Juneau has really been blessed with warm weather this summer. Last week it got up to 85 degrees! 

And in our book, that's water-skiing weather!

And that's just what we did:

I know what you're thinking. 

You're thinking, "Emily, I don't see you in any of these pictures!" 

Yep, you're right. That's because I was in the boat, taking pictures and video, with NO bathing suit on. Unlike this new family I have married into, I'm not completely crazy. 

That water is COLD.

To prove my point, here's the face Abigail made when she put on the soaking wet and very cold life jacket before climbing out of the boat. 

That's not a happy face.







Here's Paul getting out of the water, and boy is he happy to do so!

Because of the warm weather, everyone dried off pretty quick in the boat, so they didn't have long to shiver once they got out.




Later that evening, we performed on a Princess Cruise ship. I think the audience was a bit mystified when we told them we had gone water-skiing earlier that day...

Like me, they must have known how cold the water was!


Here's Abigail waiting for us to swing back around with the boat and get her after a fall:

Notice how she's up on the surf board? Yep, it was cold, but I think Abby, Quinn, and Paul would say that the water temperature was worth the fun!

I made a short little video to capture the chilling fun. You'll want to see Quinn and Abby jumping off the boat dock, and Paul's (wearing a wet suite, the cheater) water skiing skill!

Only Fools Run at Midnight

Every summer in Juneau, locals stay up extra extra late one night to participate in what is known as 'Only Fools Run at Midnight.' The race (which is broken up into really two races of either a 1 mile or a 5k) is a fundraiser put together by an organization called SAIL (Southeast Alaska Independent Living), which strives to help elders and people with disabilities live a more independent lifestyle. 



This last weekend Quinn, Abigail and I participated! But I haven't even told you the best part, yet...everyone who runs the race dresses up!

Yes indeed! All the participants of the race dress up crazy and prizes are given to the best costumes. 

Our idea came from my sister Bethany and I thinking about how we could include Abby's mermaid tail (because it's a real show-stopper!). In the end we decided to stick with something Alaskan - a mermaid who didn't want her fish friends getting eaten (with Quinn and I being Alaskan fisherman against farmed fisheries). 

Here we are in all our fishy-glory!

I wore Paul's neon yellow water-proof suit that he uses when going out in the boat. Quinn wore his fishing coat and hat, and of course lovely Abigail was our beautiful mermaid!

Everyone who saw us loved our idea, and no one could help but notice Abby!

Some of my family also participated in the fun! My mother dressed in red and wore a silly crab hat. She hung a sign around her neck that read "Kiss the crabby" and handed out chocolate kisses to everyone! 

When I was little, she kept a wind-up toy crab in a kitchen cabinet and when I (or another one of my siblings) was grumpy, she would pull it out and wind it up and say "Kiss the crabby!" 

I don't think she ever gave me chocolate for being crabby though...haha!

My brother Wesley, my sister Valerie, and their friend Nancy were with us as well! My mom came up with their idea: Alaskan versions of Adam and Eve (wrapped up in giant leaves of skunk cabbage - so named for the smell of skunk the plants have) with Valerie as a snake! 

Oh no Quinn! 

Don't do it!

I'm sorry to say that none of us won anything in the costume contest, but we all had a lot of fun!

Abigail had the best time out of all of us though, she didn't even have to run the race! 

Quinn and I pulled her the whole way on Melissa's garden cart (which we had made pretty with cardboard waves and a fuzzy blue blanket). And no, we did not do the 5k, we only pulled her a mile. 

Everyone had a wonderful time, though we were all really tired at church the next morning...

Making a Splash into Cedar Lake

Here's Abigail jumping for joy at the beauty surrounding her!

One thing Alaskans will never get tired of is having a sunny weekend.

Yes, it's true.

This last Saturday dawned fair and bright and super hot (for Juneau standards) at about 78 degrees. 

After a very full and busy week of work, Quinn and I decided a hike and a swim was in order.

Gathering a group of siblings and friends together, we headed off 'out the road' to the Point Bridget trail.

First we had to wait for the other friends to show up though, and that took a little while...

So after setting off a few fireworks and playing a few rounds of baseball with a rock and a log, we decided just to start without them. 

They had said they would catch up with us later.

The trail wasn't too long, just two miles to a cute cabin, and very flat and pretty.

The only downside? 

The bugs!

My sister Valerie would love to tell you all about the terrible and horrible bugs she saw on the trail, but it would take a while. 

Thankfully we remembered the bug spray (and for BIGGER things, the bear spray), so we were mostly safe.

Mostly.

Even with the bugs though, the lovely views could not have been beaten. Buttercups, irises, lupine, and pink shooting stars dotted the fields that we walked through.

Valerie's favorite flower, the chocolate lily, was also in bloom.

Don't let the name fool you! 

These flowers may look pretty (and have a scrumptious sounding name) but they smell absolutely terrible!

We don't recommend putting them in your floral arrangements...

Once we reached the two mile mark at the cabin, we took a break. The rest of our friends hadn't been far behind us, and together we started up the last .7 miles up to Cedar Lake!

Doesn't my brother Henry there in front look sooooo excited to be there?

He had plenty of fun, don't worry.

The last .7 miles were harder then the first two. 

For one thing, it was all up a mountain, but the first view of water had us all excited, and we eagerly sped up our pace!

We'd been hiking for most of the morning, and we were hungry. But all it took was one glance at the sparkling water for all of us to suit up and swing in!

When Paul was still working for the Forest Service, he put up the rope swing here at the lake. He climbed up the tree with a chainsaw and the rope and cut his way back down so that the rope would hang and swing freely. 

We were all pretty thankful he did.

We put a silly video together of all the best rope swing jumps and the one time we all piled on top of the raft (and the inevitable flip-over). 

We hope you enjoy watching it!