We found it!

This small spruce tree didn't take Ron but 4 or 5 swipes with his hand saw before it fell. I sure miss the beautiful noble fir trees back home but at least my mom still sends me some boughs every year so I can smell and cherish the beauty from the Pacific Northwest.

Connor and Gavin were our small lumberjacks!

Who's driving?

Connor and Gavin love going outside for snow machine and four wheeler rides. We were out scouting for our Christmas tree and Gavin and Connor tried tricking us saying that they were going to drive. *Giggle, Giggle*

Santa Claus

Connor and Gavin were able to sit on our Yupik Santa after our annual school Christmas program. They were so excited to see him there and also receive a Christmas Tree Sucker.

First snow in early November

This November, we had a small amount of snow. I got this picture when they were having fun going riding in the snow.

In the snow

Connor and Gavin sure love to go play outside in the snow. Thank goodness the weather changed last night. It has been averaging around 32-35 degrees and the snow we had melted, it rained, it was just not a good cold start for freeze up. Hopefully things will get cold and freeze up.
Anyways, here are the boys playing out again in their new snowsuits. What great smiles!

Halloween pumpkins

This year, we actually got four pumpkins because I went to a conference in Dillingham that sold pumpkins. The lowest price I could find was 99 cents per pound. Anyways, the boys had a great time drawing on the pumpkins while money was designing them. Then Ron opened up them up and had the boys help get everything out of the pumpkins. It was a great night and a lot of fun by all of us.
Hope you enjoy the pumpkins that we made!

Halloween

Halloween was so much fun this year. Connor was a skywalker and Gavin was a devil. They had a great time out and about, getting candy. Thank goodness it is only once a year!

These pictures were taken right outside of our house while the boys were playing, "KING OF THE MOUNTAIN." What fun it is to be a kid with them.

Playing in the snow!

This was the first major batch of snow we have had that has stayed. Yesterday, we took the boys out for a ride on the snow machine and on the four wheeler. I didn't realize that we were out for so long. But it was a lot of fun. The boys had fun making snow angels and also playing on top of the snow man's head and the small snow hill. They are so cute!

Connor's 5th Birthday

Connor turned 5 this past week and had a ball at his party! While I was decorating his cake, he couldn't stay away from it. He just wanted to watch me and was so excited. We invited a small batch of the kids his age around the village and they talked about "Connor's Party" for days. This was the first big party Connor has had with friends here. I am so glad that it was one that he will always remember!

Playing Out

Connor and Gavin have been enjoying the nice weather when we get it. It has been a long fall already with all of the rain. Every chance we get, we get them outside for some nice fresh air, rock throwing, and just plain fun.

King of his castle

This summer, Connor and Gavin got to play at the beautiful playground at my old school. There was the castle, tug boat, eagle's nest, climbing wall, tons of slides, swings, and just great entertainment for them. I sure wish that they had something like that way up here in the village.

Looking at their catch

Connor and Gavin were fortunate enough to have a beautiful butterfly given to them by one of the neighbors this summer. The only thing they had to do was let it go so that it could live. It was so beautiful! They had a ball watching it get used to its surroundings before flying away.

Beautiful Rainbow

The other day, we had the biggest rainstorm that has hit this area in over 20 years. It was so neat because there was actually a small flash flood that happened on the streets and ground. You could see the sun moving closer to us and this rainbow was beautiful. The following day, we had another rainstorm that produced the entire rainbow. It was too big to get it in one frame so I am working on putting three pictures of it together so you can see the entire rainbow.

Swimming down the river within arms reach of your boat.

Summer fun and swimming are a huge part of our village. The only thing that I can say, is crazy! The water was around 55 degrees and it was around 90 degrees out. I could only make myself get knee deep unlike Ron and Connor and all of the kids here.

Osprey flying back to the nest

While we were floating down the river, we saw an osprey on one side of the river. He was sitting there on a branch just making loud squawking noises. Then as we looked on the other side of the river, we saw the mama at her nest. I was lucky enough to have my camera handy to catch her flying around. This is one of my favorites!

In early August, we were taking a boat ride on the river and Ron happened to spot this porcupine swimming across the wide river. I had never seen a porcupine swim and I have to say that he did pretty good. Anyways, Connor and Gavin had a ball circling around it and then it would bump into the boat, I got tons of pictures of it but this was one of the ones that I really liked.

Stuck in the grass

These two pictures make me laugh because Gavin actually got stuck in this long straw like grass. His shoes got tangled while he followed me and I had to giggle while taking these. He was yelling to me and asking for help. What a cutie!

SILVER SALMON

Connor caught his first silver and Jack this summer. He loved every minute of it and wanted to fish after he caught this salmon. Gavin also caught a huge silver but it broke the line right when we were getting to land it... oh shucks!!!

Fun and fishing

Here are a couple of pictures of my parents taking some of the grandboys fishing. Casey, now seven, is so into fishing. Connor likes it for a while. Gavin, has a ball touching the fish and checking them out! What great memories for them!

Baseball

Here is my oldest nephew, Casey playing baseball this spring. We had a ball watching him play!

Waterfall

I took this picture while driving with my mom to Hood River. We were waiting for my luggage to arrive at the airport and I was excited to see such a beautiful waterfall.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my boys that I have taken this summer. As you can see, Gavin is quite serious and Connor loves to smile. Can't wait to get some more pictures of their summer adventures on here for you to see!

Gavin's b-day cake & present

Gavin had a great birthday. He so wants to be a big boy. His cake was adorable and he had a ball driving around like Connor. (Sorry about the picture being sideways, working on a different computer/program and still have to figure out how to fix things.)

Connor's first fishing trip with Grams, Poppy, Casey, Gavin, and I was a success! He didn't want to touch the fish but had a good time catching them.

Gavin's 2nd Birthday!!

Gavin had a great time during his birthday party. As you can tell, he had a "BALL!"

visiting the family

Well, I haven't gotten any pictures for today but we are now visiting family and of course friends for the majority of the summer. Keep looking and I am sure you will enjoy seeing tons of fun summer pictures.

Connor and Gavin had a ball playing with the trucks on this two mounds of dirt. They sure love playing together. Gavin wants to be just like Connor and Connor does a good job playing with him.

Connor was having a ball playing on his mountain. He loves getting dirty and can't wait to go to Poppy and Grammy's house to get dirty with them.

Having a Hay Day!

Here is one of my angels. He was just having a hay day wearing his cute little overalls and hiking shoes. What a cutie!

Here is a picure of the same bluff in previous blogs but this time during the spring. It looks so much better in the fall than this picture since things are still quite brown versus nice and green.

Here is an osprey that I watched yesterday fishing. He was flying overhead for quite some time before he decided to dive bomb the water. He didn't come up with a fish but it sure was fun to watch him.

New Boat

This is our new boat that we bought with another teacher and his wife. So, I guess you could say we own 1/2 of a boat. :)

Anyways, it was for a great price and this will help Ron get fish throughout the summer and hopefully a moose or caribou in the fall. I know that he will love this and I know that as soon as we get life jackets for the boys, they will also love this.

Since the snow is melting, I figured that this would be the ideal picture to take before the snow is gone. This boat, like many have been left to rot away. I think that this boat caught my eye because it was different than all of the skiffs that litter the rivers edge.

Here is Connor on Easter. He is sure becoming such a big boy. He had a great day decorating eggs and then finding them after the Easter Bunny had stopped by just for he and Gavin. What fun to still believe!!!

Here are the during and after pictures of Easter.
Our two newest teachers came over and helped us decorate Easter eggs. The boys had a good time and I think that our friends also did.

Gavin had a ball searching for Easter eggs with Connor. This was Gavin's first big boy time to really get into decorating Easter eggs and then looking for them. He did really good! Connor was a pro at decorating and finding Easter eggs. He showed Gavin were the Easter bunny had hid some of the lower eggs that Gavin could get to. What a great big brother!

Happy Easter

The Jensen's want to wish you all a Happy Easter!

Here are my two little men. They sure can brighten your day up!! These pictures were taken back in October or November. Connor continues to be a big boy. Gavin wants to be like Connor so he is starting to be a big boy. They always keep you on your toes. They are tons of fun right now and will forever entertain me!