a Kroon wedding . . .

Gunner and Joani (Hannah's brother and Keet's oldest sister)


Ben and Brittany (Keet's brother and sister)








Mr. & Mrs.

All through high school, college and now as adults I have known the Kroon clan. Ben, Joani, Kep and I went to WHS together back in another era of life . . . my 15 year reunion was this past May!! Since our high school days we've all gone to college, some of us have gotten married, one is on Broadway, and some have kiddos running around keeping them busy.

Last night Keeton Kroon, the youngest of the Larry Kroon clan got married up at Hill Top ski resort. All week it has been pouring rain in south central AK. It was not looking like a good weekend for an outdoor wedding but to our surprise it cleared up mid day in Anchorage and Keeton and his bride Hannah had a gorgeous evening for an outdoor celebration! It was a fun night to see lots of friends, some up from out of state visiting for the week. Congrats to Keeton and Hannah! We love you guys!

dollar bill

Ben and I were tackling organizing our shed this week . . . spring cleaning came late for us this year. He pulled out a big three step stool that had been wrapped up in a garbage bag from our wedding. When he took off the big sticker stuck to the top step we found another wedding bill stuck inbetween! Two + years later we are STILL finding dollar bills that my family so cleaverly hid EVERYWHERE in our stuff. Talk about a GREAT wedding "prank"!! It is super fun to find MONEY even years later that people hid for us. Great memories, thanks Burdine family!!

Eagle

This summer has busy, busy as expected when you're doing full time youth ministry. Ben was out a couple weeks in Kokrine Hills, a bush village, doing a youth camp for native Jr/Sr. high kids from surrounding villages. A team from Los Angeles teams with us to put on the camps. In total there is a 10 day junior high camp, a 10 day senior high camp and a 10 day discipleship camp follow-up for kids that make commitments during the previous two weeks or previous years. I was home holding down the fort during this stint of trips working summer school. Thought it would be nice to make a little extra working part time for 5 weeks. Work was good but it sure made the summer fly by!

A week after coming off of Kokrine another team of youth drove out to Eagle, I got to go with on this one :), and did a VBS along with service projects for the locals there. Ben and I went with the team in 2009 two weeks after our wedding before heading back down to CA. It was a great week of ministry and a fun time personally for me to reminisce about my high school days at WBC when we used to float the Yukon River from Dawson City, Canada to Eagle, AK. Eagle has had a major face lift since the spring 2009 flood which took out the first couple streets, homes, and buildings in Eagle. Our youth did a fabulous job putting on VBS and we had no car problems . . . that may be a first ever!

Ben has been working like crazy this week post Eagle to get VBS up and running which is this coming week. It's our last big push to wrap up the summer of big events then fall settles in, ahhhh we can't wait! I have been catching up on some much needed sleep and getting things (i.e. groceries, cleaning etc.) done before I head back to work next week. Life is a bit crazy for us these days but we are grateful to be doing ministry and to both have great full time jobs that we enjoy. God is faithful.

gardening . . .

butternut squash in front, tomatoes and some zuchini behind


I've harvested our rhubarb once already this summer and it's ready to be harvested again, last year I got 3 harvests out of the season


my hanging baskets have taken off this past month





lettuce starting to come up


our first tomato fruit


fresh basil

This year I am doing my first garden. A little of this and a little of that, some flouwers and some veggies. This post is in response to a request made by my cousin Beth who is serving her second term over seas. Enjoy! We love and miss you! Thanks for helping me get it going this past May.

weddings!

Erin and her sister Caitlyn who was her maid of honor


Erin, OB and my dad


Johanna, me, Erin, Amanda, Emily, Mayerly


Becky and her dad




Two of my former youth girls from Wasilla Bible got married this past week. Becky and Chris got married in her parents back yard on a GORGEOUS AK summer morning! Erin and OB (Oba) got married on the military base in Anchorage yesterday on yet another GORGEOUS AK summer afternoon. Both girls were stunning brides!

It's hard to believe 4 years ago I was attending their high school graduations. The group picture at Erin's wedding is myself and Amanda who were youth leaders to all of the girls in that group. Three in that group are now happily married! God is so good! What fun memories! Love you both and wish you the best in marriage!

Company

the Niednagel family at Crow Creek Mine


Jonathan, Peter, John Mark and Ben heading out to bear hunt


husky pups at the Iditarod Museum


sledding in the few patches of snow that were left


hiking at Hatcher's Pass





paddle boat races at a friend's cabin in Big Lake


Stephanie, Annie, Benjamin and Daniel at the glacier


Luke's bear




The end of May and beginning of June was a fun filled busy time with guests, guests and more guests. After my cousin Beth left to go back to Seattle to prep for her deployment some friends of ours, the Niednagels, from Los Angeles came up for nine days to visit.

This trip originally started as three fathers and their oldest sons coming up for a week to bear hunt with Ben. We talked the Niednagel crew in to an entire family vacation though! Soooo, The Niednagels came for 9 days and crashed with us at our place. It worked perfect, the parents took our spare bedroom and their 5 awesome kiddos crashed up stairs in the youth room that is filled with 12+ couches. They loved it!

Jonathan (the dad) and his two oldest sons spent a good part of their time out in Willow bear hunting baits Ben set up weeks prior. Stephanie and I took the younger three kiddos and toured around the area hitting Matanuska Glacier, Sutton fossil mines, Hatchers sledding and hiking, and the Iditorod Museum. The bummer part for the Niednagels is they did not end up getting a bear but two other groups that came up did. We did sneak in some family trips one to Crow Creek Mine, one to the AK Wilderness Center out past Girdwood and a day out fishing.

Rick Holland another friend from LA and a Rick G. from Kansas both came with their sons as well during the same week (arriving and leaving at various times). Rick G., his son and Rick Holland's son Luke all got bears so they were pretty pumped! Ben and I also got to take Rick H. and Luke out on a successful King fishing trip the day they flew out. It was a whirlwind couple of weeks but we loved having time with everybody! Hopefully they will come again and soak up even more of AK!

surprise party!

very cool, thanks Jim and Lynn


John and Tammi sent a very cool scrapbook with pics and Scripture and a HILLARIOUS "feline" picture pillow with pom poms . . . Beth will be sure to put a pic of Cleo in it :)


the 30+ crowd


the two 30 year olds in the group, Ben's 30th was in April

My cousin Beth is up visiting this week before she heads out on her second deployment to the Middle East. Last time was to Iraq and this time to Afghanistan. She is an ICU nurse for the Army.

This past winter she was transferred from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in DC. We prayed for a transfer to Fort Richardson in Anchorage BUT to our dismay that didn't come through . . . HOWEVER, she did make it to Madigan Army Medical Center in Seattle, WA. That's as close to AK as you can get w/out being here. We were pumped to have her close for the next three year stint and soak in some long weekends together. Shortly after her transfer she was given the news of a pending deployment, bummer. Big bummer. But we will pray her through this deployment as well.

After some begging and twisting her arm we (Ben and I) got her to spend some of her precious pre deployment leave in AK before she leaves. Beth turns the big 3-0 on June 8th so we had a surprise Burdine birthday party for her Saturday night. Some of the other cousins, aunts and uncles mailed b-day packages to my parents for her to open to celebrate together across the miles.

Beth is my cousin from my mom's side of the family . . . the family that does HUGE triennial reunions all over the country. I LOVE that our family is close like this and pulls together to do special things for each other even across the miles. Thanks Burdines! And thanks Beth for spending some of your time off with US! We are LOVING IT!!

Graduation

It's high school graduation week! Here are a couple pics from Houston High's graduation this past Wednesday. Garrett Elder, one of our youth guys was the valedictorian for HHS. For those WBC people looking at this you'll recognize Heidi Doner with him. Garrett is commercial fishing this summer at Clam Gulch with Peter and the Doner clan. Small world. :)

ballet

Emma, me, Cheyanne





the Stahle crew


Connie, Hannah, Grandma Hogan

This morning I went to a ballet recital in Anchorage that one of my youth girls, Cheyanne was performing in. I actually ended up knowing several girls in the recital some from FBF and some from WBC.

Years ago I was in ballet and I LOVED it. I'm not artsy in many aspects of life but I love, absolutely love music and dance. One of my favorite "fun" things to do is go to performing arts events and recitals. My parents and I drove in to Anchorage together b/c they wanted to see the Hannah Stahle and Emma Burris perform.

Cheyanne, one of my girls here at FBF is going to Utah for two months this summer to a ballet academy to study ballet with professionals and do some performances. Yep, she is AMAZING, leaps and bounds better than I ever was. Emma and Hannah are incredible too. It was a morning well spent!

This is a random after thought, as I was posting I remembered a time when I used to baby sit Hannah and her older brother Wade when they were first born. Now Hannah is just shy of 6'0" and is a junior in HIGH SCHOOL! When did that happen? She is a beautiful, accomplished young lady. I can't believe she will be graduating next year!

green thumb?

So I am attempting my first garden this summer. I'm optimistic but not setting my hopes too high because I kill most house plants. My one bonus to doing it is there are several people at FBF (my church) who are master gardeners and they have promised to help answer my questions and give pointers as I set out the end of this month to move it all outside.

Not wanting to out do myself my first shot at it I started my plants inside the beginning of April but I'm cheating and planning on buying flowers from a green house to put out in the yard. I have three beds around our house (youth building) that supposedly do really well. Two of the beds are south facing and get tons of day light all summer. Soooooo, we'll see!

The pics are of my winter squash selection (butternut and spaghetti squash) and tomato plants. I'm also planning on planting summer squash, zucchini and lettuce along with an herb garden.

Sunday shooting . . .

Alyssa and Colton


my handsome hubby

A couple of Sunday's ago Ben and I spent the afternoon with his relatives in Willow shooting. His cousin Luke bought a new place that is being "remodeled" gutted and rebuilt is more descriptive, but right now it is the perfect place to go shooting b/c there is no one out there and you can shoot into a gravel pit 500 yards out. We had a great time sighting in a mass artillery all the Conner cousins, aunt, uncle and grandmother were there. It's rare to have the whole crew together with work schedules and slope jobs. We loved our time together!