The Memorial Day Weekend Bear Hunt

Aaron and some friends went out on a bear hunt this past weekend. He said it was a great hunt! Not only because they were successful but it was a nice relaxing hunt in the great AK outdoors!

 His bear was 6 ft. Not sure the weight. They dressed it in the field. They saved the meat and it is on it's way to becoming burger and sausage. I am pretty excited to taste it!

Poor guy will be a rug in our house soon.

 Aaron and his friend Ryan who helped him get the bear.

 Two out of the four guys got bears. Sean (on the right) got a 7ft bear. They are both beautiful!

I am so glad they all got to go hunting. Aaron loves the outdoors and what better place to live than Alaska to have all these hunting adventures.

Memorial Day

I will never forget the day we got the call that someone from 3-71 CAV had been killed.

I will never forget thinking 'not B-TRP, Ichi or Ben', 'not B-TRP Ichi or Ben.

I will never forget getting a phone call from Aaron 30 mins before I headed off to the chapel to hear the name of the fallen.

I will never forget the pain in his voice when he said, "It was Ben."

I will never forget after less than a 3 min conversation me telling Aaron I had to go, I was going to be sick.

I will never forget feeling guilty that I couldn't be there for him to help him grieve for his friend.

I will never forget driving up to Maine for Ben's funeral.

I will never forget Fran and I laughing at certain points in the trip over Bugles as fingernails and then looking at each other wondering if it was OK to be laughing.

I will never forget walking into the funeral home for the viewing passing all the pictures of Ben from when he was a baby to when he had grown into a man.

I will never forget the closed casket and the solider standing guard beside it.

I will never forget the pain in their eyes when Ben's mom and dad hugged me thanked me for coming.

I will never forget the strength and love Ben's family displayed as they told stories of his life.

I will never forget walking behind the hearse to the grave site with tears in my eyes.

I will never forget taps being played and the 21 gun salute to our friend.

I will never forget feeling guilty and wondering if it was OK to leave because it felt like I was abandoning him.

I will never forget out first dinner as a group without Ben when the guys got home.

I will never forget the feeling that since Ben was gone the guys would never be the same. I would never be the same.

I will never forget leaving Fort Drum for out next post and feeling once again that we were leaving him behind.

I will never forget finding out we were moving to Maine, to a city just a few hours from Ben's hometown.

I will never forget Aaron and I taking the drive one Sunday afternoon to spend the day with his parents.

I will never forget them recounting the haunting details of the knock on their door that night. 

I will never forget seeing Ben's childhood home and the apple orchard he spent so many summers working at.

I will never forget taking Aaron to Ben's grave.

I will never forget that Aaron for the first time opened about the whole day and how he felt about it.

I will never forget leaving his grave site that day feeling for the first time that it would be OK. We all would be OK. And thinking of that awesome day when we will see his face again.

I will never forget Ben and how he changed our lives in the few short years we were lucky enough to call him friend.

Please never forget those who gave all for their country and yours.

A Helping Hand

I don't really share my opinions about products on the blog much because someone will inevitably try it, hate it and then blame me. Not so fun! But I decided to share this one on the off chance it makes more people happy then upset. And if you buy this product and hate it don't tell me about it.

I saw the PODEE bottles in the Parenting magazine and thought it was a great idea. Cut to me 2 weeks later ordering them on-line because they didn't have them at our Babies R' Us. The good thing was I could order then and have them sent to the store saving me shipping! Woo hoo!

Anyway, these are helpful hands free bottles. When I saw them I thought they would be perfect for when I was walking with the girls or shopping and Kinley was hungry. I can feed her a bottle keeping my hands free and not having to trip over anything because I am trying to walk beside the stroller, feed her and push the stroller at the same time.

I used it for the first time today and it worked like a charm! It took her a bit to get the suction going but once she did she never looked bad. Now before you think I am a bad mom, yes I take her out and burp her. I also read where people give them to their children in the car seat while they drive. I am not so keen on that idea. I want to be able to see her while she is eating. Maybe I am just weird that way. But you can do whatever you want.

Here is the site if you want to check it out:  Podee Baby Bottle

Airborne

I helped out with a FRG fundraiser yesterday and was rewarded with a chance to go out to the dropzone to watch a jump. Aaron has jumped out of a plane many times. I believe he is up to 22 jumps or so but I have never seen him jump. And let's be honest, even if I saw the jump he was on, I would never be able to tell which one was him. Watching the jump was a pretty awesome sight! Aaron wasn't jumping yesterday because since he graduated JumpMaster class he was working safety on the plane. (Yes, I am bragging. I am really proud of him. I think he is pretty awesome!)

Sorry for the crappy quality. Once again I ran out of the house without my camera. But in my defense I did a have 6 month old, all her stuff, 100 brown bags filled with snacks and table!

A Visitor

 I looked out the kitchen window and noticed a moose walking down the road. It turned the corner onto our street and went to visit our neighbors.

 It inspected their backyard.

 Ate some of their trees and then moved onto our other neighbors trees. I have seen quite a few moose since living in AK but it never gets old seeing these amazing creatures!

The moose made its way to almost ever house. I hope he got a good meal!

Summer Time

The snow has melted, mostly. There is still a little at the top of the mountains. I wish it would stay all year. The snow makes the mountains really come alive.

The days are getting longer. The sun is still out past 11:30 pm. Love it!

We are starting to take advantage of the beautiful weather. We have been to Eklunta Lake and Thunder Falls already. I am sure there will be multiple visits this year.

Aaron is already scheduled for a fishing charter and a bear hunt. I know he is excited! It will be a much better summer this year since he is home. We are excited to explore AK together!

at Eklunta Lake

6 months already!

A Day in the Life: Kinley