Ice Fishing

Last week Carlton, one of Meghan's students, took me ice fishing for smelt on the river. The fish weren't biting and we had a big snow storm coming in but it was still a great experience and I had fun!

Tuesday we took a walk to the pike pond. There were some people there ice fishing for pike but they were way on the other side so we didn't go see them. It was a nice walk there and very pretty.

On Thursday we took the four-wheeler to the beach. Cassie, Helen's daughter, drove and Piper and I rode in the trailer behind. Piper loved the beach and had a blast running around and smelling everything.

Friday Daniel and Tommy took Helen, Cassie, and I ice fishing on the river for smelt. We caught a ton of fish! It was a lot of fun and the weather was perfect. I caught so many fish I lost count. The rods we use are just sticks with a line and hook. The hook has a little bead for a lure on it. They're basic but they certainly work! Daniel gave us three smelt and took the rest home to his family to split and dry.

Video of the boys fishing

Video of the boys teaching me to get the fish off the hook

Gladys went ice fishing up river for trout. She gave us a couple that she caught. They were very tasty!

I made a loaf of banana bread for Katie Moore who is one of the elders in the village and a founder of Twin Hills. She gave me these as a thank you. :)

I also got a necklace from Mickey. It is a grizzly bear claw with bone beads. Here is the necklace and a picture of the bear it came from.

Meghan, Andy, Liberty, and the dogs got back yesterday morning. I am so glad they are back! Liberty is beautiful! I got to hold her and she was wide awake. She is such a cute baby. I am glad that I no longer have to do the lead teacher duties. It was a lot and very overwhelming but I survived!

Helen and Cassie left today. The house seems too quiet now. I will miss them and having the company. They are going to travel around the Kenai Peninsula and then Helen is going to sub in another village in our district. This summer I'm going to visit Helen in Montana from June 21st to the 29th which I am very excited about!

I have ended up with another puppy. She is 4 months old and her owners moved. They left her out with one more meal and now she is on her own. Let me know if you're interested. She is very sweet and social. She is also almost house broken.

Spring Fever

I have a serious case of spring fever in Twin Hills. It is staying light out until about 9:15 at night but still not getting light until about 8:30am which means I'm still letting Piper out in the dark. It is getting colder instead of warmer here but I don't mind that.

I am getting very excited about coming home and having dreams about it almost every night. I couldn't take it anymore so I made my arrangements to fly home today. The last day of school with the kids is May 15th. I will fly to Dillingham on May 18th and fly from Dillingham to Anchorage on the evening flight of the 18th. I am going to stay at a bed and breakfast with Piper for a night or two until Meghan and Andy get to Anchorage. Then I am going to spend a week with them at their house in Homer which I am very excited about! Meghan is going back to Anchorage on the 27th so I am going to go back with her and then fly to Seattle that evening. Once I get to Seattle Piper and I are going to stay at the only hotel I could find that would allow a big dog to stay. On the morning of the 28th we fly out of Seattle and arrive in Philadelphia by 5! I can't wait to see my family, I miss them so much!

Life is still chaotic at the school. Being lead teacher is no fun and I'm glad I only have a couple weeks left of it. A couple weeks ago Helen came out for a walk with Piper and I. We walked all through the tundra, down to the river to look at the chunks of ice pushed up on shore, and then around the village. Piper ran into the brush and came out with an egg shell. I looked it up and it's a raven's egg. When we got home Helen realized her glasses had fallen out of her pocket. We retraced our steps but didn't find the glasses. The next night I let Piper out in the tundra and she ran right to them! I was glad Piper was able to do something nice for Helen since she is always chomping on her arms.

Last Saturday Helen and I went to the beach. It took me a while to figure out how to get the four-wheeler on but eventually I got it and we were off! When we got to the beach I couldn't figure out how to put it in neutral so I just turned it off and thought I'd figure it out later. We walked along the beach and enjoyed the nice day and beautiful scenery. Helen found some neat drift wood and rocks. We also saw a lot of wood with beaver chew marks on it. When we walked back to the four-wheeler I couldn't get it turned on. I knew it was because it wasn't in neutral but I couldn't get it in neural. I had to call John to come save us. His brother drove the church van down to the beach and got it in neutral and started. It was embarrassed but I did get us home eventually.

On Sunday we got invited to two of my students' birthday party. I ate crane soup, reindeer, and potato salad. Then for dessert I had berry akutaq and green akutaq, both of which were delicious. It was fun to go and eat with everyone. I told the four-wheeler story and how the two gusuks got stuck at the beach and needed to be saved. :)

The mukluks I ordered came in the mail this week. They are BEAUTIFUL and so much nicer than I expected. They are just a little pair that I am going to keep as a decoration. Piper wanted to eat them but did a good job with leave it.

Here are some gorgeous pictures Helen took of the sunset here last week. We will be seeing less and less of these as the sunsets later and we will be in bed!

Our cook Gladys gave Helen some dried smelts. They were okay, very fishy with a strong after taste. Not bad though. 

Last but not least, the big finale of this post! Last Sunday at 3:30am I get a text from Meghan saying they were on their way to the hospital. At 7am I get a text that the baby is here! Liberty Alice Redmond was born at 6:21am on March 2nd. 7lbs 2oz and 19 inches long. Here are some pictures I stole from Meghan. :) She is beautiful and I can't wait to meet her!