The Year in Review.....

I don't know if I ever posted our house after we got all settled in. I was looking back at pictures from a year ago, and we had a picture in a folder of our house in Ketchikan. In contrast here is our house now, one year later. I wonder, what house we will live in next year?

Happy New Year's Eve....

Happy New Year's Eve from Vermillion, South Dakota. These pictures were taken by Robert. He says that if we are going to have this much snow all the time, we might as well live in Fairbanks. What do you think?

Merry Christmas Eve! At the Nason house we get started early. The kids are so filled with excitement to open their Christmas Eve gift that the adults can hardly wait too. We let the kids open one gift and they are happily playing with their new treasure.
As I was driving home from the grocery store with some last minute food items, I thought about how blessed we are. Were it not for the grace of God, His everlasting mercy and kindness to us, I am sure that we could find some way to be unsatisfied. But, He is grace, love, merciful and kind, ever patient with us. I am so grateful for the day and night that we, as a family of Christians, have the blessed time to share the gift of Christ Jesus. I hope that you all are blessed this Christmas Eve and tomorrow, Christmas day.

Christmas pictures....

Well, it is that time of year again! The yearly Christmas pictures were taken tonight. We drove home this evening from Sioux City, Iowa and it was a real blizzard out there. We drove really slow and the highway was crazy. We were grateful when we made it to our exit and made it all the way home. Praise the Lord! I just kept praying that He would light our path, and He did.
When we got home I made everyone dress up so that I could get some pictures done. Of course, it wasn't easy. The seperate pictures were much easier than the full family shot. So, I don't know how this years Christmas cards are going to turn out, but all of our family and friends will get to see how we have all changed since last year. The kids have really changed, and I think Robert and I have too. Alas, we all must get older.... Hope you all are having a good month. Lots of baking and eating and being merry.
The kids were able to go caroling at the local nursing home with our homeschool group. They all sounded great, especially since we only practiced once all together. We were all told to practice at home, and from the sound we made, I would say that everyone did their home work! It was a real blessing to put a smile on someones face and share the miracle of the birth of Christ Jesus.

In honor of Clyde, Robert's Dad, I am updating our blog with this sticker.

Alpaca Farm....

We went to an Alpaca farm just south of Sioux Falls yesterday. It was really neat, they are so cute you instantly like them. The woman that showed us around told the kids if they stood still the younger ones would come over to sniff them. Brendan very patiently waited for them to come and inspect him. Several did, and we were even able to pet one while the owner held him.



Katie's favorite animal there was this small pug dog. She followed it everywhere and called to him and yelled to him. The alpacas didn't interest her in the slightest bit. Oh well, we all loved them and enjoyed our visit. We will go back in a couple weeks to see the new babies that are due any day now.

Soccer Heads....

Brendan and Katie put their soccer balls in the hoods of the jackets and stumbled around the field. They were so cute and weird looking at the same time. Soccer is now over but will start back up in the spring. Now, what sport shall we learn through the winter?

Boyhood...

Justin is always so curious and happy. He explores with great gusto and joy. We found him poking at this algae near the water's edge.

The Joy of Being a Kid...

Rebecca, Brendan, Justin and Katie with their friends.

Sitting on the rooftop of the pigpen.

Walking along the path through the homestead.

Adams Homestead....

Yesterday a friend took us to a neat homestead.


It was really beautiful, cool weather and a nice walk with all of the kids.

Robert had the camera and took great pictures. The kids had fun running around with their friends and found turkey feathers. They put them in their hair and ran around whooping and hollering. Great fun for them and us to watch.

Railroad fun...

We took a trip to Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa. There is a lot of history there about the railroad so we took advantage of the museums and tours. First we went to the Union Pacific Museum and learned all about how the railroad came all the way out here. Then we went to General Grenville Dodge's house and took a tour and watched a film. Dodge was a great contributor and engineer of the railroad. He also was a general in the Civil War and many famous people from that time had come to his house. The nice tour director had the kids go on a scavenger hunt by finding certain objects within the house and had lots of fun. I think she was surprised that they liked her game as much as they did. Our last stop was at a visitors train depot. We climbed all over old steam engines and cars. The last car was a converted caboose that had a bathroom. Rob went underneath and smiled for this great picture. I am so glad that we are able to go on these fun field trips together.
I don't have any pictures of the renaissance festival that we went to last weekend, but that was also lots of fun. When I was a kid I would go to the one in Minnesota and thought the kids would enjoy the silliness and the costumes. They did and so did Rob and I. They had people shouting out "Justice, get your justice here." There was a poor fellow with his head and arms hanging out a wall with a huge mess of tomatoes laying on the ground. Another lady shouted about how for $1 you could have your child put in the stocks complete with a certificate from the queen. We asked Brendan if he would like to do that, he said no. Other than that, the kids have been busy playing soccer and school. Next week is their last week of soccer and then we will have to find some other form of exercise!

Mall of America and Bass World...

Here are the kids at a great store in Council Bluffs, IA called Bass World. For those of you in Ketchikan, it is a combination of the Discovery Center and Tongass Trading Company. There are great displays of black and brown bears, deer, fish tanks with local fish, and cool gear. The other picture is from the Mall of America in front of the shark exhibit. We never actually got to go because it closed when we got around to it. We had fun on the rides in Camp Snoopy. We never had so much fun! Brendan rode on rollercoasters with Rob and the others rode fun rides more for their level. I can't wait to go back!

Family Reunion...

August 21, we all drove to Minnesota and met with my Dad and Terry and had dinner. It was a great time because, well, it was the first time they had met each other in person! What a great treat for us all. The next morning we went to breakfast with my Grandma at Perkins and that was a nice reunion for all of us. My Grandma has 10 grandchildren and about 26 great-grandchildren. ( I think that is the right number.) Sorry it has taken me so long to get these downloaded. It has been a busy summer and fall.

After we left the visitor center, we drove across the dam and noticed lots of fish in the water. So, being naturally curious, we parked down at the bottom and saw that there were also a few turtles. After we left we saw a building that was titled "Aquarium" so we went in and they had all kinds of fish in large glass aquariums. They were filled with all of the different fish that are here in the Missouri River. We felt really sorry for one particular albino catfish that kept swimming around in slow circles with his mouth opening and closing. Every time he got close to a tiny fish they got away and he just kept going around and around, never getting one bite. After that we went down to the hatchery and watched really tiny baby trout and then out to the larger tanks. There was some fish food that a nice old man was handing out to the kids. Watching the fish attack the tiny morsels was lots of fun. By the way, the weather today is very hot, 96, and I was so impressed that we still managed to get out and do something.

The New Katie Pose.....

Today we asked Katie to stand in front of these flowers and say cheese, and this is what she decided is the new way to have her picture taken. She really made us laugh.

Today we went to the Lewis and Clark visitor center in Nebraska. It is right outside of Yankton, SD and is pretty neat. It immediately reminded me of the Discovery Center in Ketchikan, but on a less grand scale. The kids enjoyed learning about the different kind of wildlife that is here.

Justin the Builder

Justin turned 6 on August 9th. He was really happy with the new overalls and little contractor set that we gave him. He wanted to immediately go downstairs and help Robert do some building. He also received a John Deer tractor with a trailer. Actually, he told me that I did not buy him everything that he wanted and needed to go back to the store! Ha ha ha, he always is the one to say things that make me laugh.

There is a nice little park and neat suspension bridge near the Vermillion river. It isn't a very nice, or clean looking river, but never-the-less, it is there. We went on a nature walk and took a little walk across the bridge. I think they call it the Cottontail bridge and Cottontail park. The kids enjoyed it a lot and it was a nice family outing. Also we went in the morning before it was hot and the bugs were not out yet. What a smart idea...

Justin's B-day Party....

We thought we would try having a birthday party this year at Chuck E Cheese, and I have to say it was a lot of fun for both kids and adults. The staff there is so helpful and quick to serve. This was the least stressful birthday party we have had, and the mess doesn't come home with me! The kids each received 10 tokens, played lots of games and danced with the big Cheese. The pizza was good too. Justin told me with a sweetly serious voice that this was the best birthday party he ever had. What a sweet boy. He doesn't actually turn six until the 9th, but we would rather celebrate early rather than late.