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.

KKKKatie, beautiful Katie.....

Attack of the Robot....

Robosapian vs. Lego Storm trooper.
What will the outcome be? Tune in next time...

Mom and Son Create....

Brendan has been making lots of neat things with his legos. Here is a picture of a neat ship with Darth Vader at the helm. He really wanted to post it at Lego.com but we haven't gotten that far yet. It is nice to see him excited about something new. I had a lot of fun making a little bulletin of our church's bible school. It looks so neat in the calendar frame that I have been holding onto. Finally I found something to do with it.

Birthdays with Grandpa...

Clyde came all the way over from Ames to be with us for the 4th of July and to celebrate the two birthdays. He gave the girls great gifts that they actually still play with. Katie asks us to read the big Maisy book every night before bed and Rebecca daily invites me to a tea party. What fun.

Two Birthdays in July.....

Rebecca and Katie both had their birthdays last week and had a great party. Rebecca had six little girls over from our church, played games and had cake and ice cream. Katies birthday is two days after Rebecca so we had the party for her too. Rebecca is now 8 and Katie is 3. Both of them have grown up so much. They are so lovely and I pray that they grow up to lovely Christian women. I am so thankful to have them and to be their mother.

Good Buddies....

Brendan and Justin are such pals. This was taken in front of the memorial site at Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana.

Sisterly Affection....

This is proof that brothers and sisters really do love each other. This picture took me by surprise since I didn't take it. I must have been off doing something when this happened. I am glad that Robert caught them on the camera so that I could witness this beautiful moment.

Kitchen Before and.....

This is our kitchen before the appliances were installed. The table and chairs were lent to us by the pastor of our church. I have to say that this is the nicest kitchen that I have ever had, I feel so blessed and hope that it will be a warm place full of good times and good food.

After...

Justin's First Car....

Justin drove his first car. Our new neighbors let him drive this really neat toy car around and he had so much fun. He was a pretty good driver too.

Our new house...

Here are some pictures of our new house in SD. There is no grass yet, but soon enough there will be and I am looking forward to doing some flower beds in the front. Robert's dad Clyde came up on Friday and the kids were so excited to see their Grandpa. It was a very nice visit and I am glad that we are close to our family now. We will have to schedule a drive to see my family soon. We have been puttering around our empty house and trying to make it home. Next week we will have all of our stuff and I am ready!

Wall Drug...

As we drove along the freeway towards Sioux Falls, SD there are many, many signs along the way advertising for Wall Drug. After driving for a while we fell for the advertising and pulled in to see what neat things they had. The kids had a lot of fun sitting and posing for pictures with a giant rabbit, horses and teepees. In one building there is a giant T-Rex. Every 12 minutes smoke pours out and an alarm sounds and T-Rex comes alive with terrifying roars! The kids were so scared and poor Katie clung to my neck for dear life. We ran into a store, a good tactic, and waited for the beast to go back to sleep. I would recommend falling for this tourist attraction.

Mount Rushmore...

We woke up in Rapid City, SD and headed out to see Mount Rushmore. It was really fun to see again for me, and the first time for the kids and Robert. We have tried to keep up with the Penny Press machines and managed to remember to get them while we were there. I think the kids had a great time, unfortunately Justin wasn't feeling well, thus the funny face in the picture. He had some kind of stomach virus and we visited many bathrooms before we finally made it to the store and bought some medicine for him. That fixed him right up and he started having fun again. After that we drove on towards Mitchell...

Montana.....

We went through Skalkaho Pass between Hamilton and Anaconda Montana. There were signs saying it was mostly gravel and very windy and narrow. We drove through and made it to the other side and reached pavement. Then we had a tire blow out. It wasn't just a puncture, the whole side of the tire blew out. It was too remote for cell phone service, so we were glad that installing the spare went well. After we changed the tire, which Robert was a real champion at, we drove to Anaconda and made sure all the tires had proper air pressure. Then we drove on toward Butte. We almost made it to the freeway when another tire blew out. It was only about 20 miles from the last blow out. We don't keep two spares on hand, so we were stuck. We didn't panic though and now we were in cell phone range. Robert called somebody in Butte and a really nice guy came out and put a spare tire on for us and we followed him into town. It was after normal business hours on a Sunday and Robert said if you can put 4 new tires on tonight you have a sale. Now we have 4 nice brand new tires. And a spare. Somebody stopped and checked to see if we needed any help while we were waiting for the tire guy. It was really nice to know that people still stop.

The next day we drove to Little Bighorn Battlefield and had a nice visit there. We walked around and looked through the museum. The artifacts were really interesting to look at and read about. They even had some of Custers actual uniforms that he wore. There was a park ranger speaking outside looking over the hills and we stopped to listen. He was a really dynamic speaker and captured peoples attention. But then he called Bill Hickock an illegal alien and compared the Sioux Indian Braves to modern day suicide terrorists, also implying that Americans are the bad guys. From the quotes that we read from the surviving indian warriors, it was clear that they respected the U.S. Soldiers who fought and died in the battle because they were brave. Victory over a bunch of cowards wouldn't have much meaning to them. The speakers comments were disrespectful to the indian warriors and soldiers that died there. The liberal mindset seems to be just about everywhere now. And the audience just nodded in agreement and made affirming grunts and he uttered these ridiculous statements. We got up and left. It was a nice break in the driving and we all appreciated the sightseeing. By the way there's an inspiring memorial for the indian warriors there as well. The name was changed from Custer's Batttlefield to Little Bighorn Battlefield in the early 90s under President Bush.

Space Needle

Our first stop in Seattle was the Space Needle. Then we saw the Science Fiction Museum and had to stop in there. It was kind of neat but not really worth the money we paid for it. The Space Needle is kind of the same way, all you can say is that you were there and saw Seattle from a very high height. The structure itself is very impressive, more so from the ground than inside. We walked around and heard the kids screaming from the amusement park. Then we walked to the food court. Wow, there were so many choices! The kids picked hot dogs, and we had food from a Greek place. The noise level was deafening and we were not ready for so many people in one place. We should have eased ourselves in a little bit more before going to such a stimulating place. So, that was our first big day and then we went to visit some friends in Olympia and left again today to head on east. It was a very nice start, we all had a lot of fun. We are all missing our Ketchikan friends.

On the Move....

We spent our last day in Ketchikan at the Axelsons and had a great big bonfire. It looked so neat. On Wed. we got on the ferry and watched Ketchikan as we left, moving on down towards our new adventure. The ferry ride was really interesting, both exciting and yet we had nothing to do. We slept alot and needed it after all the moving and cleaning. As we got closer to Washington the sun became more prevalent and the kids were just in awe of the new surroundings. As we got off the ferry Friday morning and headed into town the comments we made and heard from each other were so funny. Look there's The Home Depot, Costco, every eating establishment you can imagine. Everything was bright and shiny and new looking. Robert said, " This is Katie's first time on the freeway." And Brendan said," What's a freeway?" Ha ha, and yet kind of sad.

Leaving Ketchikan Today....

Well, today is the day. We are leaving Ketchikan, AK this afternoon. The last few days have been a whirlwind of moving activity. So many good friends came to help us move and clean and we are eternally grateful. We have made such good friends here and every now and then I catch myself feeling sad, but I know that while this may be the last time we see many of you on earth, we will be reunited in Heaven with our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you so much for making the last 3 and half years so memorable for us and we will be checking up on all the blogs so that we can see what grand adventures you are all having without us. God bless.

Fun with the Sampsons

Yesterday morning I had to take the two cats to the vet so that we could get a health certificate for them. Samantha was so kind to offer to watch the kids for me, and afterwards we had a great time visiting and playing together. Rebecca and Clay are great friends and will get the opportunity to keep up with each other by becoming pen pals after we move. The weather has been so nice for the last couple of days, in the high fifties and in some places low sixties. Robert and I got to walk around for a little bit today with the tourists on the docks. I had on my flip-flops and a short sleeve shirt. Other people were wearing heavy jackets and wool hats. Hmmm...
I guess I have truly acclimated to the weather here. I am looking forward to wearing shorts in a couple weeks! Just one more week until we are on the ferry to Bellingham! Woo hoo! Oh um sorry, I mean, I am so sad to leave....

Last Waterfall Trip....

Robert and Clint went to Waterfall Resort this weekend to kill bugs. It looks like they had a good time....!

Birthday Party Fun....

Last night we had a fun time a surprise birthday party at our church. As you can see the kids are quite flexible as they play their favorite game, Twister. I am not sure that it is Justin's favorite game, he had to stretch a lot! But he wouldn't give up, what a trooper. It was nice to have a party.

As many of you may have heard, we are moving. We leave on May 30th for South Dakota. We hope to be able to see all of our friends before we go, but if that isn't possible, we will miss you all so much. The kids have enjoyed their time here for the last 3 and a half years, and of course so have Robert and I. I am hoping to get lots of good pictures of our trip and post them on the blog.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day, so I wish all of you Mothers out there a blessed day, and for those of you about to become Mothers, Happy Mother's Day to you too. God Bless.