Juneau Update

Well, we're sick, so I thought I'd let you all know since that seems to be the blogging trend as of late. I got what I thought was food poisoning late Saturday night and spent the night in the bathroom. Turns out it wasn't food poisoning... Jackson and I spent the night together last night on his floor with a bowl and his potty chair. He's never had a stomach bug before so this was my first taste of watching him throw up. It's the most heart breaking thing ever!! Why did no one warn me of this??? Anyways, the good thing is that he's not missing school because it's parent teacher conferences today and tomorrow. Now I'm just crossing my fingers that Mike doesn't get the bug. We thought about it last night and realized that he has only twice called in sick... once after his round of chemo and again after he had his wisdom teeth pulled. The guy never gets sick.

Anyways, that's about all that is new here. We got a couple inches of snow to remind Mike that it's still February and he still has a while before the boat can be taken out. The way he was talking you would have thought it was May. He's very excited to get back out on the water. The countdown to Grammy and Grandpa arriving in Juneau is slightly depressing... 120 days. Seems like a long ways away but I'm sure it will come quickly. Jackson and I are planning on flying to Montana around the 20th of August and being there for about three weeks. Mike will be joining us around Labor Day weekend. We plan on going to the home Griz game that weekend. One of Mike's friends is getting married in Big Sky on September 7th so we will be attending that as well.

Hope all is well with everyone!
~Addie

This picture is from a day at the beach last week...

BUTTE AMERICA!! 8:00 P.M. I am having a three day weekend. I had training in Helena on Thursday and Friday. Not to much planned this weekend. Sam, his brother Bob, and another family member, Mike Ryan, went ice fishing at Canyon Ferry today. They caught some rainbows so felt they had a good day. I apparently had the same cold, etc. that is happening in Texas and Juneau and elsewhere. Had to miss a day of school and it is still hanging on. Mary Lynne's trip to the Hudson Bay with dog sleds is on. They leave about March 25th for 2 and 1/2 weeks. This is separate from her job with VOBS. This is her vacation. There will be about nine of them, three dog sleds and the dogs to go with them. They will take pickups and drive from Ely,MN to Gillam, Manitoba. There they get on a train to get to Churchill, Manitoba. Can only get there by plane or train. Once in Churchill they will trek west to where the Seal River comes into Hudson Bay. The leader of the trip has led this trip before. They are taking two shotguns. Mary was excited get to go. She is the least experienced of anyone going. She said that Ely, MN, with a population of 3500 people has the highest per capita Arctic explorers in the United States. So I hope they see a polar bear (uh, not). Sam and Kelly seem to be doing well. Both working hard. Mom(Grandma) found her Metamucil bottle full of coins. She has been playing BINGO. Everyone have a good week.

Colorado

Wow - I feel bad that I haven't blogged for a while. Been sick for a few days - finally gave up and went to the doctor for antibiotics today so I should be good tomorrow - in time to babysit Lyndee for Wednesday night volleyball, Tim and Nellie! Haven't seen her for almost 2 weeks - hard to believe, but things just get busy.

Guess everyone heard about Owen's big win in the mutton bustin. They're supposed to come this week-end so I'm hoping to get the straight story right from the source.

Still having a phenomenal winter - hardly any snow and up to 30+ every day pretty much. Mud here and there. The good part of it is that in Buffalo Park which is up on the mountain where our irrigation water comes from, the snow cover is 95% of normal. Find that hard to believe. The lake is frozen with about 2 feet of ice and very little snow cover, so it makes for a good place to walk.

Stewart has been keeping his horses exercised in preparation for roping this week-end in the
Denver area, and, hopefully, the annual Texas trip sometime in late March.

Very excited about the week-end trip to San Antonio. Leaving the 23rd and coming back on the 26th. Staying in a nice hotel and just hanging out. Mary and Milt will be there as well.

Work is still very busy. Working on buying a building in town to move the office, but its a short sale/foreclosure property and we really low-balled the offer, so we'll see what happens. It'll take a lot of time before we know anything.

Writing this post from in front of the fireplace where I'm trying to warm up. Hope the drugs work soon!

Juneau Update

Happy Valentine's Day! We've already celebrated the holiday twice (apparently Jackson can't keep a secret very well. He's also pretty good at snooping in possible Valentine present hiding areas). Tomorrow I am the snack parent at preschool. I sure picked a bad day to do that. I asked what kind of goodies I could bring and I was told vegetables because they will be having enough goodies from their party. I'm going to look like the mean Mom who makes the kids eat their yucky veggies. Oh well.

Nothing very exciting to report on. I've been sick for about a week now but I think I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. All of our snow is melting so it feels a bit like spring around here. We pushed our honeymoon back until June. Long story short, the hospital offered my Mom a good chunk of money to change the dates of her vacation, so we changed them. It's a bummer that we have to wait until June but the upside is that Mike will now get to attend the Fred Meyer managers meeting in Portland (it was scheduled during our original trip in April). Also, my parents should have a lot more fun while they're here. The weather should be better and the cruise ships will be here by then so they can experience all of the touristy things.

We've been keeping our eye out for a Steller's Sea-Eagle that has been spotted in the Juneau area. Apparently this type of eagle is almost exclusively found in Russia (which we can almost see from our backyard.... just in case you had forgotten about Sarah Palin), but has been spotted in the Juneau area once before in 1989. It's larger than a bald eagle and has a larger beak as well as white feathers on the leading edge of its wings. I'm hoping to spot it and get a picture but it's been a while since the last sighting so I'm not very confident.

Hope all is well with everyone! The picture was taken a couple of weeks ago. It's sunset in Auke Bay, which is where we launch our boat in the summer. It's one of my favorite sunset vantage points.

Super Bowl: Kim & Linda's family

We're about to head out to Al and Laurie Ginn's in Piltzville to watch the game. Laurie and Linda teach at DeSmet, Al is the head mechanic at Canyon River golf across the river. Kaci and Marli will watch the game with Milt and Mary. Kara and Josh are in Ovando watching. Niki had a somewhat unexpected invitation from a friend without a TV to watch the game at her (Niki's) house in Raleigh. Molly and her roommate Katie went to afternoon mass at Carroll -- sure, dad -- and will watch the game at their apartment in Helena with one other friend.

Bubba and Sophie don't really care. Tom was in Missoula this morning, he brought Mom out to River City Grill for brunch, then sped back to Kalispell, where he and tomi were going to a friend of Tomi's for the game ... but I'm overstepping my bounds.

Kalispell Report

Talk about your wild coincidences, I also showered and ate 3 meals yesterday. In addition, on Sunday Tomi and I took the dogs out to the north shore of Flathead Lake where the Flathead River enters. There is a waterfowl production area there and in the winter when the lake level is down we call it the Flathead Riviera. There is a huge expanse of sandy (or silty) beach to walk on and all kinds of treasures washed up from people's cabins to discover. Have yet to find anything worth salvaging but it's interesting to speculate on what it is and where it came from. The area is closed to humans from March to October, presumably to keep minors from seeing waterfowl producing, so there is a small window of opportunity when the lake is down, not much snow, nice enough weather to want to be out there, and still frozen enough that you don't sink in to your ankles. The dogs love it and come back as muddy messes. Trixie, who is 13 this year I'm told, does pretty well on walks. She tips over occassionally, can't hear and tends to wander off so we keep her leashed or herd her, which takes both of us: one to walk ahead to show her the way and one to ride drag to urge her on with a foot. She's the one that was mostly dead after getting hauled a quarter mile in the teeth of a coyote some 11 years ago so I guess she's doing pretty well all things considered. Barney's only goal on this and all walks is to find a tennis ball, which to our amazement he accomplishes more often than not, and today was no exception. There is a pair of bald eagles that has been nesting here since we've been coming out here, and they are building a new residence. The old one apparently broke out the top of the tree and was nowhere to be seen. We're glad they moved because the old nest was right on the trail that we walk in on and they always looked like they would enjoy eating an annoying dog.

BUTTE, AMERICA    Monday, January 30  8:32 p.m.
    Okay, I am writing so that someone else will also add something, even if you just make it up.  Sam and I took a hike last weekend by Humbug Spires(south of Butte).  We wore our hiking boots and encountered no snow to make that a poor choice of shoes.  Went to school today.  Sam is going to Billings in the morning and I don't know where else.  He will be back Thursday, he thinks. Took a shower this morning and ate breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Because I can't even make up a good story I am going to include Mary Lynne's post from the Outward Bound blog.  Here it is:

he Call of the Dogyard – Voyageur Outward Bound School Dog Sledding Program

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Mary Milodragovich

Walker- How can you say no to that face?

You know that moment when you’re packing for a week long trip and you wonder, “which sleeping bag will I need” or “what pack should I bring?” You may consider size, weight, or sentimental attachment. Well, do you ever wonder which 12 dogs to bring? We do. At Outward Bound’s Minnesota dog sledding program, we have 63 options. From fast and light to powerful and burly. And each wants to come.
As you walk into the dogyard, Walker will be the first dog on your right and looks the part of the husky with his gray and white nose, furry ears and gentle bark. Sentimental attachment makes me partial to Walker. He was on my team when I was a student in 2008. A couple of rows back is Eagle. He looks more like he’s going on a fox hunt than about to be cast in the latest Hollywood rendition of Call of the Wild. But bring out the harness and he will practically put it on himself. Each dog is full of their own personality as varied as their appearance.

Musher's Cabin in the dogyard, built by semester students and adorned with signs from past dogs, including the Mawson dogs.

To enter the dogyard is to be among centuries of accumulated Outward Bound and arctic travel wisdom and experience. Copper, Tally, and Jasper have each been part of 1,000 mile expeditions. They know how to be part of a team, work hard, have fun and do it all again tomorrow. Many of the other dogs were born and raised right here at VOBS, Voyageur Outward Bound School. The musher’s cabin in the front of the dog yard is adorned with signs of past dogs. Some are notable for the kangaroo in the corner of the sign. In 1993 all dogs were removed from the Antarctic and many of the huskies from the Australian Mawson station were brought here, to our dogyard.

Ready to go!

Twice a day all of the dog poop has to be scooped, all of the dogs fed kibble and given “soup”, which is really just a fancy word for water. Tonight I was assigned to dog chores. There are only 13 dogs in the yard. The rest are out on trail, doing what they love. After feeding, it’s always hard for me to walk away but as I left the yard, 13 dogs faced the full moon and a howl of gratitude arose into the North Woods night. The call of the wild indeed.
 50

Missoula Sunday

Molly came home from Helena yesterday & she and Linda and I drove to Lolo Hot Springs to swim this morning. It was nice, a blue-sky sunny day while we swam, warm indoor pool, not so warm outside with snow banks melting all over the place. Got up well into the 40s today, even way up there. We ate lunch at the restaurant and came home. Molly left shortly thereafter. Linda is painting and antiquing the bathroom cupboards in preparation for them being bathroom cupboards again, we're hoping sometime this week. The bathroom remodel is two weeks old and quite a bit less than 50 percent complete. Can't get much out of Marli over the phone. She wants to Face Time. Linda's new phone has the capability, but it broke after about three weeks and now we're waiting on a new one. We can't really blame Marli for wanting to actually see who she's talking to on the phone. It's been technologically possible for most of her life.
Kim

From Butte, America
Not a lot new here.  Not the case everywhere else.  I will be careful what I wish for in the future.  I was hoping something would happen in January and it did.  Was really shocked to hear about Mark Thompson.  Hope Robb and Laura can get some information when they go to Seattle.   Mom will probably have to move again at some point but she did get a personal visit and flowers from the director at The Village(Bev).  And she has won some BINGO games.
Our district and specifically our school received a pretty big federal grant(Striving Readers- $300,000 for the next three years).  We will have a team involved in its implementation.  Will involve some triips to Helena(OPI) over the next few months for me.  These grants are interesting because 5 people can be in a room talking about it and they all five have different ideas of what the grant is.  But it is a lot of money.    Sam is been busy both at work and with a state wide sportman's group that are vetting candidates for the next election.  They don't care about the party but want people who support sportman's. 
24 degrees here right now are wind blowing 15-20mph.  Clear, cold and barely any snow.  Not much else going on.  For anyone who uses Facebook I am not in Minneapolis.  Would still like to know how that happened.   Mary is going with a group for about a week on a sled dog trip somewhere in the Boundary Waters. Her voice message was rather garbled.   Sam Nick and Kelly are both working away.  Sam thinks he has to go to Florida in May for work.  Kelly will probably go for a little bit of time then to if she can arrange it.  Hope everyone across the U.S. from Raleigh NC to Juneau, Alaska has a good weekend.  

Tid bit overdue....

7 days til VEGAS!!! That's right I'm gonna be in Sin City for the Superbowl! Go a head and be jealous family! GO GIANTS!!! :)

Other than that I have been sick since Monday night and it has been NO FUN what so ever. Still having trouble just keeping fluids down but seem to be starting to feel better at some point in the near future.

Last weekend was a great one though spending time on the farm being lazy on our new living room furniture. Chad had a great time on his snowmobile trip to West Yellowstone. They stayed in Island Park just inside the ID border in a beautiful eight bedroom log cabin. There is talk of planning a couples trip next year so I can be included in on the fun too... Which better happen dag nab it!

Winter has been VERY MILD here in ND. (Hopefully I am not jinxing myself.) We barely have snow at all and it has been in the 40's pretty much all this week. I cant say I can complain since there is nothing what so ever to do as far as winter activities go here. (With the exception of ice fishing if you want to brave the 40 below wind chill just to nab a gross smelly carp that requires you to be from 1500 miles south and have no teeth just to eat it. I don't know - It must go through their digestive system different than those of us that are more civilized.)

That's all the news I have for now... Toodles! Miss you all!

Wednesday in Colorado

It's 5:30 and we're just about to head up to Tim and Nellie's for our first babysitting gig. Had a practice run last night and decided I might need Stewart to come with me tonight. Her bath is the highlight of her evening at 7:00. Last night she pooped in her baby tub. Hope that doesn't happen tonight - have you ever heard the expression "throw the baby out with the bath water." I assume that since Tim and Nellie never post that they don't read this stuff either.

We're all doing fine. Whisky doesn't currently have diarrhea - in fact he's feeling pretty good. He found a deer leg to chew on which I suppose will put him in remission. The cats are fine, Mom. They just don't do much that's worth talking about.

Still not much snow here. The yard is bare. Stewart gets to ride his horses most nights when he has time. Never seen a winter like this. We'll enjoy it while it's here, cus we're gonna pay this summer.

Tuesday in Texas

Hello, all. A mild day here today with an expected high of 58 and showers this afternoon. I say expected because in spite of the fact that there are no mountains, etc to mitigate weather and you'd think the weatherman could see patterns coming for days? But they've been off the mark quite a lot lately!

Marli is settling into life in Texas, though she has started mentioning Missoula which is as it should be. Kaci has a solid six kids doing lessons and has it worked out where Marli only has to go to daycare 1 1/2 to 2 hours most days. That gives her a chance to "socialize" with people her own age. Kaci and I had Bible Study here at the house last night, so Garrett and Marli had another "date night"--gonna be a routine they both enjoy! They go to a local restaurant called the Cotton Patch for dinner and then to Dairy Queen for ice cream. Garrett's rules are no pacifier and no phone on date night and she is perfectly happy with that! Garrett says they get lots of extra attention from the waitresses and waiters so it works out well for all.

Kaci is doing some office stuff for me here at the house while Marli naps in the afternoons. Kaci is an amazing mother and so patient with Marli. It's fun to have the girls outnumbering the guys around here too! Kim, maybe you and I should do the "trading spouses" thing except the guys could all be in one place and the girls in another for a change of pace!

Garrett has been busy doing odd jobs and learning new songs for upcoming performances. These will be 3 or 4 hour gigs, so it takes a lot of songs to do that. Milt had a bout of a stomach bug night before last. Really severe for about six hours with high fever and all the accompaniments. Seems better but still pretty weak.

I'm busy doing office stuff when Marli's not here, but she' s just too fun to be around and I get a little distracted sometimes! She feeds the horses with me every night and is developing a level of comfort, though she's still cautious which is a good thing.

Plans for this week include the rodeo on Friday afternoon and then I think Kaci and Milt will go to Garrett's gig in Fort Worth and I'll stay with Marli. It doesn't start until 9:30 so Marli and I will be fast asleep before they even leave! Well that's all the excitement here for today.

E-Mail from Georgia Lou Wren

From Kim, to everybody:
Georgia Wren, formerly of Deer Lodge but now living in California, had asked Mom about getting a picture of the wagon at the interment. I sent her one via Facebook, which neither of us have begun to master yet. Here's her reply.

"Kim, thanks for the photo, it came through just fine and is a beautiful way of remembrance. I admired the horses and red wagon and of course the grandkids. Your Dad would be so pleased with his journey. How many grandkids are there?

I looked at your photos on Facebook and saw your pretty wife and girls, of course, I don't know them being gone for so long. I will try and put some pics on Facebook of my three and two grandkids soon.

I feel sad the generation of Briggemans I knew are slipping away. I know Martin's passing was difficult for Don too. I will keep in touch with Dale and I guess the best way is by phone as I know letter writing is not the best for her. Tell her I rec'd the photo.

Happy New Year to you and yours."

Sunday

Stewart and I went to the stock show and rodeo today in Denver. Left about 8:00 and stopped for breakfast. Roads were snowy over the tunnel but not all that bad. Traffic was awful but most of it was going the other direction. What some people go through to ski!! Rodeo was good, the rough stock were on their game. Weather in Denver wasn't too bad - just windy. Just got home - 6:30. Can't think of another thing that's happening. Lyndee is getting quite cute - still think she's gonna be a red-head. We'll see. No new pictures. Sorry.

Missoula update Late Sat.

Kim: Serious snow storm on Wed. and Thursday dumped 18.5 inches on our deck table. It's turned to a rainy mix off and on since then. Linda and DeSmet School had snow days Thursday and Friday. Linda and I just back from Helena (it's 11:40 p.m.) where we watched Molly cheer at two Carroll basketball games vs. University of Great Falls. We snowshoed north of Ovando for an hour on our way up after burgering out at Trixies, which is open only on weekends this winter by the way. Lots of snow & it was wet.

I aim to do better about these updates, since I got my Mullan Road project finished and sent away on Thursday. What started out a summer project -- one chapter on the road east of Missoula -- turned into summer/fall/and a month of winter. It feels good to be finished. Unedited it's 9,000 words long. Milt especially will be fascinated to read it. It'll be part of a book that Professor Dan McDermott in Maryland is putting together. We're nearing the end of the 150th anniversary of the four-year Mullan Road construction (1859-62) from Walla Walla to Fort Benton.

Short and Sweet

72 dgrs, sunny and not a breath of wind. Yes we would love to have all of you visit. Any questions?

Update from Juneau

Hello all! Loved the poem that you found, Grandma. And thanks for sharing it with all of us Kathy. Not much is new here. Jackson has a bad cold so we've been laying low. And I am now getting the cold as well. Yuck. It is still sunny and cold here. It's supposed to warm up and start snowing a bit by the weekend. Jackson gets to go to preschool an extra day this week (on Friday) for a field trip to the planetarium. It should be pretty fun and Mike gets to tag along with us as well because he has the day off.

We were able to get out on the ice on Monday and I got to do some ice skating. I think being out on the ice on those crystal clear blue sky days is going to be one of my best memories of Juneau. It almost seems like your in a movie. It's incredible how blue the glacier and the ice burgs get on those days. I wish I would have brought my camera to get pictures, but I was more focused on the ice skating. I'll get out there again in the next couple of days and snap a few.

We're counting down the days until my parents arrive in Juneau (April 12th, 84 days) and I get to live out my dreams of being a tour guide for a few days. Then Mike and I get to become tourists on April 16th when we leave for Cabo San Lucas. And then, if Jackson is still being the combative little child that he has been for the last few weeks, my parents will be counting down the days until we return (10 days).

Hopefully we have something really exciting to report on soon... I'm afraid I'm going to be banned from the blog if I don't come up with something more interesting.

~Addie

Dad's Day

Really liked the poem Mom had Kathy share. I'd not heard it before and it sure fits! I'm thinking of having a piece of lemon meringue pie today or maybe a whiskey and water (or both) in honor of Dad! We're having a beautiful day here. Kaci is up and running with her lessons. She has six kiddos right now and will probably get two more from the hotel manager's niece? or maybe daughter? not sure which.

Marli is doing great. Think we're going to go to the stock show tomorrow evening to the carnival and then to look at the animals for a little bit and then a week from Friday we have tickets for the rodeo. Marli actually sat on a horse in the stall the other day which was a HUGE step for her. She's not so sure about the big animals--cows, horses, etc.

Garrett is at the studio again today or rehearsing--not sure which. He has a new band put together which includes five people besides himself. (Lead guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and fiddle) The first gig with the new band is next Friday night in Fort Worth. Then he's doing a radio interview the next day that will air on www.musicscenelive.com and local radio station AM 1420 the following Thursday from 3-4 pm. Think you can listen to them after theyre aired online anytime.

That's about all from here. Marli-ism from yesterday. I said, "I'm going to go run errands." To which she replied, "You should run Mary's, not Aaron's." Life is a new adventure every day with Marli Bob!

Pat Liza and the COWboys

Well, the reason that I haven't posted isn't because we don't have anything going on, its because we have been swamped since my last sound off.  Boys have been busy wrestling.  The have practice Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  It pretty much kills the night when they have practice.  Saturday was the first wrestling tournament of the year.  Charlee did great with 2 wins and 1 loss and brought home a third place finish.  When he lost his first match he got pinned.  After the match I told him he had to fight to get off his back, to which he told me he didn't know that he couldn't be on his back.  That must have been the light bulb moment because he went out and stuck his next two kids.  He wrestled hard and has a lot of heart.  His match for third and fourth came right down to the buzzer.  Going into the third period he was down by four points, and as time was counting down he was still down by points when he reversed the kid and pinned him with less than 10 seconds to go.  After the match we were sitting on the bleachers and he said that "my lungs hurt and my arms feel like rubber" to which I responded, "That's how winning feels."  Owen was fighting a cold the end of the week and felt kinda crummy Saturday morning and said he didn't want to wrestle.  We told him that was fine but he couldn't change his mind.  So we didn't weigh him in.  About 45 minutes after weigh-ins closed he comes up and says "Dad, I changed my mind."  Too late, and he was mad.  Lesson learned and he is ready for the next tournament which will be in two weeks in Buffalo.  Sunday we worked on moving into the new house.  We got the essentials up there and spent the night in the house Sunday night.  It felt good to finally get in, didn't think it would happen there for a while.  Have spent the rest of the week getting stuff moved when I get a minute.  Weather has been pretty crappy so that doesn't help things.  Don't have internet, or the computer up at the new house, so I have to run down to the old house to post and send things in daily.  Plan on having everything up at the new house this weekend.  Hope all is well, talk to you soon.

I love the poem - Lynne

That's a great poem. I'm going to remember it, hopefully.