Cousin Heaven!

Shannon and Kiley swinging

Camryn jumping rope

The big kids (Max & Will) like to go on the trampoline too!

Riding the four-wheeler: Rikki, Kiley and Ryn.

Sunshine! Kiley, Rikki, Cam, Kalin, Triston and Dillon eating popsicles.

Kiley, Little Shanon, Dillon, Rikki, Noah, Kalin, Triston, Graelin, and Raini

For about a week now it has been non-stop cousin heaven! Rikki, Shannon, Britni and Noah are visiting from Anchorage, Raini is visiting from Arizona and Camryn just came home from Anchorage too.

The kids have been playing so well together, and they just can't seem to get enough (rain or shine). They have been jumping on the trampoline, swinging, playing with "babies", jumping rope, riding on the four-wheeler, Hide and Go Seek, and also Kick the Can. When it got closer for Rikki and Shannon to leave they even created a lemonade stand to raise money to extend their visit in Dillingham (they made about $20!) !!!

Kiley is loving every minute of it, even though she is one of the youngest ones, and she misses her best friend and partner in crime, the older ones have been pretty good about including her in their games. She has to take a time out every once and a while and just hang out with her buddy Graelin.

Projects!!!!

The first project GB tackled when she got here, splitting all of Jon's logs from this spring.Down time at Aleknagik- Kiley was screaming NONONONONO the entire time, but loving every second!

Painting the outside of our house- smoky gray with antique white trim.

Kiley and GB painting the bedroom a light purple. GB deemed it luscious lavender, but Kiley said, "No it is just purple!".

GB and her newest Granddaughter- Kalin Dawn.

G.B. (the Alaska Clouse grandchildren have shortened GrandBonnie to GB) is in Dillingham visiting from Colorado for about two weeks. I have deemed her the "Energizer Bunny" because she keeps going and going and going.... you get the picture. I told Jon the other day Bonnie would surely have worked herself to death if she had as much light in Colorado as she does in Alaska, every day she has been working from about 10:00 a.m until 10:00 p.m., with little breaks in between!

So far she has stained our deck, painted Kiley's room (purple), wacked some weeds, painted our house (exterior, and we are still working on it), and split all of the logs that Jon went and cut this spring. She also baked some of her famous pies in her "down" time. We also managed to get her away from the projects and up to the Lake to enjoy some of our rare sun one afternoon.

It hasn't been all work though, she has spent some quality time with Kiley and Kalin, and we got some good pictures too! Kalin decided to show off a little for everyone this morning and rolled over for the first time!

More Pictures at the Zoo....

Papa and Kiley looking at the giraffes.

Kiley face to face with an orangutan!

I'm a caterpillar- in the butterfly garden of course.

Going to the Zoo

Papa decided that it would be a good idea to go to the zoo in Seattle before Kalin, Kiley and I left for home. We went the day before we left and stayed the night in Seattle and got up early the next morning to catch our plane. We had a lot of fun at the zoo seeing many different animals. Kiley's favorite was the hippopatamus... and the monkeys too of course. :)

Ahhhh... Back to Birch Bay!

We finally got to head back to one of our favorite spots in western Washington- Birch Bay. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "I WOULD LOVE TO LIVE IN BIRCH BAY!!" It is so beautiful there, hard to believe that people ever leave. Kiley had a blast running around on the beach and climbing on the "sticks". It hasn't been as warm as we would like, but still warmer than Dillingham. So we are fine in our shorts and t-shirts. It isn't as much fun for Kalin as it is for Kiley but she deals well with it. 

Bling Bling Birdhouse

We made it to Washington just fine.... and I wasn't ready for a nervous breakdown when we landed in Seattle or ready to collapse into an exhausted heap!  Kiley did as well as you can expect from any 3 year old and Kalin was a trooper. We did miss our connection out of Anchorage to Seattle, but they rebooked us and it wasn't a problem. The weather has been great- so so the first day but we went shopping so that didn't bother us. Today we went to the park and enjoyed some sunshine. Ahhh, nice. Robyn I am definitely going to watch the movie of the summer tonight!! :)

On to the birdhouse. Kiley thought it would be a "great idea" to paint a birdhouse when we were at Michael's. She said something like, "You know like at Umma Bossy's house", so I thought what the heck and here it is! She picked out the colors and I made sure we had some bling to stick on it. What do you think the birds will think? I hope next year we get a nest, Kiley is pretty proud of it! My mom called it a "Paris Hilton" birdhouse. 

The Last Day of Preschool.....

Kiley had such an awesome experience at Preschool- most days I think she wanted me to stay because she was afraid of hurting my feelings or something. I stayed almost every morning for about an hour- for circle time and play time. It was fun for me to see her interacting with the other kids in her class and participating in the songs and other activities.

The last day of Preschool was today and was celebrated with a potluck and two Yup'ik native dances the kids learned during school. Kiley called one "Ahoolawekumken" and the other "Aleee Aliii", I don't know how to spell them in Yup'ik or I would write their correct names. One is about making "akutaq" (Eskimo Icecream) and the other about walking on the tundra. I videoed each so I will make sure to post a short video of her dancing when we get back from vacation.

It took bribery of chicken nuggets from N&N, corn nuts AND gum for me to get her to wear her "puk-puk" as she calls her Kespeq (traditional wear)- needless to say she doesn't like it even though she looks SO cute in it. Kalin and I even wore ours! But anyway I was so proud of my big girl- she did such a good job and was so proud! Umma Bossy, Auntie Babe and the boys were her special guests, which tickled her even more. She was riding high all day and crashed about 5:00 when we went over to Uncle Max's house :).

Hiking to China Cap

We had a so- so day the other day and Jon decided out of the blue that we should hike to China Cap.... so we did! Kiley's new friend Morgan was able to join us on our little hike. Although it is almost mid June we had to dress the girls fairly warmly in layers and warm hats- I think the temperature was around 45 degrees and rainy.

The girls had so much fun hiking to the top with Oscar and Kami at their heels. When we started getting closer to the top we discovered all the berries and flowers in bloom. Kiley and Morgan were running back and forth from one patch of pretty pink and purple flowers to the next. We stopped about half way down to have a "picnic" of sorts where we had juice boxes and snacks, got caught in a heavy sprinkle and had to run to the truck! Kalin was pretty pooped out by the time we got there too..... :)

More Preschool Fun!

Kiley has been loving preschool! She gets to go to school Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with Mom and Kalin of course. She has been having fun creating projects like a caterpillar, a spider and a few coloring projects. Kiley has a new friend from preschool who luckily lives close to us, she is Kiley's "Buddy" when they go to recess and go to dance, etc. Kiley actually cried one day when she was late coming from the bathroom and couldn't hold her hand (to be her buddy)!
The 3 and 4 year old preschool class had a guest speaker to their class last week- a Fireman!
The class even got to go and see the firetruck and see how it works. As soon as Kiley and her classmates saw the dandelions that were lined up by the school the demonstration was over- all they wanted to do was pick flowers!

First Day of Preschool!

Kiley went to her first day of Preschool today. She was so excited! There was a big bump in the road when she discovered that I wasn't in the classroom anymore and went looking for me (I did tell her that I was changing Kalin's diaper). She was very worried (freaked out) and threw a mini tantrum and screamed, "I want to go home!" We luckily got over it and were able to resume the fun that was going on in the classroom. Kiley made a bug hat, painted a caterpillar and got to sing, "that ant song." She also got to hold hands with a buddy and go out to recess. She also got to have a snack and learn a new Native Dance. What fun!

Well Baby Check-Up

Kalin Dawn had her 6 week check up on Monday. She is 12.5 lbs (gained 4 lbs) and 23 inches long!! Yes she is a very healthy girl!!

Me & My Girls

We got out for a walk the other night- 40 degree weather and rain, but what are you going to do? Kiley enjoys being outside in any kind of weather, just look at those rosy cheeks! Jon has been keeping track of the rainy/cloudy days versus the sunshine days and hands down the rainy/cloudy days are winning! My Colorado boy just can't handle the Southwest Alaska weather, and I admit it gets to me at times too! But this is the time of year when we have light from 6:00 am until almost 11:00 pm, it is still crisp outside and there are no bugs. All the birds are coming back, the snow is melting, there is just promise of green right around the corner. I just hope our summer is warmer than our winter, we deserve it!

Is your snow gone yet?

I seem to get this question a lot, "Has your snow melted yet?". Ahhh no, negative, still here! It is melting fast now with the rain and some sunshine we have gotten. This is what it looked like in front of our house last week, some of it is gone but it still looks very white.

Dad and his girls

Here are a few good pictures of Jon with his two girls. Kiley wanted to make sure that "Baby" was looking at the camera too, so she kept pushing her cheeks. She is taking to baby Kalin more and more every day and I think enjoying being a big sister. My mom told me that when Max was born all she can remember is that I wanted to hold him all the time. Kiley is like that too- she wants to hold Kalin all the time and gives her up only if she has pooped, makes her too hot or starts screaming bloody murder.

Life with Papa Paul

We are really enjoying having Papa Paul here in Dillingham. Kiley love having him here. She gets to spend most afternoons with him when I head back to work part time. They are watching movies, painting, drawing, reading books, going outside for walks- I think both of them are in hog heaven with each other! Kiley is not going to be happy when Papa Paul has to go home to Colorado!

I DID IT!!!! Finally!

I can't believe I finally did it- but yes I have actually completed all requirements for my Masters degree! Graduation was on Saturday, and I was able to walk at UAF's extended Bristol Bay campus here in Dillingham. I was one of two Master candidates. I am so stoked, and so happy to finally be done. Both of my girls wore dresses, (yes Kiley actually wore a dress!) and Jon, Paul, Auntie Bossy and Auntie Babe all attended the ceremony. Jon threw me a nice BBQ and we got to play poker into the wee (well "wee" for Kiley, Kalin and myself) hours. I am so excited and proud!

Papa Paul is here!

Papa Paul is here for a visit for three weeks! Kiley was so excited to see him and has been monopolizing his every second (tiring them both out I believe). He was excited to see his newest granddaughter, but the oldest granddaughter hasn't let him do much with her yet.

Seriously, look at those cheeks!

Is it just me or are those cheeks getting bigger? We still aren't sure who Kalin looks like, but the majority of friends and family think she looks like me. :)

Sisters

Here is just an adorable picture of my Clouse girls. Kiley was feeling extra sisterly and took a bunch of pictures with Kalin.

All the Clouses

We finally got a family picture! Here are all the Clouses with some cheesy smiles. Kiley had a lot more fun then Kalin did... but oh well we at least got Miss Kiley to take a family picture with us! Kiley insisted on holding "the baby" as she is fondly referred to and was flopping her around like a baby doll- Kalin only fussed a little bit and just took it like a champ. :)

Sniffs and Loves and Hugs!

Kiley loves to give her little sister loves and kisses.

Dr. Clouse?

Kiley loves to :fix" owies and other mysterious ailments with her doctor kit..... I think we might have a doctor in our future. The medical field will not know what to do with her, dressed in her princess gear and fancy pink shoes!!