Happy Monday Morning!
As I sit here typing, I cannot help to notice that our outside thermometer is showing that it's 120 degrees out and that McKinley is showing its beauty in all splendor.  I am highly doubtful that the thermometer is accurate on the warm days, now if I could only get it to show a few inaccuracies to temperature during the cold, winter months!

These past two weeks, the temps here have allowed us to play and work outside into the midnight sun and swat at those darn mosquitoes each time we head outdoors.  The blueberry bushes around the house are starting to fill up with colorful and growing blueberries.  We are lucky enough to have plentiful amounts of bushes in our yard and nearby that we can pick handfuls daily to get our blueberry fix.  Won't be long to where we can head out with our empty ice cream buckets and fill them up to the brim to freeze for the dark, cold months that are coming.

Justin has been guiding fisherman nonstop this month and has enjoyed this job opportunity.  Hard to believe that his nickname is Holiday Mason with all the hours he is spending guiding fisherman.  There is no 'holiday' in site for him either, as he will be back to full time dad for two in September.  One of the many coolnesses to Justin being with the kids is that Justin is teaching Jaydyn young, that a Mason adventure is not an Mason adventure without a little bush-wacking through shrubs taller than our truck, a little blood shed, wet shoes, and many bugs bites on exposed skin.  Those of you who have gone on the death march hunting trips or walks to find the perfect fishing hole can totally relate to what I am saying.  This reminds me of when we were in Kotzebue and went on a boat ride and hiking in the sand dunes with our friends Rob and Kat.  The moral of that story turned out to be---The guys can go by themselves for now on when bush-wacking to the sand dunes.  I still get a little fired up even thinking about that scary bears on fire trip.

For those of you who have not YET gone with Justin, you should be prepared for a Mason adventure.  Here are some words of advice-dress EXACTLY the way he does, as that will be your first sign of what sort of adventure you are going on. If he is wearing long pants, hiking boots, and a long sleeve shirt in the dead of the summer, he does know what he is doing, and you should model him.  If you fail to do this, the 30 second rule won't even matter.  You will have already violated any opportunity to enjoy the Mason adventure.  I should have taken my own advise on our last fishing adventure.  Justin dressed Jaydyn and I, foolishly, went in what I was wearing, thinking and forgetting truly what a fishing trip entailed as a Mason family member.  Let's just say, Justin and Jaydyn had a fabulous time catching grayling after grayling.  I too, had a great time watching them and our nutty dogs, but I could have gone without the wet shoes, in which I then had to hike through dirt and sand in, scraped shins from wearing Capri's, and the armful of mosquito and chigger bites.  Thank goodness that JT was tucked into the front pack so well, otherwise he would have been in the same boat as me, at least with the bug bites, because I chose to dress him too.  So, needless to say, it was a great time, as usual, but I am suffering some battle wounds for the team.

With the summer sun continuing to shine high in the sky, we are staying up way to late still and I am about to have a reality check soon enough as I begin to head into the school to get that ready for kids to arrive.  Justin and I are hoping that as I drag Jaydyn out of bed each day through August to head to school with me, that perhaps then she will not go to bed so late.  We are not betting the house that this technique will work and prepared for perhaps a crabby kiddo, or as Jaydyn says, " crabby square pants."  So, in order to remain off of Office of Child Services front page, I am going to try getting our 4 year old to bed earlier this week so that non of us are crabby square pants.  JT is growing like crazy and can now hold his head up for long periods of time, smile, and is also starting to giggle.  Jaydyn has outgrown all of her shoes once again and we are reminded daily that she is as independent as we prayed she would be.

Until next time, enjoy life and the company around you!
Love ya,

4 J Mason's