Arctic Masons: Monday Morning pics

Good morning family and friends!

Having fun dressing up while I am working.

These last few weeks of July, the 4J Masons have been busy with adventures and day to day activities. We celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary this last week and then Justin's birthday this weekend in style. Last night, Justin was greeted with a birthday-eve popcorn and family movie night date and then brownies with triple chocolate/fudge ice cream for dessert. Jaydyn created the menu, a girl after my own chocolate heart. Then today on his birthday, Jaydyn wanted to make breakfast in bed and relax with her dad while watching one of their favorite Netflix series together. Jaydyn was an early riser this morning, well early riser to my standards, 8am, and was getting eggs, bacon, pancake mix, syrup and toast all prepped for me to cook. Contrary to Justin wanting to do something outdoors this morning, Jaydyn made him go back to bed and await his breakfast. Since JT is such a maniac with eating in general, Brother Bear and I chose to eat at the table as I didn't dare try serving him sticky syrup, eggs, etc. in bed.

I love my new fishing pole Uncle Dave, Aunt Jodie, Erik, Ryan, and Kinzie.

Catching up on the latest books while mom drives to Healy.

Happy to be outdoors!

Jaydyn is getting quite good at casting with the fly pole. She must have a patient guide that is teaching her.

Surprise! Justin's fishing even on his day off. Look closely and you might spot a red salmon or two.

JT just whips the pole around in the water. I think he has better form that I do though.

Couldn't resist from getting into the water, I figured it wouldn't take them long.

JT is the master at reeling the fish in and Jaydyn is the master of getting them off the hook.

Good dogs just sitting and watching, when really they want to rip through the water and chase the fish on the end of the line. They experience better self control with water than me sometimes with chocolate.

Sometimes 3 changes of clothes when we are out fishing isn't even enough.

Fish on!!!!!

Fished out!

Scoping things out on the drive. Bears, Caribou, Moose, Fish, Construction?

Snuggle Bunny and Brother Bear

Yesterday, Jaydyn quickly hurried with her morning chores of bed making and bedroom pickup and she even had cereal poured for JT and I because we were scheduled to pick up the new bunny. Still today, we are not sure what gender the bunny is, but we are certain in its name- Snuggle Bunny. The bunny gets packed around in a winter hat, travels in the car to post office, and gets plenty of pets and lap time between JT and Jaydyn. I'm pretty sure the dogs are thinking we brought home a snack for them to eat and JT is 100 percent positive that the bunny should just sit on his lap all day long. So, we have several two year old tantrums during the day when we have to share Snuggle, let it down in the grass to eat, or put the bunny in the cage. Another thing we are still deciding on is the middle name. Jaydyn was talking today that maybe it's middle name will be Fireweed since that is what the bunny really likes to eat. Runner up names include Dandelion, Daisy, Licorice, Poodle Doodles (inspired by her Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Goodan), Dana (our friend that she bought the bunny from), or Jewl. She cracks me up with her names- Janie Gingersnap (horse), Macaroni and Cheese Noodles (horse), Twinkle twinkle little Star (JT's elf on shelf), Spring a Xing a Ding oh Ling (dog), Sambiny Red Dog Sam (dog), and Brother Bear (brother) to name a few... Stay tuned on middle name and gender.

Dallas Stirling-
Jaydyn has found many uses for your owl hat to include-keeping her ears warm while fishing, a purse, and now a bunny carrier.

A few days ago, we had a family play date with one of our Cantwell friends- the Santos Crew. They have a little guy that is a few more months older than JT, so we were chasing two little maniacs in the rain and trying to keep them contained in order to play with puppies. Mike and Caitlin have a dog mushing yard with amazing doggies and a ton of puppies (over 20 puppies). We lucked out that they had an afternoon off without any tours, so we headed over there to visit. Always amazing to see so many adult dogs and how attentive they are to every action of Mike and Caitlin and a puppy haven. We opted to play with the 3 week old puppies rather than the 20+ seven-to-eight week old pups. Love love love the smell of puppy breath and all the kissed and snuggles. If Alaska is on your bucket list, come and stay with us and be sure to take one of their kennel tours-Dog Gone It Tours. Pretty darn awesome people!!!! Mike ran the Iditarod three times thus far and Caitlin is a mathematically genius teacher that I work with at Cantwell School.

Hard at work on the Honey Do list. I love my handymen!

Justin finished the kitchen table and benches this weekend so we are no longer using our camp table and chairs or the action packer as our bench. Ahhh darn it, the bliss of long term camping was just starting to settle in with me and the camp chairs as our kitchen attire. Did I mention that we now have hot water AND a washer and dryer. So, no more RV showering or laundry for this family this summer. Wahooooooooo!

The good news for me is that Justin's honey do list just keeps getting added to and he continues to build things without any argument or procrastination. So now onto building a bunk bed, redoing the wood on the coal trailer, and staining the deck before fall. Not that I am wishing the midnight sun to go away just yet because blueberry picking should be in full swing within the next three weeks as long as that sun shines bright.

"Mom, don't put in a table, how am I going to surf?"

There are a few signs of fall such as the fireweed flowers are already falling off little by little and soon, their messy cotton-like seeds will fill the air and float around endlessly. Also, I noticed that some leaves on the bushes are starting to turn yellow. At first, I thought the bush was just dying, but that was not the case. Just preparing for fall. Yeah, fall is my favorite time of year, sorry to say that to all you summer lovers. I am trying to hold back that excitement of fall and we continue to take full advantage of all the daylight hours and the warmth. The temperature in the summer here is perfect- 60's. I love the July rains and the sunsets. Also enjoy the fact that when the Alaska sun is up so long, a 4pm Sunday nap still works due to not going to bed at a normal time, even if the next day is a work day. Justin is working long hours guiding and in turn, I'm a night owl. Unfortunately for him, his shifts start a lot earlier than mine in the mornings so he's not enjoying all of the 4J's staying up late and then 3J's sleeping in much later than him. I'm sooo appreciative of the opportunity to work in the summer for the homeschool/correspondence program and be able to be mom during the day as well. Once the traditional brick and mortar schools start, Justin's seasonal guide work will be over and he will be able to enjoy being a stay at home dad with JT while I work out of the schools.

We have a ton of construction south of Cantwell, within Cantwell and north of Cantwell. I'm thinking that JT wants to go to work on one of the crews, what do you think?

As we reunite with our Alaska friends, we are reminded of all of our family and friends outside of Alaska. We do miss you all and please know that the our home is always open for a visit. Although I do not miss the mosquitoes in Shelby, the 4J Masons miss all of the friends that we made there within the last two years and I will most certainly miss the roaring halls of Shelby JH/HS this fall.