they FINALLY tied the knot!

Dave and Shi's wedding last weekend in Arctic Valley was really beautiful. Perfect weather, very intimate ceremony, all the dresses for bridesmaids and the moms were absolutely gorgeous (from their trip to Taiwan last year), and it was a great reunion of old friends... it was really a great time. Of course the blogging paparrazi were out in full force, lots of photos...

the cool thing about alaskan weddings is that anyone can marry somebody (not enough priests in this lawless land). jeff did a great job as 'officiant', and I don't think he looked this good even at his own wedding!


it was great to have the bensons back in town, and to meet their latest addition - marit.
wyatt had some stiff competition trying to be the cutest baby at this party, but he was still a ham.

now those are dancing shoes!

of course there was some trauma and stress involved with the cake frosting/assembly/decorating but adrian and i pulled it off - we were especially proud of our alaskan resourcefulness - little did you all know there was duct tape IN the cake!

dipnetting

Just back from the annual trek to Chitina to dipnet on the Copper River. I went with my friend Kyle who managed to squeeze in the quick trip 4 days before he leaves for his wedding! So we didn't have much time... left Thurs. after work and got home 3 in the morning on Friday - 12 hours of driving and 12 hours of fishing packed in that time! Fishing was slow, and challenging with really high water - as always a shit load of hard work. but it was a gorgeous day to be on the copper and in the end we managed to pull out enough fish to keep us from going hungry this winter...


best line of the day - when Kyle said "This is SO Alaska", not sure you non-Alaskans can appreciate that sentiment, but it is just... SO Alaskan!

we both landed huge kings! kyle broke his net in the process, and my king somehow broke the carabiner it was attached to and float away - very upsetting.



dinner at home only 24 hours after the last fish was caught!
the lettuce and nasturiums are from my garden, the tomatoes from BC, and my favorite mexican summer beer. - I'm (still) reading - The Omnivores Dilemma, great book, point is we rarely have the privilege of knowing where our food comes from.

the garden

my little garden is doing great this summer - i've had more lettuce than i can eat for over a month now, plenty of basil for pizzas and mint for the mojitos. a moose destroyed all the broccoli but that's all - very selective forager. i'm especially proud of the tiny green tomatoes and peppers i've got - no small accomplishment when you don't have a hose on the side of the house!

audrey's house

girls night friday night - drinking beer and playing with power tools, working on the latest house project with audrey. this weeks project was prepping the stairs for staining. you can tell it's just the girls by the cool pink respirator i'm wearing! i go out to help Auds just enough to cure me of any dreams i have of building my own place. audrey has done an amazing job building, but it's 3 years into the project now and still a ways to go (granted she's also working on a phd at the same time).

babysitting anna

one of my favorite things....

picking a handful of these every morning for cereal, and again every evening for ice cream. there's plenty right here behind the cabin. super tart right now, yum.

4th on the chena

absolutely perfect day on the upper chena. despite the really low water level it was a fun float. super hot, but no bugs... great weather, great friends, great food, and a great day for the dogs!

caz and turtle spent more time in the water than in the canoe...

reds on the grill.
do not let this guy in the stern of your boat after a few g+t's!!
caz trying to hitch a ride
can i please get back in the canoe?? i promise not to shake.

happy birthday SPENCE!

remember the train cake? check out this moon cake my sister made - pretty cool eh? and it came with a 10 ft tall space rocket, sounds like fun - bummed i missed the party!
(shi - i don't have my sisters/nephews talent for cake decorating, maybe i should recruit some little manning-pearce's or little short-schmutz's to help me with your wedding cake??)