Baptisms in the Lynn Canal

Mark and Naomi were baptized in the Lynn Canal today.

First they answered some questions from Pastor Ron in front of the Church.

And also the congregation answered some questions.

Then we went down to the river to pray… (actually the Lynn Canal). Holly led the singing and people actually sang as they went down to the water right near the large cruise ship dock at the main beach in town that has sand, where we usually have our baptisms.

Naomi was baptized first.

It didn’t seem too cold.

Then it was Mark’s turn.

The Green Family:

The Davis family with Bob and Margaret:

Afterwards, we had a wiener roast on the beach with chips and other fixings.

Lighting of the Library!

This was the first time in the last three years we’ve been in Haines for the Lighting of the Library. We’ve been in  Sitka with aunts, uncles and cousins for the last few years, so we’ve not been able to attend. I suppose, if I can’t be with family the Lighting of the Library is a GREAT place to be on the day after Thanksgiving.

This year, there seemed to be a red and green theme with a whole lot of hand-made quilts. We were even able to donate the use of our christmas quilt which was a gift from Grandma Scott. It was hung right next to the tree in what seemed like a place of honor. You can barely see it in the upper right hand portion of the photo with the tree all lit-up.

Of course, if you’re in Haines for the Thanksgiving, and are at all associated with the library, you simply must go to the lighting.

Frankie Jones is the creative force behind the Lighting of the Library and is assisted for weeks by many dedicated volunteers who make the whole event a huge success. In this photo, they’re the proud grand-parents of Kendra and Alex’s first born child, whose name slips my mind. That’s the way my mind is. I’ll remember his name when he starts learning algebra.

 

Mark’s ring bearer tuxedo arrived on Wednesday, two days before the big event and Luke and JC were able to wear the tuxedos from previous years.

We had a fun dime getting the tuxes out of their little clear plastic bags in the boy’s room closet where they’ve been stored and dressing them up. The new tux doesn’t match, because I’d forgotten to order one with tails and a vest, but it still blends in pretty well to those who don’t pay attention to fine detail. Mark’s tux is probably big enough to use next year and will fit better then too, Luke’s fit just right.

At our house, we almost never have juice, so the boys kept going back to the lemonade “samovar.” It’s a good thing the spigot was placed well back on the table, or they may have just put their little mouths underneath it.

As in past years, Holly played the pied piper in the kids room with all the kids, reading songs and singing books, while I lurked around in the shadows looking for good pictures.

The Haines Acapella Women’s Chorus sang the special music and also were prominent in the sing-along time-directed by Nancy Nash. In the photo above, I turned off the flash: ISO 3200, 1/5, f/2.8. It really gives the tree a heavenly glow, Holly says.

Christmas 2009

Here are some cool Northern Lights we saw yesterday in the early morning looking off to the north.

I’m kidding.  This was 2.5 second exposure taken handheld at ISO 3200, wide open of Mark Daniel swinging his glow in the dark wrist bands around energetically to the beat of a Boy Named Sue.

It snowed about 14-18 inches on Christmas Eve, so we had a mess to dig out of in the morning before we could go and get Bob and Margaret for the Christmas morning festivities.  The boys all chipped in and dug with their new shovels and Holly seemed to enjoy doing an Alaskan Woman thing as well.

Holly’s Birthday party was on Christmas evening and we had a nice visit with the family and Bob & Margaret with Margaret’s home made lemon cake with real whipping cream.

Holly’s big gift for her Birthday was an Aero Garden from Amazon which is assembled and percolating away in the living room with herbs (Parsley, Mint, Italian Basil, Dill, Purple Basil, Chives, and Thyme)  hopefully sprouting this week.

Also, I got a large griddle (10”x20”) for cooking pancakes for $44 at the Canadian SuperStore.  It works fine, it turns out, but is a little bit of a pain to clean if you don’t rinse it right away—which is, I suppose, the same as any other cooking or preparation devices. It’s also a bit of a pain to store, as there are no holes in the handles to hang the thing from. I’d always thought these would be great for cooking pancakes or french toast, and just bought one on the spur of the moment. 

One of Holly’s ideas for the Holidays was to spread the gifts out over 12 days, since we’re not planning any big trips.  This morning, the boys got their Nerf guns with a brief safety demonstration and strict instructions on where they could be aimed (not at mommy, not at a face). 

 

But later one of the boys shot the other one in the eye from 3” and lost his gun privileges and got a few swats. Thankfully, no harm was done to John Caleb’s eye.  Although I do feel a bit bad about the spankings. They seem to always do more harm than good.

Trip to Whitehorse

This is an odd numbered year, so  we stayed in Haines this year for the Holidays with Holly’s folks.  We did take a little trip up to Whitehorse, which was pretty fun.  I neglected to make any reservations at any of the hotels, but it turns out that Whitehorse is not very crowded around Christmas time, at –21 degrees F, go figure.

We decided it would be best to drive during the daylight hours to reduce the amount of boredom and fidgetiness along the way. As you can see from the clip below, sometimes this doesn’t not ensure an interesting drive.

 

 

On the way home, we did see three elk and two moose. Here are the two moose.

 

 

When we travel, especially, Holly likes to dress the boys in matching clothes.  This is getting harder to do ever since Mark passed the size 5 rack.  Often boys clothes of a certain type can be found from size 1 up to 5 that vary only in size, so it used to be really easy to get matching clothes for them.

The main attraction at Whitehorse is the Games Center: CLICK HERE!! We like mostly for the pool and the playground area, but what we mostly saw the locals using it for was hockey.  There seemed to be an endless stream of skaters coming and going until late at night carrying all their skating gear and pads in large rolling bags.  Better them than me.

My favorite area is the family swimming area.  There’s a three story waterslide, a huge family wading pool, a 20 person hot tub, a steam room, and a sauna.  The swimming area is about 1/3 of the size of H2Oasis, I’d say. One of our favorite new features is the Subway food stand which is right outside the swimming area.