We Did It!

Well, we’ve officially completed our first school year in Alaska! What an adventure it has been. New friends, new jobs, great adventures.

The last week of school seems like a blur. It was action packed with a whole-school trip to the Misty Fjords, a pig roast, sunny weather, and kids jumping off the dock into the cold Alaskan waters!

As we close up this year we’ve been reflecting a lot. Last week I attended a dance put on by a couple of the local dance groups here in town. They hosted the event for teachers to end the year celebrating. It was bitter sweet. Some of our teachers are not returning for various reasons. One of the local teachers who is also in one of the dance groups gave a speech and thanked teachers for being here. She said although teachers come and go we will always be apart of their hearts. This was really touching. She finished her speech, despite some tears, and started the performance. As I looked around I realized how much this place has touched our hearts.

I watched as our students, their parents, our co-workers, neighbors, and friends all sang and danced for us. Remembering the first dance last fall, when everything and everyone was so foreign to us. They were strangers and now they are all apart of our life.

Obviously we are excited about another year here. But before we get started on next year there are some adventures to be had. First we have summer school. Jason will be working with middle school students and I’ll have a 4^th/5^th grade class for the month of June. Then we have lots of family coming to visit. Jason is not entirely sure what he’ll be teaching next year but I am excited that we have a secondary counselor signed on, which means that I will get to focus on Kindergarten through 8^th grade. Which is my dream job!

Anyways, besides that we’ve been busy hiking with friends and Jason has been fishing like crazy. He caught a couple of white salmon for the first time last week. It is delicious! We’ve had to say goodbye to a few families and teachers that won’t be returning, but are looking forward to meeting the new friends that come in August. Most teachers are clearing out of town for the summer, so we are really looking forward to all our visitors that will be on their way before we know it!

Hope this finds everyone happy and healthy and ready for summer!

 Jason's First White Salmon

 Fixin' Dinner :)

We put the fish guts on the back deck and woke up to this guy peeping in our window the next morning! Guess he was looking for more fish!

 A whale on our Misty Fjords trip!

Misty Fjords National Monument.

Alaskan Hiking Adventures!

Japan Bay with Matti & Beth

On our way to Japan Bay

Made it!

Relaxing after a long day of hiking with a bonfire and good friends on the beach. 

Hot dogs and smores for dinner!

The Last Month. . .Or Two. . .

Well here it is the beginning of May and I haven’t been keeping up on the blog! School has been very busy and we have been having lots of fun. The weather has been getting better and better. The sun comes up around 5:00 AM and doesn’t go down until 9:00 PM now, which leaves lots of time for a hike or walk after school.

Honestly, since our St. Patty’s day house crawl things seem to be a big blur, but I will do my best to recall the last month. . . or has it been two?

In early April Herring season began. Our friends, Rob & Jenn Erbelding, took us out in their boat to see what all the hoopla was about. For those of you who don’t know (like me), Herring season marks the beginning of fishing season – and the beginning of making big bucks for many people here. It was really neat to take the boat to the other side of the island and see all the fishing boats.

We saw lots of seals (which is what this is a picture of), seagulls, bald eagles, and other wild life. . .  no whales though. . .  

 This is all the fishing boats and seagulls. 

Jenn, Rachel, & I on the boat. 

We did get a chance to get off the island for Easter weekend, where we went with friends over the Ketchikan and stayed at the New York Hotel-right on creek street. We were celebrating not only Easter, but our friend Matti’s birthday. This was the first trip where we got to really explore Ketchikan. Most of our trips have been day trips which consisted of Walmart, Safeway, Starbucks, and Ocean View (the Mexican-Italian restaurant). After you hit all those places it is usually about time to head back to the ferry.

We were lucky too because the weather really cooperated Easter weekend. It was a beautiful spring weekend and all the shops were opening up, preparing for the cruise ships that are about to start coming in. We had a great time shopping, exploring, and being with good friends.

 Jason and I on Creek Street

 Our room at the New York Hotel

 Creek Street

 Joe, Matti, Beth, & Jason on the Erbelding's Boat.

 Jenn, Me, Rita, & Chelsea on the other side of the boat.

Easter Evening from our back deck. 

In April Jason went to another science workshop in Craig. He had a great time taking a float plane from our island, straight to the floatel where he was staying.

Jason's Homecoming.

I also got to do some traveling, and this time is wasn’t work related! At the end of April I met up with my Mom in Seattle and we surprised my Grandma in Tucson, Arizona for her 75^th birthday. This trip was special for a couple of reasons. First of all it was my Granny’s birthday, but secondly because my Mom is now cancer free. We’ve known this since Christmas, however this is the first time that we have all been together when Mom has felt good enough to celebrate. It was really special to be able to celebrate together and I think we all realized how blessed we were to be able to spend this time together. It also gave me a chance to get some “big city” cravings in. I made it to Red Robin for a chocolate milkshake, Costco, Dunkin’ Doughnuts, and even had a delicious lunch with my Grandpa at Burger King. It’s funny what you miss when you live on an island.

The only bad part about my trip was that I missed being here for Jason’s 29^th birthday. Our friends took care of that for me though. Our friend Rita’s birthday is the same day as Jason’s – May 3^rd. So they all got together for a BBQ at Joe & Rachel’s and played games. It sounds like it was a fantastic time. While I was gone Jason also discovered a new recipe – Salmon Cakes – which is a new favorite in the Pipkin house.

Now that I’m home we have committed to working summer school for the month of June. Jason will be working with upper elementary and middle school students in a flight simulator and robotics program and I will be teaching the elementary summer school program. We are having fun planning for all of our visitors this summer. Jason’s Grandparents, his cousin Sami, and his Dad Ramond, are all coming. Then my Mom and Grandparents will be visiting for the big August 7^th celebration/pot-latch, followed directly by Jason’s Mom! It will be a busy summer but we are really excited to show everyone this little island that we have come to love.

A few extra pictures:

 Jason & Rob headed out for a scuba adventure. Rob picked Jason up in the boat, right from our backyard. I took this photo from our back deck!

 There they go!

 Our ferry, the Lituya, making a run right in front of our house - which is out of the norm.

If you look close, you can see a big cruise ship right in the middle of the picture, in front of the mountains. It passed right by our house!

Cruise ships are starting to make appearances outside our living room window. School is out in less than 3 weeks, and while we will be working summer school, I am hoping to have a lighter work load and have more time to document our adventures! And there will be lots of adventures!!!

Miss & Love you all!