Memorial Day Weekend

Last weekend we took a trip to our friends Jon and Krissy's cabin. They let us use their cabin as home base down in Soldotna for the weekend. The trip started out fine. We stopped by Jon and Krissy's to get the cabin key, directions, fishing poles, and the 4-wheeler. We didn't leave their house until about 11pm. Jon showed Garrett how to start the 4-wheeler because it was a little different than the older ones.

Once we got on the road, Oscar slept in the truck at my feet the whole 3 hour drive. We were given directions to the cabin and didn't get there until about 2:30am. There was still some light to be seen, but we still had to use flashlights. We borrowed Jon's 4-Wheeler to get things from the road up to the cabin. Last week when Jon was out there, he got stuck in the mud and spent the next few hours digging the truck out. So when we arrived we took the straps off the 4-Wheeler and tried to turn it on only to find that it wouldn't start. The guys had just run it 3 hours earlier! We were tired, and frustrated. We decided we would just walk the stuff into the cabin.

The only down side to walking stuff into the cabin, was that we knew it was approx 300 yards up the road, but didn't know WHERE or WHAT we were looking for. Also, we were in the middle of the woods, in BROWN BEAR country walking down a narrow road in the dark...anyone else see a problem with this? Luckily we didn't see any bears but Garrett and I were sore and tired after hiking in gear.

The next day we were going to go out fishing early, but we decided to try to get a new battery for the 4-Wheeler. Garrett commented on how it couldn't get any worse. We found out that the 4-wheeler had a pull cord as a back up so Garrett tried that. On the 3rd pull, the cord broke! So not only did it not start, but it also had a broken pull cord. Garrett tried to change the battery but couldn't get the battery out. After that we decided to stop messing with the 4-wheeler while we were ahead.

We met up with our friend Brett and checked out a few fishing spots for the next day. We decided to just hang around the cabin for the rest of the night and enjoy not having to do ANYTHING! Oscar slept outside of the cabin in his kennel and he did great! He didn't bark or cry at all. I did notice in the morning when I got up that he was shivering. I decided to throw another blanket into his kennel so he had something else to warm up in. That morning we went fishing at Rainbow Lake. Garrett caught the only fish on the trip. It was a rainbow trout and it looked to be a wild one. Garrett was pretty excited. Oscar came with us to the lake but was afraid of the water. He fell in once while trying to get to Garrett and he wouldn't go near the water again. There was another black lab puppy at the lake about the same age as Oscar. Oscar loved playing and wrestling with her. Unfortunately we are working on the dominance issue. The other puppy had never gone in the water before and she came to me in the water, but Oscar wouldn't follow suit. He is a scaredy cat...we are going to have to work on that.

He was tired after all the playing and passed out on a rock.

We built a number of fires next to the cabin and it only took Oscar one time of trying to take a hot stick out of the fire for him to realize that was NOT a good idea. He started by standing on a hot log and then stuck his nose right in the fire. We don't think he will make that mistake again! Brett was enjoying building fires and he was the potato king! We made foil potatoes on three different occasions!
Later that night Garrett, Brett, Oscar and I headed down to the beach to watch the sunset. We could see Mt. Redoubt (the volcano that exploded) from the beach. It was a beautiful night! Brett and Oscar became good friends because Brett didn't mind his muddy feet all over his clothes!

The next day we packed up and headed to another lake to do some fishing. No such luck. Garrett and I decided to take some family photos along the way back to Anchorage. It was such a beautiful day and the mountains were so crisply defined.
We also stopped at the Portage Glacier so that Garrett could see one up close...as close as you can get to it without taking the tour boat. We decided we will have to come back again to hike on the trails around the glacier. There were still icebergs in the water near the glacier and the water was such a crazy blue color.

We got home and unpacked everything and showered. We definitely all smelled. We even gave Oscar a bath. He was filthy...I didn't know that the water could be that shade of brown!

Garrett and I decided to spend our last night together before I left for Fairbanks. We went out to Red Robin for dinner and took Oscar for another long walk. We sure have a good time together! :)

This is the newest addition to the Haponski family. His name is Oscar and he is a black lab. We adopted him from the humane society and he is only 6 weeks old. Garrett and I want to train him to be a duck dog. We will see how he does.



Garrett is very excited to have the little guy around. He will be going to work with him when I am gone this summer!



I am a proud mommy too! :)

Nephew

Angela had Baby Michael today, May 1st at 3:24pm. He weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 20" long. He is adorable and I can't stop staring at him. :) I am bummed they will be heading back to Iowa on May 9th and I won't see him for 3 months, but at least I get to be here now.










I am such a proud Auntie! Angela did super during her labor and she doesn't even look like she just had a baby!

Great Alaskan Sportsman Show

Garrett and I spent the weekend with our friend Jon going to the Great Alaskan Sportsman Show. This is one of the biggest events in Anchorage. We had to park at Walmart and take a shuttle down the the Arena where it was being held because parking was so bad.

The Sportsman Show is an event that every Alaskan fisherman or hunter goes to. They had booths with everything from fishing charters, equipment to make your own flies, to meat processing equipment. There were over 500 booths and the event held 5-6 classes every hour on different hunting and fishing things.

Garrett, Jon, and I went to a 10 class seminar on how to build a log cabin. We are set and determined to build one someday. Jon has some property out near the Kenai river with a cabin on it. The boys are going to try to build a shed this summer with the skills we learned at the class. We'll see how that goes.

Garrett is getting geared up for fly fishing here in Alaska. He hasn't done much of it and doesn't have a rod, but we have friends who do so he is already planning trips for the summer. I took a fly fishing for women class. It was very informative and I was able to practice casting. It definitely takes some practice and skill, but I should be able to pick it up in no time. It is all about your THUMB. :)

Garrett took the opportunity to hand out some cards while we were at the event too. We figured it was a great way for him to market and enjoy ourselves at the same time. We definitely had a good time.

We will see how much fishing I get in this summer while I am up in Fairbanks. Garrett and I plan on going out fishing with Jon and Chrissy a few times when I am home on the weekends. It will be fun to go hang out at their cabin and fish till 2am.

The days are getting longer now too! You really notice it up here because the changes are so drastic. It was 8pm this weekend and we went for a walk with friends because the sun was still up. Garrett and I can't wait till this summer when it is sunny and light out all day and night! More time to fish!!!!

Garrett's Birthday

I finally uploaded photos from Garrett's birthday party this year. Our friend Jon has the same birthday as Garrett so we went over to his house for dinner. We had moose steaks and venison tenderloins. I made a wild berry cheesecake to follow.

On Saturday we invited a bunch of people out to Moose's Tooth for dessert. Three of our friends were pregnant as you will see in the photo. They are all a month apart and actually Amy already had little Emma. Angela is the next one in line to have her baby. Chrissy is the last one and is due in June.

Our friend Astin decided to take photos of everyone with their 5 year old smile. It was pretty hysterical. Needless to say, we had a great time gathered with friends and celebrating Garrett's 28th birthday!!!!

Angela and I went to the start of the Iditarod when it was in town. I got my photo next to Seymour the moose. We had such a great time that day. The races were fun to watch. Next year we will have to go watch the TRUE start in Willow, AK.

Fairbanks

Last weekend I headed up to Fairbanks for work for a week. I leave to head back to Anchorage on Friday night and hopefully there won't be any flight delays due to the ash from Mount Redoubt. There hasn't been any problems so far in Anchorage...most of the ash has gone East.

I am going to be filling in for Dr. Heather when she goes on her maternity leave in July. As a result, she has me coming up every once in a while to help out in the clinic, see new patients and start transitioning over patient care.

I am excited to spend the summer up here in Fairbanks because the weather is going to be GREAT! I will miss seeing Garrett on a regular basis, but I will be making two weekend trips each month to Anchorage to spend time with him. He may make a float trip down the Chena River with a friend at some point this summer. This will give them an opportunity to check for moose. :)

Skiing and Snowboarding

Garrett and I were able to go skiing and snowboarding for the first time this year. We went with out friend Matt last weekend and had a great time at Hilltop. It was a beautiful day with fresh powder!!! We couldn't have asked for a better day.

Champagne

I have officially adopted Jason's dog Champagne as my baby! She is still a puppy and I don't know if she will ever grow into her skin. She still has so many wrinkles yet she is all muscle. She is such a sweet dog and I miss her when I am gone filling in for other docs around the state. Jason decided to enter her into a dog pull competition last weekend, however she is still not very good at verbal commands and she wouldn't pull it on her own. She definitely had the power to pull the 200 lb sled plus hundreds more, but she didn't do it that day.


Champagne sure loves Jason! She loves to snuggle and will even try to climb under the covers if anyone will let her. She is definitely spoiled in this household. :)

Aces Win AGAIN!!!

Since moving back up to Alaska, Garrett and I have made going to hockey games a regular event. We have gone and seen the Alaskan Aces play and also the UAA Seawolves play. They have won every game we have attended so we feel like we are good luck! Garrett is working on becoming the team chiropractor for the UAA Seawolves. Hockey players really need chiropractic care!!!

Moose and WWME Dinner

Garrett and I participated in the World Wide Marriage Encounter Dinner at church. They did a mass for married couples where we renewed our marriage vows followed by a dinner. Garrett and I were the married couple that was married the shortest time there. The oldest married couple had been married for 68 years! It was so great to be up on the stage with them and cut the wedding cake.

Following the dinner we headed home and stopped by the other Catholic church to see where it was and there happened to be two moose eating the shrubbery at the front door. I love living in Alaska!!!