It's Summer...go, go, go

First, you might notice that the look of our blog has changed. I am trying to figure out how to personalize it a bit more but am having difficulties. Hopefully I will learn what I need to learn before I make next month's post.

We have been enjoying our summer and it seems that every weekend is filled with some sort of fun activity or another! We celebrated Yuri's second father's day last month. He is such a fabulous dad - it will take Rory many years to realize how darned lucky she is. With my Mom in New York for a month and Petra (Jesse's girlfriend) in Juneau, also for a month, it was up to me to host the father's day celebration. The dinner consisted of me, Yuri, Jesse and my Dad - food was served, all eyes were on golf, there were no discussions, only grunts every now and then. It was that evening that I realized how important it is to have women around.

The rest of our month was pretty closely documented by pictures...

BOOKSHELF

Our books have been in bins since we moved from Juneau 3 years ago. Our home has little wall space in the main living area so we decided to have shelves installed. Now, as you can see below, many of our books have found a home. We can't put books on the bottom three shelves as Rory's little fingers like to get into things they shouldn't be in. I just love looking at the shelving and think it adds a lot to the living/kitchen area.

GARDEN
I posted pictures of my newly planted gardens in my last post. Well, as you can see below, the garden has gone gang busters!!!! We have already eaten some lettuce, tomatoes and strawberries and the other veggies will be ready for tasting soon! I'm enjoying gardening and am already thinking about how I will do things differently next year.

BANJO LESSONS
Some of you may not know this but Yuri used to play the banjo a bit. Below are pictures of Rory and Yuri "Jamming".

Rory putting on her finger picks.

MIDNIGHT SUN RUN

Those of you that are familiar with Fairbanks know all about the Midnight Sun Run. For those that aren't, the Run is a Fairbanks tradition. Hundreds (if not thousands) of runners and walkers take part in this race that begins at 10pm; and we are lucky to have the race go by our house.

There are parties all along the race course to watch this event, including live music from the local DJ, Jim Matherly, who lives a couple doors down from us. Below is a picture of some of the spectators at our place: (L to R) Symone, Ella and Bill Bailey, me, my Dad and BruceTangeman.

RAIN GEAR

The day after the Midnight Sun Run we had some rain and decided to go on a little walk in our rain gear. Rory looks like a seasoned fisherwoman...although I realize that nothing she is wearing matches.

I've posted the picture below because I thought it was cute AND I wanted to show you Rory's one freckle...isn't it adorable?!

BABY SHOWER
I hosted my sister-in-law, Genevieve Maurits', baby shower last month. I had great plans to host the party in our backyard but the weather did not cooperate until just after the shower began so we stayed in. I like to throw parties and am always kicking myself for not taking pictures of the decor before folks come over; this party was no different as I didn't get many pictures.

Below is a picture of Genevieve opening a gift with her niece, Quinn, looking over the situation. Look closely at the bag on her lap...someone cut out a pregnancy picture of her and glued it to the bag...so cute!

The house was clean and brightly decorated for the shower.

These potted plants were party favors for the guests.

My niece, Addy Morgan, taking over the role of photographer.

Rory and her two cousins, Addy and Quinn, along with Shannon (wonderful girlfriend of Yuri's brother, Nick Otey).

FAMILY

Yuri's brother Leon and his family, along with his sister, Genevieve, and her husband, Kirill, came to town for the 4th of July holiday. In addition to this gang, we were fortunate to have Yuri's Grandfather, Sid, visit from Juneau for several days over the holiday weekend. This was the first time all the FAMO (Frank, Anderson, Morgan, Otey) clan was together in a few years.

Below is a picture of (L to R) Kirill Maurits, Nick Otey and his girlfriend Shannon.

Yuri's uncle, Glen, at the family barbecue at our place. Those of you who know Glen know that he can't stay still...always playing some sort of sport (notice the knee brace).

Back row (L to R) - Grandma Joyce, Grandpa Sid and Grandpa Bud sitting with their well behaved great-grandchildren: Addy, Rory, Quinn and Tyson.

Right after we took the picture above, another grandchild (although she is no longer a "child"), Ryan Anderson, showed up.

After work one day, we found Addy and Quinn manning a lemonade stand. Rory had to get in on the action! She just adores her cousins and I think they return the sentiment.

HARDING LAKE

Our family cabin at Harding Lake is close to 90 years old and my parents have decided to spruce it up a bit. Below is a picture of my dad on his Kubota (I think this is what it is called) clearing some land for a shed.

We spent quite a bit of time over the 4th of July at the Frank cabin at Harding. Below is a picture (L to R) of Kirill, Steve, Leon, Randy and Georgianne Frank.

Rory and Great-grandma Joyce...like peas and carrots.

Kirill, Leon and Nick getting the Jet Ski's going. You might wonder where Yuri is in all these photo's. Well, while I was celebrating the holiday with his family, he was across the lake helping my family remove the old cabinets from the cabin...what a trooper!

Grandpa Sid and Grandpa Bud enjoying their family at the lake.

Pregnant Genevieve, Danae (Yuri's Sister-in-law), and Nick sitting by the campfire.

And finally, we headed back out to Harding Lake this weekend for a friend's birthday. We didn't get many pictures but Yuri did snap this goofy shot of Rory and me. You can see how thrilled Rory is to have her life jacket on.



Hope you are all well!!!

Summer Fun in Fairbanks

Fairbanks has been experiencing wonderful weather this summer, which means that we have spent a lot of time outdoors. I enjoyed my second mother's day and Yuri surprised me with a new camera which means that I will most likely be posting more pictures than usual.

Jesse, my dad and I went in on a bike for my mom for mother's day. Below are some pictures of the first excursion in my folks' back yard.

Below are some pictures of Rory enjoying a lollipop during her haircut. It's the only way I can get her to sit still, and even with the lollipop I wasn't able to get a straight cut on the bangs!

I made a flower hair-clip for Rory and she managed to keep it in her hair long enough for me to get a shot of it.

I've never planted a garden before and I tempted fate by planting it a week before Labor Day weekend - which is a big no no in Fairbanks. Well, it turns out that we had wonderful weather so I took a good chance. Below are pictures of my gardens...I hope to show you a flourishing garden in a few months.

Garden with Peas, carrots, green beans, lettuce, broccoli, zucchini, and yellow squash.

Mini Garden with strawberries (on the left with lots of grass), raspberries and tomatoes.

Labor Day weekend was full of activity. Yuri, my mom, Rory and I headed out to Chena Hotsprings in hope that Rory would enjoy swimming in the pool. Well, it turns out that she had no intention of getting in the pool. She walked around it with a pout on her face but she still looked adorable in her little tutu bathing suit.

The day after hanging out at Chena Hotsprings we headed in the other direction - to Harding Lake. There we stopped by the Allen's cabin to meet their newest edition - Houston Allen. He is the most smiley little guy I have ever seen...so darned cute!

Still more activities on Labor Day weekend. Below are some shots from a barbecue we had at the house for family and friends who didn't leave town that weekend. Immediately below are Simone and Ella handing out their homemade ice cream sandwiches...they were sinfully good!

One of the joys of summer...drinking from the water hose (even though the water company strongly suggests you don't do so).

Grandma Joyce reading to Rory. Rory can't get enough of her Grandma (and vice versa :-)).

I have a fascination with taking pictures of Rory while she is eating. Here she is giving me the defiant look while some tomato seeds hang out on her chin.

Another joy of summer - watermelon! This was Rory's first introduction to it and it took her just a few bites of the rind to realized how to properly eat it.

Rory with her Granddad Andy...hesitantly playing with the water hose.

Rory with her dad.

Martin Janecky taking a picture of me taking a picture of him. Martin has been here for about a month this go-around. Unfortunately, he is leaving in a few days but we hope to see him back here soon!

Rory flying - compliments of her Dad.

Hope you are all enjoying your summer. We'll check back in a few weeks.



Love,

Sydney, Yuri and Rory

Spring is Here!

The big news this month is that Yuri is home from Juneau! Rory and I are so happy to finally have him home...life is much better with him around.

The last month has consisted of us holding our breath in hopes that the winter weather is behind us for a while. There is not too much new going on other than celebrating a lot of birthday's: Betty Tangeman's birthday dinner at Lavelle's and then we continued the party at the Midnight Mine (ugh), Piper Burks' fun back yard 4th birthday party and Grandma Helen Atkinson's 95th birthday. Below are pictures of random happenings over the last month.

One of my favorite pictures of little Rory.

Betty's Birthday

Betty and I posing in the homemade party hats I made for her birthday get-together. Unfortunately, the party hats turned out looking a little too much like dunce caps.


Messy table manners.

Outdoor excitement
When the sun started to shine we couldn't resist hitting the playground even though it was still a bit chilly. This picture was taken about a month ago, thankfully it has warmed up enough so that the hat is no longer necessary.

Pictures of a tantrum

Not too often do you get to see the makings of a tantrum in still frame. Below are a series of 5 pictures taken very close to each other. It is amazing to see the difference between shot #1 and shot #5. Enjoy.

Fun time - enjoying the fresh air in the back yard. In good mood.

Getting pushed on the swing by her mother. Good mood.

Close up shot of Rory's happy little face. Good mood. Just after this I decide it is time to go inside because Rory is getting a little cold (see red nose below).

Rory showing her displeasure with my decision to cut outdoor playtime short. She threw a fit in the driveway for about 2 minutes until I picked her up and brought her inside...

...where she continued the fit she began outside.

Golfing

Warmer weather - playing golf with dad.

Working on her golf swing.