Fun in the Last few weeks

We are preparing to move as you all should know, so we have been trying to get out and do as many things as possible in Alaska as we can before its time to leave. We went on two really awesome adventures that I wanted to share with you.

The first one was a couple of weeks ago; we were invited by our awesome friend Sheridan to go on a hike with the youth from church. We had wanted to do this hike for quite some time so we took advantage of this opportunity. We met up with everyone that was going, over at the church and after carpools were established we were off to Angel Rock! It was about a 40 minute drive to get there and all the way I searched for moose, but didn't see any. When we arrived the leaders lined the youth up and made sure they were all accounted for, and then started on the hike.

We had so much fun; Brian and I were at the back of the line to make sure no one fell behind which was nice because we were able to pace ourselves instead of feel pressure to keep going so we wouldn't hold up the line. It was so gorgeous, the trees were so tall, the river was flowing, and it was sprinkling, overall just gorgeous! I was a little reluctant at first because I'm not exactly the most outdoorsy person in the world so doing this hike didn't sound too exciting to me but I went anyways. It was kind of tough in the beginning the incline increased pretty quickly so I was having a tough time, but Brian and Thor loved it. Soon the incline increased a whole bunch and I felt like I was going to die! It was awful! I was sweaty and short of breath overall not my favorite situation, but we eventually caught up to the youth and leaders at what we thought was the top. We all posed for a picture then Sheridan was like "The top is only like 3 more minutes do you guys want to do it?" Of course the youth wanted to do it I, however did not but Brian used his husband charm and talked me into continuing on.

It was so steep and I had to stop like every 20 feet but I was determined to get to the top. Let me tell you that was definitely more than a 3 minute hike it was more like a 20-30 minute hike, but once we made it to the top there was nowhere else to go so I knew we had made it. Sheridan taught this wonderful lesson based on Richard G. Scott's 2006 General Conference talk entitled "The Atonement can secure your peace and Happiness"

 -Side note, for those who don't know what General Conference is it is a worldwide broadcast conference spanning the length of two days separating into 5 two hour sessions.  Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints gather in Salt Lake City, Utah twice a year, in April for the annual conference and in October for the semiannual, to hear our church leaders speak on a variety on spiritual topics. They address members of the church as well as government, faith and community representatives and other conference guests. For anyone that is not able to travel to the conference it is broadcast on the television, online, and at the local meeting houses.

 -Also for those who don't know what the Atonement is it's "The ransom paid by Jesus Christ, through His suffering in Gethsemane and His death on the cross, which nullifies the effects of sin. Christ’s atonement allows everyone to be resurrected. For those who repent of their sins, it also opens the way to continued growth and progression through the eternities."

He talks about the wrong way and the proper way to find peace and happiness using a rock climbing analogy, in a nut shell he basically says that there are people out there that attempt a method of rock climbing called soloing where the climber ascends alone without equipment or companionship and they rely completely on their own skill and capacity. They do it for the thrill of living on the edge; those people are like those that face the challenges and temptations of life without following the commandments of God, guided by the Holy Spirit. He counsels "Do not “solo” in life. You will almost certainly fall into transgression." He says there are safer ways to Rock Climb. With all the correct equipment and companionship you can safely ascend a dangerous rock face and certainly make it safely to the bottom. "In life, the anchors are the laws of God that provide protection under all of the challenges that you will face. The rope and carabiners that secure the rope to the anchors represent obedience to those commandments. When you learn those commandments, continue to practice them, and have a plan to avoid danger, you will have a secure means of obtaining protection against Satan’s temptations. You will develop strength of character that will fortify you against transgression. Should you make a wrong move, there need be no enduring problem because of the belaying or help that is available through your repentance." As we go through life we have to remember to follow the commandments and live a spiritual life.

After Sheridan's spiritual message Brian and I said we would take the tail end again which may or may not have been a mistake. You see, because we were in the back we were not upfront for the decision to either follow the trail down the mountain or to take the "path" that looked like the trail straight down the mountain. The final decision was to take the sketchy path down the mountain... it seemed as if the youth didn't have a big problem sliding down the mountain on their butts, I could hear them laughing and squealing at times and then I saw what it was about.. This was not in fact just a sketchy path down the mountain it was more like the slide to my death. If I was not as much of a (as Brian would describe it) "yuppie" I might have semi enjoyed myself, but alas I am indeed a "yuppie" and could not handle the thought of getting dirt all over my yoga pants let alone get dirty at all. So we fell way behind because I was not going to slip and fall. If anyone besides Brian had seen me I would probably never show my face at church again, I was clinging to the trees and holding on until I HAD to let go only to cling to another one. If you can imagine someone that is trying to cross a river on stones and they are holding on to a tree facing the wrong way extending their leg as far as it will go trying to reach the next tree that is what I looked like but on the side of a mountain. It was awesome... it took me twice as long if not longer than anyone else to get to the bottom, but we made it to the bottom and the views were gorgeous and we laugh whenever we talk about it. On the way home I saw a moose in a lake which made everything better!

The second adventure we went on was with Sheridan and a friend of hers, we all went kayaking and canoeing down the Chena River in Fairbanks. It was so awesome; of course I was reluctant to go because as you know by now I’m not outdoorsy at all. Brian talked me into going so we got in the car and made our way to Sheridan’s house. When we got there she had three kayaks; two singles and one double which Brian called the dingy. We all concurred the dingy was unfit for travel and one of the single kayaks as well because it wasn't blown up all the way. She had a friend that offered to let us use her canoe so we went to her house and picked it up. This thing was huge, it didn't fit in the back of the truck and no matter what we did it just didn't look like it was going to make it back to Sheridan’s house. Brian insisted it was fine so we tied it to the truck with the bottom of the canoe in the bed of the truck and the rest sticking up in the air over the cab of the truck, as we are pulling out of the drive way the canoe takes a dive to the driver’s side and starts to fall off, Sheridan screams and Brian gets out to fix it. Needless to say we made it back to her house but now we couldn't transport the canoe because it was too big, meanwhile, Sheridan’s friend is and has been waiting in Fairbanks for us for about an hour now. She calls one of her other friends who has a trailer and he brings it on over and leaves the hitch in case the one on her truck is too big. Brian goes to change the ball out and there is a lock on the hitch on her truck and it just so happened that the key to said lock was with Sheridan’s husband John in the middle of who knows where. So now we have a canoe that’s too big, a trailer we can’t hook up, and a truck with a lock on it. Brian finally figures out that the hitch fits into out jeep which is perfect so we get everything loaded up and head on out.

We finally make it to Pioneer Park while almost getting rear-ended (this is not our day!) We unload the boats and move cars to where they need to be at the end of all this and prepare for what is ahead of us. (I’m pretty sure I was the only one trying to prepare myself for the ice cold water the monsters in the water and the possibility of my husband being evil and tipping the boat.) Sheridan and I stayed with the boats while the men situated the cars and it took them forever to get back and we started to wonder where they were, when they got back they had an air pump in their possession and continued to try and blow up the kayak. As men, they couldn't have this inanimate object defeat them, so after a few minutes of trial and error they got it to work and the kayak was fit for travel! (Sheridan was going to ride the kayak regardless if it had air in it or not) After all of that, I took my place at the front of the canoe and refused to walk in the water so it took all 3 people to push the canoe into the river. It never occurred to me how unstable the canoe was so I’m screaming as the canoe is making its way into the water while its tipping side to side as Brian gets in. After about a minute of screaming and freaking out the boat stabled out and we started to make our way down the river, we saw lots of ducks and four beavers! It was so cool one of them splashed its tail on the surface of the water when we got too close to its dam. It was so awesome and the sunset views weren't half bad. We made it down the river in about an hour and a half and by this time we were starving! We went to the restaurant near where we docked and they said the kitchen closed at 10 but we were right on the dot so they agreed to feed us as long as we were quick with ordering. Let me tell you about that food, it was so freaking tasty if I had died in that moment, I would have died a happy camper! If you’re ever in Fairbanks Alaska make sure to go to Pikes Landing you won’t regret it.

Sheridan and I waiting for the men (left) Brian chillin in the back (right)

The giant beaver dam

Beaver pulling a stick (the stick is white and the beaver blends with the rock)

The Forestry rescuers (I think that's what they do?)

Fireweed (the purple flowers)

Sheridan and her friend

My beautiful friend Sheridan

 

Those were my two most exciting recent adventures and I hope with the last few weeks that we have left here we get as much out of it as we can., I just love Alaska so much and am truly saddened that we have to leave, but it just gives us excuses to come and visit!