Susan - Abigail's Birthday & Driver's Permit

Abigail turned 14 on the 10th of August.  We had cake for breakfast before we went to church so my Mom and Dad could leave with four of the kids on their trip to Fairbanks.

Her favorite gift (besides the socks) was her ipod complete with docking station. (That's so the kids don't walk around with cords hanging out of their ears.)  It's the family's first ipod and after the first month Abigail has got to share because we don't plan on buying every kid one.

In Alaska you can get your driver's permit once you turn 14 and take a written test.  When you turn 16 you can take the driving test and get your license.

Abigail turned 14 on Sunday and took her written test on Monday.  She got to take her first drive later that afternoon (when Paul got back from flying).  Caleb got to go along for moral support.

The rest of us followed behind in the motor home taking pictures.  The sidekick is a stick shift and she didn't stall it once.  (On her first drive, we won't talk about the rest of the month in Anchorage...  Actually she did great.  She's been practising for some time in Nondalton where it is unregulated.)

Susan - Eklutna Campground

Deborah, Anna and I decided that Abigail needs help keeping up with her blog.  Abigail has graciously added us to her contributers list.

Grandma & Grandpa Rogers took Deborah, Quentin, Anna & Joshua to Fairbanks on their annual "trip".  Abigail got bumped this year and Joshua got to go.  It turned out to be a huge blessing that Abigail got bumped.  Being 8 1/2 months pregnant, it didn't take me long to see how much I take my older kids for granted.  Keeping track of three little boys can be tiring...

They took off for Fairbanks after Abigail's birthday party and church on Sunday. (Abigail is planning on blogging her birthday.)  

On Tuesday the rest of us drove up to Eklutna Campground.  It was only an hour away from Anchorage but we were a little hesitant to go because I'd been having some pretty strong 

contractions on Sunday.  If I'd known we were going to be surrounded by gorgeous mountains I probably would have reconsidered because we had absolutely no hint of cell phone coverage!

We took a walk along the lake.

Benjamin got Abigail to give him a lift.

We found a creek and the boys had a blast playing Pooh sticks.

The creek banks were a very sticky gray clay.

Big sister Abigail was at the mouth of the creek to catch the sticks.

As soon as we got to the campground, we heard that there were a lot of bears around.  The first night our trusted watchdog Princess started barking around 5 am.   Abigail looked out and saw a bear peering into a pickup in the campsite next to ours.  The next day we set out trash outside while we vacuumed out the motor home and then we took a nap.  Abigail heard a noise outside and realized that everyone was inside.  She looked out and saw a bear inspecting our trash at our doorstep.  She didn't dare yell because only the screen door was shut!  She whispered back to Paul and I that there was a bear outside.  Paul jumped up and chased it away while our trusted watchdog Princess slept.  Next time we'll get the picture first and then chase it away!  

The campground is ten miles off the highway and since we'd lost cell phone coverage we had no way of telling my Mom & Dad how to get to where we were.  We waited until about 9 pm the night they were supposed to meet us and then we gave up and decided to pack up and

 drive back to Anchorage and find them since they had to turn their motor home in by 11 am the next morning.  We had just gotten everything loaded when they came driving up.  The kids were very excited to see us and tell us about their wonderful trip with Grandma & Grandpa.

Deborah is pinning the Jr. Ranger badge she got from Denali National Park on David.

David is quite proud of it.

The Family.

We always seem to get a good family picture just before the new baby's born and then it takes forever to get a family picture with the new baby.  We'll try and do better with Sarah.