Putting up Salmon

Every year during the month of July the Red Sockeye Salmon stream past the lake in front of our home.  They were born here four to eight years ago and left to make their way to the Pacific Ocean.  When they are full grown they swim through Bristol Bay, up the Kvijack River into Lake Iliamna, then up the Newhalen River and into Six Mile Lake where we live.  The fish that make it past the thousands of fisherman trying to catch them find the spot they were born and lay their eggs and then they die.  Up until that point they are silver on the outside and their meat is a deep red. Before they die they turn a deep red and their meat turns almost white.  They are one of the healthiest things you can eat and we praise Yhwh for his provision for us.

Getting the jars ready for the salmon

Sometimes we put our net out right in front of our house and sometimes we take it a ways down the river.

Abigail gutting the salmon

Everyone helps as we catch and process the salmon.

Deborah cutting the salmon to fit them into jars.

The seagulls eat well during the salmon run

The fishbox keeps the salmon nice and cold as we process them.

We (mostly Abigail) put together some video clips so you can see all the fun we had catching and processing our salmon this year.  Enjoy!

Spring is Here

Spring is here!!!  Warmer weather means swinging on rope swings...

Goose season...

Ice melting...

Swimming in the literally ice cold water (more like dunk and get back out as soon as possible)...

 Fishing...

Lots of mud, three Honda's couldn't pull this one out.

We tried to jack it out but that didn't work so Dad wrapped the winch around a log and winched it out.

These pictures were taken at midnight.  See how light it is out!!

These pictures were taken a couple weeks ago.  All the ice is melted now and it's starting to feel like summer.

Cooking over the Fire - Catching Pike

The kids love making fires down by the beach. I let them make as many as they want because I figure the more they make the better they will be at making them. I also don't mind when they want to cook over the fire. It makes an easy meal for me and it's a lot of fun. In the picture below they cut up some Caribou and are roasting it over the fire.

Paul and the kids don't get to go fishing near as much as they'd like to because Paul stays too busy. But they have gotten out a few times to go after something besides our yearly Salmon. Below Paul has a boatload to go find some Pike.

Caleb didn't get to go, but he did get to carry the Pike to the house.

First Day of Summer Vacation

Saturday was the first day of Summer Vacation so we went down to the point with Katherine, Sephra and their kids for a picnic(and some other kids). Lots of us got are first sunburn of the year but it was really fun. We ate lunch there and rafted down the creek with the snow tube Uncle David bought us for Christmas:) The tube worked better upside down so it didn't fill up with water. There was still ice on the lake which is why we are going down on our knees trying not to get too wet.We played beach volleyball with a rope hung over two sticks. We went fishing but only caught one fish:) I think the hip waders that Joshua is wearing are a bit to big for him:)