Kodiak Koehler's

I know, I know! Two posts in one week! Ok, are you up off the floor yet? Good...now...We've had an eventful week here. Not only did I get to do the Santa to the Villages flight this week, we also had our first Christmas visitor arrive. Makenzie (Zach's sister, for those that don't know) got here after spending 15 long hours in Anchorage. Luckily the Koehler family has friends there (remember Sunny, Jed and the rest of the Hefley family from our travels here?) and they picked Mak up from the airport for a few hours and took her to lunch. We pretty much have spent the first few days just relaxing. She has slept until 11 everyday so far. I don't blame her though. The school she goes to in L.A. keeps her really busy and she also works, so she doesn't have much time to sleep or eat right. She has been able to get plenty of rest and get some home cooked meals. We even special ordered fresh snow for her! Ok, so God blessed us on His own with that, but we were hoping for so...

***WARNING*** Really long and picture heavy. Don't forget you can click on the picture to see it larger. If you want to see more pictures, you can visit our page on Snapfish: Santa to the Villages . If that link doesn't work, email me and I'll email you an invitation to see them. Ok, so Monday morning I wake up to go in with Zach to the base. He was scheduled for a flight and I was volunteering with Santa to the Villages - an OSA program to bring Christmas to the outlying villages of Kodiak. The presents had all been wrapped and organized into their proper locations - seven villages in all I believe - in the few weeks leading up to this and this was the day we got to distribute gifts to the children of Chiniak. You may be wondering how we got the gifts to the villages....well, Santa of course...only he arrived via helicopter with his elves in tow. I was one of the elves. That's right, I got to fly in a helo...not just any helo, but a 60, the same thing Zach flies. Zach ...

Zach downloaded some from the base computer and brought them home. We'll upload more later. WARNING: Picture heavy. This is us at the Halloween party on Friday the 13th. Aren't we scary? We vant to suck your blood...ha ha ha. Here's what our whole costume looked like and us being scary. Our friends Devin and Stefanie...they are so silly. You should have seen her tail flopping around from side to side when she would dance. It was so funny. We also had a dead hippy, witch and a woman from the Renaissance era (Eric and Heather - my belly dancing teacher - and Trisha). I'd put up more pics, but apparantly I've killed the blogger photo uploader...it keeps timing out now. Zach has some AMAZING pics from his flight the other day. Just a hint....he landed on a mountain! So cool! I'll let him post since he will tell a whole story with it too. Hopefully we'll be getting a new camera soon. Oh! Pray for us, we have an offer on our house that we countered and they count...

It finally snowed yesterday. It didn't stick, but it sure was beautiful! I'm kinda nervous about driving in it though. It was snowing a little when I went to the grocery in the afternoon, but it hadn't accumulated enough to make it hard to drive. I'm going to go to Walmart and get a disposable camera today and I'll take some pics. Tonight, we are going to the Haunted SPAR (one of the ships stationed here) and then to the haunted hayride. It should be a good time. Cold, but fun. We went ghosting a couple nights ago. I had never heard of it until this year. Here is the definition according to Wikipedia . I changed some to fit how we do it in our neighborhood. A new Halloween "tradition" of Ghosting has started. In the days leading up to Halloween someone may drop off a trick-or-treat bag (at night) filled with a few goodies, ring the doorbell and run. They include a rhyme that explains the tradition and a paper with an image or symbol of a ghost. You ha...

I'm so excited! Zach called from work this morning to tell me that in this mornings weather brief they said it may snow today!!! A few days ago there was snow at the top of Barometer, a mountain near the base, and the mountains in the distance have had snow all week! It's gorgeous!!! It's so weird though. I saw a pic of some friends from Clearwater and they are all in short and tees and still look hot and the pic was taken this weekend! It's so strange to be here with all the cold weather coming in. We still love it though. I don't know if I'll love driving in it though. Actually, it will be the people driving behind me that are hating me for driving so slow. Oh, well, I'll be safe at least. It's been a crazy few weeks here. It started off with a Halloween/Friday the 13th party. We were vampires. Everyone loved our costumes. We still don't have a camera, but Z is trying to download some pictures from the file at work (it was a base party). Then the n...

It's starting to get colder here in Kodiak and I'm loving every minute of it. Last year it snowed the day before Halloween, but I'm not sure that will happen this year. I'm certain it will before Thanksgiving though. I can't wait. Everyone here is hating that I'm so excited about it though. I'm just going to have to learn to drive in the snow. I think we've decided not to get snow tires. They are over a grand and we've been told that as long as we drive slow it shouldn't be a problem. I'm sure some of you are thinking I'll have issues with that, but I actually don't speed here and if I do, as soon as I realize it I slow down fast. It's hard b/c it's a small island and there are a lot of cops for so few people and they like to keep busy by stopping people. Plus, we are the only ones on the entire island with our car. It's funny actually. We had to have our burner cleaned out last week and when the guy came to do it, he saw ...

I'm not one to normally post my opinions in this large of a way, but I feel the need to get this out there in case some of you are not aware of this new product. I'm sure you have all heard of this already, but I just want to make sure people are aware there is a new "energy" drink on the market called Cocaine. Here's an article that was published in The Seattle Times on Sept. 22. Bold print was highlighted by me. Latest energy drink gets some bad buzz By CAROL ANN CAMPBELL Newhouse News Service In the competitive market for "energy drinks," the aim is to advertise more caffeine, more buzz, more attitude. Even more controversy. The latest drink to bust from the pack promises the euphoria of drugs — but legally . And it's receiving buzz — especially from anti-drug advocates. The Cocaine Energy Drink, created by a Las Vegas beverage maker, contains no narcotics but boasts on its Web site, "Instant Rush. No Crash!" Drinkers are told they wil...

I finally broke down and took Beth out shooting with our good friends Devin and Stefanie. It was the first time she'd ever shot a gun before and she had a blast!!! Ha ha!! Get it?? She even tried thuggen it for a bit. We went out to this place called Saloonie Creek Shooting Range. It costs about $12 a year to get the key to the gate and it shows. There was a sign on the gate about a bear attack that happened about a week before we got there. That's a pretty brave bear to attack a shooting range where hunters sight in their guns. Anyway after we got done shooting Beth told me that she wants a gun for christmas this year. We'll see about that. She had this huge bruise on her shoulder when we were done. Of course my shoulder was pretty sore too. I was shooting my 12 gauge and Beth was shooting Devin's 20 gauge. She was a pretty good shot too. We will definately have to go out again when the weather is nice.

Just wanted to let everyone know we're still around. Not much new in our world right now. Zach was sick last week. Oh!!! We did celebrate four years of wedded bliss last week though. It's been amazing and I look forward to many MANY more! Thanks for all the wonderful cards! We still don't have our long distance set up so we haven't been able to call to thank anyone. Our phone card ran out of minutes too. Hopefully we'll get the long distance set up in the next day or two. I'm trying to find a job. I've decided that a SAHW (stay at home wife) is not for me. I will probably try to find something just part time. I am hoping to get a job at the local college in January. I'll call them in a week or so to see what's going on and what I can do to get started. We are hoping to go camping this weekend if it's nice out. We would have gone this weekend, but the weather was questionable. I did hold out, but we weren't sure and didn't want to get stuc...

When walking down stairs it is imperative that feet be firmly planted on the next step before trying to go down further. If, for instance, only the heel of the right foot is barely on the higher step, you will likely slip down with little to no control. This can result in the toes and forefoot of the left foot bending completely underneath said foot, causing much discomfort, bruising and swelling. A picture of what could result will be posted soon. It is also important to note that flailing your arms wildly will NOT help and will just make you look more foolish. Ask me how I know... Hopefully there will be no more lessons of this nature to report to you, our loyal listeners, er, readers.

Today is the 216th birthday of the Coast Guard. Following is a note to my wonderful husband (along with all the other men and women of the USCG) from Adm. Thad Allen, Commandant of the Coast Guard. To the Men and Women of the Coast Guard: Today marks the 216th Birthday of our Coast Guard. This anniversary offers us a moment to celebrate our rich history, reflect on our past and focus on our future. The Coast Guard’s unique legacy as America’s lifesaver and maritime guardian evolved from the selfless courage and unflinching determination of our predecessors. It is in their honor that we celebrate today. In 1790, Congress authorized secretary of the treasury Alexander Hamilton to build a fleet of ten cutters to secure our freedom and protect our coast. For the next eight years, the Revenue Marine was the nation’s only naval force. Over time, it evolved and acquired new responsibilities to meet the growing needs of a democracy in the early years of a new nation. The world has changed dra...

Ok, I really fixed the posts this time! Finally figured out what was wrong and it was me! lol I didn't see the "moderate comments" tab at the top of my screen. Who knew? I had 20 comments waiting to be approved. I'm such a dork!

Ok guys, I have a confession to make. I think I killed our camera. We went fishing last weekend (and can I tell you I had some amazing pictures?) and when we were crossing back across the creek to go back to the car, I slipped and fell (note: faceplanted) into the ground and rocks. Luckily I wasn't hurt, I thought I had sprained something, but I walked it off. As I'm walking off I turn around and see Zach and Stef looking concerned and Zach holding up our soaking wet camera. Apparently you are supposed to zip the camera bag up when you put it back in there. Who would have guessed. We dried it out and it still won't come on. I'm hoping the memory card is ok, and we are going to take it to Walmart tonight to see if we can get a CD of the pictures. I'm still really upset b/c now that I have no camera, I see all these amazing things I want to take pictures of, but can't. Ugh!!! I'm going to take it to Anchorage with me at the end of the month to drop it by Best ...

That's right folks, we've enrolled Snowflake and Morgan into doggie training. They are actually doing very well. The first night was fairly amusing with about 10 dogs running around this school gym where the training is held and the trainer, Kathie, trying to figure out who was the alpha. Well, our sweet Morgan was that dog, that's right, Morgan is the top dog. Snowflake on the other hand is just a pushover. Is it wrong that we were glad Morgan was the alpha? We were so proud. That doesn't mean she was starting fights or anything either though, she was just letting them know who's boss, and that's why we got her in the first place - to be our security. They are both doing really well with training and we have been working with them every day, except yesterday. We thought they needed a break too, but we were still working with them some. Zach and I realized most of the issues are our problems (i.e. not being forceful enough, letting them get away with things, not...

...I hope. I think I fixed it, so if someone will try it I would be ever grateful. Thanks!

I've been horrible about not posting any info or pics. It's been a whirlwind of a month (almost) since we arrived on the 14th of June. We arrived to typical Kodiak weather: cold and wet. Luckily we also arrived to the typical Kodiak friendiness: about 12 people waiting outside in the rain to greet us and welcome us to "the Rock". A couple are from the Coastie spouses forum I found online last fall and the rest were from the Officer Spouses Assn. We received a lot of goodies thanks to the hospitality of said greeters. We stayed at the Best Western across from the marina for 10 days then moved into our new house on the 24th and slept in our sleeping bags b/c we were tired of being cooped up in a hotel. Our household goods were delivered two days later and most everything was in tact. Much better than I anticipated with the 5500 mile trip it had to make by both land and water. Some of the walls got dinged up while they were delivering, but the company is sending someone ...

...on the mainland at least. We'll be getting on the Kodiak ferry tonight around 10 pm. Good thing the sun will still be up. We made it into Homer day before yesterday after taking Beth on her first fishing trip. We went to Ninilchik and tried our had at catching some salmon and halibut. No luck though. We saw one guy catch a King Salmon though. That's the only fish we saw the entire day. It was wet and rainy too but we had a great time. Since then we have just been bumming around Homer. It is very pretty here but I think both Beth and I are ready to be off the road. Living out of the car for over a month is fun to a point. And I think we're fast approaching that point. Most of our conversations lately have been about what we're going to unpack first. Beth seems to think it'll be her craft stuff but I've got my vote for our bed. It'll be so nice to hook up that SleepNumber matress and sink down into that soft goodness!!! So today is just spent ...

We have changed our plans after going to Sunny (Jed's mom's) house for the afternoon. They have invited us to join them all in Soldotna for some fishing. We will are packing up the hotel right now and are going to check out in a moment then eat at Sunny's and head down to Soldotna. We will be camping tonight and fishing tomorrow. How fun is that? I'm really excited since I've never been fishing. After only spending an hour or so with them all I felt like I was part of their family. They are great! I'm excited and will try to update tomorrow night when we check into our hotel in Homer. WOOHOO!!! Hopefully we'll have some good pics and have caught some good fish too! This is the most spontaneous thing we've done this trip. It's been a whirlwind of an afternoon, but so much fun. Love to all and we will update as soon as we get another chance.

I guess Tok was the last time anybody heard from us. We've been relaxing in Anchorage for the past couple days. We decided to stop here for a couple of reasons. First I wanted to give Beth a little time to explore the city for when she gets a chance to hop on a Space A flight (space available on a CG plane) and come back to civilization for a day or weekend. A chance to find all the good places to spend our hard earned ducketts. Second, I have some childhood friends and my god-daughter here in Anchorage. I haven't seen them in over 5 years and with a few exceptions everything is pretty much the same. My god-daughter is a HOOT!!! She will be 6 in November and is sharp as a tack. We had breakfast with her and her dad, Jed yesterday morning and she had us laughing the whole time!!! When we left she asked her dad if she could "go with these people". She has these beautiful brown eyes that will get her out of trouble just as often as they will get her into troub...

After much tossing and turning and a little heaving we made it safe and sound back to dry land. Actually it really wasn't that bad. Beth didn't even get sick. And the girls were fantastic!!! They didn't mess up the car at all, even though they were trapped inside for hours on end. They were unable to go to the bathroom on the ferry because they are so well trained that they didn't want to go on the hard deck. So the poor things held it for almost 2 days. The were certainly relieved to pull into Ketchikan...in more ways than one!!! The ferry was a whole new experience for Beth. We were unable to reserve a stateroom so we did the next best thing and pitched our tent on the back deck!! Now that's traveling in style!! And believe it or not we weren't the only poor folks out there...there were at least 4 other tents on our deck and another half dozen on the deck below us. But at least we had some shelter and privacy. There were tons of people just sleeping in chairs ...

We decided to drive straight to Seattle on Wednesday so we could have a break on Thursday. I think the girls needed a break too. I tried to get the pics up, but it's not letting me post any and we can't for the life of us figure out why. We may try deleting some of the pics in previous posts to see if that is the problem. We went to the Space Needle yesterday. What an amazing structure! It's 605 feet tall and was built for the World's Fair in 1962. We walked around and got some pics up there before going down to the nearby foodcourt for some lunch. Zach hasn't been feeling very well, so we ended up having soup and sandwiches. We headed back to the hotel after that so Zach could get a nap before dinner. We were invited to Leighanne and Todd....ugh, I can't remember their last name I just remember her maiden name - Presley. I do know it starts with a G. Hmm...Delinda, help me out here. Anyway, they had us over for dinner, but Todd, Cora Lynn and Savannah had to go...

We've updated the blog with 3 new posts including this one, so you can start a couple posts down to catch up. We didn't want to do one HUGE post. Ok, now for the rest of the story... Now that graduation is over and all the parties are done with we are finally able to relax for a day or two. We spent most of the days getting ready for the rest of our trip. Sierra Trading Post was having a huge Memorial Day sale and boy did we take advantage of it. New jackets, new clothes, new day packs, etc... We also got the girls updated on their vaccinations, got some laundry done and got the car packed. We were able to consolidate a lot of stuff and now the girls have a little bit more room to move around. Whaddaya know; we're getting a lot better at this packing thing. The last night we were in Koehler Kountry we spent basking in the home-made goodness of the wood heated hot tub that my dad built. It was really nice and gave us the best night sleep!! The next day (Tuesday) we left afte...

I am so proud of my sister!! She is the most talented, open, loving person I know. She graduated with a 3.6 gpa and has been accepted to the Young Americans . This is a 4 year college for performing arts. They travel around the country exposing grade school, middle school, and high school students to the fine arts of music and dance. They take time to talk and interact with the students and then afterwards give a performance. If you have ever heard of Up with People, it's kinda like that. They have also performed for presidents and dignitaries the world over. They even had a special stage that they performed on right next to the French Riviera. During the school year they will have a full load of classes (17 credit hours) plus dance practice plus work. On the weekends they will have about 20 hours of dance practice. I am really excited to see what an amazing dancer she will become. But don't let her know that cause I don't want her to get a big head!! The graduation ceremon...

...of the Thermopolis hot springs that is. Zach and I drove from Sidney, NE to Cody, WY on Thursday. We were going to stop in Thermopolis to enjoy a night at the hot springs, but after determining how long it would take us to get from Cody to Bellingham, WA to catch the ferry, we decided to head on to Cody and surprise Zach's parents and sister. We did stop in Thermop to enjoy walking around the springs anyway. Snowflake tried to jump in, but luckily we caught her in time. It would have really hurt her. It was beautiful, but man, did it stink!?! We also stopped in the Wind River Canyon and Boysen Resevoir. We just took our time and enjoyed the drive and the outdoors. We were only on the interstate for a few hours of the trip, then on the backroads of Hwy 120. When we made it to Koehler Kountry we started the hike to the house when Makenzie drove up. It was funny, b/c the driveway was muddy and the Magnum didn't have enough oomph to make it to the house (Zach wouldn't get me...

We have had a great couple of days. We took our time driving from Seymour and stopped several times to let the dogs play and us stretch our legs. It's always nice to get out of the car for a little while, even if it's just to get gas. We have taken to stopping long enough for lunch to sit down to eat. That's been a nice break. We didn't really know where we would end up staying on Monday. We wanted to try to make it as close to St. Louis as we could, but didn't know if we'd stop to camp before or after we passed though. We made it easily to the city before rush hour. We all wanted a break, and Beth really wanted to see the Gateway Arch, so we decided to all get out and enjoy a nice walk down to the Arch and sat on the lawn enjoying the view of the Mississippi River and the people. What a fun way to spend an afternoon. We had all kinds of people stopping us to see our dogs. It was quite funny. It was really amazing to see a structure like that. Did you know that ...