Hatcher Pass and Independence Mine

 June 29th, 2017

We went to Hatcher Pass. We climbed some rocks to get up to the lake. We found some rocks in the lake. I found a rock way to get to the deep part of the water. The water was freezing cold. We also found a cave. We found another pit. Which had a moss couch in it. We took a different trail down. We saw a cabin on the way. We went to the cabin. I crossed a river to get to the other side.  We found some gold at Independence Mine. It was an awesome mine. It was kind of like Thunder Mountain Railroad at DisneyLand.  It was a fun day.

The Big Rock
Exploring in the freezing water

Jadon

Bella was so fun. I really like her, I saw her room.  Climbing the rocks was so fun. It was easy and hard to climb the rocks. Bella and I walked together and we took pictures together. When we climbed to the top we saw ice on the lake and snow.  

After, we went to Independence Mine, we saw a train and where the workers worked. There was ice in the tunnel and a broken bridge. 



Rahab Ireland

I, Esther Ireland, went to Hatcher pass with my family and the Ness family. We climbed over big boulders with a stream going under them. When we got to the top there was a lake with some ice on top. I threw some rocks at the ice even though the rocks were heavy and the ice was thin the rocks did not break the ice. The lake was not completely covered with ice the water was freezing. Then we went down a path. And saw some prairie dogs and their holes. Then we went to the mine. Hudson and I collected some rocks and some gold or what we think is gold. We saw old train carts and the different holes were people went into the ground to look for gold. We had lots of fun doing all different things that day.

Flat top mountain…

“Are you scared Dad?” Jadon asked me as he turned around with a grin about 20 yards ahead of me and 25 feet further up the mountain than me. Am I scared? I thought to myself as I pondered my response to his question. I gazed out over the valley floor some 3,300 feet below and the 1,800 feet of elevation we’d gained since we left WSAABE in the parking lot and thought about what scares me. Jadon had asked the question because he’d just heard me give him instructions for the third or fourth time to put his weight towards the mountain and stay in close to the trail that had gradually become a 3-1 grade of loose shale that sheared off to 500 to 1000 foot drops on either side of us. Only the last time I’d shouted up to him I must have had an edge on my voice because he turned around and asked me the question I now pondered as I held his five year old sister’s hand and steadied his older sister just in front of me. His question had the tone of a challenge men use to push each other forward by daring the other to admit that he is afraid while at the same time assuring the other that HE wasn’t afraid. So the question was asked, and had to be answered. But the truth is always more complicated than is often easily stated. Am I afraid for myself? No, Son, I am not. Nor am I afraid of this mountain or the challenge to climb this mountain. The truth is at this point in my life I have known fear and I have faced dangerous situations in which the outcome is doubtful and I am wise enough to admit when I am afraid. However that is not the extent of my answer I thought as another blast of the 30 mph wind caught us in the face. I now no longer worry for myself or my ability to meet the challenge but Indeed I have been watching and worrying over each footstep and hand hold you’ve taken since we’ve passed the “Danger, children not recommended” sign which is now about 800 feet below us. Every slip you’ve made has caused terror to rip though me as I’ve watched you fall down the mountain in my mind’s eye. Every time you’ve made a wrong step or tottered in the wind I’ve considered how I would get to you quickly enough to make a difference… And the truth is, I’ve done that three times over for each of you. So I guess if I’m being honest with you as I look into your half grin that has the light of a challenge written on it, I AM afraid… of my ability to protect you and your sisters on the side of this mountain. So it is my son when the challenge is no longer about getting up the mountain as much as it is knowing the limits of the people you love who you are climbing the mountain with. So even though we did not make the top of the mountain, that I saw through your tears that you wanted desperately to make, I hope that you learn an even more valuable lesson about becoming a man than the top of the mountain would ever teach you… 

Later this evening, as the kids and I were walking back from Taku lake with our fishing poles, I felt a small hand find mine as we silently and softly walked past a Moose that was on the other side of the bike trail behind our house. As we got close to the the big animal the voice that belonged to the hand softly said, “I’m afraid Daddy.” And I thought back to that question from the mountain earlier this afternoon. I smiled to myself as the Moose looked up from it’s supper towards us. And I whispered back, “It’s going to be ok son, I’m right here, between you and the moose…,” and I completed the thought in my head, “just like I stood between you and the mountain today.” As we cleared the moose and continued on towards home and his excitement at seeing such a large animal grew into an excitement to tell his mom how cool it all was I walked along happily content with our adventures for the day…


–Greg

Hiking

Yesterday afternoon we met the Ness family. Brian was in Greg’s upgrade class this past spring. Their family invited us to join them hiking yesterday at Eklutna Lake. What a fantastic day! We hit it off right away. Very thankful to have met this family and hope to explore with them some more this summer!Highlights of the hike:

Watching my kids explore with new friends

Beautiful scenery

Kids exploring the teepee

Mud fights – yes the kids were covered in mud by the time we left!

No bears or moose, but I did see a mouse!  


Last night we headed over to Guy’s house. Greg was able to join us too! Guy made us halibut fish tacos and rhubarb mojitos! Our kids even loved the halibut, well, Rahab not so much. But Esther and Jadon decided they could eat halibut now! What a treat it was to have fresh fish! Blessed 🙂

My kids love the chickens and the eggs at Guy’s house!  


Today Greg was home with us all day!!! We headed towards Girdwood up to Winner Creek trail. Wow, the amazing views we saw of Glacier Creek were incredible. Going over the snowcat bridge, with no railings was awesome! It’s a weird feeling to have the river rushing below your feet. We also got to ride in a hand tram for the first time. Nothing like trusting a cable rope as you take in the breath taking scenery. It was a 5-mile round trip hike. Everybody made it without being carried! We didn’t see any moose or bears. Only a couple of squirrels.  

Chris Ireland

Winner Trail

Jadon’s Adventure in the Mountains:

We went to a really grand ski hotel in Gridwood. We hiked on a trail with lots of bridges. There were so many creeks. We crossed a river with a hand tram. I was scared and excited at the same time. I, also, crossed a log to cross a stream. We just had pizza. Now we are driving home.  
*Jadon

Rivers:

Today we went on a trail called Winner Trail at a ski resort called Alyeska. The first part of the trail didn’t have any bridges or creeks. Then after that we ran into a creek with a big log over it. I wanted to cross the log but I didn’t. After that we saw really long bridges. We counted how many creeks there were. We counted more then seven. We saw a really huge bridge. It was like rail road ties, but they had holes in them. It went across a river. The river was really cool because it had some small rapids and wound its way about. Ever time the path went across the river you can see different spots of the river. Another time we saw another bridge. It wasn’t as cool as the first one, but it had a really cool waterfall underneath it. The waterfall was cool because it split and then came together. The next cool spot we saw was the hand tram. That went across a river. Dad had to pull a rope to pull us across. We hopped in the cart to go across the river. It was really cool. At the end of the trail I was tired. Once I got pizza I wasn’t as hungry.  

*Esther Ireland

Winner Trail:

Just went on Winner Trail and I have the hiccups. I saw so many waterfalls and bridges. We went a on trail that had lots of sticks. We saw lots of mountains and a ski lift. We went on the hand lift to cross the river. I thought it was so cool. Esther, Jadon, and Daddy went with me. We had to wait for Mommy to come with Daddy. I walked across a log to cross a stream. We went out for pizza afterwards.

*Rahab Ireland

Adventure to Alaska Begins

We finally arrived to ANC late last night. It was a long day, but very thankful we, the kids and I, all made it on the same flight hours after Greg made it to ANC. Greg was able to take all our luggage, 10bags, to our new home and unload it. We wouldn’t have been able to fit in the car 🙂

As we were heading to bed, Greg was notified he had a four day trip. After sleeping for a few short hours we woke up everyone to take Greg back to the airport. Thankful that we live about ten minutes away! It was weird to go to bed with sun up and take him to the airport with the sun up as well. My sense of time is really messed up today. The kids and I were able to come back home and sleep. Which we all greatly needed. We are bummed he had to leave so soon. Looking forward to when he returns.


We had a chill, getting organized day. We found a Wolverine park, Costco, and Walmart. It was a great day to get settled in. 


After dinner we explored a little piece of Campbell Creek Trail which is just right out our back door. We found out that there is a lake about a mile away on the trail. Hoping to walk there soon.  


Tomorrow we will find a church to attend and then off to explore more of ANC.  

-Chris Ireland

I made to it Alaska. I want to tell you that we went on a trail today. I saw river and went over three bridges. We have a nice house with lots of flowers. We brought games to play.  

Daddy is on a trip. We have lots of rooms, a nice kitchen, pictures, bear spray, and sheets.  

Yesterday we tried four times to make it on the airplane. And we finally did! We have maps here and a nice neighbor.

-Rahab Ireland

We went to the N gates, then the D gates, then C gates, and back to the D gates to try and go to Alaska. Which we made it to on the last D gate. It was a long airplane ride. When we got there we meet WSAABE, our car. There is a Mariners fan right down our street.  

Today we saw Campbell Creek. We also saw a train bridge.

-Jadon Ireland

-Esther Ireland

Travel is what my family likes to do. Good thing I like to travel also. I moved to Alaska for the summer because my dad is a Captain. The adventure all started at Jadon’s baseball game when he lost his game 16 to 8. The next day after Jadon lost we started packing it took all day to pack our suitcases and our backpacks. The next day we left for the airport in the afternoon. It took us five tries to make it on the airplane. My mom was really surprised that we were all getting on the plane because there was not going to be enough seats but two people did not show up because their flight was late. When we landed daddy was there to see us get off the airplane and took us to our new house in Anchorage then we went to bed because it was midnight. 

In the middle of the night, daddy got called to work, so we all had to take daddy to the airport. It never gets dark in Alaska but only for two hours where we live.

No Apes but an Ape’s Cave

I, Rahab Ireland, went in an Ape Cave. I want to tell you there is lots of rock piles. We found puddles. Some people wrote their names on the walls. It was so long, we went in the out way. We saw people and then there was a big drop. Daddy had to help us climb down the big rock. Even a bigger rock we had to use the rope. We finally went out of the cave. We saw lots of things. Daddy bought a map, pictures, and coins inside the Ape Caves store. I liked it, but sometimes Daddy had to help me climb the big rocks. And I went on Daddy’s shoulders. I really want to tell you that it was formed from hot lava. At the end there was some white spots in the cave. There was a trail to climb and we had to climb big rocks to get out of the cave. I had to come off of Daddy’s shoulders. That was the end of the cave.
Rahab Ireland

The Ireland Family went into the big Ape Cave. We hiked on a trail to get to the place where we came in. There was rock piles. There was also a river in the cave. There were two big drops. There was one big rock pile we climbed over most of them. When we came out it was like Hawaii. It was so warm out. The cave was very cold, 40 degrees.  


Jadon Ireland

We went to the Ape Caves in WA. I thought going the ape was really cool. In the cave there are rock piles, puddles and drops that go straight down about six feet. When we got to the caves and there was a parking lot, a hut, and a trail. We went on a trail to get to the caves when we got to the end of the trail we took a break. What we saw when we got to the end of the trail was a hole about thirty-five feet down in the ground (the hole is shaped like a funnel). We went into the cave with each a headlamp and daddy had a lantern which made most the light. In the cave there is no tour Gide or no path. I like it better when there is no tour guide or no path because you can explore all by yourself. I can not decide what is my favorite part is because I liked it all but one thing I really did like seeing was the cave Slime. Cave Slime sounds slimy but it is not (I touched it). Cave Slime is a shiny white when you turn towards the wall with a light but when you turn your light away it looks if nothing is there. The Ape Cave are named after the person who found the caves. He was part of a club called Apes so the caves are now called the Ape Caves. The caves were formed by lava pushing up from under the ground. The caves are basically a tube formed lava. In the caves there are rock piles and lots of other things to get over which I think is really fun.  
Esther Ireland

June 20th, 2017

We were not able to be up in Anchorage during Greg’s five day off stretch. We decided to do some exploring in the state of Washington. We headed to the Ape Caves, just south of Mount St Helens. It was an awesome day trip for our family! All the kids were able to hike through the cave. Love it! It took us about 2 1/2 hours to complete the hike. We started on the trail above and then hiked the cave back. I’m so thankful that Greg brought a lantern and rope. It got a little steep on the rocks and the extra light was needed. During the hike in the cave we turned off all the lights. It brings a whole new meaning to Genesis 1:2-3 “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” The light sure does shine through the darkness. What an amazing image God has given us to be light to the world. The light takes over the darkness. It never ceases to amaze me how He shows up in all that we do.


Love exploring God’s world with my family! Can’t wait to get to Alaska!
Chris Ireland
*Esther’s title

Gardener

A gardener, this is not me.  If you know me you know how much a loathe gardening.  I sneeze, welt, itch, and just downright miserable.  However, God is slowly showing me his truths through this garden.  Greg and I inherited this beautiful, well, loved garden.  I’m learning how not to kill it!  No seriously, it’s a mess.  The weeds are never ending.  The flowers are entangled in the weeds.  It’s never ending.  Ugh!  As I have tried to keep up with the weeds God is teaching me in the pit of weeds.  

First, as a gardener, you need to know what is a weed and what is a flower.  I’m getting better at picking out the weed when it’s small versus taking over the garden.  God is showing me that is like my sin.  I first must recognize what is sin and what is fruit.  The more I grow in the Lord the more I recognize my sin.  Sin never stops coming just like those weeds in my garden.  But they are lot easier to manage when you can recognize them right away.

Second, preventing the weeds from coming up is huge!  This spring I have been on a mission to ‘over’ bark my planters!  We are getting ready to leave for the summer so I wanted to put protection on them.  The bark will keep the weeds down, but it is not a substitute for the gardener.  Just like attending church, reading books, listening to speakers, fellowship with believers are all important, but they is no replacement for God’s word.  His word will get to the root of the problem.  

Third, it takes time to garden.  The hours upon hours I have spent on the garden is still not enough to get it perfect. It will never be.  The more time I spend, however,  the more beautiful it becomes.  The fruit is incredible to eat and the flowers are appealing to the eye.  I desire for the fruit in my life to be like this.  I want it to be pleasing to His eye.  Someday I will be perfect with my Lord and Savior.  Until then I’m learning to will enjoy my time communicating with Holy Spirit in the garden.

Just for fun here is the progress Greg and I have made on just this planter in the past few weeks!  I hope I can maintain it over the years.

-Chris

Before
After
Before
After
Blooming!
Beautiful

Ruth Wedding!

Made it to Kentucky!

Kentucky wedding? Yes, please!  My cousin Matthew married Caley, she is beautiful inside and out!  Very thankful that God brought these two together! Greg had the honor of performing the marriage ceremony.  What a blessing that was to be apart of the wedding in this way.

Every part of this wedding weekend was wonderful!   Great grandkids met each other for the first time. Loved watching them become instant friends!  Catching up with cousins, aunts and uncles, I haven’t seen in awhile, such a blessing.     

Rehearsal!
Groom’s dinner
The Beautiful bride!

Making it legal 🙂

My Family

Grandma Lois, Becky, Chris, Esther, Jadon & Rahab

Great Grandma with the greats: Esther, Jadon, Rahab, Evelyn, Francis & Trace & Rachel

Aunts singing!

My Dad!

I’m so thankful we made the flight on Thursday which meant we made the rehearsal!  It also allowed us to enjoy hanging out with the Ruth clan before the rest of the family arrived on Friday.  I’ll take all those moments I can get!

Our side trips:

Mammoth Cave!  What a cool experience, even if we went with 100+ middle schoolers.

Mammoth Cave

Ready to Explore

In the cave

Entering the cave

What do you see?
Enjoying being on top of the cave! 

Fort Williams so much early American history here!  Grandpa Tim came and explored with us as well!

Fort Williams
Battle history
Cannon

Trains, of course we had to see the train museum!

Trains! 

At the station 

Last stop before we went home, Lousiville Slugger Museum & Factory.  Who knew that making wooden bats is a fascinating, serious, business.  The mini bats totally made the stop worth it. Even if we didnt’ realize we stitched time zones to catch our plane back home.  Don’t worry we made it with a little time to spare 🙂

The Bat

Getting the best view 🙂

Slugger!

Lego stadium! 

The Branford House that was rented our family, well I should say it was an old school, was amazing!  What a cool building, we loved this loud, echoing, gem of a house. Of course it meant a houseful of family!  The M&M stash was quite impressive…and it didn’t last long. Thanks Grandma Lois for always having M&M’s

The House!
The M&M stash!!!

-Chris