Hey look I've finally decided to post! **warning it will be long**

I know I've been gone forever and I've gotten a few messages from people wondering if I quit blogging. I didn't really quit more like I took a break.

For awhile it was just that I didn't really have anything to blog about. Life was kind of boring I guess you could say and I felt like if I was blogging I would just be repeating the same things everyday. Also I was kind of in a funk I guess you could call it. I still am in a way. I'm working on it though. Life just gets to you sometimes, you know? Some of you have been around at other times when I've this kind of issue and know that I was on medication for depression, anxiety, etc. before we moved here to Alaska. Many of you know that I decided to go off of everything when we moved here and at the begining it was going really well and I wasn't having any issues with those problems or was able to deal with them well. I am still determined for now to stay off the meds but at times it has been a struggle. I just don't like the way some of the side effects of them make me feel. I am considering the anxiety meds though but I am still holding off for now though. One of the biggest issues right now is the anxiety which causes me to have difficulty sleeping and generally being around other people sometimes. I do force myself out though. I've been in that place before where I could barely leave the house and don't really want to get there again though. I'm doing better though like I said.

Anyway things did pick up around here after awhile though and the last few months have been hectic for us all.

In August it will be 2 years since we moved here, it seems like we've lived here longer then that though the kids have all changed so much.

Izzak is still growing like crazy. He's not even recognizable from the kid we moved here with. It's really weird to look back at pictures from just 2 years ago. Just look at the difference....

Here he is just about a month before we moved here at age 12.



And now at age 14 he is very different. Of course you can't see real well since he doesn't like me having my camera out much and he always has his sunglasses on. I really do need to get a better picture of him. Can you see the huge differences though? For one he doesn't shave his head anymore and now has that long hair style going. Also he's grown about 8 inches since we moved here and thinned out a lot.

He's doing well though with home schooling. He's reading a lot better then when we were down south and has had a lot more progress in the last 2 years then the 7 he was in school before. He has a lot less stress not having to deal with other students and getting into fights and everything that was going on his last year in school when we were in Portland. He's still a great kid with an awesome personality in my opinion. He listens well for the most part and doesn't give us any major issues. He hasn't done to much in the last 7 months since I last posted other then growing and going to camp. He went to boy scout camp at the begining of the summer and had fun although he tells me he got in trouble alot. I sometimes wonder if they single him out a bit though, he isn't the oldest in his troop but he is the biggest and I've noticed they seem to expect older behavior out of him sometimes as well as him getting in trouble along with Joshua when he is near him by association. I don't know how to talk to them about it though and he is getting frustrated enough he is about ready to quit. He also went to camp with our church youth group. Hopefully I'll get some pics from that one soon and I'll share those since I might get a better picture from that. He did well there and didn't have any problems. I can't believe he is going to be a high schooler this year! I don't feel old enough for that...

Joshua has grown like crazy since we moved here as well just look at the difference in his pictures! He still looks like a little boy here and again this was just before we moved.

and look how much he has changed....



He's doing well with homeschooling also although it was a little rough this year. He did like challenging me when it came to assignments alot but got most things done like he was supposed to. He also went to boy scout camp with Izzak this year which was probably the farthest away from home with us he has ever been. Camp was in Juneau so they had to take an 18 hour ferry ride there and back plus they were gone for a total of 10 days. He did well for the most part. We are still having a lot of issues with him and his behavior though. He is still taking meds for his ADHD although he is off of them for the summer. We changed his meds though this last fall from what he had been on for a few years and that seemed to help things a bit. He also went to childrens camp with the church but not youth camp. He did really well there and I got alot of compliments on how helpful he was. Joshua played baseball again this year and his team did really well. They were the number one team in the Ketchikan league having only lost 2 games this year but they didn't win in the tournament so they ended that in second place. It was really hard on the boys but they did a fantastic job this year regardless.


Next we have McKenzie here is the summer before we left again at age 8..


And now at age 10....


Another with her friend Clarrisa


She is still little but she doesn't look it besides her size. She is growing up and I think she is going to be breaking hearst someday. She already gets boys flirting with her.

She is doing great with home school as well and has had probably had the least momentus year of all the kids so far, which is great for her. One of the reasons I decided to home school her was because she missed so much school before because of getting sick all the time. She has gone the longest in her entire life this year without getting any more then a mild cold. It's been great. She has always spent all winter down with some kind of illness I was happy it was better without her in school. She participated in her first parage this year with the girl scouts but I couldn't get a picture of her because of where she was standing.

Lastly we have the baby of the family Madison at 6 toothless and huge grins. Honestly I miss her being so little....


Madison now at 8 with all her teeth. Isn't she pretty in this picture?


She is growing up so much it makes me a little sad. She still has all the spunk she ever has though. I hope she never grows out of that. She's had a more going on this last 7 months then anyone though. She had her tonsils and adnoids taken out in March. Since she is so stubborn and hates taking liquid medicine she refused to take any pain killers or pretty much anything after the first day. I really fought trying to get her to take them but she is very stubborn. We ended up having to take her to the emergency room for 3 days in row for iv fluids and pain meds. She said she prefered the iv, weird kid. She is also doing great with home school as well and really soaks everything up. She was in her second parade this year with the girl scouts and I was able to get a picture of her...


Like Madison would ever make it difficult to find her anywhere she could get attention....




Kelly is doing well although he may be getting laid off this week from his job here that we moved up with but we are not worried. He already has 4 job offers lined up so no fear there. The only thing is the one he most likely will take will be away from home for 10 days at a time with being home for 4. The choice for not being away would have him working 6 days a week with only one off so and we decided that 4 days straight would be better. We are not absolutely positive on the lay off though so we will have to wait and see how that pans out. I promise to not go so long without posting again and will be back soon.