Maiya

Maiya is getting funnier and funnier. Ella finally discovered that she can play dress-up with her, so Maiya has lately been a ballerina, fairy, etc.Also, Maiya loves to steal my hat and walks around the house shaking her head up and down (so it falls over her eyes).At the store she found a matching hat (to mine), and we took advantage of the photo op:

Photos are Fixed...

Due to my terrible internet service (yikes...that's a different post), I have had trouble posting photos, lately. They should be up, now....enjoy!

A Store in Chaos

Our back store is still a work in progress. The kids no longer allow us to work late evenings, so Jared and I have to wake up early to get to the store--we arrive early to tear things apart, build new displays, and try to make our back store generate more money.

This is a common site on such mornings (just 30 minutes before we pull it all back together, and open our doors for business):

Coming soon: Photos of our back store in its "completed" form (hahaa...as if there's such a thing)

Beautiful Yukon

We went up to "the Yukon" last month for a one-day getaway to go grocery shopping, etc. Whitehorse (about 2 hours away) has a Walmart, The Real Canadian Superstore (the best!) and a great indoor swimming pool with a slide.

The drive up was fantastic...we lucked out with such great weather!



P.S. Yukoners do not like it when you call it "The Yukon." They would say, "I live in Yukon"...not "THE Yukon." Think about it...would you say "I went to THE British Columbia"? Nope. So, they have a point. But my opinion is that BC is a province, and THE Yukon is only a Canadian Territory...so it's THE YUKON in my book.

(WOW! I'm on a roll!! I just keep posting!! I finally realized if I do short and sweet posts...then it is not as overwhelming!)

Ella's Artwork

Ella and Maiya are at "Little Dippers Daycare and Learning Center" during the day...THEY love it...and WE love it!
They have different educational themes each week (i.e. Gardens, Bugs, Birds, etc). I love the artwork that Ella comes home with. Since she does SOOO much artwork, I can't keep all of it. But I can't bear to just throw it away, either! So, before tossing them (oh, it still sounds so bad!) I now take photos of all of them! I love the descriptions she gives of her artwork...for example, the bottom left is a picture of her "home." The picture on the right is a bowl of soup with "corn, blueberry, bugs, and candles." YUM! And the top picture is of an eggplant that she said she would grow in her garden. Random. Particularly because she won't eat eggplant. But so so funny.

Blah blah blah...

Sometimes we leave Ella in charge of the store as we sneak a bite in the back room...and we love to sneak peeks at customer's reactions, when they realize there is a 4 year old behind the desk. The best part?--If they talk to her, she refuses to respond! :

We took Ella & Maiya up to the newly rebuilt lookout over the city of Skagway. There are cruise ships in the background just behind Maiya's head. Do you see how much hair she has? It's out of control FLUFFY!!

This is what I look like on a typical drive out to Dyea and back...or up to the Yukon, for that matter. This was an accidental photo...but it captures "me" perfectly (and it drives Jared CRAZY. "Wait! Stop the car! No, drive back! Wait, just a few more!"):

Pretty, huh? This is why the camera is always ready!

I miss Mexico

and nothing rubs it in faster than produce...

It is depressing to buy an avocado for $2.69 A PIECE in Skagway, and then cut it open to find this:I could have gotten a huge BAG FULL of avocados in Mexico, for that price. And they would have been PERFECT ripened! :-) Oh well...there's always next year.

Too bad I can't preserve avocados :-)

Simply Ella

#1 Ella in one of her striking outfits (she's always begging to wear a dress or skirt!), #2 Ella with her best girlfriend in Skagway-Shae, #3 Ella displaying her "Friendlist Student" award at her preschool graduation (she attended preschool for 2 weeks before it ended in April). She made quick friends at preschool...and has the certificate to prove it!

The Start of Summer...

(OOPS...My photos didn't load properly before...but now we're up and running!!)

I have a few slow minutes at the store (rare)...and although I'm sure there is a long list of things I SHOULD be doing...I don't feel like doing them!! (Well, at least not for the next 10 minutes, or so). So...here are some things we've been up to in the past few months...

We painted the store, and luckily, the girls generally stayed busy riding Ella's bike around the new store:
And they tried to help paint and build displays, as well:

Ella got carried away after all of your comments about her great photography. She borrowed our camera for a photo shoot outside, and this is one of the last photos she took of herself...before...SOMETHING HAPPENED. And it wasn't good. Heck, I don't even know WHAT she did...but it's broken. Kaput. No trabajo. So...bye bye camera, even though you're less than a year old...

This is Ella dressing up with Bev, our first and only employee! Bev is in her 60's, and she's such a wonderful personality to have in our store! She is Canadian, married to an American, and has lived in Skagway for the summers for the past 7 years. She was actually Ella's first babysitter ever!! Bev has backpacked all over the world, and always has a new story for us!

Jared's brother and his wife called us one Friday to inform us that they had just purchased a cruise (leaving the very next day from Seattle) and that they would see us the next Wednesday morning! Jared had a blast driving them around the area as me and Bev worked hard at the store!!

Finally...

Many of our friends and family requested some outside photos of our new "mansion"! So, here it is!!

The backside, with the pop-outs that are heavenly!

Here's a good photo comparison of our previous home. Far right is our old place...10 feet shorter, and with no pop-outs. Left is our new Cherokee...with is MUCH taller, 10 feet longer, and has the gigantic pop-outs!!

So, we are continuing to love our new home...no doubt about that!

Spicy Pizza...

Okay, so thinking about blogging big-scale scares me, nowadays. Quite frankly, I don't have time to blog very often. But, the store is no longer open today, Jared is on the phone wishing his brother a happy birthday, and Maiya is briefly napping in my lap (came down with a fever of 101 this afternoon). So...I was getting some work done...which involves looking through old scans I did in Mexico (part of my attempt to become a paperless office). Sometimes, I keep/scan some non-business stuff, just because it makes me laugh. Of course, I had to scan this ad that was left at my house in Mexico before we left:

Jalapeno bite pizza. Yummy...I would SO go for that.

Spicy Cream pizza. Hmm...not so much. Do you notice the chili sauce criss-crossed all over the top? Yeah, I've seen the locals at the markets top their pizza in that chili sauce, and mustard. Yup...I've seen them DRENCH their pizza in it :-)