THE all time Alaska Fishing Trip

Well, Dad and Jon were able to come up for a fishing trip on the world class Kenai river for King Salmon with Josh and me. Dad caught the biggest fish of his life, a 48 and 1/2 inch Chinook salmon that weighed 50 pounds! Even though the rest of us didn't bring a fish into the boat, we were happy for him. Dad officially holds the record in our family for the biggest fish caught in freshwater now. As I joked with Dad about it, I told him I was getting emotional, because I remember when I helped him tie on his first hook! Nice Fish, DAD!!! (Notice he had to hold up the fish with both hands, and the boat supporting its weight!) Click on the picture to get a sense of how BIG this fella was.


As we drove around later, we found a Moose with her 2 baby calves right near the side of the road. Keep in mind, we only had our car between them and us! Great picture, except for the one or two drops of rain on the lens.

This is where it really gets tough. Josh, Jon and I plotted revenge to update the saltwater record. We all broke it individually, Jon had a 50 pounder, Josh netted a 92 pounder, and I got a 159 pound halibut! Dad raked in two 30 pound halibut himself. Someone on the boat got a 205 pounder, it was a great day for J&J smart charters, we'll probably be in the brochure for the next few years!! Stupid water on the lens!
Ever wonder what halibut eat off the bottom that makes them so delicious? I NEVER expected whole crab!! But, I guess it makes sense.
Then, we realized that we could clear off the lens of the camera and yesterday, we were able to get some great pictures on our cruise. Of course, the best ones were of Brianna and how much she loves her Grandpa Hendricks!
Then, Nathan got to play with Grandpa too. Look at that face!
And then, we got the picture we'd all been waiting for, the Suprise glacier in the background with all of us posing for the family photo. Dad and Jon leave tonight after Josh's birthday party, so we'll sure miss them, but it was definitely a trip to remember!!!

Alaska to Texas

Well, here's a few pictures from our trip to Fairbanks, we had a great time!!
We got to do some gold mining, and keep what we found.


Ok, so we didn't really find nuggets THAT big, only a few of those smaller pieces, about $33

But we had a great time swimming in the pool.


Then we saw the Great Alaskan Pipeline. Hey, lets get some more oil in that thing, these gas prices are killing us!



After scouting for about 15 hours on the road for animals and seeing only a caribou and one rabbit, we come home and see this visitor in our backyard. I risked my life to get a picture this close, so hope you enjoy it!



And of course, a compelling case for the cutest kids in the world.

Tonight, Beth is leaving me with these two for a trip to Dallas for a business conference, so I'm going to need all the help I can get. We're sure going to miss her, and she'll be back real soon. Beth, we'll sing "Deep in the heart of Texas" every night until you come back!

Announcement

Well, I know that I said in my last post that my next post would be about our vacation, but that is going to have to wait for a little while.

So, for the big announcement...we are expecting Hendricks Baby #3!!! We are so excited that the Lord has blessed us with another little baby!!! We have actually known for about a month or so, but we were unsure of when the due date would be. We had an ultrasound this past Thursday, and found out that we are due on February 16th, 2009. So, this next 10 months is shaping up to be very busy. Nathan is very busy at work, will hopefully be upgrading to Instructor Pilot, we will be having a baby, and most likely be moving.

Please pray that the Lord will keep our baby safe and keep me strong and healthy. I have been very fatigued this time...much more than the last two pregnancies. And, when I am tired, I am nauseous. So, that is all kinds of fun. Brianna has been such a help, even though she is just barely three years old.

Lots to Update

Well, it has been a while since I have posted a blog, but for good reason. We have been very busy around here. Last time I posted, Nathan was gone on a trip down to the lower 48, both in Louisiana and in Oklahoma. While he was gone, I got out a new project for the kids. We don't really have a backyard, so they can't just go outside to play anytime they want. But, I do let them play on our back deck. I had this plastic tub, and so I just filled it with rice and put some play cups and scoops and buckets with it. Hours of entertainment, and it cost me almost nothing!!!

The day that Nathan was due to come back from Oklahoma was the first day of the Air Show at Elmendorf. So, I loaded up the kids and took them out for awhile to kill the time until Daddy came home. They had a bouncy house inside one of the hangers, and Brianna wanted to jump in it. So, we waited in line. When it was her turn, she ended up being in there with a bunch of really rowdy big boys. And, since she had never been in one before, she was a little scared. But, she stood in that spot the whole time, hung on to the side the entire time, and had a blast jumping up and down. She did not want to get out.

Nathan got in safely Saturday evening, and we were so thankful to have him home with us. However, he had to work all day Sunday at the Air Show. So, we planned to go and hang out with him there. The start of the "show" portion of the Air Show was this guy who jumped out of an airplane (I don't remember which one- either a C-17 or C-130) and flew the American Flag over the Air Show. That was pretty cool.

We were able to take the kids on their first tour of the AWACS. Now, you may think that we would have done this before, but honestly, when it is such a part of your life, you just don't think to do things like that. Besides, security is usually tight around the squadron. Anyway, we went through and Nathan got to let Brianna sit in the pilot's seat where he sits, and that was cool. This is a picture of Nate and the kids in front of "his" plane. Notice the cute flight jacket that Baby Nate is wearing.

The big attraction to this Air Show was the Thunderbirds, which are F-16 fighter jets. They did a really amazing job! This picture is of two of them flying incredibly close, one upside down on top of the other. I am so thankful that my husband is NOT a fighter pilot!!!

So, after the Thunderbirds flew, I left with the kids and we went home and slept...we were all exhausted. Nathan had to stay and finish his work for the day. He made it home about 6:30, but had to leave to go to a meeting with the Pastor Search Committee that night. He was gone until almost midnight, but they did come to agreement on calling a pastor to our church! Yea!!! Last night they announced it at church, so he will be coming in just the next week to preach and to meet the congregation. We are so excited to hopefully have a pastor soon.

So, my next post will cover our vacation, which we left on the very next day.