CJ & Autumn Miller

On Monday when I woke up I asked CJ if it was 7:30 in the morning or 7:30 at night. We had gained 4 hours during the flight to Anchorage from Grand Rapids & you sure can't tell the time of day here from looking out the window. It is light all the time. There is plenty of time for working outside in the hangar. Breakfast & devotions at 7:00am & work until 9pm. Lots of maintenance to be done on the 6 planes we are taking to camp. I happen to be the only licensed mechanic on site besides Dwayne, so we are keeping busy. Took a break yesterday from airplanes & went with the others to Victory Bible Camp down the road to learn to entertain & teach better in preparation for our own camp. We made balloon animals- I am always hesitant to commit to what my animal is until I see the finished product!

CJ flew off the ranch strip test flying the C-175 yesterday before the annual inspection. The house we are staying in is right off the end of the runway. To the South of the field (on downwind) there is a large gorge, which flows the Matanuska River.

Met Dan at King Ranch on Monday after we arrived. I had class with him at LeTourneau & haven’t seen him since last year. He lives & works in Anchorage & was at the ranch for a while helping tear down an engine from a wrecked plane. We were blessed to have dinner down the road a ways at the bar- the only place to get a meal for 30 miles. (There were boots & pictures framed on the wall of past Iditarod champions.) It was so neat to hear & see how the Lord has been working in his life.

CJ & I were blessed to spend some time with family before our trip to Alaska this summer. We were able to have family meetings, Christian speakers, & great bonding time. This year was my first reunion as a Miller—no more initiation & worrying about getting voted in! We tore up the Gull Lake area tubing, water skiing, skeet shooting, enjoying the spa, & visiting the Miller horse barn. The boys enjoyed competitive games of washers, backyard football & king of the raft. I can only imagine how rowdy these Miller boys were when they were younger. Some things never change I suppose. CJ is still sore from water skiing & has his hands taped up from ripping his calluses off. I am sure he would tell you it was worth it.

Hours of entertainment & laughs from my post at the front of the boat... Brothers & cousins playing rough.

Pam with her new filly. We all hope she gets this excited about grandkids- when the time comes.

The Hocker Family. Notice especially the new addition- James. He is mastering the crawl this week. CJ & Dave go way back to high school football. Cerissa was a back up groomsman at our wedding rehearsal because we had a late show. :)

This weekend we were balloon race fans! We went to the balloon glow & woke up bright & early for the competition Sunday before church. We sat in a field at the airport with our lawn chairs & coffee to enjoy the cool morning air & what ended up being some friendly balloon bumping. The goal of our obstacle was for the pilots to navigate to & drop objects into a target & ring a pole with what looked like a hula hoop. Only one balloonist rang the pole - His prize was $10,000!
CJ, Ruedi, & I annualed the airplane this weekend. I spent Friday afternoon at the airport with the guys & took off the inspection panels. Saturday, after a good garage sale trip, we worked on the airplane in the Texas heat. It was fun to be back in the maintenance hangar again & we had a good time working together. We bummed lunch from the Pilots for Christ meeting & made a Sonic happy hour run for slushes. Hey- it was Saturday- lots of breaks are accepted.

We are dog sitting for our friends, Kevin & Faydra. Their black lab, Gus is our new best friend. He is laying at my feet right now keeping me company. CJ gave him a bath in the back yard today & wore him out playing catch. Gus gets too excited for you to pet him. All he wants to do is lick! This morning CJtold Gus to lay down, but when he did he was so excited his body wouldn't stay still. He was rolling all over the floor in excitement- still "laying down" of course!