Jaxon at the top of the World

Alaska Man

Jax & the Mountains

cool guy...

Jax & Dad

Jaxon and Andy went for a ride into the mountains a couple weeks ago. When they got home Jax said "it was awesome!" and they went again the next day. That's Denali on the right (Hunter is the middle mountain and Foraker is the one on the left). Beautiful...

Jaxon & Dad's Snowmachine Ride

happy bunny day...

Ski Club Party

The last day of ski club each year is a fun party and bonfire down in the "ski club meadow". It was a beautiful sunny day to end the season with. The kids enjoyed some games and tug-o-war on skis and an Easter egg hunt along the ski trails. Fun had by all as you can see and we all left with tired red cheeked younglings. Ski Club may be done for this year but the season isn't quite over here, we are still getting snow...

911

http://www.ktvz.com/news/Bend-fires-probe-Is-arsonist-on-the-loose/-/413192/19199450/-/13ymhgxz/-/index.html  


This link is to a Bend Oregon news story in which my Dad was the one to call in a fire he saw at a church. Two churches were actually on fire as well as five other buildings in  the neighborhood and they are now looking for an arsonist. The FBI  and ATF were involved, they take arson on churches quite seriously, pretty intense. My Dad said people are recognizing him around town now and saying "hey your the guy on the news who called in the church fires". My Dad has some good stories and this one doesn't disappoint... (He's in the news clip at the very beginning) this story was even passed on to a few national websites, crazy.

An Alaskan Week

Mountain Climbers

Alaskan Brothers In Action

It's been a very Alaskan week, with snowmachine rides into the mountains and snow slide building at the farm, sledding, skiing, moose in the yard everyday, Northern Lights, clear skies and COLD temps. A lot happens that I don't get photos of. More signs of a changing season for us: Ski Club is winding down (1 more week), Spring Break is over, longer days, more sun, less snow. It's all pointing to an approaching Spring but here it still feels like Winter. I'm ready for the next season and sometimes I feel that we don't get a Spring it just rolls right into summer during the month of May. Soon the Skeeters will be showing themselves and chasing us down, I Can't Wait... Because that means SUMMER!

The Girls

Here is a "selfy" and I'm blocking out Denali with my helmet.

Nancy suited up for the ride, here we go...

Top O' The World

our rides.

The Mountains...

Foraker, Hunter & Denali

St. Patty's Day snowmachine ride, just us girls. Nancy and I went out together and it was a beautiful day for it. We are in the foothills to the Talkeetna Mountains, Hello Alaska!

Hawken at the farm

Fun in the snow at the farm... The boys played and built a snow slide with Andy and our friend Dan while his wife Nancy and I went into the foothills on a snowmachine ride (my 1st ride this year, Jaxon and Andy went twice this week also, it was Spring Break here). To quote Jaxon "It's awesome out there" and feels like the top of the world.

the real writer in the family...

THE STRONG CASTLE

part one

By Jaxon McIlvaine

Once apon a time a King didn't have a castle. The King found a Jester named Jaxon. The Jester and the King went on a quest to find a place for a castle to be built. When they showed up at a cabin in the woods the king saw someone. The someone said his name was Joe. Joe said he had two brothers. The King and Jaxon stayed the night at the cabin. The nexy day the King, Jaxon and Joe along with his brothers went on their quest.

Joe's brothers said their names were Nick and Jack. The King said, "you can be the knights of the castle" and gave them suits for Knights. The three brothers put their suits on and went on the quest. The King, Jaxon, Joe, Jack and Nick saw a forest. Right next to the biggest tree there was a woodsman. One of the kights told the woodsman to cut trees. The woodsman said "I will cut some of the trees if you give me a chest full of rubies, diamonds and gold."

The King, Jaxon, Joe, Nick and Jack went to a cave. When one of the knights went into the cave he fell into a trap. The trap was a hole that went down and down and down. At the bottom of the hole there was a dragon guarding a chest. One of the knights touched a wall, the wall was a secret door. The door took him to the other side of the dragon where the gold and rubies were. The knight found a bag and put the gold and rubies in the bag, then he went up a ladder.  The King gave some gold and rubies to the woodsman. The woodsman gave the king some wood. On the other side of the woods the King, Jaxon and the three knights went to a bridge, there was a big troll there. The big troll said "you may pass if you give me a coin worth One Thousand dollars." The King said "OK."

Jaxon found a beanstalk. At the top of the beanstalk Jaxon saw a giant castle, there was a crack in the wall so he climbied in. He went in the castle and saw a coin on a table. The coin was big and made out of gold, but it was in a sleeping giant's hand. The giant woke up and set the coin on the table. Jaxon grabbed the coin and saw the giant look at a crack in the wall, the very same crack Jaxon came through to get into the castle. The giant grabbed a brick and covered the hole. Jaxon found a long string and piece of bone in the corner. Jaxon tied the bone to the string, he threw the bone at a shelf and held on to the string. The giant was walking, he tripped on the string. Before the giant could get up Jaxon jumped onto his shoulder and said "You Have Stinky Breath" as he walked by the window Jaxon jumped off him and through a crack in the window.

Jaxon climbed back down the beanstalk and gave a Thousand dollar coin to the troll. The troll let the King, Jaxon and the knights pass the bridge. They all went into another castle and stayed the night there. When they woke up they were all in jail except for the King. He was in a big room and could see someone in the shadows. The person came out of the shadows and he was an Evil Wizard! The wizard said "want to battle?" The King saw his sword was gone and it was in the Wizard's hand. The King got up and punched the wizard. The Wizard fell down, the Kings sword fell from the wizards hand and the King grabbed his sword. In the jail the bars broke, it was the troll and the woodsman, they all found the big room. The wizard got up and the three knights surrounded him. Behind the wizard was the King, the King stabbed him in the back. They all got out of the castle.

The King, Jaxon, Joe, Jack, Nick, the woodsman and the troll found a cave it was full of goblins. One of the goblins almost ate the woodsman's leg but the King chopped off the goblin's head with his sword. A big goblin king wanted to eat the troll and the troll wanted to eat the goblin king. The troll punched the goblin king then the goblin king punched the troll. The goblin king saw the King, Jaxon, the knights and the woodsman. He grabbed them all and put them in a pit full of spiders. Jaxon saw the troll in jail he held on to the goblins hand and jumped to the ground. Jaxon took the keys to the jail and unlocked the door. He told the troll to go get the King, the knights and the woodsman. The troll grabbed them and they escaped the cave.

At the dragon's cave and the giants castle they both found their treasures were gone. They went to the forest to look for them and ran into eachother, they bonked their heads together. The giant said "have you seen a coin?" and the dragon asked "have you seen some diamonds and rubies?" They both answered "NO". The King and the troll found boats. The troll got into his own boat and everyone else got into the Kings. They are going across sea monster lake. Jaxon asked "why can't we go around the lake?" The King said there are big strong bricks around the sides only a giant could pick up. In the forest the giant saw little footprints and followed them. Then the giant found a little lake with people and boats on it. In the trolls boat there was a rock, he threw it at the giants eye. The giants big eye fell out. When the boats got to the other side of the lake the giant picked up two of the brick walls and threw them across the lake. When the two walls landed they made a perfect start for the Strong Castle. They continued building onto the castle. They made beds out of the stongest wood, they built 5 jails, a table for eating and a room where Jaxon the Jester kept his joke books.

The big giant wanted his coin back. At the castle Joe threw his sword at the giants eye, that eye fell out too so the giant could not see. He tripped on a tree and everyone came out of the castle to punch and kick the giant. The knights jumped onto the giants back and stabbed him with their swords. The troll was punching the giant and the woodsman cut off his arms so he couldn't get up. Finally the giant was dead.

By Jaxon McIlvaine,  8yrs. old

(to be continued...)

 

The Front Cover

reading the finished book to his brother

the back is an ad for part two...

 

Hawk at the Iditarod

Alaska Boy

plane watching on the lake

heading home...

The Younglings...

The kids were having lots of fun. They ended up playing a chair tipping game they all thought was so funny, well Hawken didn't care for it too much.

the chair tippers...

(insert giggle sounds here)

Getting to the the Iditarod Restart

The boys watched this helicopter fly low over the lake, film and tv crews...

Porter in the blue and Hawken in the orange...

This is the Jamaican musher on his way.
 

Friends...



Hawken and Porter talking over hot chocolate.