"Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above"  

James 1:17

August 14th

The Jeffers rafting trip down lower Eagle River

We had a blast, enjoying the river as a family.  I don't know if Roman had as much fun, but he doesn't get much of a choice in the matter.

A lynx killed off all but ONE of the ducks. Bummer for them. The last duck went to live with Roman in his dog run, I think the duck was a little stressed out the first day.... but then she discovered that Roman was about as harmless as a mosquito. Grant-it nobody wants to live with a mosquito, but when the situation arises.... it is a lot more appealing than facing the lynx again.
Oh, and don't tell Roman I was comparing him to a mosquito... it would hurt his feelings.

In case I haven't told you already, we just completed the new dog runs. I have a picture here. They took a lot of work, and much more time than I anticipated. Since when have we ever started a project that was easy and quick????
Also, if you haven't noticed already.... I reworked the website. It took some considerable effort on my part, since I really have no clue what I am doing. It has been optimized for Internet Explorer 7, so please give me feedback if it looks weird in your browser. I know the Mac people sometimes see things a little bit different, hence why they own a Mac.

E-mail: marilyn_jeffers@hotmail.com

 

July 28th

I guess Reuben decided to start getting more active.  Sunday night he was laying down and sat himself upright.  All under his own power!!

This afternoon he decided to start combat crawling.  He lies on his belly and pushes himself forward with his feet while grabbing onto the grooves in the floor with his fingers and pulling.  It is pretty funny to watch.  He looks like he is preparing for the next World War.  The way he uses his fingers to pull forward makes me wonder if we are going to have a rock climbing champion in the family.

 

July 24th
Haha!  It didn't take me a whole month to update the page. 

No matter what Bethany thinks!!!!!!!

A lot has been happening at out house.  I can't remember what just now, but I'm sure if I start writing it will all come to me.

Let's start with the ducks.  Why??  because they are a hot topic, especially with the brown bear that is living in our yard.  I don't think he is actually after the ducks, instead he eats all my EGGS.  Argghhhh!!!!  That bear makes me wish I still had my dad's old sawed off shotgun.  Actually, it was a shotgun specially made for us girls to take hiking with us on the really bad (aka bear infested) trails down in Cordova.  That bear had better stay away from Axel (my sister-in laws puppy that we are watching for the month) or I will have to feed him to my dogs.

Speaking of the dogs.....   we just got done building 3 brand spankin' new runs for them.  And YES, when I saw "We" I mean Jason AND myself.  Just thought I would clear that up, in case anyone was confused. 

Why 3??  (I'm sure you are on the edge of your seat).  Because we are in the process of getting another dog.  I wanted to even out the dog to human ratio.  You can shake your head if you want....  but we are going to write it off on our taxes as a home improvement.  It will be similar to installing a really expensive security system.  Right?

Somehow I don't think the IRS will go for it.

Oh, let me back track a little bit.  I forgot to mention that I recently added 2 more ducks to my flock.  They are some sort of mix, that I got off craigslist.  *sigh* gotta love craigslist.

Ok, let me try and wrap things up a little faster.  I am almost done with my summer class, I guess that means that the summer is almost over.  Ugh!!  Work at the Blood Bank is going slow, but Jason's job with AFD makes up for the pace.  Did I already say that Jason LOVES his job?

And now.....  I tried to save the best for last!!!

REUBEN HONKOLA JEFFERS

Approximately 20lbs with a head that is in the 80th percentile.  He is getting in his two top teeth, so that makes a sum total of 4.  I hope the rest of his teeth decide to take their sweet time, I need a break.

Reuben has recently discovered two things.  One, the joy of holding my hands and walking (my back is killing me).  And two, the joy of his tongue.  I've included the pictures of his tongue, not because I thought you would think it was cute.  Simply because I don't have any pictures of him walking (mostly because it takes both hands to walk him around in circles).

Reuben's tongue #2

 

June 25th

Reuben was eating some duck eggs today.  Normally that isn't a super exciting photographic moment, but this time I turned my back for a moment and came back to this....

It is hard to see from the picture, but he had bathed himself in egg.  We both laughed out loud and then I proceeded to clean up the mess.

On a different note.  I just got done taking a weekend long seminar on Schutzhund dog training.  It was fantastic, our instructor was flown up from California to do a special weekend event just for our club.  I learned just enough to realize I had a lot of work ahead of me.  Good thing I love it.

June 9th

Whoops.  I'm down to 2 ducks.  Apparently, someone (or someone's dog) decided to break into my duck pen.  I don't know how, that thing was built like Alcatraz.  THIS IS WAR!!!  After all.... that animal ate my Thanksgiving feast.

Reuben's second tooth is busting through.  Our favorite teething toy is a bottle of infant Tylenol.  What can I say, I do what it takes.  Don't worry, I haven't resorted to Whiskey.... yet.  

My sister gave us Hana's old highchair, so now Reuben can officially start eating solid foods.  The highchair eats up  (*grin*) a lot of our precious floor space, but we all must make sacrifices for the greater good.

Well enough about me.  Does anyone actually read this thing?  Why don't you give me a short e-mail and tell me about what's going on with you.  I promise to be fascinated, try me.

May 28th

I get a big kick out of Jason's schemes.  Last weekend was spring yard cleaning and yes, he is tying electrical wire to the back of his truck.  The electrical wire was still frozen to the ground ( that's right, I said FROZEN).  We wanted the wire moved, so the logical conclusion is to tie it to your truck and put it in gear.

Here is where Jason puts the truck in gear.

IT WORKED, of course.  Who would have doubted my extremely handsome, intelligent, tall, firefighter husband for a second.

It was also the newly appointed Jeffers family Carhartt yard work day.  Even Reuben got into the spirit of the day.  It isn't such a great picture of me, but then again I'm married so.....  what does it matter what I look like?

May 10th

Sorry for the delay between postings.  I have been really busy with the puppies.  However, everyone will be off to their new homes 5/23 and then I will update Reuben's page with more pictures.  

Oh yah, in case anyone didn't notice.....   SUMMER IS HERE!!!  (boom.)

April 16th

If need to get off my butt and take some more pictures of my son.   We have been expecting a tooth any day, since he has been teething for the last 3 months.  

I didn't get Jason to stain the staircase on his last break, but we did get to go skiing.  Reuben got to "chill" (literally) in the backpack with Jason.  I also found out that if I tell someone what my husband does for a living, I should say he is a firefighter.  NOT, a fireman.   Apparently is isn't very PC to refer to his job as a gender specific position.  I don't know who sits around and gets offended by calling Jason a "fireman", but they need to find a new hobby.

Yeah, for puppies!!

April 4th

Ok, Maybe I will like Jason's new job after all.  

Now that he is FINALLY out of the academy, he had his first 4 days off (with the Kelly Schedule each 9 days you get 6 days off, 4 of those days are off in a row).  I put Jason straight to work on the house, you know what they say about idle hands.  Jason put some more countertop in ("temporary" of course) re-organized the shed, fixed the storm door, put some more shelves up in the kitchen, put another cabinet in the kitchen (again...  "temporary" until we can afford the cabinet that matches).  I am very, very pleased.  And you know what they say about happy wives.

Hhhmmmmm....  Maybe next break in his schedule he will finish staining our wood staircase.

I'll keep you posted.

March 30th

The puppies have arrived!  They were born 3/28/08, all 10 of them.  Everything went smoothly, and I was in bed by 2am in the morning.  If you are interested in seeing pictures of the puppies just click here.

Jason found out he will be at station 3 for the next year.  He graduated #1 in his class (big surprise), what can I say...  I married an over-achiever.  The competitive streak in him runs fairly strong, and he hasn't had a good challenge since graduating #2 in his Engineering class at LeTourneau University.  

His first 24hr shift is tomorrow (Monday 3/31) and then he gets 4 days off.  I am hoping we can all get in some spring skiing, my skis have not had nearly enough time out of the shed this year.  Ah, the changes/sacrifices people make for a baby.  I'm still deciding if it was all worth it, I'll keep everyone updated.

Ok, I guess when you see a picture like the one below it makes it all worth it.  His cousin thought it would be fun to decorate him with her stickers.

March 20th

Time for an update.  Below is a picture of us standing inside a huge bubble at the Imaginarium.  Reuben loved all the kids running around, we went during Spring Break so there were tons of people/kids.

This last few days everyone at the Jeffers house has been VERY sick.  We caught a stomach virus going around and have all been throwing up, so Reuben has been getting a lot a baths lately.  We have also been celebrating the long running Jeffers tradition of popsicles.  Popsicles will make everything better.

March 11th 

Reuben has been having a lot of fun in his newest, borrowed toy (Thank You Gracey Family!!).  He loves that he can now dictate what direction he goes.  I love toys that allow a child to be independent of their mother, and nobody can make me feel guilty about it, either.  Oh, and he has started eating cheerios.  More to follow....

March 2nd.

Hip Hip Hurray!!

Jason is in the last month of the Fire Academy.  We can OFFICIALLY refer to this time as the "Home Stretch."  He will be all done on March 27th, only a few days before we expect puppies from Chaco.  Below is a picture of the dogs out for a sled run behind the house.  I stumbled across a ski sled children's pulk on Craigslist (I love that place) for a price we could afford.  It is made by Wilderness Engineering and is GREAT for taking your kids out in Freakin' cold weather.  Poor Reuben, by the time I'm done bundling him up for an outing there are hot water bottles, heating pads, and down goose feathers galore.  I am usually sweating up a storm before I even set foot outside the house.  But in the end, it is all worth it!  And the ski sled has made the whole experience much more worthwhile.  Anyone that is living with a small child that loves to ski should get one!!!!!  Did I already say that I LOVE IT!!!

The dogs pulling Reuben in a ski sled

Below is a picture of Reuben devouring his first teething biscuit.  There was cracker everywhere, but he was loving it.

Reuben Jeffers eating a teething biscuit

February 19th

Reuben is sitting up on his own.

I've included a picture to prove it.  He is still tipping over on occasion, so needs a little bit of a safety net behind him.  But he was on the floor for about 15 minutes today, and only 2 tip-overs.  He has also decided that the case to my camera was a great teething toy.  I guess we will have to let that dry out before the camera goes back in.

Yesterday, he had his first experience in a pool.  We went t H2 Oasis, which is an inside kids water park, with a friend and her little boy.  It was crazy in there, so many little kids running around.  Reuben was a little overwhelmed by it all, including the water.  He had a hold of me with a DEATH GRIP the entire time.

On another note, we started the dogs on a Raw diet.  And we recommend it to anyone with pets (dogs, cats, ferrets, etc...).  I have a couple new pages up on the Kennel website with information about the Raw diet if you are interested in finding out more.  Eventually I will post a sample menu on the website.  My dogs love the new food, and it is about as quick to prep as feeding the dogs a kibble.  It is also cheaper to feed than the more expensive dry kibbles.

February 15th

Reuben in his EXTRA cute new shoes that his Grandma bought him.  Reuben's Grandparents were up visiting last week and as a result, we scored some great new clothes.  

If I had to put a caption under this picture, it would be "Get ready, Get set.....   GO!!!!"  Unfortunately, unless he is sleeping, such is my life!

February 14th

Happy Valentines Day!

A lot has been going on at our house, hence the LONG lapse since the last update.  I now have a small flock of 5 ducks, I got them for fresh eggs...  and eventually fresh meat (Yum).  I named them Easter, Thanksgiving, X-mas etc... (you get the point). 

Chaco has been bred to a stud dog, and is expecting puppies the end of March '08.  I am pretty excited, as she is one of the best female Schutzhund dogs I have seen around these parts. 

And now, let me take this moment to remind all of you to be responsible pet owners and LEASH you dog when you go on walks.  I don't care if your dog is friendly or not, there is no excuse for a dog running around off leash.  My favorite thing in the world (*my words are dripping in sarcasm*) is when I have my dogs on leash and here comes a dog running up to me, with the owner trailing shortly behind yelling "don't worry He's friendly".  That's when I yell back, "I don't care if HE is friendly, does it look like my dogs are?"  Of course, by this point, I am ready to just let my dogs off leash to prove my point...  but I try and refrain from the temptation.  Alaskans are infamous for letting their dogs run around on hiking trails loose, which is not allowed.  So PLEASE, leash your dog...  for the sake of other pet owners trying to be responsible. 

On the brighter side of life, Isn't Reuben cute!

 

NEW
Pictures!!
Joel Monroe Seminar

June 19-21st

NEW
Pictures!!
New Dog Yards Complete

NEW
Tracking Pictures!!