Summer Wrap up !

Hello again... Can't believe it's been forever since my last blog entry--not sure how/why I got out of the habit but decided I would try and catch up with what we've been doing all summer... for my own memory & the 3 of you who are following along...wink ; )     Big news coming next week so stay tuned for that--here's the summer 2015 wrap up !

We had a summer volunteer with us for 2 months, Kislia, from New York and a student at Catholic University in DC.  A new part of the Shrine's mission is to offer a place & time of discernment for volunteers who also help in the care of the property.  Kislia was a joy to have as our first volunteer!  

The highlight of the summer was a special family time, Patrick & Bonnie's wedding !  We were so excited to add to our family and participate in their special day... How they managed to pull off the most amazingly beautiful day for an outdoor wedding in the midst of a crazy summer of IL weather is a blessing... It was a wonderful day of family, friends, softball & bbq....perfection ❤️

And then there's these guys... Our hearts were full to see & hug them again...Michael & Sean did an awesome job as the ring bearers! 

Mid July my Mom & Dad came for a visit. We had a great time showing them around & I think they understand why we love it here. Dad got to golf in Alaska and the highlight of the week--caught a salmon off the rocks right out the front door 

Eating the catch of the day !

We had some other visitors from "home" - Gloria Fellers & friends had a stop in Juneau on their cruise and came out to the Shrine, also Bryan & Cyndee Kirwan stopped by on their motorcycle adventure/ vacation.  A group of 22 from Central IL will be here in September... We love having visitors & sharing the beauty & peace of the Shrine.  I love to look at the guest book in the chapel every night & see that we have visitors here from around the world ! 

Wildlife report -- the one thing we've decided we don't care for here in Alaska is salmon spawning season !  We have a spawning creek here on the property and the "circle of life" has been interesting to see & horrible to smell !  The salmon work their way up the shallow creek to lay their eggs and then they die...we have not had a lot of rain this summer so the low water is not strong enough to wash the dead bodies back out to the ocean-- the stench has been bad !!  Along with the huge gaggle of sea gulls that have taken up residence screeching "Mine, Mine, MINE!!"  day & night - hopefully this is almost over ! 

Here's just a portion of the creek...at least a 1/4 mile is full of dead salmon...no words....  There are a few bears on the property, Jeff & Kislia have seen them at various times but I haven't yet.  Here's one close encounter

So, that's about it... A great summer here in Alaska, only about 3 days where it reached 80 degrees, lots of sunny days- locals have warned us it's not always like this but we will certainly take it ! Looking forward to what winter will be like, last year was very light snow in Juneau but who knows what this year will bring. 

Next week we get a new roommate, can't wait to introduce her to you!  Stay tuned ...