Loss of a pet.

Monday was a sad day in the Eggensperger household. Our beloved cat, Hayley, was put to sleep. I got hayley for my 10th birthday. She was the runt of the litter, from the barn cat of a lady that worked for my parents. I named her Hayley because she smelled like Hay. (This makes sense in the world of a 4th grader.) She was a good kitty. In fact, she was hardly ever called her real name, only "kitty." She even survived one of my brothers sticking her in the microwave once. Luckily he didn't turn it on. As she got older she got more angry and really only loved my parents. Scott and Mark pretty much hated her. She got epilepsy in her old age and my parents had to give her special medication so she wouldn't have seizures. My mom took her to the vet on Monday because she had lost feeling in her back end and the vet (a friend of ours) suggested we put her down. My mom agreed because she didn't want to drag out her life when she was miserable. Poor kitty. I happened to call home on Monday after work and Scott answered the phone. Bad idea. Do you think he was caring and gentle when he told me the cat died? No. He told me first thing that "mom gave the cat the electric chair." Me: What? Scott: "She electrocuted the cat." Hes so mean. And a smart aleck. My poor mom is crying and scotts asking her if they put a little band around her head and if mom got to look through a little window at her. Hes so heartless sometimes. Alli said every time she goes home her brother tells her to say good-bye to the cat. I asked her why we got stuck with punk brothers. We have no idea.

Anyways, good bye Kitty. We'll miss you.

Alaska Photos

The entire reason for the trip: Hally & Dustin's wedding. Love these guys! And Hally looked so beautiful. The wedding was Wonderful!

Our fish before it was packed and sent.

Look! I found a Captain Jack's in Alaska. I love it! Captain Jack was actually a SHE and she packs and ships the fish to you. We got Captain Jack's Seafood Locker T-shirts with the slogan: You whack 'em, We pack 'em!

Captain John, the skipper of our boat, the Nautigirl, cutting up our fish.

Here we are with our "crew" in front of all the fish we caught. Luke caught one of the huge salmon. We also caught four of the rockfish, which are pretty much the ugliest things EVER!

This is a picture of us in our "rain suits". We thought it was going to rain on the trip, which it only sprinkled, but the suits protected us from splattering fish blood.

Flight Canceled....

We for thouse of you who have been keeping up with our airport adventures. We are currently stuck in the Anchorage Airport until about 2:30. Our flight at a 8:30am was canceled because of no flight crew. The 2:30 flight was the first flight that they could get us on so now we get home at 11:40pm Montana time. Which for this trip is par for the course.

I have to say that we had a lot of fun here in Alaska and we wouldn't have changed a thing. God is teaching us patience... We had a really sweet rebooking lady who bent the rules and put is in first class because of all the hassle and we are enjoying the comfort of the boardroom in Anchorage while we wait.

We would be happy to conduct tours of airport as we know our way around... Just give us a shout.

We'll post more pictures today or tomrrow of our adventures.

Luke

Alaska Adventures: Part Deux

For the record, we didn't get out of the BZN airport until 2 oclock on friday, the time we should have been arriving in Anchorage. We ended up flying in at 9 oclock Anchorage time (11 oclock bozeman time). Needless to say, we were exhausted! Luckily Luke got us an upgrade to first class for the anchorage flight where we got personal service, blankets, pillows, and mini tv thingys. Luke watched Shark and I watched Juno.

Here is a recap of the adventures.
Friday we got up early and drove to Seward. Its about 2 hour drive. Once we got there we had a behind the scenes tour of the Alaska Sea Life Center. It was hosted by the retired post master. We saw the seals and the holding tanks and the tops of some of the exhibits. It was cool. I LOVE aquariums and zoos. Luke tolerates them for me.

Next was a frantic search for fishing licenses because we managed to forget them at the hotel. LUCKILY, its only $5 for a replacement license. Phew! Then we went to the boat to go fishing. Now, I will say that I wasn't sold on the fishing idea and I was mostly going because Luke wanted to, but I LOVE FISHING!!!! I'm completely addicted. If we cold have gone again today (Saturday), I would have. We were aboard the "Nautigirl" under the direction of catain John. It was a small boat with a little cabin and a little open back part where you fished from. We drove like an hour and a half out of the bay to the ocean where we fished. I had a lucky pink lure-thingy that looked like a fake squid. I hooked one right away but he got away and broke off my lucky pink lure in the process. SAD! Then we got into some serious fishing. It was sooo much fun. Captain John taught us how to measure our line down to 25-30 feet and then you just troll for the fish. I even put my own bait on. Once you feel the fish bite, you jerk your rod up to hook him and then "wind wind wind" as fast as you can to get him up. Captain john grabs him with a rubbery net when it gets close enough. Then they flop around on the deck or he is able to dump them in the fish holder box. Sometimes he had to hit them with a bat because they just kept flopping and floppig and flopping on the deck. There was another woman on board and the first time it was flopping on the deck we kept scooting back because we didn't want to get whacked by it. It was super fun though. I loved it. I ended up catching two 10-12 lb Silver Salmon, and Luke caught one 15 lb silver. He had another like 20 lb-er on the line but it swan under the boat and got caught in another guy's line and broke off. We each lost a few other fish, plus caught two rockfish apiece. Rock fish are pretty much the ugliest fish ever, but according to Captain John, some of the best eating. On the trip back into the dock there was serious weather and it felt like we were on a super long carnival rid. We were airborn several times. Once we got back we hung up all our fish, took our pictures, then Captain John cut them up and we brought them to Captain Jack's fish packing for packing and shipping back home. We ended up fedexing back 21 lbs of fish. yikes! I hope it all fits in our freezer. Then we trekked back to Anchorage, stopping in Girdwood for dinner at Chair 5, which was kind of a ripoff. It was very Whitefish/Bigfork/old Bozeman type.

Today, saturday, we slept really late (10:38 ish) and then walked to the open air market, but we were kind of cranky from not having eaten yet and we didn't find anything good to eat so we walked to the mall and found a coffee/smoothie place. Then we went to a few souvenir shops, had lunch at the hotel, and I took a nap while Luke went to pick up Dustin and help him get dressed. The wedding was soo wonderful. It was at this beautiful spot with a lake and huge picture windows. The ceremony was outside and it rained, but not too badly. Then we came back inside and had some hors d'ouvres and punch and stuff and danced a bit (luke danced! shocker!) and took pictures in a photo booth (I'll paste later) and just had a good time. Hally looked gorgeous and Dustin didn't look too shabby either.

Tomorrow our plane leaves at like 8:30. Hopefully we won't be holding tours of the Anchorage airport.

Bozeman Airport.... Part 2

Well... We are still here at the airport so we might as well update y'all on the status. We are now leaving for Seattle at 12:37pm. Hopefully that will be the last flight change... There is not much to do in the airport, so I have been on the phone with Shea Homes and our friend Tammy Hampton and the kids Trevor, Tyler, and Colby are coming for a visit! Kelsie decided to take some pictures with our new camera in the airport so I thought we might as well post some photos!




If anyone wants a tour of the airport we are here and ready to be your guides so stop by our hours of operation are currently from 10:20am to Noon (we need time to board the plane). We will return Sunday at 5:10pm and will be open from 5:10pm to 5:30pm then we are closed for the season...

Enjoy the pictures.

Luke

The amazing wonder that is the Bozeman airport

Its 8:13 and we're sitting in the Bozeman airport. Weve been here since 6:30. Our flight was supposed to leave at 7:55 but some yay-hoo in Butte forgot to plug in the airplane, so apparently the battery has to be plugged in to charge for a few hours before the plane can come get us. Luke told the ticket agent that it's my grandmas fault, since she lives in Butte. The agent laughed and got us upgraded to 1st class for our flight to Anchorage (from Seattle). As of now the BZN->SEA flight isn't scheduled to leave until 12:30. That will be 6 hours in the Bozeman airport. I dont know how many of you have been to the Bozeman airport, but it looks the same as it did when Luke was a kid. And there's nothing to do. At least in Seattle there are shops and restaurnts. We only have a Montana gift shop and a restaurant, which we've already eaten at. Oh yawn! I tried to take a nap, but it messed up my hair. And there's horrible elevator music playing above our heads. sick. Earlier they played the Police "every breath I take" via elevator music. Lovely. So, if anyone out there is reading this and is in Bozeman, come visit us. Were sitting behind the giant Grizzly bear. And we'll be here for like another 4 hours.

Time flies

I can't believe that TOMORROW we leave for Alaska. Weve been planning the trip to see Dustin and Hally get married for probably over 6 months and its finally here. yikes! I've been so consumed with my cervix that I haven't really thought about it. Yesterday we bought rain ponchos at target for the fishing expedition. Its only a half day. Hopefully we catch a lot and can have a little fish feed when we get back. Luke is soo excited to go fishing. Me, not as much, I haven't been fishing in probably 17 years. But as the adage goes..."When in rome, do as the romans do." So I guess being in Alaska equals fishing. And were going to go to a sweet aquarium. That should be cool. And we just got a new camera so there will be lots of pictures to post. And Alaska is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous, so Im sure that will help too!

Glacier Park adventures

Were about a week late on this post, but with everything that went on last week, I think its okay. The weekend of the 12th we went to Kalispell to visit Luke's mom. It was a blast. Luke got to play handyman. And we went hiking in glacier. Here are some pictures from the hike to Avalanche Creek. Apparently its the most popular hike in the park. Probably because its a bit on the easy side. It was a workout, but it was good. There's Vicki on the hike, Luke and I at the climax of the hike, and the sunset outside Bozeman on the way home through the sideview mirror of the truck. Random, I know, but it looked pretty. :)

Feeling like a million bucks!

Well, Im sure all two of my readers are on edge waiting to see how my procedure went. I passed with flying colors. And valium is my new BFF. Just kidding! It sure helped with the anxiety though. Luke said I was really loud and talkative. I didn't think I was being loud and talkative though. I just felt like I was a bit unstable - kind of a tipsy feeling. We saw some friends of ours there (getting a checkup from her C-section with their new baby) and apparently I announced to them AND the waiting room that I was getting my cervix electrocuted. Or tasered, as alli says.In my defense, there were like two other people in the waiting room, maybe. Anyways, it all went really well. I haven't had any pain, or bleeding, which is good. Besides being extremely tired Wednesday and Thursday, I was a champ. Prayer really does make a difference!! I feel really good now too. I feel like I have more energy since the mini operation. Life is good!

Today's the DAY!

It is 11:17 on Wednesday morning. In approximately 90 minutes I will be in the stirrups getting ready for a cervix electrocution/taser (aka a LEEP procedure). Talk about anxious! I'm sooo glad I was prescribed valium for the occasion. That whole thing with electricity and my lady parts just scares the heck out of me! This is like the longest morning of my life. I just want to get it all over with. I'm taking the afternoon and tomorrow off to recover. Luke hooked up the cable downstairs in the bedroom, so I can watch my shows all day. (And because we gave away our 51" tv that was upstairs.) And hopefully study for my massage exam because I am a super slacker!

Im so nervous!!!

Thursday: the NEW Friday

I think I said that my boss decided to take Fridays off during the month of August. Which is pretty exciting. Last Friday I was super productive cleaning and such. So now Thursdays are like Fridays because its the last day of the work week. YAY! We have a big weekend planned. Were going to a friend's house for dinner tonight, and then driving to Kalispell tomorrow to see Luke's mom. Were stopping in Butte hopefully for a few minutes to say hi to my 89 year old Grandma. Then we have eye appointments and hopefully a lunch date in Missoula. Then its off to Kalispell. There's some talk of hiking in Glacier, which could be cool. I'll try to take lots of pictures! We borrowed some books on cd from the library the other night, so hopefully that keeps me entertained. I tend to have a very short attention span in the car. However, in marriage class we've been discussing how women like face-to-face contact and men like shoulder-to-shoulder contact. They dont even need to be talking, just sitting together. Or for instance if Luke was working on the car I could be outside painting my nails or something but not neccesarily talking. So Im giong to try to log some serious shoulder-to-shoulder time in the car this weekend. Its always nice to take a break from life here and just spend time together and a weekend away, even if its with our families.

Secret life of the American Newlywed...

Okay, I'll admit it. Were addicted to the Secret Life of the American Teenager. LOVE IT! How do I always find these shows about high schoolers? Im such a nerd. But we always watch it. Last night we watched last week's AND this week's. So fun. Its kind of like a soap opera, in that not much happens. Its very slow to evolve. But very good. We love it. Luke thinks it should be a movie. So, will Amy and the sausage prince get married? Will the dad come back? What kind of shenanigans will Ashley get in to? We dont know! Can't wait for next week!

My massage business has doubled. Ha ha. In the sense that I had two clients last week and two clients this week, in contrast to the usual one/week. But hey, thats great! Im not complaining. Im thinking one of these days I should actually pay myself.

A Bouquet of Freshly Sharpened Pencils

I love back to school. Theres just something about all the new clothes and new school supplies that is exciting! Im not going back to school (Thank GOD!) but when I was in Staples yesterday I was excited for all the fun new school supplies. Things have gotten so much cooler than when I was growing up. Its not just boring blue and black spiral notebooks and #2 pencils anymore. Theres all these FUN colored notebooks, folders, binders, pens, pencils, markers, clippies, paperclips, post-its... It makes me want to get an office makeover. I think this little fetish of mine comes from when I was little and I used to go to Kalispell with my dad to print the newspaper. We always went to Blake's office supplies, where there was an ENTIRE ROW of every pen/marker/pencil you could imagine. My dad would always let me pick one out. It was usually pink or purple (big surprise, huh?). Maybe Luke will get a Kelsie-style school supply makeover. I's sure he'd love it!

I was talking my friend Joanne yesterday, whom I grew up with. Her son is starting kindergarten this year. Can you imagine that someone my age can have a kindergartener? I can't even imagine having a baby at this point, let alone a kindergartener!! Its hard to believe!