our little "Fishtian"

It is 10.10.10 and this is Noah's Spiritual Birthday! What a cool and easy date to remember and maybe this will be his new fav number!?!

Noah Hatcher Kroon, you bring tears of joy to me tonight as I think about how precious it was to hear you accept Jesus into your heart. You are always one to be silly but you repeated daddy's prayer with such heartfelt seriousness and we are so thrilled that you now believe that Jesus is your Savior!

Noah, for keepsakes... this is how the last couple months have gone as your heart began searching for THE truth. After every devotion, we would explain the importance of having Jesus in our hearts so that we can go live with Jesus in Heaven. And you would interrupt and say "ummm, I don't want to go to Heaven!" Oh my, that is not something any mom would want to hear but I would reply "Noah, when you want to learn more about Jesus and what He did for you... just ask us and we will tell you more" Then the very next morning, you would hear more in our morning devotion time!!! ;)

Well, tonight at the supper table, Parker and I were talking about the meaning of a Nicole Nordeman song that was singing in my head... "by your wounds, we are healed". And, Parker wanted to tell you more about how Jesus died on the cross. You see, your brother has wanted you to accept Jesus in your heart ever since he became a Christian on March 1st, 2008. Parker's explanation must have sparked interest because then you two started talking more about how to ask Jesus in your heart after we put you two to bed.

Moments later, Parker came running upstairs saying, "Mom, you have to come down here because Noah wants to ask Jesus in his heart!!!" YAY!!! So, we dropped what we were doing... to come down to a giggly YOU!!! You managed to calm down and prayerfully repeat every word after dad! What a perfect ending to our night...
The two "Fishtian" brothers! Parker was smiling from ear 2 ear knowing that his brother is now a Christian, too!
And, we just had to wake Savannah up to celebrate in the exciting time in your life!!! We love you Noah and we will keep praying that Jesus will become more real to you, every day of your life!

hide 'n seek

A typical Kroon weekend involves at least one outdoor activity and last weekend was no different. We enjoyed a hike in Hatcher's Pass with some good friends. On every Hatcher's hike our kiddos love searching for the normal mountain critters. But, this was our first time seeing a little white critter! We thought it was a maybe an albino but after some internet research... we found out it was a Short~tailed Weasel that had already changed to his winter camouflage coloring.

This little guy made our hike more exciting than most as he played hide `n seek with our little guys for the majority of our hike. He would show his little white head, the boys would dash towards him and then he would scurry up some boulders and disappear into one of the many burrows. Our boys would run up to the site where he disappeared, and wait, hoping that maybe this time the little weasel would show himself in the same spot. Only, to be surprised when one of us parents yells out "ThErE he is, to your right! No, your 'other' right!" And, they all ran searching. After a few minutes our boys would give up and head on their way. But, this little weasel obviously liked the game of hide `n seek because every time the boys lost interest... he would pop up right next to them and wait for the next game to begin! And this is how our comical hike went for about an hour! It was a successful way to get 4 boys up the mountain in record time! And, I think we will pretend that we see a weasel every hike just to keep their little legs dashing!
Here is a picture I "borrowed" from the internet as there was no way my little camera could capture a picture of this fast guy!

Other hikes in Hatcher's look like this... our boys pretending to be mountain goats and charging their heads into eachother and then wrestling like bear cubs. I love that these 2 brothers can be silly and tough together.

These are just some of the boulders that the "mountain goats" run up while chasing the weasels or other mountain critters.

And, you can bet that Savannah loves to watch the tundra wrestling matches right from her plush backpack!

shaggy 2 sharp

Noah, Noah, Noah! He is such a cutey~pie to us! Noah has the softest, finest, lightest hair and I thought it would be fun to grow out into a surfer~dude cut. And, he has loved all the attention his "yong" hair has gotten him over the last few months. But, it wouldn't seem to grow past a certain point (kinda like Savannah's hair) and I didn't know how to keep "yong" hair looking "unshabby" so we decided to cut it! I was surprised how sad I was to start chopping all that hair off but now I wish I would have done it months ago... it's so fun to see his cute face and bright eyes again! And, Noah is now super proud of his short hair as he walks around with his special charming smile!

Parker notes

Parker has always loved to color pictures and send them away to family. But, this year he has started a new trend. When, I haven't seen Parker for a little while... I can find him downstairs set up on the bean bag with his drawing book, his "dictionary" and a pencil... writing notes to his uncles and my family! I love that he takes the time to think about them and then to write them a thoughtful little note. "happy webs"~ ha~ too cute!

Of course, I wish these were written on his lined drawing paper with one of his cute little drawings... but, these are just his "draft" version! Ha~ once a teacher, always a teacher! But, these "drafts" will be kept forever as they are just too precious! Love you Parker!

8 years= Homer weekend

Can't believe we have been married for 8 years! We had so much fun taking off to Homer for a weekend to ourselves and we were blessed with a gorgeous Fall drive and...

my first time seeing a brown bear...

on the banks of the Kenai River...

crazy fog that blanketed the Homer Spit but we found blue skies up on the hillside. We had so much fun just relaxing up here and soaking in the amazing view of glaciers...

the fog rolled out so we rushed back down to the Spit and rode our bikes along the harbor and oceanside...

took walks along the beach and watched otters and seals...

love, love, love sunsets on the beach...

especially with my favorite person by my side...

and I am pretending that this couple is us because I wouldn't have wanted to ask someone to take our pic!!! I love that God has blessed me with a hubby that I can call my "best friend" and I love that we had this weekend to celebrate our 8 years of marriage!

1st & 3rd Teeland Titan Trail Run

Noah taking off for his first 1.2 mile race at his daddy's school!

Here is Parker beginning his 3rd TTR 1.2 mile race! He just loves to be out there running and I love that you can see it all over his face!

And, here is Savannah with Breeze~ I like the way they do races... in the Chariot!!!

Strong finisher and a little shy!

Noah is super proud to be finishing his 1st race!

Boys sporting their medals, maybe next year Savannah will get one... OK maybe in 5 more years!!!

Young Life Seward Campout

15 future Young Lifers!!! We love that our kids get to hang out with these fabulous children at our Young Life Committee meetings! And, we pray that each one of them will be the next generation serving God, wherever they may live and in whatever ministry God has in store for them!

road bike relay

We had a blast watching Kep, Steve and Keeton relay from Anchorage to Seward on their road bikes. Fortunately, the rain let up so we all got to cheer them on while they stayed dry. I can not imagine climbing some of the mountains along this highway but they all did it with ease and huge smiles to show their LOVE for road biking.

Disclaimer: These photos are "borrowed" from my talented friend, Molly. I can not take credit for her amazing skills!!!

BeLuGaS

One of the many amazing things about living in Alaska is the wildlife in our "backyard". On one of our drives down to Seward this summer, we stopped to watch a pod of Beluga Whales swim on down the Turnagain Arm. If you look close enough you can see one of them blowing water as he surfaces. The boys were WAY impressed! And, I was WAY impressed with the gorgeous weather our God blessed us with on our drive~ I have become quite biased that there is nothing as beautiful as Alaska's scenery (that is, on a blue~sky day!!!)

Hatcher hike 'n camp

We LoVeD having Uncle Teag here for a few weeks this summer so we made sure Teag got to experience a campout with the boys. Always a fun time with an uncle and Popeye...