Hello all from the land of the never ending rain. I am going insane with all of this precipitation and grey skies. I heard on the radio that this is a record setting low-temperature-no sunshine- too-much-rain summer. I think I already knew that because in all my years in Alaska I have NEVER seen it like this. So those of you who live places where the sun is shining and the mercury rises above 65 degrees, DO NOT tell me about it because I may have a break down. I am a sun girl--I thrive in the rays and heat. I eat less, smoke less, move around more and smile a heck of a lot more when the sun is out regularly.

The weather is so bad I am seriously thinking about moving outside.

Anyway, I could whine about that for a long time. I'm on the computer to try to forget about the weather so here goes...

Jesse had his first football practice EVER on Friday night. He came home all amped up and woke up good and sore on Saturday. Then off to another practice on Saturday. He made it through that one too even even though his body ached. Actually, he looked like he was having the time of his life when we picked him up. He loves football, I can tell. I don't know anything about the sport but I think he's got a knack for it. He's got a great arm for a kid his age. And I'm not just saying that cause he's my son. ;)

Attached are some pics of him in his uniform. I may try to edit them in a while and replace them if I can get them to look any better but for right now this is what I've got. I can't wait to see his first game!

I'd like to put Kira in cheerleading (Jesse's in Pop Warner football, they have cheerleading too) but Jesse's sport pretty much broke me financially so I decided that Kira can wait another year before she cheers. Plus I was told that the cheerleading is even more expensive (why, I do not know) and I can't swing them both this year. But hopefully by next year I can because I love cheerleading, and both my older daughters cheered. They were sooooo good and it was very exciting to watch them at tournaments. That was so fun for us and the girls loved it too. So I think it would be a good experience for Kira. My son RJ also played Pop Warner football and I'll never forget how adorable he was out on the field. It was exhilirating to watch and the whole fam used to come out sometimes just to see him play. My Dad loved it and was a proud grandpa, watching Mandy, Tina and RJ do their thing on the field. I'm excited about Jesse and Kira doing this and I know it will be excellent for Jesse. Sports are good for the soul and teach a young person so many valuable lessons. I'm grateful to God that I'm able to put him in.

So I'm going to work on some photos now. Hope you like the ones I've been putting up. I also wanted to let everyone know that I now have a Facebook page. Look me up under Ruthie Shinn or my hotmail which is ruthieshinn@hotmail.com.

love ya all!

Ruthie (Momma)

Some Day

So this is how the day started out. Everyone looked soooo not excited. I have to admit I really wasn't too incredibly excited either but it was Saturday , time to get out of the house and do SOMETHING! Here we are on the bus.
Then, we went to the Governors picnic, which sounds like a terribly geeky thing to do, but what the heck.




Jesse and Kira on a military helicopter of some sort....





While we were there we called my cuz Tonya to see if her daughter Shyla could come hang with us. So she showed up with Shyla and her cute little guy Destin. After watching the helicopter take off we decided to go for a walk to the park.




The kids had a good time at the park...and the train went by while we were there! Destin loved that!











Then we decided to keep going and trotted off to the Saturday Market. I love the Saturday Market, there's always food, music and lots to look at. The kids saw a booth where you could get your hair painted and face too, so guess what we did next!



Then Destin wanted HIS face painted too! It was so cute cause he wanted the biggest most expensive design so we had to talk him into something smaller and less expensive. He finally agreed and sat down. I think he might have almost changed his mind once they started painting. But he was brave and went through with it and the results were to cute for words.






It was a really fun day, which was totally unexpected. Everyone was tuckered out in the end. I love those unexpected surprises of good friends and family on a rare sunny day! Thanks Tonya! Thanks kids! Thanks Riley! I love you all!!

Come to Tanacross!!!!!!

I must be crazy (hahahahahahahaha) Those of you who know me already know that I most certainly am. I am going through this thing where I am elated and in the clouds happy one day, then crying and certain that nothing is ever going to go right the next. I don't want to say what the doctor has to say about that, I choose to be in denial. But it is most certainly reminding me of being 13 all over again. THIRTEEN!!! Nobody in their right mind ever wants to go back to being 13. I must say, the Creator has me baffled on this one. I'm not sure what Creator intends when it comes to FEELING 13 years old but not LOOKING 13. Must be some kind of punishment for all the wrong things I've done, plus the abuse of my temple (body). Anyway, it's been on my mind a lot lately, but I'd rather not dwell on it because my life is so full of so much more.

I've put some pictures up, I hope you all enjoy them. Some of the pow wow pics are alright but I have some better ones. As soon as I can figure out why they won't download I'll put them up. It was a really fun pow wow and even though there was a midget dancer who wasn't wearing underwear under his traditional garb, it was great to see the colors and and hear the sounds. I sure miss South Dakota, where the pow wows were so big and the drumming and singing gave me shivers. I don't think there's anything much more exciting than that, and a whole field of Indians, wow, beautiful.

When I was a kid we used to go to potlatch (for those of you who don't know, a potlatch is an Athabascan pow wow) and I remember I could hear the drums from the road as we were getting close to the hall. Back then, we held potlatches in this little old log cabin. It was so small but I was little so it seemed big to me. The windows were always steamed up from the bodies and breathing and cooking. You could feel the heat hit you when you walked in the door and the aroma of moose stew would over power your senses. Fish, moose, caribou, wow what a combination. Ahtna style fry bread. MMMMMMMM. The cabin was packed from wall to wall and there was barely room to move around. People came from all over. The potlatches would go for hours and hours. The singing and dancing were my favorite part and even when I was two I would be right up there in the middle of them. I remember the elders smiling down at me while I danced. There was such a tremendous energy on the floor and it would shake beneath our feet. No one sat down, everyone danced. The singing was so loud you had to shout in someones ear if you wanted to say something to them. The drummers were in the middle and they would lead song after song after song. The sweat rolling down our faces, our backs. The men danced in the middle and they would dance low to the ground holding their hands up with feathers in them. They would shake the feathers at certain parts of the songs but I couldn't speak the language so I never knew what they were singing about most of the time. But even though I didn't know exactly what they were saying, I did know that it meant something. It was powerful. I had my favorite songs. I still remember them to this day. I still remember the strength in those songs, the emotion in the womens voices, I long for it.

After the eating and singing and dancing it was time for the speeches. Boy I tell you, kids today would never have made it back then (LOL never thought I'd hear myself say THAT). We were told to clean, clean, clean and then when we were done cleaning we sat down and kept our mouths SHUT. I could not understand most of what the elders were saying but it didn't matter. They spoke for hours and I could tell that they were speaking from their hearts. This was a traditional part of potlatches that doesn't happen that often anymore. Back then people came from villages far away and they stayed for days. So sometimes they brought condolences for the deceased persons family from other members of their village. Other times they spoke about the deceased and told stories, some funny, some sad. Or an elder might talk about useless death if someone was killed in an alcohol related incident. These speeches represented so much and were an extremely important part of the potlatch. I've been sad to see it slowly disappear. It wasn't a time for boasting or talking just to hear your own voice. It was beautiful. Important.

The food, the music, the speeches, all part of a wonderful tradition. But it was also the camaraderie, too. All of us spending time together, laughing, crying, sharing food, sharing music. And at the end gifts would be given away. It's a very complex ritual that involves clans and families and I can barely understand it all, let alone explain. Let it just suffice to say that a lot of people left with food, blankets, Indian jewelry, guns, and more. One more amazing part of our culture that makes me proud of the people I come from.

Anyway, I love going to pow wows because it reminds me that I, too, am an Indian woman with a wonderful heritage. I love to see and hear the people celebrating Indian cultures. I love to take my kids and show them how cool it is to be an Indian.

I'm also half white, which is also cool! But that's a blog for another day. Thanks for reading and I promise I will post those pictures as soon as I get it figured it out (my crazy camera/phone)
LOVE YOU ALL!!

ruthie

PS, They did an old favorite of all Athabaskans, what most people refer to as the Tanacross song. Of course, there are a lot of songs about Tanacross and multiple other villages but this song is well known throughout interior Alaska. The reason is because it was written for a potlatch for a popular chief who passed away(many many years ago). The lyrics say Anii, Tanacross Anii. Anii in our language is pronounced Ah-nee, with the emphasis on the first syllable. The translation is "Come Tanacross Come" But of course when you're singing it, it comes out like Ah-nay. So everyone says AH-NAAAY, TANACROSS AH-NAY. Anyway, all interior Athabaskans have known this song for many decades. The potlatch for this chief was a very big one and many, many people traveled long distances to be there. Hence this song was written, Come to Tanacross. It's popular because people from villages all around the state have known that song for generations. Soooooo, now they've made it even more interesting by singing it lower 48 Indian style. I love it! So did my Mom and we were singing and dancing away. Oh yeah, we rock!!

Mandy

What a day! I cannot describe the feeling...she is so incredibly beautiful that I could not hold back the tears. I made the sales assistant cry! We found the perfect dress and had a wonderful time. It was all I dreamed and I think Mandy even had a great time! I'm very tired today from a long day of work but I've been wanting to post these pics ever since Saturday and it's Tuesday now so I'll go ahead and post. I can write more another day. Enjoy!