Matt, Julie & Wrangell

A much needed update

2012-01-12T22:10:00.005-09:00

How is it that over a year can go by with no update? I guess it's called being a parent! It is amazing how time goes by so much more quickly, now that we have Wrangell in our lives. Or maybe it is just that we are getting older...

Wrangell is an active, amusing almost 15 month old! He make life fun, frustrating, amazing, and a lot of work. I wouldn't change it for the world! There are too many things that have happened over the last year to do a true update, so I will just give some highlights of the current day. Wrangell loves to climb everything he possibly can! He loves being outdoors, and I love watching him walk and fall over in all of his winter gear. He is getting better all the time!

Last week, he started one day of daycare a week. I think I had a better day than he did, even though I was cleaning all day. I guess he cried quite a bit throughout the day. I am hoping it gets better, and I am sure it will with time. Growing pains are just that, a pain!

Well, rather than write a bunch more, I will just post some reccent pictures of life in the world of the Martyn's. Enjoy!

Wrangell David

2010-11-19T11:40:00.003-09:00

Introducing Wrangell David - Born October 16th, 2010

We love him so much! What a blessing!

This and That

2010-02-28T13:41:00.003-09:00

Just thought I would share a few pictures from what we have been up to since our last major entry. I believe the picture above was take from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. This past summer, Matt and I visited Scott and Brooke in Switzerland and made a couple side trips along the way. We visited Zurich, Zermatt, Paris, and Rome. We really loved the Vatican in Rome!

In October, Matt and I spent 5 days in Joshua Tree California again. We climbed during the day and sat around the camp fire at night drinking wine, grilling brats, and gazing at the stars. It was a fantastic trip. Not too hot and not too cool. There weren't a lot of people around either, so we really didn't have much or a problem getting on the climbs we wanted.

In the winter, I like to keep a bird feeder. It can be quite a show when we get the Stellar Jays, Gray Jays, and the squirrel all competing for the seed. It is actually quite amusing. Much better that watching television!

This is a view from the top ski patrol shack at Alyeska Ski Resort. We get some pretty amazing views from up there. Matt and I both enjoy skiing and Ski Patrolling.

We have done so much more over the time, but I could end up posting too many pictures and writing a novel if I tried to capture everything in this post!

A Short Update For Now - More To Come...

2010-02-01T10:02:00.003-09:00

Life continues to stay busy for both of us. We lead a split life, work life on the North Slope, and days off life where ever we happen to be on when we are not a work... The sunset picture above is one of the last sunsets of the year on the North Slope in 2009. We are finally starting to have a sunrise for brief amounts of time now, after over 2 months without one. Such is the life on the North Slope.

On our days off in the winter, Matt and I both volunteer ski patrol. Here is a picture from 1/30/10.

More to come... I know I have been terrible about updating this blog, and I will try to get better about it!

Our 2,318 Mile Road Trip

2009-05-25T20:11:00.011-08:00

We had a vacation in our true, Matt and Julie style! It all started when we landed in Phoenix, AZ on May 7th, the day after our anniversary. Something funny you will notice through the progression of pictures, we keep getting tanner :-)

This was our first stop just hours after landing in Phoenix, AZ

We stopped at the South rim of the Grand Canyon on our first night and then drove outside the park and pitched our tent in the National Forest.

May 8th - we stopped at most of the pull-offs along the south rim of the canyon.

We hiked down just a bit. It was really starting to get hot by then!

Then off to Hoover Dam we went as we drove towards Las Vegas. We parked and walked down across the dam and acted like true tourist snapping pictures as we strolled along.

Next stop, Las Vegas!!! It was actually more fun than we both anticipated. We went a show that evening and then gambled until 2am.

May 9th, off to Death Valley and the Badwater Basin. It was hot!

May 10th - after soaking in these hot springs the night before, we took advantage of them again the morning of the 10th before heading off to Mono Lake.

Mono Lake really is an interesting place.

After Mono Lake, we headed towards Owens River Gorge for some climbing. We spent half the day, and I (Julie) got my first real outdoor climbing experience. It was great!

Then after the gorge, my crazy husband Matt drove all the way to Joshua Tree National Park. I think it was around a 4 hour drive (I was asleep for most of it) and we arrive after 1 or 2am and set up camp.

May 11th - We got up a little late and then climbed "Walk on the Wild Side" before heading off to San Diego.

I had fun crawling around on the rocks after we were done with our climb.

May 12 - I went wine tasting while Matt attended the first day of the Global BP Drilling and Completions Conference.

That night we had dinner on the USS Midway Carrier, which is now a museum. It was pretty neat!

May 13 - Matt had a half day at the conference and then we were treated to a behind the scenes tour of Sea World. We both enjoy Sea World a lot.

The night of the 13th, we went to a The Marine Room in La Jolla for dinner. It was a great experience! We even saw dolphins swimming out in the ocean right through the window. By the end of our 3 hour dinner, the waves were actually splashing up against the building right below our window. I loved it!

May 14 - While Matt was at the conference again, I went on a city tour and a harbor cruise.

The evening of the 14th was the Gala Dinner to end the conference. The meal was great, and so was the wine! :-)

May 15th - Back on the road again and off to Joshua Tree National Park for some more climbing.

Matt was able to do the climb in the light and then I followed him up in the semi-dark. He has the more difficult job anyway with leading.

Once we were on top of the rock formation, I took some time to take a few pictures of the evening setting in.

May 16 - We did a crack climb. Once again, Matt went first and I followed since I am not as experienced. It was a great climb for the most part. I did manage to get a bashed up knee and even drew blood!

Showing off my wounds.

May 17 - The afternoon of the 16th, we drove into Surprise, AZ to visit relatives. They even took pity on us and gave us a place to sleep for the night before we had to fly out the next day. Before we flew out we had lunch and then stopped for some frozen custard. As you can see, it was a bit hot!

In this picture - Joe, JoAnn, Julie, Matt, and Erin.

Before I left their place, I stole some lemons out of their neighbors yard (they weren't there for the summer anyway since they go north).

It was a crazy, fun-filled trip! I have to say, I like the desert! Even with it being so hot. And one thing is sure, the weather is pretty darn predictable for the most part!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-05-06T09:12:00.002-08:00

Today is our 3 year wedding anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband! I am so blessed to have you in my life!

Never a dull moment...

2009-05-04T22:32:00.006-08:00

On Easter Sunday, the Subaru Freeski World Championships were held at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, AK. I (Julie) happened to be ski patrolling that day, and also happened to have my camera with me. The winner for the women's competition was Rebecca Selig, who happened to ask me to take a picture before she went up and did her run (she is the one in the middle). The athletes were flown to the top of the mountain in the helicopter that is behind them. Easter Sunday, Alyeska Ski Resort

The next weekend after Easter, we had our annual Ski Patrol Olympics. It is a fun, crazy time. This picture is the end of the evening just before Matt and I left, and after all the craziness.

Teamwork...

These pictures from the Ski Patrol Olympics, are in reverse order. After Matt tried to drive up the mountain and was unable to because the snow was too soft, he decided he needed to show off in a different way. The picture above shows the results from the picture below... Like I said, soft snow. After he dropped the pallets next to the bonfire, he tried to drive up on them and managed to get stuck. If you remember from an earlier post, Matt's winch is broken, so there was no getting out of this one on his own!

Matt's attempt at driving up the slushy mountain.

Some friends of ours had a house concert party and I sang a few songs with them. It was quite fun actually.

May 1-4, I participated in fire training in Kenai, AK. I joined the volunteer fire department on the North Slope about five weeks ago, and this was a great way to get some much needed hands-on experience.

This is a picture taken on May 3rd, from my hotel room. It was actually pretty neat to see, especially since it wasn't blowing towards Kenai. (Mt. Redoubt)

Another Update

2009-03-13T20:59:00.006-08:00

Pictures are in reverse order of events, but I always forget which order I need to upload them in to get them in chronological order. Oops.

Life continues to stay busy for both of us. We work, we ski, we work, we play... and so it goes. The days are getting longer, but the snow is still falling. We have had some days in the 40's latetly. Before we know it, the snow piles will be gone and summer will be here again. This summer should be a busy, fun summer! For now we will enjoy the spring skiing!

This is along Turnagain Arm as the tide is coming back in. This is the same day as the picture above. I set the camera up on timer to get this one.
Matt and I both participated in ski clinics on our days off last month. This is one of the groups I was with.

Matt's winch is broken on his Jeep and he needed to get the cable rolled back up. This was his solution. It worked :-) My creative, engineer husband!

While he was busy working with his winch, I went out snowshoeing in the meadow just down the road from us. It was such a beautiful day and I figured I wouldn't be much help anyway. I did get back in time to get the picture of him though :-)

The part of shooting guns that isn't so fun - cleaning the guns. We tried out our new Pre-Obama sale, guns. It was a lot of fun! It took forever to clean all 5 of the guns we were shooting. Much longer than the actual time we spent shooting them...

You have no idea how many pictures I took before I captured this one!

Yes that is me with the shot gun. I should post one with the AR15

On the North Slope in February.

Christmas in Michigan

2009-01-19T21:40:00.007-09:00

You know a holiday is starting out good when someone brings a suitcase of chocolate. Yes, that is chocolate that Scott and Brooke brought from Switzerland! Hmmmm....Yummy! Matt and I went skiing with his cousins Nicholas, Weston, and Aubrey. We can't say it was a challenge, but it was fun to get out there with the cousins.

Matt and I went to a casino in Windsor, Canada with Scott and Brooke. Detroit looks a lot prettier from across the river.Grandpa Joe - Showing off his new calendar.

We made calendars with pictures taken in Alaska. It added a personal touch to our gifts this year.
Yvonne and Julie

Brooke helping out in the kitchen on Christmas day.

Boys being boys!

It seems to have become a tradition for Zach and Luke Merchant to hang on Matt's legs and try to drag him down. Kids being kids...

Apparently little Brooke did not want her picture taken, as you can see.

Us with the Merchant kids.

Catching up with friends at Coney Island.

Breakfast with Grandpa Joe at Coney Island.

On our last night in Michigan, we went out to a restaurant called The Melting Pot. It is all fondue. It was a great experience, and a wonderful time with family!

It was so wonderful to be back in Michigan and spend time with family!

Thanksgiving Day

2008-12-12T22:15:00.004-09:00

This is how the day started.... I woke up late and I had to hurry to get the turkey and everything going. Notice I am still in my pj's! Somehow, it all came together.

One of the most important parts of the meal, wine of course!

After a big meal everyone decided to lounge around. We played games and relaxed.

Matt and Zaden (a friend's little boy) relaxing in front of the fire.

Zaden was such a good baby!

Leslie (Zaden's mom) intent on beating Matt at a game of chess. I think they called a draw in the end.

Rosemary and Franz in Alaska

2008-11-27T23:36:00.007-09:00

My very pregnant sister Rosemary (she is 7 months pregnant) and her husband Franz are here visiting us for Thanksgiving week. It has been great having them around. Franz even tried skiing for the first time, and Rosemary has been keeping quite active as well. The pictures are in reverse order of events, but they give you an idea of what we have been up to while they have been here. We have been having fun with them here and it was great having family here for our first Thanksgiving in Girdwood.

Julie making a mess baking for Thansgiving.

Franz's first skiing experience.

Matt coming in for a landing with a storm brewing behind him.

Franz almost got to go for a plane ride, but then a snow storm decided to move in.

Franz and Rosmary along Winner Creek Trail

Max's Mountain

Checking out Virgin Creek

Steller Jays at our bird feeder.

Julie shoveling the driveway while Matt is taking pictures through the garage door :-)

The Great One

2008-10-20T13:28:00.005-08:00

Just another trip home from work...

Flying to and from work can actually be exciting. Flying home yesterday was one of those times. We flew past (not really above) Mt. McKinley (Denali) at appox. 25,000 feet and here are some pictures of it. Weather often hides the mountain, but not this time. It amazes me every time I see it!

Fall In Alaska

2008-10-08T09:15:00.004-08:00

Fall was short lived this year. Fortunately, I was able to get a few pictures before the snow came (It snowed about a foot at our place, just before Matt left for the Slope on Oct. 7th). These pictures were taken on a drive to and from Anchorage one evening, a few days before Matt and I headed back to work on the North Slope.

Turnagain Arm InletAcross the Inlet
On the drive into Anchorage.
Potter Marsh (The Swans Waiting to Fly South)
Potter Marsh

I am sure the swans will be gone by the time we get home from the North Slope. Soon it will be time to get back to ski patrolling!

Rebecca in Alaska

2008-09-21T08:49:00.006-08:00

My youngest sister Rebecca got a taste of Alaska when she came up for a visit at the end of August. It was nice having her around since Matt was gone on a moose hunt for a good part of her stay. Unfortunately we don't have any fresh moose meat in our freezer, but it was quite the adventure for him and his friend Ron from what I've been told.

Here are some pictures of some of our "sister" adventures.

2 day old piglets at the State Fair. They are so cute when they are young, and so ugly when they gr0w up.

Rebecca Testing the Water

The Bore Tide Along Turnagain Arm
It was a really good one that day!

This bear a the Wildlife Conservation Center was a lot of fun to watch! At the base of Byron Glacier
Rebecca standing at the base of Byron Glacier
Getting ready to take off for Rebecca's first time up in a small airplane.

Sisters

We picked wild blueberries and wild strawberries to eat. We also made some wild blueberry jam. Yummy!!

The Hidden Waterfall

2008-08-08T14:23:00.008-08:00

If you click on the picture to make it larger, you can see Matt sitting at the base of the waterfall!
Matt and I, being as crazy as we are, did a 2.5 mile hike out to a waterfall. Now you may not think that sounds crazy, but when you consider it took us 6 hours to get there, you know there has to be a story behind it.

It is likely we have taken steps in places where no other human probably has. The devil's club and fern were as tall, or in some cases twice as tall as us. We were armed with large loppers and a smaller set of garden clippers. We were also armed with a rifle and bear spray just in case we came across a bear.

We took turns lopping away at the thick undergrowth, devils club, alders, and fern (Matt did a lot more than I did), while the other carried the rifle and called out every so often to let bears know we were in the area. Our path that we created was more apparent by the time we made our way back to our house (it only took 1.5 hours to get back thankfully). It was still rough going as it is obviously not an established trail. I have a new respect for anyone who has ever cleared forest and woodlands to build or settle. I can only imagine how the first settlers managed.

The prize at the end of our trail breaking efforts was an amazing waterfall! We knew it was there because we had seen it from the air when flying over. I must say though, that we had attempted to make our way there one time previously, and did not make it out there that time. Then after flying over it again, we finally got our chance to attempt it again. This time we trudged on until we made it. I did not even take my camera out of my backpack until we got to the waterfall because of the difficulty of our non-trail.

It is amazing what can be so close to civilization and yet so difficult to get to. My guess is that there are many who will never see this waterfall and many in our own community who do not even know it exists. Persistence can really pay off sometimes :-)

Yes, that is avalanche debris that we are standing on.

It has actually created snow bridges across the creek.

North Slope Wildlife

2008-07-26T13:44:00.007-08:00

More Fun on the North Slope

A woman I met up here is an avid photographer. We went out the other night and she let me use her standby camera (not bad for a standby....) We were lucky enough to find a den of foxes. There were 7 young ones and the mamma. They were so cute and playful!!! I had so much fun taking pictures and just watching them play.

The North Slope also has all kinds of birds and water fowl. They are fun to watch as they train their young.
A caribou checking out some new construction. I wonder if it was up to his standards.

Good day for a flightsee...

2008-07-11T17:56:00.002-08:00

On the way to a flightsee in Talkeetna, Matt flew Mason up from Girdwood. Knik Glacier (above) performed a worthy opening act for the Denali flightseeing trip that day.
After the Denali Flightsee w/ Talkeetna Air Taxi, it was Mason's turn to drive, and Matt took Courtney on the Knik Flightsee while flying back to Girdwood. There was a little more time, so we got to land and see amazing views of some of the icebergs. The water was so calm it showed some amazing reflection! (notice anything about the photo?)
After taking back off and climbing to 7,500', we caught a bit of the moon rise above the clouds and the local peaks. Not a bad way to finish off the evening.

Matt found a new gravel road

2008-07-11T17:35:00.002-08:00

Matt and Mason took the jeep out and found a gravel road in Girdwood.

2008-07-11T17:21:00.002-08:00

Matt went fishing outside of Talkeetna at Clear Creek. This was the king (chinook) salmon he pulled out.

More Guests in AK

2008-07-08T21:30:00.006-08:00

Matt's cousin Mason, his wife Courtney and their son Cameron came up to visit us from Michigan. If there are any doubts about whether you can travel and have fun with a 16 month old, I think the pictures will prove that you can. We have been enjoying their company and it has been fun having Cameron's toddler antics to laugh at.

Here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures that have been taken.

Northwester Glacier (outside of Seward, AK)

A hike up Bird Ridge
Along Winner Creek Trail
Watching the Bore Tide
Yes, that is Matt with a stoller that was used part of the time. It was kind of like 4x4ing with a stroller along the Winner Creek Trail. It was a lot of fun!

The Converse family by Virgin Creek Falls (just up the road from us)

I am sure we will have many more pictures to post shortly!

Life on the North Slope

2008-07-02T21:39:00.003-08:00

Matt and I had dinner together on the North Slope yesterday. To be honest, not many people get the luxury of doing such a thing. It is nice that we are both working on the Slope again. Since people are often wondering what it is like up there, here are a few pictures.

The caribou are making their way through right now.

It is really neat to see them out and about. This is the BOC, one of the camps.
One of the facilities in the distance. It was a beautiful evening!

(This is at 9PM and the sun won't go down either)

Morning Commute

2008-06-26T18:53:00.011-08:00

I don't quite understand why they are grazing in the gravel???? Must be something good in there I guess. They seemed pretty intent on it though.
I love it when I actually have my camera when I see some amazing things! This morning was one of those days. I couldn't believe how many sheep there were, and how close they were to the road and didn't seem to care about the cars or me taking pictures of them. I was a bit late for work because of them, but it was worth it.
And yes, there is still snow on the mountains and it is almost July. We had a crazy, snowy winter!

Paragliding at Alyeska

2008-06-21T20:13:00.000-08:00

Matt and I decided to go on a bike ride through Girdwood. Well, somewhere along the way we lost each other when we went different ways around a building. I ended up finding a bear in the brush, which I quickly biked away from and then I headed home to get my phone so I could call Matt.

Well, Matt had found a friend who offered him a tandem paraglide off the mountain at Alyeska Resort. I quickly grabbed my camera from the house and biked back to resort in time to capture Matt's first tandem paraglide. What a great way to celebrate Soltice!

Matt really enjoyed it, which means we could end up taking up another hobby I suppose. We do live in a good area for it. Who knows what will be next. We can't even go for a normal bike ride. Instead of going home, Matt end's up gliding above Girdwood....

Running to take off... Just after take-off
Floating above Girdwood

A picture Matt took while in the air

More Fun With Guests in AK

2008-06-13T22:39:00.000-08:00

Click HERE to see even more pictures of our adventures!

At the Sourdough Mining Company. Part of the fun of having guests is eating out of course!

At the Wildlife Conservation Center

Dinner at the Glacier Brewhouse. One of our favorite places to eat and bring guests!

Is this really snow??? (look at the women) It is really snow!!! :-)
Sun Deck at Alyeska Resort

The moose showed up in our driveway just as we were about to bring Joe and Betty to the airport. What a true Alaskan send-off!

I will post a link soon with many more picutures!!!!

Fun With Family

2008-06-11T01:11:00.000-08:00

The Plane they were on for flight seeing

Uncle Joe being goofy!
The GroupFishing in Seward
Matt's uncle Joe got the biggest fish at 150 lbs.

Matt and I by the river in Talkeetna

Our days off have been filled! It has been fun. More to come...

Where Matt Works

2008-05-26T18:02:00.000-08:00

Matt's Crew (Matt on far right with white hat)

The Rig

This is where Matt works. The North Slope (Prudhoe Bay, AK). It is along the Artic Ocean above the the Arctic Circle. I will start working at a different location on the North Slope (one of the camps) next month.

Weddings and New Job

2008-05-22T20:48:00.000-08:00

Rosemary and Franz Klein

May 17, 2008

Link to Pictures

Rachel and Sean Tehoke

March 29, 2008

Link to Pictures

Matt and I never seem to slow down. Two of my sisters got married in the last couple of months and I just accepted a new job as an HSE Safety Technical Specialist working on the North Slope (where Matt also works).

This summer will be a busy one with family and friends coming up to visit. All the fun starts next month when we pick up some of Matt's family from the cruise ship in Whittier, AK. I am sure we will have pictures to post after that time :-)

We are now bloggers!!!

2008-04-14T10:22:00.001-08:00

After seeing some others who have blogs, I decided maybe it would be a good idea for us. We have such crazy lives anyway and it might be a good idea to document it.

Matt and I are going on 2 years of marriage as of May 6th, 2008. I can't believe it has gone by so quickly. Matt and I never seem to slow down. Beacause of that though, we have gotten a lot done in my opinion. We ski patrol, work full time (on a 2 week on, 2 week off basis), Matt likes to fly us around in the airplane that he is part owner of (which I love), we hike, bike, and so much more!

Next on our agenda is to travel to Wisconsin for my sister Rosemary's wedding. It should be a lot of fun. After that we will have people coming up to visit throughout the summer. Summer in Alaska is so much fun!