Soldotna, Alaska

We drove down to Soldotna in the afternoon making our way through the Chugach Mountains to see our friend’s Lyndi and Michael. We also got to see their beautiful little girl, Ellsi. Harold felt the urge to give her a kiss on a regular basis. We plan to use the kissing photo to embarrass them in about 10 years from now.


Shortly after dropping our things off at their house, we drove over to some relative's home where Lyndi’s grandparents homesteaded in the 1950s. Their first meal in Alaska, on May 30th, was chicken and mash potatoes. So every May 30th they have a family get together and eat chicken and mash potatoes. It was yummy and fun to be a part of their family tradition. Lyndi’s family is 100% Finnish and proud of it. They reminded me so much of the Lindula side of the family that I felt like I was at home, not 2500 miles away in Alaska. To really emphasize the fact that we were at a Finnish gathering, we all took a sauna, even Harold. Aunt Carol was proud that their sauna would be the place of Harold’s first sauna. At first he was kind of nervous about the whole thing, but after he was given some water to splash in, he warmed up to the sauna experience. We didn’t torture him by dunking him in the lake, just being outside without any clothes on was bad enough. What a great night!