Harold in Boats

As I was looking through old photos, I noticed that Harold has had quite a few boating opportunities in his five short years. He has been in many kinds of boats in many different waters.

San Francisco, California


Chena River, Fairbanks


Lake Nabagamon, Wisconson


Brevig Lagoon, Alaska


Chilkat River, Haines, Alaska


Ferry on the Alaska Marine Highway


Picking up the "Fast Brick" in South Park, Colorado


West Two Rivers, Minnesota

On Board Las Sirenas, Belize Barriar Reef

Big Sturgeon, Side Lake, Minnesota


Lake Tana, Ethiopia

~AnnMarie

Memory Lane; Waiting for Harold

While we were waiting and waiting and waiting to take Tizita home, I started thinking back to the months we were waiting for Harold. The entire adoption process for Harold was only 18 months, shorter than Tizita's adoption by a year. So it was a bit easier to be patient but we were still a little anxious for him to be home especially after they e-mailed these photos:



This was one of the first pictures we got of Harold. He was good looking from the very beginning.




We didn't have a blog and there wasn't facebook in those days so we sent the photos off via e-mail to a few friends a family. One of C.O.'s college friends photoshopped that Dew bottle in there. Once upon a time C.O. was a crazy Mountain Dew addict. It's bad, bad stuff boys and girls. But it did make for a great gag photo.

Harold and his foster mom

This one earned him the nickname, "Mondo-Baby."




After this, we called him "The Little Fat Man" and we realized he had curly hair. *awe*




And finally we called him "Handsome Harold."


I am beyond releaved that there is no more waiting for us. We're together, we're a family of four, everything is as it should be . . . for now anyway.  ;-)

~AnnMarie

100 Flights!

 

Recently Harold hit a milestone in his life. He flew on his 100th flight. We decided to start tracking his flights when it took five hops just to get him home from Guatemala. Since then he has traveled to San Francisco, Baltimore, Minnesota, Ethiopia, throughout Alaska and back to Guatemala.

Unfortunately we were not able to be with him on his 100th flight. He was returning from Elim on his way to Nome with my parents on this epic day. But they caught this great shot with the Bering Air pilot who was very impressed with Harold's extensive flying experience.

Can I just say this again? What a kid, what a kid.

~AnnMarie

Harold Had an Adventure

Harold returned yesterday from six fun filled days with his grandparents. They traveled to Elim (150 miles southeast of here) to visit my brother John. Harold's time in Elim was packed with some pretty awesome life experiences and many memories.



When we first saw Harold waiting for us at the airstrip, he was proudly holding this box. He wrote the content's description "Harold's Madolin" on the outside himself.



Inside the box was this amazing gift from his musician uncle.



Harold is very, very proud of his new instrument. He was running around the house getting ready for bed last night, as he ran past his mandolin he stopped mid-stride, pointed at it and laughed a wild, crazed laugh.



Elim is a great place to catch crab. My brother and his friend keep an active crab pot for a good part of the winter. It's because of them that we've feasted on a great many crab the past few years.

During one of our daily phone calls Harold told me excitedly that he had "axed" the ice to help get the crab pots free.



He also told me there were "18 crab inside!!!!"



Oh the crabby memories they made.



To add to all the excitement, the Iditarod mushers were coming through Elim during Harold's stay. Harold saw Dallas Seavey (this year's winner), Aliy Zirkle (second place finisher), John Baker (last year's champion) and a few other mushers pass through town.

Harold apparently became a Dallas Seavey fan and was hoping he would win. I asked if he was cheering for Aliy but he said, "Nah, I'm for the boy's team."


When John Baker was taking care of his dogs at the Elim check point, my dad asked him if Harold could have his dog's booties. Baker being the nice guy he is, said of course. We had to wash them to get rid of the sled dog poo (a souvenir I'm not as interested in having) then Harold's dog Bandit modeled how the booties are to be worn.



Now Harold and Bandit like to play dog mushers when ever they get the chance.

Harold returned from his trip a more worldly and knowledgeable person. I often look at him and marvel, "what a kid, what a kid."

~AnnMarie

Music Lessons

This fall I started giving Harold piano lessons. He is doing very well and genuinely enjoys his time at the piano. If you follow our blog you may have noticed videos of Harold rockin' some tunes here and there but we felt it was time for formal music training as well.

There are definite challenges to living in a remote location such as bush Alaska. One such challenge is finding opportunities for enrichment activities like music. Fortunately I have a musical background and am able to help out with this. We are doing our best to provide these "extras" so our children will be well rounded and prepared for wherever they go and whatever they do in life.

~AnnMarie

Happy Halloween

Gotcha Day Take Four

The first hour that Harold was our child, four years ago in Guatemala, he was incredibly hungry.  His foster mother, in her great distress over saying goodbye to Harold that day, had forgotten his formula. By the time the formalities of the "transfer" meeting were over, we had one fussy baby on our hands. Room service was the surest and fastest way to get food to our room and into the belly of our chubby little guy. That is how it happened that Harold had french fries and tortilla soup for his first meal as a Rudstrom.



During our most recent trip to Guatemala, we stayed in the same hotel as we did on our first trip and called room service. Shortly after, french fries and tortilla soup were delivered as we relived our first minutes as parents.

On Saturday we once again relived our first day as parents. We cuddled in bed in the morning telling Harold our memories from that day. Saturday the 22nd was Harold's fourth annual Gotcha Day, a day to celebrate.



We experimented with fondant,



invited some oh so fun people over,



ate some delicious food and watched our adoption journey video.



Happy Gotcha Day young man. We are thankful for you each and every day.


Gotcha Day 2010
Gotcha Day 2008

Harold the Entertainer

An Original Composition from AnnMarie Rudstrom on Vimeo.

From concerts to puppet shows to quirky insights;

Harold entertains us daily.

~AnnMarie

His Water Skiing Debut

Harold turned out to be a water skiing natural. It probably helped that he was coached by a couple of experts, his dad and Grandpa Mac. They began by pulling the ski rope and running along the shore to help him get the feel for getting up on the water.



It took a few tries but . . .



in no time he was skimming along the surface.



Once he was able to get the skis up along the shore, he graduated to being pulled by the boat. Up he went on his very first try. What a kid.





~AnnMarie

Harold's Preschool Graduation

 

Tonight we celebrated Harold's graduation from the Head Start program in Brevig Mission. Harold has learned so much at school this year: academically, behaviorally and socially. We are very thankful for his teachers and all the hard work they put into his class throughout this school year.

Harold is technically not old enough to enter kindergarten next year but since he has passed all of the academic standards associated with preschool and has done quite well on his state tests, he has been exited from the program. One of two things will happen next school year, he will either enter kindergarten early (with his mom as his teacher) or he'll begin his first year of mechanic's apprenticeship schooling at Rudstrom Repair (his dad being the instructor). The paperwork for early entrance into kindergarten hasn't been officially approved and won't be looked at until Fall. He's definitely ready so we're hoping that everything will work out in that respect.

I shot a little footage as the graduates were taking the stage. Harold's the sixth one in line, acting shy as he buries his chin into his chest.

Head Start Graduation 2011 from AnnMarie Rudstrom on Vimeo.

Cute, cute, cuteness.

Happy Graduation! (aka Mother's Day)

Harold woke up this morning and yelled, "Happy Graduation Mom!!!!!!"  He has his special occasions a little mixed up but he sure is exuberant about the whole thing. 

He also informed me that he loves me thiiiiiiis much.

So I say, Happy Graduation to all you mother's out there.

Happy Easter!

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, 

but in every leaf in spring-time. ~Martin Luther

 

How to Raise an Extreme Sports Fanatic

 

 +

=

Extreme Skiing from AnnMarie Rudstrom on Vimeo.

Eskimo Kisses: They're Real

Eskimo Kisses: They're Real from AnnMarie Rudstrom on Vimeo.

Surgical Enhancement

Before

 

After

Harold Counts to 10 in Inupiaq

Inupiaq 1-10 (more or less) from AnnMarie Rudstrom on Vimeo.

I think he missed a couple there but he's close.  They are such big words coming out of a little person!  As you can hear, many Inupiaq words are a mouthful.  In school, Harold practices counting to ten, color names and a few other Eskimo words and phrases.  Won't be long and his Inupiaq vocabulary will surpass ours. 

~AnnMarie

UPDATE UPDATE: WHALEY FOUND

I knew this would happen, I just knew it!  Two days after I wrote the blog post on losing Whaley, I found him.  And much like the dream I mentioned in the post, I was doing the laundry.  While folding clothes, I was about to hang something up in the closet, I parted the hangers and . . . there was Whaley.  There was some serious family celebrating going on, hugs, kisses, cries of joy etc.

I'm guessing that while unpacking, Harold grabbed Whaley and just threw him, getting him caught up in the clothes.  Harold has this throwing problem that we're working on right now.  He's constantly throwing his toys and things around the house.  Granted he has developed a good arm but enough already!

Anyway, we're very happy to have Whaley back.  Harold had the chance to sleep with him for the first time in 3 weeks.

Since our little incident here we've decided that Whaley is going into semi-retirement.  His traveling days are over and he will solely reside at our home in Brevig Mission.  Eventually he will go into permanent retirement and join the few things in a box that we are saving for Harold.

Though he is not truly lost, I'm glad I was able to write the post on Whaley.  If he wouldn't have been lost, I don't think I would have been able to write about his importance to Harold's childhood. 

Long Live Whaley!!!!

--AnnMarie