August

Well, August has been a pretty standard month. I'd have to say, Kevin and I are adjusting rather nicely to life in Alaska. There have been some beautiful, sunny, 70ish degree days and some not so sunny days.. in both cases we do our best to get outdoors and soak in the fresh Alaskan air.

School started for Kevin on the 24th. The first day he came home utterly exhausted. I did my best to be a good wifey and had dinner and a cold brew waiting his arrival. It's safe to say this school year will be a challenging, fun and exciting for Mr. Hilton.. but he's up for it.

I am looking forward to a good month of September. It's getting darker and a bit colder out, but that just means it's time for new winter clothes and football season. Two things I love.

1-800- SLAM-A-HOG

Most of you already know that Shellea caught a 75lb King a few weeks ago. It was amazing!!! It took Shellea about 45 minutes to reel the hog in.. Her and Seth worked together as a team, knowing they were not going to let this one go. It took all three guys, Kevin, Paul and Seth to net it and lift it into the boat. I think we all must have been in shock. We all just starred. Then we high fived, hugged, hollered.. and starred some more.

Swarms of people gathered around when they saw us coming off the boat to weigh the catch... As one guy starred, he slowly walked away and mumble "that's the fish of a lifetime".. It really is. 75lbs. 54" long, 32" girth. WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!!

I like to think I played an important roll in the entire experience as well. I was the first to see that Shellea had a 'FISH ON!' and thanks to my dedication, we are able to enjoy these pictures... :) yes. I feel, my part was very important....

We have 200+ pictures, so it was hard to fish through them all but here are just a few that show some of the agony, joy and relief of the 75lb King we all got to be apart of..

More Paisley Pics....

Mom and Dad's Visit!

My Mom and Dad came for a visit- 2 weeks! It was great. They only just left on Thursday and I'm already planning my trip to Prescott to visit them! While they were visiting we had a bon fire on the beach, caught king salmons, went camping (no pictures- boo!), took a day trip to Hope and spent time just hanging out... a few pictures of my beautiful family....

Dad's 35 lb King!!!

Mom's 40 lb King!!

Giving Rambo some love...

Such a good visit. Mom and Dad- Come back already!!

Paisley Hilton

Please welcome the newest member of the Hilton Family........

Paisley!!!

PS. Don't Worry- We still have Minnie too :) Family Picture Coming Soon!

4th of July

4th of July weekend was spent camping and fishing in Seward. Early Friday morning the guys drove the boat to the slip and set up camp.. all the gals followed that evening. Shellea and I spent a good 30 minutes loading up coolers, bags, sleeping bags, chairs... into my 4 Runner. It was stuffed. We only hoped that Julie and Abbie wouldn't have much that still needed to be packed-no such luck. Our faces immediately dropped when we saw: 1 large cooler, 2 pillows, 1 bag and multiple misc items... fortunately for us, we are all amazing packers. We crammed, packed and stuffed every last inch of my car with items. Including Rambo and Minnie who had to be dropped off at the kennel on the way out of town....

The first night of camping is always the most exciting. You're excited.. freshly showered and currently coming off of a nights rest in an actual bed.. yeah, that first night of camping is the best.

A home cooked meal for our guys..

We spend the entire day on Saturday on the boat (13 hrs to be exact). The cove we spent a good portion of the day at was home to a whale who Abbie named Gary. Gary was happy to share his little part of the ocean with us and even managed to jump out of the water several times in an effort to entertain. What a good host he was as we all LOVED his performance. During our stay with Gary I had my first battle with a Silver Salmon- which I won. Kevin caught what looked to be a gigantic goldfish- in reality it was a yellow fin rock fish. Our boat caught a total of 5 Silver Salmon and 1 Rock fish. I have TONS of actions shots of our catches, but I'll post them at a later date.

Soo Early..

The BOAT.

Brother and Sister Reeling 'Em In..

Sleepy after a long day..

Sunday we spent the day dinking around downtown Seward, sipping on hot lattes and watching the racers compete in Mt. Marathon- an incredible race to watch. We had a wonderful time with our friends and family over the 4th. Alaska is beginning to feel more and more like home as the days go on..

Great Looking Family!

One last Bonfire before hitting the road..