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This weekend was BEAUTIFUL weather!!!  We have all been feeling a little under the weather, but we have made sure to get outside a little each day.  On Saturday we were fortunate enough to be downtown by the cruise ships docks and caught a few glimpses of a humpback whale!  When they bubble feed you can see a ring of bubble start to surface on the water and then they come straight up the center with open mouths to feed.  It is so cool to see them!  They are really big!  Sunday afternoon was a nice drive to all the great spots that we love to view the ocean from.  It was a gorgeous sunset!  Someday I still can't believe that we live here!!!       

For the past 6 weeks Jayne's class (all the 4th and 5th graders) at school have been working with a resident artist learning about the  Tlingit (KLING kit), the Haida (HIGH duh) and the Tsimshian (SIM she ann) native tribes of Southeast Alaska. They have learned how to introduce themselves in the native tongue. They have learned about the art and form styles used in totems and the meanings behind the symbols. They even had the opportunity to make a deer skin drum (Goo-jow), including soaking the deer skin and stretching it over the wood drum frame and letting it set until it hardened. Once it was completely dry they got to draw their chosen native symbol on the drum and the paint it. They look SO COOL! They even made their own drum stick using a stick, fabric, buck leather, and deer tendon, which was used as the string to tie it all together. This past week the students performed for the rest of the school, singing a song/chant in the native tongue. It is a welcome message...

Last night Jay and his co-worker worked through the night bringing the Christmas spirit to downtown Ketchikan!  They hung beautiful snowflake decorations all along the main street.   

 Our Sunday shenanigans took is to Gravina Island to explore.  The island is across the Tongass Narrows from the city of Ketchikan.  The only way to access the island is by ferry, boat, or plane.  The Ketchikan airport is located on Gravina Island.  The road on the island is terrible!  We did manage to keep all of our hubcaps on the van!  The views of Ketchikan from across the Narrows are beautiful!  The view of the open ocean is magical. We passed several active logging sites.  It made me sad to see all the trees cut down but from what I understand, they grow back pretty fast here.