Play Hockey Like a Girl

I forgot to report on our game against Matsu Eagles yesterday morning. I thought Garrett got a hat trick. But according to the official score sheet, Garrett scored 2 goals, Graison scored 2 goals each. Then Charlie, Douglas, Robby and Riley all scored 1 goal each. We beat the Matsu Eagles 8-1. But here's the best part (and I'm bummed I missed the photo op): Two of our girls, Ziza and Lyndsay, were in the penalty box at the same time!

The Dream of Champions

Tonight the Homer Glacier Kings played an incredible game. They kept their greatest opponent from scoring the entire first period. The second period each team scored 1 goal. The third period the Jr. Avalanche scored 4 more goals to defeat us 5-1. Graison scored our only goal on a breakaway. All the kids played their hearts out. It was one of the best games they've ever played. We are out of the championship now, but our kids should go home feeling like champions.

The following is a quote our coach put in his Parent Player Guidelines for the State Tournament:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
Theodore Roosevelt, 1910.

Hatcher Pass

Yesterday we went to Hatcher Pass to go sledding with the younger kids. Riley and Dad went to watch the competition. First we stopped at Aunt Kristin's to get the Malamutes, Lupine and Gus.

This is Kristin's bike geared up for winter. Check out those fat tires and big mittens! It's a titanium frame so Chris can even pick it up.

Jill pulled Maya up the mountain.

Maya with Lupine and Gus. Hey wait a minute! They're supposed to be sled dogs. Shouldn't they be pulling us up the mountain?

Here we are halfway up the mountain Kristin made us hike. The tiny ants in the background are Kristin, Chris and the dogs.

We're almost to the top! We sent Chris down by himself. He wiped out halfway down the mountain but his sled kept going without him! He walked down and got his sled and brought it halfway up. We put Maya in the sled with him the second time.

They wiped out and Maya did a face plant in the snow. Then she cried for Grandma and Grandma's dogs, Nikki and Heidi all the way to the car.

She had a snack in the car and fell asleep on the way home. We called Grandma when we got home so she could tell Grandma all about it.

Riley's team lost to the Anchorage Comets (Team Morgan) last night 1-5. It was a heartbreaking loss. You never saw so many long faces in the locker room after the game. Riley scored our only goal, thanks to an awesome pass from Robby. Today we have two games. First we play the Matsu Eagles, who we have chance of defeating. Then we face our toughest competition: The Wasilla Jr. Avalanche.

About Jill

A word about Jill. Some people call her Dr. Jill. We call her Aunt Jill because she's Aunt Kristin's best friend. Jill was kind enough to let us stay at her house the weekend. We neglected to tell her that our weekend was starting on Thursday night and ending Tuesday morning. Besides being a family practice physician, Jill is one of those extreme athletes. She looks like a model from a Title Nine Catalogue. She and Kristin don't just ride their bikes on really long bike races over mountains. They have studded tires and ride in snow all winter. Jill is smart, sweet and kind. She's a very capable woman. She's from Minnesota. I've never met anyone from Minnesota that I didn't like. But here's what I love most about Jill:

She shares my political views.

Jill hasn't had a moment to herself since we arrived.

But she's finding ways to keep Maya busy.

We're going to the State Championship!

Today was the first day of the hockey state championship. The Homer Glacier Kings beat the Eagle River Mustangs 5-3. It was an exciting game. Graison scored 3 goals (a hat trick). Garrett scored 2 goals. There were many assists and shots on goal but I don't have the score sheet so I can't tell you who did what. Brenden got a shot on goal, too, Vanessa!

The 5 hour ride to Wasilla.

It's like Stonehenge, only it's Icehenge.

The Alaska Railroad.

Here's the State Championship trophy. Isn't it beautiful? We got to see it being carried in.

This is the gorgeous Multi-Use Complex in Wasilla. Besides a hockey rink, it has an indoor soccer field that is also used for toddler playgroups. Around the hockey rink there is a walking/jogging track. The ice rink is so warm a coach was on the ice in a T-shirt.

There are NINE candy machines. Ours only has two.

We met Jill for dinner at Picadillo's for pizza and spaghetti. It's not really called that, I just don't remember the real name.

Our first game was at 11:45 so we had a leisurely morning. Did you want a cup of coffee with your newspaper?

Poor Chris woke up with a fever of 101 this morning.

Here's the team in a huddle between periods.

We had lunch at The Tailgate Sports Bar after the game. A Jr. A team came in right after us.

Check out the hockey hair!

The Secret Life of Maya (and Grandma)

Here are the long awaited photos of Maya's secret life with Grandma.

Having scrambled eggs for breakfast

Playing with Nikki and Heidi. Heidi is a real dog. She is not a robot. Her eyes caught the flash in a really weird way.

Then it's off to Captain's Coffee for a vanilla steamy.

Then play group at Boys and Girl's Club with Levi and Mimi.

Then Maya and Grandma come home for lunch. Maya takes a nap. Then the boys come home from school. They play for a few hours, have dinner, then Mom picks them up after work and an exhausted grandma gets to relax.

Day 1 without Dad

I said the next post was going to be about Maya's secret life. But Matt is away in North Dakota for 3 days, evaluating electronic medical record systems for the hospital. So I wanted to keep him up to date with the goings on here in Homer. We chatted on Skype for a few minutes but it wasn't the quality heart to heart I expected. Most of the conversation was trying to figure out the technical aspects of the webcam. I must add the most interesting part was noticing the change in Maya. The last time we used Skype was when Matt and I were in Vietnam and the boys were at home. Maya was in the hotel with us, fascinated with the computer but clueless about the people on the screen. This time she was climbing into the chair, wedging herself between the boys, jabbering excitedly to her Daddy about the hot dog tattoo she got from Jim at the hockey rink.


First, Chris woke up and refused to go to school. Then, Maya woke up and refused to eat breakfast. Another typical day in the PhoWise household. I actually got both the boys to school on time. I didn't even have to take Chris in his pajamas as I had threatened to do. Maya did not go to Ly's house today. Ly went to the spit to photograph one of the last sanctioned eagle feedings. We will go to Ly's house for an hour after preschool tomorrow for Maya's Vietnamese lesson.


Finally, I wanted to share a few excerpts from a book Chris brought home from the library. Chris brings home such an interesting array of books that I really enjoy reading. Tonight I read to him from a book called "Beyond the High Hills; A Book of Eskimo Poems". The poems were collected and translated by a Danish explorer named Knud Rasmussen from 1921-1924. There are photographs taken by an Oblate priest named Guy Mary-Rousseliere, who was doing mission work among the Eskimos. Here is one of my favorite poems.


I arise from rest with movements swift
As the beat of the raven's wings
I arise
To meet the day.
My face is turned from the dark of night
To gaze at the dawn of day,
Now whitening in the sky.


I will walk with leg muscles
which are strong
as the sinews of the shins of the little caribou calf.
I will walk with leg muscles
which are strong
as the sinews of the shins of the little hare.
I will take care not to go towards the dark.
I will go towards the day.