A Few Firsts

The past couple of days we have had a couple of "firsts" since being in Juneau. Brett FINALLY went gold panning! YAHOO! He actually did find some gold too. On Friday afternoon we were able to get away from homework and other things that needed to get done and do some panning. We headed up a place called Montana Creek. At the end of the river there is an old abandoned mine but we didn't get that far. Montana Creek is quite a big river with some good places to pan. We set up 'camp' in a nice quiet place. It was so relaxing and fun to be outside. While Brett was working on his panning, I was finishing up some reading for one of my classes. We had a lot of fun together and can't wait for more gold panning adventures!

The past few days here in Juneau has been what is called 'Celebration'. It started on Thursday and ends tonight. This is where all of the Natives from Alaska get together and celebrate their heritage and ancestory. They basically take over Juneau for a few days. The place where Zach works (Sealaska Heritage Institution) is in charge of it so he has been stressed all week with getting everything running smoothly. But it all has ran very smoothly. We were lucky enough to have an in to things with Zach so we were able to go watch a couple of the klans perform. It was really neat to see their respect for their ancestory and the pride that they have of their heritage.

We love being here and are so excited for the rest of the adventures that we have for this summer! We miss all of our family and friends at home in Utah but are loving it here!