Jasmine and Matthew Wedding

August 14, 2015

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So a few blogs ago before I started up about the Alaskan Cruise I updated you about Patty and I being on The Price is Right. One reason I did that is because I couldn't say anything about it until after it aired on November 2nd. The problem is I am so far behind on the blog the dates are totally messed up.

Long story short I completely missed telling the whole reason we got back to Ventura, Ca area in July and August. It was NOT for Price is Right, it was because our one and only son Matthew was getting married!!

So now it is time to make up for that error!!!

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Eight years ago on February 16th when our daughter Crystal married James she blessed Patty by asking her to be her Matron of Honor. We feel so blessed that our children feel so close to us that they want us to participate in their weddings beyond the traditional parent/child relationship. Matthew asked me if I would be one of his groomsmen and stand up for him. I actually teared up when he asked me!

What that meant is that I also participated in his "bachelor party". Of course when the whole grooms party are on the worship team (other then me) that means we went to pizza, went go-cart racing (MB2), miniature golfing, and ended the evening having a worship session. What good kids we have!!!

Now it was wedding day. Matthew walked his mom (Patty) down the aisle to her seat.

Matt and Patty

After I escorted my bridesmaid down the aisle I decided to give Matt an "atta-boy" fist bump!

Brian and Matt Fist Bumping

Here are the flower girls. The last one is my grandaughter Grace!

Flower Girls

Ethan Huffman came down the Aisle preparing Matt. "Here comes the Bride", the sign said!

Matt was ready for his bride!!!!

Pastor Steve and Matthew

Finally Jasmine's father walked her down the aisle and gave her to Matt.

Juan and Jasmine

The vows were said.

Vows

Pastor Krystal and Mike led worship as Jasmine and Matthew took communion.

Communion

Matt and Jasmine each washed each others feet to signify humbling to each other as Christ did.

Feet Washing

It was important to Matt and Jasmine that they have some true worship in their wedding because Jesus is who their lives are based on. Here they are both focused on Christ!

Worship

You may now Kiss the bride! Calm down boy!!!! LOL

Smooch!

And now I give you Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Albert Hunt!!!!

Mr. and Mrs. Hunt

Dancing down the Aisle!!

Dancing!

Here is the wedding party.

Wedding Party

Her parents, Maria, Matthew, Jasmine and Juan.

His In Laws

His Parents, Brian, Matthew, Jasmine and Patty.

Her In Laws

Here are our New Life Community Church Lead Pastors, Tami and Steve Abraham with Jasmine and Matthew.

Our Pastors

Claire and Flay Hunt with Jasmine and Matthew.

Grandparents

This is at the reception in Camarillo. This is the Hunt Clan. From Left to Right... Brian, Patty, Jasmine, Matthew, Gracie, Crystal, Charlie and James.

Hunt Clan at Reception

Matt and Jasmine leaving the reception under a tunnel of sparklers.

Leaving Reception

It was a beautiful and very Godly wedding! I'm glad I could share it with you.

That's it for today. Thank you for reading. 

Please remember to pray for Avery Huffman.

God Bless you,

Brian and Patty

Ketchikan, Alaska

September 4, 2015

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We arrived in Ketchikan, Alaska on Friday September 4th. We keep getting blessed with nice sunny days!

Ketchikan, Alaska

Ketchikan is named after Ketchikan Creek, which flows through the town, emptying into the Tongass Narrows a short distance southeast of its downtown. "Ketchikan" comes from the Tlingit name for the creek, Kitschk-hin.

Ketchikan Creek Selfie!!

Dave Rubin's bronze monument "The Rock" is on "Berth 1". It features 7 life-size figures from Ketchikan's past: Chief Johnson, a logger, a fisherman, a miner, an aviator, a Native woman drumming, and an elegant lady in her 1890s finery.

The Rock

We had scheduled a float plane trip to the Misty Fjords. I try to get good value if I can. I was able to link through Holland America's web page to Taquan Air to discover which company was used for the excursions. I went to their web page and discovered they had a "Fall Special" that was considerably less expensive than booking through the cruise line. Their regular price however was actually more expensive.

I called Taquan to verify this information. They were really hesitant to confirm so as not to burn the cruise line who gives them a lot of business, at least that was my take on the conversation. Ultimately I was able to understand that I was able to much get a better deal booking directly getting this fall special!

Float Plane

Taquan Air uses DeHavilland Beaver float planes. They seat 6 passengers. Here we are getting ready to board.

DeHavilland Beaver

Here is Ketchikan and our ship the MS Amsterdam from the air!

MS Amsterdam

We flew over the "Misty Fjords". It was spectacular!

Misty Fjords

We flew to an alpine lake. We came in for a landing!

Alpine Lake

The lake was beautiful.

Alpine Lake landing

We were able to get out of the plane and stand on the pontoons!

Out of the plane

You were able to climb down the ladders and stand on the pontoon. The pilot grabbed his fishing pole, but I didn't see him catch anything! LOL

Pontoons!

Back to Ketchikan. Here we are landing.

Landing in Ketchikan

During the heyday of Dolly Arthur and the other sporting women of Ketchikan’s infamous Creek Street, police raids on the brothels were frequent. Spouses looking for a quick exit to avoid hefty fines for being caught at one of the brothels found the Married Man’s Trail to be the perfect escape route.

Married Man Trail

Who is Dolly you ask? Nuff Said! LOL

Dolly's House

Speaking of Salmon spawning, Here is a salmon ladder observation spot.

Salmon Ladder Sign

We didn't see any salmon climbing the ladders, but it was still interesting. 

Salmon Ladder

Back to Creek Street. There are sidewalks on both sides of the creek over the creek. This is an interesting and very pretty little city.

Creek Street

The next stop was Victoria, BC. We did not get off the ship there.

They did however remember that our +++++ 40th ++++++ Anniversary was coming up. They presented us this at dinner!

40th Anniversary!

That's it for today. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to reply if there are any questions or comments!

God Bless and please remember to pray for Avery Huffman!

Brian and Patty

Sitka, Alaska

September 3, 2015
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We arrived in Sitka, Alaska on Thursday, September 3rd. Again it was a beautiful sunny day!

 The City and Borough of Sitka , formerly New Archangel under Russian rule, is a unified city-borough located on Baranof Island and the southern half of Chichagof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean (part of the Alaska Panhandle). As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,881. In terms of land area, it is the largest city-borough in the U.S., with a land area of 2,870.3 mi. and a total area (including water area) of 4,811.4 mi.  Urban Sitka, the part that is usually thought of as the "city" of Sitka, is situated on the west side of Baranof Island.

Sitka, Alaska

The excursion we had booked for the day was a Zodiac boat to a volcanic cave. 

Zodiac Boat

We found the tour people and went to their office with them.  They suited us up with an exposure suit which is almost a dry suit. Also they give you gloves and a balaclava which is a fancy name for a ski mask. It was such a nice day we did not need the balaclava's!

Exposure Suit

We walked about a block to the harbor and got into the boat.

Our Zodiac Boat

They said the rougher ride was in the front, kind of like a roller coaster. Even though Patty and I were the old people of the boat we bee-lined to the front. THRILL RIDE!!! Yahoo!!

Speed Up!!!

It turned out that it was not that rough out, but it was still a lot of fun. The captain was really good on spotting wildlife. Here he saw a whale spouting. He finished spouting by the time we got this pic and gave us a splash.

Whale

We went to the cave but the tide was low and we couldn't enter it. There was a Bald Eagle in the tree above it.

Bald Eagle

We headed out to the volcanic island. On the way out we saw a line of spouting whales in the distance.

Spouting Wales

We got out to where the whales were and found a pod of about 15-20 whales! Totally awesome! We shut the engine off and floated in the middle of the pod. The little fishing boat came up also. This picture shows a mother and calf!

Pod of Whales

Everywhere you turned there where whales. It was quite an experience!

Breached Whale

I was taking pictures with my phone. I just pointed and took pictures. Because there was so many, every picture I took had whales in them.

Whale Tail

You can see the spout on this whale. We were so close you could hear the throatiness sound every time they would spout. They are huge animals, and we were surrounded by them, but we never felt threatened by them.

Spout

Both our captain and the captain of the fishing boat said they had never seen so many whales together in one pod. Being from SoCal we have gone on whale watching in the Channel Island. Maybe we see 1-3 whales so this was really special!

Patty got to see her lighthouse so she was happy! LOL.

Lighthouse

After the boat excursion we walked to the Totem Pole Park.

Sitka Park

It is a nice hike through the forest with totem poles mixed in.

Totem Pole Park

Back out of the forest.

Totem Park

That's all for Sitka. It's time to go back to the ship and have lunch. The ship you see in this photo is our cruise ship, the MS Amsterdan.

Back to the Ship

We went back on and ate in the buffet called the "Lido". Holland America does something that I really like that none of the other cruise lines do in their buffet's. You do not serve yourselves in the buffet, instead they have servers give you all and as much food as you want. You still get in line, but they give you the plate with the food items on it you want. 

I'm sure it is because of the Norovirus' that have been reported on different cruise ships. 

Honestly, people seem to think I want their hands on my food. I see them move tongs to pick up food with their fingers! GROSS!!

I soooooooo much appreciate Holland America's policy and would cruise with them exclusively just for that policy alone!

Am I a germaphobe? Yes! I plead guilty, but I see how many guys never wash their hands when they leave the men's room, and not even just when they use the urinal! Patty tells me it's not much better in the woman's room.

Anyway enough on my soapbox!

Lido Buffet Dining Room

Well that's it for today.

Hope I haven't lost too many of you with my last rant! LOL.

Next stop is Ketchikan, Alaska..

Please continue to pray for Avery Huffman...

God Bless you,

Brian and Patty