Ann had 2 shops at Alaskaland Park (Goldrush Ice Cream Parlor and Jade, Inc, a pottery and jewelry shop). 

           

     

 She and the kids worked at Alaskaland during the summers from 11am to 9 pm.   The three little kids would sell helium balloons in the park, or deliver phone orders for food to other shops.   Anything to keep them busy.  The older kids were clerks.

Ann experimented with native clays, made pottery and supplied shops downtown as well as her own stores.    Quite a bit was shipped overseas during this period.  She sent local jade to Taiwan to be cut and made jewelry during the winters, for the shops.  

A miner everyone knew needed to raise funds and offered gold nuggets at spring prices when he cleaned up in the fall, if you would buy it ahead.     Ann bought what she could.  When fall came, gold prices had gone way up, and he didn't want to give her the full 10 ounces.   She called him several times and he always had excuses.   Finally, she told him she had packed a book, some food and a pillow, and was on the way to his house.....  with the intent to sit there until she got the gold.      He had it ready when she arrived, pillow in hand!   

  

10 ounces raw nuggets.  You couldn't practice much, soldering jewelry.    The first piece had to be good enough to sell!

At home she sewed a lot of their clothes, gardened, was a deacon in the church, worked with Don in all of his endeavors, and usually had extra kids living with them.   She gave pottery lessons at home, on TV,  and at the prison for inmates....played piano for the Eskimo congregation at the First Presbyterian Church.     She worked while the kids were at school as a grey lady at the hospital, with a local CPA firm during tax season two winters, and for the Refuse Company one winter  (she wrote home:   "I would never have believed I would be sitting in the dark at noon, in Fairbanks, Alaska, calling garbage trucks on a radio for a living"!). 

The activities weren't all at once of course and most were things the kids could join in and stay close.  Don was very supportive of anything Ann would do.    He would get off work at the newspaper,  come to Alaskaland and run the jewelry shop so Ann could have a break, or make dinner in the back room for the kids.   Then he would take the kids to the ballpark for the evening.  He always took the kids along when he was covering games or officiating in the winter.... whatever he was doing.   

When Ann first registered the name "Jade, Inc",  Dun and Bradstreet sent paperwork to establish a national credit rating.   RIGHT!    For fun, Ann filled out all the forms, and when it asked for "source of funding",  she wrote  "Husband's rear pocket".     She never heard back....... 

Her sister Karen managed the Ice Cream shop one year and also worked at the ballpark with her kids.

When Karen and her two children lived with them in Fairbanks,  that meant keeping track of six kids while Karen  worked at First National Bank, so they devised a system.   Everyone loaded in the car and the count down started.... often there was a missing number.     Back to the house to retrieve the slow moving one.            

Ann has memories of "the slow moving one"  in the rear view mirror....more than once.   Brake!  Back up!   

Once Teena's missed number somehow didn't register, and when mom realized she was not in the car, they drove by the school to find her patiently sitting on her clarinet case, in the snow.      That elusive Mother of the Year award!!! 

 
Todd, Sheri and lil Steve..little Goldpanner fans

Karen had all six with her in the grocery store.   A woman came up, sniffed  and said "Are all those YOURS?"     Thinking quickly, Karen twisted it slightly and said....  "No, these aren't all.  I left the older kids home with the babies". 

Ann took all six to the doctor, sick as could be, and she was coming down with the flu also.   The nurse said "I need their birth dates".  Instant brain freeze!  "Uh...   You're just going to have to trust me that they were all born!"  

 
Steve K, Sheri K, Todd, Teena,
Steve D. painting pottery.

Don would come home from work and the wrestling match would be on.    Once he'd slipped off his shoes and one of the kids jumped on his bare heels spraining both big toes so he could hardly walk.    Another time they put him through the sheetrock inside the house!   Summers were great so it could go Outside! The family had a lot of adventures with Ann and the kids traveling to the States to visit families every couple of years.    It was hard to keep track of so many kids while waiting in lines etc.    In case someone got lost (and they did!)  they always had the entire schedule, who they were and where they were going, written on their bellies in permanent ink.    It proved useful more than once.  Ann would carry Todd, hold Teena's hand, and Scott and Steve were supposed to keep one hand in her pockets so she could feel they were still attached, while in the crowds and  rushing for the next plane.    Everyone helped carry diaper bags, toy bags, whatever......            More than once Scott would get interested in something and let go, and go the wrong direction.    Once they were given tickets to a non-existent flight, got to Seattle before anyone discovered it, and just as two other airlines went on strike.  They were given a rental car, free hotel and food vouchers and had a three day vacation before they could finally get on another plane.  Ann could have used a real vacation after that adventure!