First Camping Trip 2009

Well, we finally made it! Our first camping trip, in the camper we bought two years ago! The weather held out for us, and we made our escape to Lake Eklutna. All went well, with the small exception that the nights were slightly cooler than we'd expected and our our battery didn't last the whole night through to keep us nice and warm. That's okay though, we had tons of blankets and good sleeping bags with us!

Kenton had a great time exploring the wilderness and watching the camp fire. Here he shows us his pine cone that he found, and promptly tried to eat!

Kristina had a good time hanging out with our friend's son that went with us. We even got in about 3 small hikes - two on Saturday and a good long one on Sunday. Here's a couple pictures taken along the hike. Check out the water as it is still partially frozen over!

Lots of people were out hiking on Sunday we noticed, and apparently a few saw some black bears and their ever present "scat". We didn't see either (though we walked right by where they supposedly were at least twice), but we were making lots of noise since we had Kenton and Kristina with us.

On Saturday evening we took a small hike up to a meadow at the bottom of a small mountain and played a bit. Kenton decided he wanted to get a sneak attack in on mommy and tackled me! We all just really had a great time at this spot.

Kenton helped us get the camper all packed up on our last morning camping. Here he is getting "his" gloves on to help out! He is looking too adorable and growing up WAY too fast!

All in all, it was exhausting, but we made some good memories and got a few good pictures. It was just nice to get away! Enjoy the pics!

Moose Sighting

This weekend while we were out running around, we got stopped at a red light. I looked up and saw this moose strolling through the gas station, right past on the patrons pumping gas, and right out into this busy highway! These are some of the very real dangers of living in The Last Frontier, as we encroach more and more into "their" space. Amazing creatures though, and soon there will be many, many moose babies running around to watch out for too!

Other Updates and Goings-on

Kristina had another track meet this past weekend, and she took 3rd Place (in her heat) for the 100 m that she competed in. We are so proud that she's sticking with this and having fun with it. Personally, I think she's just doing it for the sun tan she's been getting at the meets! LOL -her freckles are already blooming again!! She's doing good though and really enjoying it! She will be out of school on the 22nd of May and done with track for this year. She's already on the count down because she's really excited to leave for Texas for the summer with her dad and for their trip to Disneyland in Florida. I'm just a little bit jealous, I have to admit!

And of nothing to do with this story, just wanted to share the "rock band" pictures for everyone to enjoy!

Summer is Here!!!

As you all know, I've been raving about our gorgeous weather these past few weeks. I mean, it's like my very first summer up here. We hit the mid-70's the other day and we weren't even out of April yet! In case you didn't know, that's almost unheard of for Alaska!! Anyway, good weather up here, after a very long winter and two pathetic excuses for summer, just BEGS to be enjoyed. Here's a picture of Kenton helping me get my planter boxes ready for this year's flowers.

He is just LOVING being outside! Every day when we get home from daycare, he will just fuss and fuss until we take him outside! One night we even had to pull his high chair outside and let him enjoy dinner on the porch when he didn't want to come in to eat! This past weekend, we were able to take him to the park in town. He loved the slides, but wasn't so sure about the swings! In other updates, Kyle finally got the yard thatched and we should have a beautiful lawn very shortly. Kristina and I went shopping at some local nurseries for flowers. The choices are varied and all the flowers here are SO vibrant and colorful this year. Here are some we settled on after Kristina helped me get them in the planters. The pictures just don't do them justice, but ah well.

Unfortunately, with all this great weather we're having, the mosquitos (or AK state bird!) are out in full force already! So each evening we enjoy the weather, we are batting off the bugs at the same time! To make it all worth it, Kenton got some new water toys to enjoy. He got a toy lawn mower that blows bubbles when you push it, he LOVES the bubbles! He reminds me so much of Daddy when he's out there "mowing the lawn"! He also got a slip-n-slide, and a beach ball that sprays out water. We are looking forward to many fun days this summer with these, since last summer was too cold and rainy to enjoy! A camping trip is in the plans for next weekend, if the weather holds out! Look for more blog updates with those stories once that happens!

Baby Naval Update

We finally had our first OB appointment, complete with an ultrasound. Found out that this time, there's only ONE baby in there and it has a great, strong heartbeat running about 118-126 bpm! It was such a relief to see that and to get such good news. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a little bit bummed that there weren't two babies in there, but I am certainly thankful that everything was alright though. Simply because I'd worked myself up so bad - I was so nervous before that appointment. I mean, the last time I was in that situation it wasn't good news and that's a memory I will never, ever forget. The baby was measuring right on at 6 weeks and 4 days, which is where I was at that appointment. The due date remains the same for now on 20 Dec 2009. Our next appointment andultrasound is scheduled for 20 May 09 - can't wait to see how much this little jelly bean grows between now and then! Enjoy the picture, sorry it's A LOT grainy, but it's a picture of a picture.

Alaska & Photography

I'd forgotten how beautiful Alaska was. Last year ended on a very rough note for us...and I'd simply forgotten. I pretty much gave up on seeing the beauty in anything after losing the twins and lost my drive to take pictures. My husband, being the rock that he is, must have sensed my "fever" as the days get longer and the weather gets warmer and warmer. He took me out and bought me a camera and then took me out two days in a row to get me "snapping pics" again. I love this man SOOO much!


When you live somewere as beautiful as Alaska, if you like photography, you couldn't ask for a better back drop. I wanted to post some of my newer pictures on here for you to see. Stay tuned, as I "get my groove back" I will post some more! This will be our last summer in Alaska, and I plan to really live it up! We will doing lots of camping and hiking, which will surely entail lots of great pictures.

Sunday Ice Cream Run

The weather here was BEAUTIFUL today, and boy do I have Spring Fever! I simply could not take another day sitting cooped up inside our house, so I begged hubby to get us all out of the house. We ended up doing our once infamous Sunday Ice Cream Runs. This is a beautiful drive, about 1 hour south of Anchorage, down the Seward Highway. This drive runs along the coast line the entire way, and we get to see glaciers and ice chunks moving in the ocean along beside us. Today though, the tide was out, and we got to see the mud flats with chunks of ice beached! It was pretty awesome to see.

We saw a few dall sheep as well, but they were just too high to get a good picture of. Overall though, it was just a great day to spend hanging with the family enjoying the sites. I tried to get Kyle to do some family pictures by the water, but it was really windy and he thought it was too cold.....gee, it was only about 45 degrees.... that's a heat wave for us! Anyway so only Kristina and I got some pictures, she's my little dare devil!

The ice cream was delicious at our turn around point! I had the "polar bear", which was a coconut...that tasted a lot like the coconut snow cream I make myself out of snow! Kenton and Kyle had the sweet black cherry, and Kristina had a blueberry cheesecake and cookie dough - odd combination! Kenton literally savored the flavor of his for the next 15 miles home!

Just couldn't have asked for a better day! I love my husband, I love my kids, and I love Alaska scenary on perfect weather days. Summer is coming and I can't wait!