Sunday, August 16, 2009

An update with pictures

Here is a long awaited picture of our house on Ft. Richardson. Joelle and I like it very much and we can't wait for Justin to see it.

Joelle and I went with some friends to Arctic Valley and went blueberry picking. It was a lot of hard work! We walked uphill for about 1/2 mile, which may not seem like much but when you're pregnant and you have a toddler with you it seems long! Luckily I have great friends who carried Joelle so I could work on getting my pregnant self up the hill. Joelle enjoyed picking the berries, however most of them were crow berries. The blueberries were a little hard to find!

Justin sent us a wonderful gift from Afghanistan. Afghan dresses and jewelry! Here is Joelle in her beautiful orange dress. It's a bit big for her so she should be able to wear it for awhile (not exactly sure where though!). And as a thank you Joelle and I made cookies to send to Daddy. Joelle sure enjoyed helping!And lastly, a friend and I went around post and took some pictures of each other so our husbands could actually remember what we look like :-). Here is one:

Saturday, July 11, 2009

slippery salmon anyone?

This weekend has been the Bear Paw Festival in Eagle River and it has been a HUGE BLAST for me and Joelle. Friday we went to the Teddy Bear Picnic which consisted of kids bringing their teddy bears for a FREE hotdog lunch as well as free face painting, coloring, music making, and giveaways like balloons and fireman's hats. The day was super hot and even humid which made for a somewhat uncomfortable afternoon for pregnant me. Alaska can get warm in the summer! But Saturday has been the most fun of all! As for the weather, it started off cool but warmed up by the afternoon. Joelle and I are sunburned to prove it! We watched the Eagle River parade with our friend Ashley and her daughter Molly and this was just the cutest parade ever. There were great floats with an enormous amount of pride, candy being given out, local Eagle River restaurants handing out samples of their pizza and salads, coupons from area stores.....even our church The Crossing had a float for their school, Birchwood Christian School.
After the ever so cute parade we walked down to the mainstage to await the "World Famous" Slippery Salmon Relay! Ashley and our friend Valerie decided to compete for fun. There were 40 teams total, so 80 people competing. They had to open a can of soda and pour it into a plastic cup, put the full cup and the empty can on a tray while grabbing a huge slippery dead salmon out of a bin. Then they had to carry in one hand the soda tray and in the other hand the salmon and go through relay obstacles without dropping the salmon, the tray or the drinks. They went in and out of cones, through fancy footwork, under a limbo rope, around a pillar and then handed off to their partner who did the same thing. It was all timed and two teams competed at the same time. We were so surprised when they announced that Ashley and Valerie were in the semi-finals, then they made it to the finals......and then they WON!!!!! They received first prize medals and a trophy! This is a huge deal in Eagle River!

All I have to say: ARMY WIVES ROCK!

This is Ashley getting her tray and salmonAshley starting the obstacles
Valerie coming into the finish with her soda tray and slippery salmon
Valerie and Ashley on the awards stage finding out they won first place!
The winners with their first place medals and trophy! And these aren't just any Army Wives, these are ladies from our Ft. Richardson PWOC. These are ladies who live their lives loving God and showing it by serving their own families, the families in their neiborhoods and churches, and in their FRG's. So whoever said following Christ isn't cool!?

After the Slippery Salmon Relay victory we decided to watch the outhouse races. Hilarious! No, these were not actual outhouses, they were homemade that had to fall within certain guidelines. They had hilarious names like "Poo Poo Pee Doo", "Cool Runnings", and "Smells Like TP Spirit". They had someone riding inside and the rest of the team pushing the outhouse down the course. They had to turn around a pilar and run back, but when they turned they had people on the sidelines throwing water balloons to make is seem more realistic (you know.....a real outside on wheels making a sharp corner would probably have some spillage of some sort!). Oh my gosh, it was HILARIOUS!
So all in all: A GREAT WEEKEND! And here are a few Joelle pics from the weekend:

Saturday, June 27, 2009

FREE 26 Glacier Cruise

A good day out in Whittier, AK cruising the ocean waters with 300 other moms and their kids. Lunch was provided and the weather was beautiful. The whales, seals, sea otters, and kittywakes (a type of bird) were out to play. The glaciers were amazing. It was a good day! Enjoy the pictures!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Pictures







(This is me at 5 1/2 months pregnant. I am a little bit bigger now)

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

A Moose on the Loose!

As I was unloading the truck right after we got back from our camping trip to Denali I realized that a moose was right across the street watching me. So I ran into the house to grab the video camera. Of course this caused the dogs and Joelle to run after me into the garage. This video is what happened after that....

Camping at Denali

Joelle and I went camping with some friends out to a state park at Denali. In case you don't know, Denali is the Alaska Native name for Mt. McKinley which is the tallest peak in North America. The park is over 2 million acres. IT'S HUGE! This was Joelle's first time camping and she loved it!

We did campfires and Joelle ate her first smores:
We found out our first evening that the sun NEVER sets as far north as we were. The sun shines high in the sky 24/7! So unless you check your watch you really have no idea what time it is. Joelle and I went to bed in our tent with the sun shining bright. I woke up often wondering if it was time to get up, checked my watched and realized it was only 2am! Finally when my watch read after 7am (and Joelle was ready to get up), we would crawl out of our tent. The sunshine really screws you up!

It was cold in the mornings (maybe in the 40's) but really nice in the later afternoons and evenings (high 60's to mid 70's). Here's a picture of Joelle in the morning:

We took a short bus ride to the Denali Visitor's Center and then another bus ride to a working dog sled kennel.
On our drive back home to Ft. Richardson we stopped at some Denali viewing areas. We saw some amazing views of Denali! I had a friend take a picture of me and Joelle in front of the mountain....sorry we're not in focus, but Denali is!
This trip was definitely a lot of hard work having to set up and tear down camp by myself, with a toddler running around....and pregnant. Luckily we did not bring the dogs with us (I could not have handled all that!). We will definitely be doing this trip again next year with Justin and baby girl #2. It really is a great place to camp!