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:

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:

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!

Pictures

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

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!

Good With a Spoon

Pigtails!

FINALLY.....
She has little hairs poking up everywhere that are too short to join in the pigtail, but we finally have something long enough to play with!

The verdict is in.......

IT'S A BABY GIRL!!!

We are so excited! We have no idea what her name will be but we are so happy to be welcoming another girl to our family.

My 28th Birthday and a Tea Party

Last Thursday I celebrated my 28th Birthday. Wahoo!! If you know me then you probably know how much I LOVE birthdays! This birthday was loved just as much as the others. It started out with me and a few friends gathering at Snow City Cafe in downtown Anchorage for breakfast. There were 17 of us including kids! If you ever come to visit us in AK we MUST take you to this restaurant. The food is ultra yummy and the atmosphere is very diner-like. None of the coffee mugs match!

Joelle and I made cupcakes in honor of my day and ate them for dinner. No real food or health food on special days in this house!
I had a worship team meeting later in the evening so I took my birthday dinner of cupcakes with me to share. But when I arrived for the meeting there was a small surprise birthday party for me! So wonderful! We had cake, fruit, meat and cheese and drinks. I really do love my church and especially this worship team! It feels like family!

Of course the best part of my birthday was receiving TWO phone calls from Justin! What a great husband he is!

The day after my birthday I received a WONDERFUL phone call from my younger sister. She filled me in that they are expecting a little boy the end of September! That's right, our due dates are 2 weeks apart! So it seems I will have another nephew soon.

Our ultrasound is this Tuesday. But don't ask me the gender! I'm mailing the results to Justin so he can tell me if we're expecting a little girl or boy. We both think it's another girl but EVERYONE else thinks it's a boy. Hopefully we will know the answer in a couple weeks :-).

And for our last PWOC of the year we had a Mad Hatter's Tea Party. It was so much fun! For those of you that don't know, I've been stretching myself in my musical abilities for our bible study. I've been leading praise and worship each Tuesday morning which consisted of me playing the piano and singing. It has been a true joy for me (I now understand Justin's passion for worship leading!) and I have grown closer to our Lord and Savior through worship. Here is a group picture of our Ft. Richardson PWOC:

Big Sister Practice

Last night Joelle and I got to babysit Molly, our friend Ashley's 3 month old daughter. It was great practice for me to juggle both Joelle and a baby. But the best part was seeing Joelle enter the role of a big sister. She completely loved on Molly and it was so sweet! I propped Molly up on the couch and Joelle promptly pointed out her facial features to me (Joelle knows eye, nose, ear, mouth). She then wanted to sit on the couch with Molly. After I put her on the couch she showed interest in holding Molly. I wasn't too sure about letting her try it but I decided to put Joelle in the corner of the couch to see how it would go. I put Molly in her lap and Joelle immediately put her arms around her and looked up at me with a huge grin. She was beaming with joy! It was so cute! I quickly ran to get the camera to capture the moment. Of course, the smile isn't nearly as big in this picture:
Joelle also LOVES to love on other kids with kisses and hugs. So she of course extended the love to Molly:
Overall.....I am now so excited for Joelle to be a big sister to Baby #2 in October! I think she is going to be a fabulous big sister :-)!

Radio Flyer!

Joelle has a new summer ride....her PINK Radio Flyer! It has a bar in the back that I use to push and steer the trike so Joelle can actually go places. Her legs don't quite reach the pedals. It's our new stroller for the summer to get around post. We've walked twice to the post chapel with her riding on it. She LOVES it! She's all smiles!

So it has been a long time!

I realize it has been FOREVER since I last posted. I have been so busy lately! Here's a quick recap....I moved on post without Justin and the Army starting April 18. Luckily I have fabulous friends here in AK and a wonderful church. I had short notice of my move and was able to give my church a 6 day notice of my need. I had 13 men from my church show up to move me with SUV's, trucks and trailers, and even a big moving van! It was amazing! Praise God! So I've been settling in the past few weeks. Once I finally take pictures of the house I'll post them.

As for me, I'm now 17 weeks pregnant and starting to feel it. But baby #2 seems to be doing well. The big ultrasound is at the end of May. Any takers on what the gender is??

Joelle is terribly teething. she currently has 10 teeth and two more molars are trying to pop through on the bottom. She is not handling it well so let's hope they pop through soon!

Justin is doing an amazing job at work. All I gotta say.....Sappers Rock!

Here are some recent pictures of Joelle. Enjoy!