The Pritchard Cafe

An update with pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:01:00 +0000

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?

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 05:33:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 05:14:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:37:00 +0000

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

A Moose on the Loose!

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 06:07:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:20:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:58:00 +0000

Pigtails!

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:54:00 +0000

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.......

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Sat, 30 May 2009 20:34:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Sat, 23 May 2009 23:16:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Tue, 19 May 2009 22:49:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Sat, 16 May 2009 06:38:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:34:00 +0000

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!

Ash shower from Mt. Redoubt

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 05:11:00 +0000

After six days of eruptions from Mt. Redoubt, Anchorage is finally gaining some ash. Right now it's just a light dusting (like what you find on your coffee table when you don't dust, which of course is so normal at my house!). We will see what tomorrow brings. I'll try to take some pictures.

Mt. Redoubt has caused some issues for me. I visited family in Spokane, WA last week and I was supposed to return on Monday. Well, that was day one of eruptions. I was advised at the ticket counter at the airport to book a hotel for when I get to Seattle so I have a place to stay in the very likely situation that my flight is canceled (the two flights before mine were canceled). So instead of booking a hotel I just stayed two more days in Spokane. I did find out later my flight was not canceled but there was no way of knowing that when I needed to board my plane in Spokane. I did finally get out on Wednesday and made it home that evening. It was a good thing too! ALL flights on Thursday in and out of Anchorage were canceled due to more eruptions. Whew was God good to me! So really it was just a matter of time before the ash reached Anchorage. No one knows how many more times Mt. Redoubt will erupt. Years ago when it erupted it was absolutely devastating to Anchorage. Way too much ash! Let's pray it doesn't get that bad. I better go shopping tomorrow for extra food.....just in case :-)

Something new.....

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 05:08:00 +0000

My laptop! I finally have my own laptop! I've never had my own computer before so this is very exciting for me. It had to be done since both our desktop and laptop have decided to go kaput on us. So I'm now very excited to personalize this into my own. But it will have to happen tomorrow. I'm tired and ready for bed. Just thought I'd share my fun news!

Lots of updates

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:20:00 +0000

I know it has been awhile since I've last posted. We have been so busy! So I guess I'll start with Justin's deployment ceremony. We had a special guest speaker.....the Governor of Alaska! It was very cool having her there speaking and supporting our troops.Joelle has recently discovered that she loves boxes! I had an empty Huggies box that was quickly turned into a soap box car. She loves it! One day I was on the phone for awhile and I knew Joelle was in her room playing so I did not worry about her. I later walked into her room and found her asleep in her box with a few of her stuffed animals.Joelle also learned from Daddy how to properly eat and enjoy Oreo's. She, of course, likes them!
Along with all of this fun stuff going on, we found out something else....
That's right! Baby #2 will be showing up October 2009! I'll keep you updated on our progress. My first appointment here isn't until I'm 10 weeks along so I've got a few more weeks to go before I know for sure there's a child in there and not just a food baby :-).

And our last bit of news is that Justin has left for his long journey. If you think of him please pray for him. Here are some of our last pictures:

Two Years of Stability About to End

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:18:00 +0000

We still have a little more time, but not much. Keep us in your prayers as we begin this next journey. We will be countries away but we will always remain a family.

Say a prayer for the troops!

Skiing in -22 degree weather...brrrr!

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:57:00 +0000

Justin and I were able to go cross country skiing with Jon and Jlyn while they were here visiting. It really was a lot of fun....and COLD!
Yes, that's Justin with icicles on his eyebrows! It was pretty amazing! I wore a hat that completely covered my face except my eyes, but then I got too hot and switched to my flower hat. Within minutes my hair was frozen! No, I did not frost my hair in that picture.

A better closeup of Justin's amazingness!
A frozen Jon and Jlyn!

We survived our outing with stinging toes and fingers (almost to the point of complete numbness), frozen faces and freezing body temperatures. Then we got the brilliant idea to visit the Chugach State Park. It's a short drive up a mountain. Beautiful views, but -30 degree weather! We ran to the lookout point to try and stay warm but then we couldn't catch our breath because we were so cold. But we got some amazing views of Anchorage and Denali (Mt. McKinley...North America's tallest peak).

The view is much more breathtaking in person.

a few more 1st birthday pictures...

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:47:00 +0000

Happy 1st Birthday Joelle!

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 04:34:00 +0000

We finally made it to Joelle's first birthday! Today she turned 1! Wow! We celebrated a few days early with Justin's family while they were here for a late Christmas gathering. This was the birthday of little chairs.

We gave Joelle a rocking moose (no horses in moose country!)
My mom and dad gave Joelle a rocking recliner and ottoman:
And Justin's parents gave Joelle a rocking chair:

She absolutely LOVES all of these gifts! She eagerly climbs onto each one and is so proud of herself when she gets them rocking. She is very excited to have her own piece of furniture that she can get on herself.

Joelle also has been walking for about 1 month and last week decided that crawling is "so last year". She is walking everywhere now and getting into everything. We have designated her own drawer in the kitchen. It is full of lids and she loves to pull them out every chance she gets. She loves to get her exercise by climbing the stairs....however she still has not learned how to climb back down. She loves to clap her hands, laugh, and say "mama", "dada", "baba", and loves to move her tongue from side to side while making noises. She no longer eats baby food....which is making my life SO MUCH EASIER! She also can sign "more" for more food and "all done" when she's done eating. That has also made our lives SO MUCH EASIER!

Joelle has blessed our lives immensely this past year. We have watched her grow from a 7 pound 2 ounce baby into a 20 pound toddler. We have watched her cries turn into smiles and laughs, her little arms give hugs, her mouth gives kisses, and her presence turn into love.

Happy First Birthday Joelle! We love you!!!

Cross Country Skiing

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 04:36:00 +0000

We are finding that in Anchorage cross country skiing is very popular. The city has numerous parks with large trail systems. The trails are groomed for cross country skiing in the winter and biking in the summer. We happen to live about 1 mile from Russian Jack Springs Park. We rented some cross country skis from post and decided to try them out. Joelle went in the backpack and we were off! It really is a lot of fun! We skied for about 30 minutes and Joelle was so comfortable she fell asleep! We will definitely be going more before spring hits.

Attack of the Lasagna!

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:21:00 +0000

Santa, Take Two

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:08:00 +0000

We got a second shot with Santa and it seemed to go better! Our neighbor is a fireman and he brought the Santa Truck into our neighborhood. The kids in the neighborhood got all bundled up to see Santa on the firetruck and then slide down the firetruck slide. It really was so cute!

Ok, so it wasn't all smiles:

Then again, maybe not

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:56:00 +0000

Joelle visited Santa Clause for the first time at our Battalion Christmas Party. It didn't go over too well. I was holding onto her hand and she walked towards him....slowly....and the closer we got the slower she walked. For a second it looked like she wasn't going to make it to him but then I had Justin go next to Santa to see if that would help. It did for a couple more steps and then......crying! So I picked her up and we got a picture and called it good. Yes, we officially now have a coveted baby crying with Santa picture. We will treasure it always!

Christmas for Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Beth Pritchard) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:42:00 +0000

This Thanksgiving we were able to have my entire family up from Spokane, WA. It was great having everyone here! The best part for us was getting to be with family in our own house. We did start the holiday with Thanksgiving. Everyone in the family contributed to a dish or two for the meal, so our kitchen was packed! It was a lot of fun. And Justin grilled a turkey again...so yummy!

My nephew Xander as a Thanksgiving turkey :-)

It was a lot of fun getting the cousins together. Joelle is two months older but she is the smaller of the two. She is almost walking (she has taken a few steps by herself) and Xander is sitting up on his own. They really liked playing together. Mostly sticking their hands in each others faces.

We went into Downtown Anchorage to attend a Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. It was so sweet and innocent. It was outdoors (ok, a little cold at 12 degrees) and we saw soloists singing Christmas songs, youth putting on the play "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and then Santa came with his reindeer. Yes, REAL reindeer! We got to pet Prancer. It was so much fun!
We also celebrated Christmas with the family. Joelle and Xander got to open their first Christmas gifts. I thought both of them would be a little more excited about tearing apart wrapping paper, but they were both very delicate about it. They seemed to get a bit of stage fright with all of us staring at them. Xander got an Alaska souds book (push the button and you hear the sounds of animals in Alaska) and a hand carved wooden Army tank! Joelle got The Velveteen Rabbit, a play vacuum and popper and some baby DVDs.
My sisters, their husbands and my nephew left Alaska on sunday and my parents stayed until Wednesday. Sunday evening we went with my parents and bought Alaska King Crab legs and had a big crab dinner. It was a lot of fun! It ended up being a little too much fun for Joelle as she fell asleep in her highchair.
We all had such a great time! Hopefully we'll be able to do it again before we move from Alaska. Here's some more fun pictures from the weekend: