The Pritchard Cafe

An update with pictures

2009-08-16T17:01:00.001-07:00

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?

2009-07-11T22:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-23T23:37:00.000-07:00

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

A Moose on the Loose!

2009-06-10T23:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-10T22:20:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-01T12:58:00.000-07:00

Pigtails!

2009-05-31T21:54:00.001-07:00

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.......

2009-05-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-23T16:16:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-19T15:49:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-15T23:38:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-06T22:34:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-28T22:11:00.000-07:00

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.....

2009-03-28T22:08:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-22T16:20:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-29T14:18:00.001-08:00

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!

2009-01-14T03:57:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-01-14T03:47:00.000-08:00

Happy 1st Birthday Joelle!

2009-01-08T20:34:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-27T20:36:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-22T21:21:00.001-08:00

Santa, Take Two

2008-12-22T21:08:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-19T11:56:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-03T11:42:00.000-08:00

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:

The worst week....

2008-11-14T23:08:00.001-08:00

This was such a hard week for me I'm so glad it's over. Joelle got sick with the flu bug....vomiting, fever, diarrhea, etc. I felt so bad for her. But then two days later I got the bug! I never realized just how hard being a mom is until having to take care of a sick baby while being sick. I was practically bed ridden having to change diarrhea diapers, take temperatures and feed Joelle. Oh it was awful! By day 3 we were starting to feel better and by day 4 we were back to normal.

While being sick I also had to deal with some FRG yuck (rumors!) and that was a terrible thing to have to deal with while feeling yucky. We did seem to get it all resolved and squash the source of the FRG yuck, but through it all I sure felt like Satan was lurking waiting for me to give up.

Today was my first FRG meeting. On my way to the meeting I had a few butterflies in my stomach because of what had happened during the week. I had to stop by the PX to buy a few items and wouldn't you know it that my total comes to $6.66!!! I looked at the total shocked, started to laugh and asked the cashier if he could add a penny to make it $6.67. With the week I had it was a huge sign that Satan was still there waiting for me to fall. But the cashier laughed and I paid the correct price. I then called my mom and said "PRAY FOR THE MEETING!".

My meeting went very well! I am blessed with a great co-leader who has the same goals as I do. We had 10 ladies come out and some great conversations were made. So take that Satan! I won after all! The Lord was so faithful to me tonight :-)

So that has been my worst week ever. Of course I did spare you all of some details. I feel like even through the muck I continue to look to the Lord and He will prove Himself faithful and guide me to success. I defeated the week!!!

I've Been Tagged!!!! You could be next....

2008-11-01T17:05:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Kinslee Pounder, I've been tagged! So here I go....

1. Justin and I have been married for almost 5 years and we've lived in 4 states and had 6 houses.
2. I love holiday foods. Bring on the pumpkin and eggnog! November 4th eggnog lattes are at Starbucks!
3. I just started leading worship at our PWOC, which means I play the piano and sing at the same time. It's really hard, but I'm getting better at it each week.
4. I hate dry hands! I constantly put lotion on my hands.
5. I can't eat without a napkin. It's pretty rare you'll find me eating without a napkin in hand.
6. I enjoy cooking and baking. I don't think I'm great at it, but I really enjoy it. It's hard when Justin is away but that's when I end up cooking for all my friends. Actually it usually turns into a big potluck and a big recipe exchange :-).
7. I'm obsessed with clean floors. I usually vacuum my floors 2-3 times a week. I know it's having two dogs that does this to me.

Alright, it's my turn to tag! I tag Erin Crowe, Kristin Seholm, Angie Houston, Kelly McCullough, Ashley McPherson, Jlyn Pritchard, Kelly Douglas, Heidi Maracle, and Shannon Chaput. Ok, it's all my friends with blogs :-)

Happy Halloween!!

2008-10-31T10:09:00.000-07:00

Our Beautiful Halloween Butterfly

Brrrrrrr!!!!

2008-10-28T15:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at 8:30am I was driving onto post and noticed my car thermometer read 3 degrees. This morning my car read 2 degrees. Yes, 2 DEGREES! It's getting cold here, but it honestly doesn't feel like 2 degrees outside. It feels more like 20 degrees....I know, odd statement. The mountains are covered in snow and the sun is shining bright in the blue skies. It really is beautiful! Our days are now 9am to 7pm. I hear they eventually go from 10am to 3pm. That will be a little bit of a change, but not too bad.

So I guess this is a little weather update from Anchorage, brought to you by the Pritchard household. :-)

Change of Command

2008-10-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday October 22 Justin took command of Alpha Company. It all happened very fast....two weeks notice! We quickly put an order in at Costco for sandwich platters, fruit and veggie platters, and three crockpots of meatballs. It was yummy and we had SO MANY LEFTOVERS!

For those of you that know Justin's military past, he has ONLY been a part of Alpha Company! It's funny that we can't seem to escape it. And within the first four hours of being a commander he chaptered two guys out of the army (that means they were kicked out)! Of course this wasn't really his doing, he just happened to be their commander.

As for me, I'm excited to start back up with FRG. The previous company commander and his wife did an amazing job with the FRG and that makes me so happy! Life really is about to get busy again...I hope I'm ready for it.

The Next Mozart?

2008-10-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

Since we've received our piano I have been putting Joelle on my lap while I play. She usually bangs on the keys and I play songs around her. Her new discovery is that she can pull herself up to the piano when I'm not with her and she can bang on the keys herself. She really thinks it's fun! And sometimes she sings along....too cute!

Winter in the Fall

2008-10-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

Our Backyard

So I'm trying to keep the fall spirit alive with my fall tree

I think it's working!

Erin is the best!

2008-10-06T22:16:00.001-07:00

Even when I only knew her for 7 months and then moved away she has proved to be a priceless friend. We used to live across the street from each other and we both had baby girls born two months apart. It was great to have a friend going through the same thing at the same time. We bounced so many mothering questions off of each other. Thank you Erin Crowe for still being there as a great friend and thinking of me! She put this in her blog and nominated me, now it's my turn to answer and pass it along:

Things I value:

1. My relationship with Jesus Christ. I wouldn't be who I am without Him.

2. My relationship with my husband. I love him so much and I'm so thankful for all he is and all he does.

3. My daughter. She has brought so much love as well as challenges into my life.

4. My friends. I love having friends all over the world and I am still able to call them close.

5. Service. Whether it's getting involved at church, with the Army, or in my neighborhood, I find it important to give back to those who serve me.

6. My family. Of course I wouldn't be here without them.

Things I don't:

1. Negative people. Learn to love life!

2. Complainers. If you don't like it, learn to get involved to fix it!

3. Heirlooms. The person means more than the thing. I'll take a picture over a silly object.

4. Coupons. Why should I have to buy two boxes of kleenex to save 50 cents when I only wanted one box?

5. Wealth. I value staying at home with my daughter way more than going to work to make a few extra bucks!

6. Advice that wasn't asked for. If I want it, I WILL ask for it. Otherwise you're really just bothering me.

*Whew! I was really hard to think of things I don't value.*

I nominate Danielle Boateng! She is newly pregnant with a little girl to add to the Army Engineer group (go girls!). She now lives in New Jersey while her husband is in Afghanistan.

Well, it's official....

2008-10-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

IT'S WINTER IN ALASKA!

It snowed today for the first time in this winter season. And how strange that today is only October 3! I drove to Fred Meyer to do some grocery shopping and noticed that the rain was looking like it was trying to become snow. As I was leaving the check-out stand and heading to the doors I saw the snow falling. It probably snowed for 10 minutes, but it's not cold enough for any of it to stick. We ordered my snow tires last weekend and get them put on tomorrow....just in the nick of time! I sort of feel like I need to change my blog background to a winter theme, but that could be there for a long time. I hear winter lasts from October to April....I guess I didn't believe that until now!

it's raining birch leaves!

2008-10-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

Fall is in full swing, and actually could be over by next week (at least that's what we hear)! Yesterday was a beautiful day with the sun shining and the temperature was 47 degrees (yes, that's a beautiful day here). So Joelle and I bundled up and we raked a ton of birch leaves in the front yard and planted flower bulbs. Of course once I got a huge pile of leaves I had to throw Joelle in and get a few pictures!

Joelle's new ride!

2008-10-01T10:28:00.001-07:00

We just bought a baby carrier backpack for Joelle. It really is a necessity for living here since a lot of activities are outdoors. We took her out in it the other day and she really seemed to like it. She even fell asleep towards the end!

We went walking on a gorgeous day and we really discovered the beauty of Alaska and where we live. We are surrounded by the Chugach Mountains. We can see them out the front window of our house. Over the past two weeks we have seen snow at their peeks and it seems that everyday the snow creeps lower down the moutains. Winter is coming! These are pictures taken from our walk in our neighborhood and just outside the neighborhood on trails that connect all throughout the city.This one was taken down our neighborhood street:

And here's a picture of Justin with Joelle and Ben and Ellie on a trail just outside our house:

I can still learn new things

2008-09-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

I can now add mowing the lawn to my list of skills. Justin taught me how to mow the lawn last weekend. Since we no longer live on post and have a lawn service mowing our lawn we now have to do it ourselves. Naturally, that's Justin's job. However, he is leaving for Afghanistan in the future and so that changes his household job requirements to....well, not much at all. I was left with the dilema of who to mow the lawn. Of course I can hire a neighbor kid to do it, but since the oldest is 6 years old I don't see that happening. So it boiled down to me. Justin taught me how to check the oil, clean the bottom out, put in gas, and then of course...mow the lawn. It really was a lot easier than I thought. Here's proof that I did it:

Blogspot HELP!

2008-09-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

As you can see something has happened to my blog and everything that should be on the right side is now at the bottom. What has happened? I was trying to upload my slide show when I got a few errors but thought I fixed them. Does anyone know how to fix my problem?

Ok, I fixed my own problem! Yeah for me! An FYI for everyone else....if you upload pictures that are too wide for the column it will bump your sidebar down so it can fit your picture.

Happy Blogging Everyone!

8 month old slide

2008-09-08T13:05:00.001-07:00

8 months old!

2008-09-08T12:08:00.001-07:00

Joelle is now 8 months old....my how time flies! Here is her list of accomplishments:

*She has been to 9 states and one foreign country (Canada).

*She has been on 12 airplane rides.

*She eats from a spoon very well. She loves fruits and cereals the best.

*She can successfully pick up cheerios with her fingers and put them in her mouth.

*She sits up to play and grabs toys out of baskets.

*She "creeps" on the floor....not quite crawling yet.
*No teeth yet.
*Hair is growing, just a little hard to see.
*She is still in her bucket car seat and can probably last a few more months.
*She LOVES listening to daddy play his guitar (she even holds the egg shaker and is the percussion section).
*She still sucks her thumb and plays with the pacifier.
*She loves to smile and laugh and sometimes scrunches up her face and laughs by blowing air in and out of her nose (I need to get a video camera to show it...it's so cute!).
*She still wears 6 month clothes and even some 3 month clothes.
*She loves to laugh at the dogs.
*She rubs her eyes when she's tired.
*She takes 3 naps a day and sleeps 11 hours at night. That totally makes up for the first 8 weeks of one hour asleep and 1 hour awake...that was terrible!

Justin and I are loving being her parents more and more each day. She has become such a joy in our life.

smurfs

2008-09-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

We finally did some much needed yard work to the house last weekend and discovered another clump of huge and colorful mushrooms. Living on the coast creates lots of rain which means lots of moisture for mushrooms to grow. These mushrooms grew to be 5-6 inches tall and the tops of them umbrellaed out to probably 4 inches in diameter. They were huge! Although I'm sure to some of you they really aren't that large, but I have never seen mushrooms so big just growing in a yard. We decided the smurfs must live there.

Along with finding the mushrooms we decided to dig out a rhubard plant that had not been cared for in the last four years and was greatly overgrown. We probably could have entered a stem in the state fair and won because it was so large! The most incredible part was the root of the plant. HUGE! And unfortunately we took out some raspberry plants in the back that were starting to take over the fence. Raspberry's grow everywhere here and I was a little sad to see them go, but the yard does look so much better.

And the front of our house looks bare these days...but so much better! There were YEARS of weeds growing in unleveled flower beds. I spent 4 hours one afternoon weeding and Justin finished up over the weekend. Now there's just dirt, with flower bulbs soon to come, and the beds are now level thanks to Justin. We also threw out hanging planters with dead flowers that were so lovingly left by the owners.

I will update with house pictures soon. Our storage goods from North Carolina are arriving next week. We will get the house officially set up and then the camera will get clicking!

Meeting a Fish at a Seward, AK Aquarium

2008-08-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

food, food, glorious food

2008-08-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

Joelle is getting so much better eating "real" food. I put quotations on it because it's all pureed with the occasional corn pieces, noodles and puffs. I put just about anything in front of her now, of course it needs to be swallowable. We started her with the veggies and she used to love them. But now she has grown to have a sweet tooth (except she doesn't have any teeth yet at almost 8 months old...so I guess she has sweet gums!) and it is so hard for me to get her to eat her veggies. I have to swap spoon fulls back and forth between fruits and veggies so she gets tricked into eating it. Last night she threw a huge tantrum since she didn't have any fruit with her dinner. She didn't eat as much either...I think she thought I would give in and give her the fruit. She definitely got the wrong mom for that! Poor girl. I can already tell I'm going to be a real stickler.

Here's Joelle with her tray full of corn I cut off the cob. She loved trying to get those pieces in her mouth!

caribou, moose, and BEARS--OH MY!!

2008-08-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

Here we are in the metropolis of Anchorage, Alaska and we actually have to worry about bears. Since we have lived here there have been 4 known bear attacks on humans. Two of those were in public parks. One was on a woman who was running on a trail through a park with her dog. None of those attacks have been fatalities (thank the Lord!) but all have been in serious condition and hospitalized.

On Ft. Richardson/Elmandorf AFB you are not allowed to leave your trash out on the curb overnight due to the bear problem. Bears have been known to wander through the neighborhoods and rummage through the trash. You will git FINED if you live on post and leave your trash out. These bears are such an issue! As a matter of fact, the AFB set up a trap using Cinnabons and caught one of the bears. Pretty incredible, and slightly strange.

All of this has put a damper on my need to walk the dogs outdoors. We have learned that the dogs will not protect me, but we draw the bears towards me. Not what I'm going for! I figure if I walk in our Anchorage neighborhood I should be ok since our neighborhood is surrounded by main roads, but I don't know I'll find myself walking on the great trails throughout the city with the dogs. Kind of sad.

This picture is from the National Wildlife Conservation in Girdwood, AK. Notice the bear is behind a fence....otherwise I would not be this close to it!

At the conservation we also saw caribou, bald eagles, musk ox, buffalo and moose. Here's Joelle and Justin by a moose.

And like I said in a previous post, the moose are EVERYWHERE! We've seen at least four on post and have heard of many others on road ways. In our Newcomer's Brief (which I didn't stay for since it was 9am-5pm!) everyone was taught what to do if you encounter a moose or bear. Wow! Never thought I'd need to get educated on that!

The Great Adventure: July 12-17

2008-08-20T14:15:00.000-07:00

We started our drive from Spokane, WA to Ft. Richardson, AK on July 12. It really was a great drive that day. The weather was beautiful and on paper it was only a 6 hour drive, so reality for us was an 8 1/2 hour drive (two dogs and a baby really add on time, plus we had a long wait at the border). The rest of our six day drive consisted of 10 to 12 hours a day driving.

It was day two that we really saw the beauty in the BC Rocky Mountains. I couldn't believe how we were driving right through these gigantic mountains. It was unbelievably beautiful! As the days went on we really experienced the majesty and the beauty of the Lord's great outdoors. I am so glad we were able to see it.

We saw numerous black bears, buffalo, mountain sheep and caribou walking along the sides of the road. We were told about all the moose along the ALCAN but we only saw four and they were all females in the distance. But we've seen a handful since being here in Anchorage. And most have been on Ft. Richardson.

We were able to see a few glaciers in the mountains

The gas prices throughout this trip were unbelievable! If it weren't for the Army paying us for this trip we probably would have never gone. It cost us around $50 for almost 9 gallons of gas. Ouch! Of course we did drive two cars, so our gas totaled $2,000 for the trip. We thank the Army for picking up the tab on that one.

It was pretty interesting driving on the ALCAN and not really knowing when the next gas station would show up. They had road signs with towns posted and the kilometers left until we got there, but a town really consisted of a lodge and the family running the lodge. Most had a gas station but it was only one or two pumps. We had a rule that we would never let our gas tanks get below half a tank. We know people who actually did run out of gas because they got to the gas station too late in the evening and it was closed. Thank the Lord that didn't happen to us!

This was our first road sign that said Alaska! This was on day 5. We were so excited! The end was nearing!

At the end of the ALCAN right before you get into Alaska there is a 50 or so mile stretch of these "roller coaster roads". THEY'RE TERRIBLE! It really is a ton of little dips in the road that sneak up on you. You're constantly hitting the brakes, swerving, listening to your car crash to the ground....it was soooooo not cool.

On day 6 we finally made it into Ft. Richardson. Our cars proved to be faithful and got us there safely. On day 4 my CD player broke which was a huge bummer, but Justin brought his ipod adapter which uses a radio station so you can hear the ipod and we were both able to listen to the ipod if we were both on the same station. Pretty cool! I also got a ton of rock chips in my windshield and had to replace my brakes once we got to Anchorage, but besides that we were never broken down on the side of the road or had any car accidents. Praise the Lord! You really are out in the middle of nowhere without any cell phone coverage with hundreds of miles between "towns" and only the occassional passerby on the road.

Here's a picture of Joelle with one foot in the Yukon and one foot in Alaska

cute cousins...awww :-)

2008-08-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

We were able to stay in Spokane, WA for almost two weeks. The best part was definitely seeing Joelle with her cousin Xander (Alexander). Joelle is two months older than him but he is much bigger than her. He's probably at least three pounds heavier! They are so cute together. Joelle has this thing where she has to touch people when she sees them.

Hello Xander!

So serious. But they are so cute!

My younger sister Erica, Me with Joelle, and my older sister Jill with Xander

Yellowstone National Park: June 30

2008-08-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

We made sure to stop by Yellowstone on our way. And FYI: if you're on military orders (like we were) you can show them at the gate and get in for free. It'll save you $25.00

The park was pretty cool. The scenery is beautiful! We saw lots of buffalo, a few bears in the distance, beautiful waterfalls, played with snow in the mountains, and of course visited the geysers.

Here we are at Old Faithful

This is a beautiful waterfall with the constant rainbow. I loved it!

Of course, what's Yellowstone without a big buffalo right outside your car?

The day ended up being super hot, which made it hard to walk around with Joelle. And feeding her in the car throughout the day wasn't great either. But it was a fun trip and we are glad we decided to visit.

A Shout Out to the Bumbo!

2008-08-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

The people who made Bumbo's are geniuses! Since we started Joelle on baby food right before we began our large move to Alaska the Bumbo became an essential part of our day. It became her highchair and playchair. I don't know what we would have done without that seat.

Here I am feeding Joelle in the frontseat of my car (which we did quite often)

As you can see, it didn't phase her one bit :-)

saying goodbye

2008-08-20T12:59:00.001-07:00

I never expected it to be hard leaving Ft. Leonard Wood, but it ended up being a little sad. The Lord blessed us immensely while we were there. I was able to meet a handful of women who were having babies the same time as me. We were able to watch our babies grow together and share stories and learn from each other. It was priceless! I also had a large group of other friends that grew to be my weekly lunch group. And of course there was our great sunday school class at Westside Baptist Church. That was a wonderful group of people and our teachers, Tom and Robyn Crabtree, are wonderful and priceless :-).

Of course, nothing can compare to The Delafield Crew! We had so much fun being a part of it. Justin would occasionally "Catch the Bus" to school (the carpool). Also we would have our monthly (or so it seemed sometimes weekly) get togethers which was either a BBQ or out to dinner. We had so much fun on Delafield! It was hard to say goodbye to that group.

The Delafield Crew was so great and threw us a going away party. How wonderful are they!? We already miss you guys and hope that our journey's in the Army have us living by each other again (except...maybe not Jack Johannes since he's not airborne! Ha! Just kidding Jack :-) I would be your neighbor any day.)

I'm Back!

2008-08-20T12:26:00.001-07:00

Hello Friends and Family!

We are now almost settled here in Alaska and I have found time and energy to update this blog. The bad news is that the high speed internet here is actually painfully slow. It takes minutes to upload pictures. I will do my best to recap our adventure but it could take me awhile. So I will blog in phases.

We made it to Alaska July 17 and in four days had nailed down a rental house. We were then able to hang out on Anchorage for awhile before we went back to Spokane, WA for my sister's wedding on Aug. 1. We moved into our house Aug. 6, which of course proved to be another military move with issues. The movers never give an exact time they will show up, just sometime between 8am and 5pm. We have a few moves under our belt now and NONE of them have happened before 10am. Justin had to go into work at 7am and we thought for sure he would be back before the movers. WRONG! At 8:30am a contractor showed up to continue painting the inside of the house (the house wasn't quite ready for us like it should have been), at 8:40am the moving truck shows up, at 8:45am Joelle decides she's hungry (and we're talking cereal...not a bottle). The next thing I know I hear lawn mowers going. The realtor had contacted a lawn service to cut the grass since it hadn't been done yet. Of course they opened the gate and the dogs went running into the front yard. So I now have a hungry baby on my hip, clipboard in hand checking off boxes as they come into the house, dogs running in the yard, and a contractor painting the house. The contractor thankfully saw I had my hands full and he left and came back hours later. I called Justin and he showed up around 9:50am. But praise the Lord for great neighbors! Our neighbor came by to introduce himself and noticed I had my hands full. He left and came back with a coffee his wife fixed for me and a bouncer for Joelle so my hands could be freed. I definitely felt taken care of :-)

goodbye Spokane, hello ALCAN highway!

2008-07-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we are leaving Spokane, WA and starting our journey up the ALCAN highway to Ft. Richardson, AK. Our stay in Spokane was good, but long. It was great to visit with friends and family and continue to socialize Joelle.

I hope to update our blog with pictures once we get settled in AK. I have great pictures from our move and also from our stop in Yellowstone National Park.

Please keep us in your prayers as we drive 6 days through Canada and into Alaska. What a journey we have ahead of us!

happy 4th of july

2008-07-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

Enjoy our new background in honor of the 4th!

Alaska Or Bust: The Journey

2008-06-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

Day 1: FLW to Omaha, NE
Today we commenced our exciting adventure to Alaska. We got a later start then desired, 10:40am to be exact. Two days ago I [Justin] became very sick and had a fever of 103 degrees. We though I was better, but I woke up today puking my guts out. Beth threatened me with death if I did not go to the hospital. So after the doc gave me some meds we hit the road. Joelle did well today. We had to stop twice to feed and change her. We only experienced a little rain along the way. Tomorrow it's off to Rapid City, SD.

Alaska or bust!

2008-06-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to let all of you know that we are officially starting our moving process to Alaska! My blog will be on hiatus for awhile as we are traveling. Here are some ways you can keep in touch with us through prayer:

1. Pray that Joelle travels well in her carseat for 8+ hours each day.
2. Pray for our dogs health and safety along the way.
3. Pray that our cars are protected and we won't run into any car problems.
4. Pray that the other drivers around us are safe drivers.
5. Pray that Justin and I can continue to stay calm during our move and enjoy the process.
6. Pray that we will be able to found a house quickly once we get to Alaska that will meet all of our needs.
7. Pray that our household goods will be handled with respect and show up in Alaska undamaged.
8. Pray for Justin's upcoming job, his boss, co-workers, and his ability to share his faith with them.
9. Pray we will find a great church where we can serve the body and also has a great nursery for Joelle.
10. Pray for our new neighbors.

Thank you so much for your prayers! As soon as I get a chance I will update the blog with our adventures!

something new

2008-06-15T17:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day! Today we gave Joelle rice cereal for the first time. She is just about 5 1/2 months old. It seemed to go ok, we probably got around 10 spoonfuls of cereal in her mouth. She didn't act like she didn't like it, she just accepted it as something new. This will be our new morning routine for the next week. Oh, and if you're wondering about the Bumbo seat on the table, that's because we're moving in 1 week and it didn't seem worth the trouble to pull out a brand new highchair for 1 weeks worth of use. And no, I don't leave Joelle unattended in her Bumbo seat :-)

Congratulations to the Graduate!

2008-06-14T05:21:00.001-07:00

On June 12, 2008 Captain Justin Pritchard graduated from the Engineer Captain's Career Course. He graduated as a Distiguished Graduate. Good job! A lot of time and hard work went into this school, now he is technically capable to command a company of soldiers. We are so proud of him!

Here, Justin is getting his diploma from General Martin, the school Commandant (sorry the picture isn't very good....I was holding a very fussy Joelle in one arm and taking pictures with the other).

Their guest speaker was Colonel Meyer. At one point he asked the graduates if they would like the $20 bill he was holding. He asked those who wanted it to stand up. Only 10 or so people stood up out of 55! Justin was one of them. The COL then "destroyed" the bill by crumpling it in his hand and stepping on it. But it was still intact. He then threw it into the audience for one of the 10 to catch...and Justin caught it! So we went out to lunch on the COL! Here's a picture of Justin catching the $20 bill.

And finally, Justin's class was divided into different groups throughout the course. These were the groups they conducted missions and projects with. He was a part of Delta group. It was a great group of people that loved working with each other, hanging out together, going fishing/canoeing and pig roasting together...they were all around great people. Here is one of their group pictures.

CONGRATULATIONS JUSTIN!! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!

new mobility

2008-06-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

Joelle has now learned how to roll over! We have been waiting awhile for this. Within the past month she would get absolutely upset and frustrated with being on her stomach and so I was hoping rolling over would be achieved soon. Last saturday, June 7, I was watching her on the playmat and it looked like she just might make it happen. I called Justin to come and watch and within the minute she rolled over! We were so excited and cheered her on, but she looked very confused as to why we were so happy. Crawling could be just around the corner...but I hope not! I like her staying stationary.

who IS that??

2008-06-11T12:50:00.000-07:00

Discovering her new friend in the mirror

fashionista

2008-06-09T07:32:00.000-07:00

Joelle's beautiful boutique style dress. We love it! Thank you Oma!

The new Captain Pritchard. Engineers All The Way! Airborne!!

tornadoes and flash flooding

2008-06-09T07:16:00.000-07:00

Last friday we had the joy of experiencing yet another tornado warning. This is at least the 4th time the sirens have gone off since we've lived here (going on 7 months). But this time seemed a little bit scarier.

While watching TV the sirens starting sounding so I flipped through the channels to find the news to see what was going on. Of course, since we live in a tiny part of Missouri there wasn't any good coverage of the weather surrounding me. I finally landed on a station that showed a tiny map of the counties in the bottom left corner of the screen. Our county was in the hottest pink color...the only color I had yet to see it in...TORNADO WARNING! We've had plenty of tornado watches, but no warnings. Then the TV screen went black and a warning came through the TV saying "A TORNADO IS THREATENING FORT LEONARD WOOD! TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY!" So naturally I ran to the window to get a good look! I know, stupid, but I had never seen a tornado. But as the sirens kept squealing I decided to round up the dogs, Joelle, my shoes, purse, and first aid kit and sat in the hallway for about 5 minutes. Justin did manage to call from the school house to let me know they were in a "safe room" and wanted to be sure I knew what was going on. Soon after we talked the "all clear" sounded (which really is a ridiculous song that sounds like the ice cream truck is coming through) and I knew the thrill was over. I went back to cleaning up the kitchen and then a DOWNPOUR of rain came through. AHHHH....now we were under FLASH FLOODING. Within minutes our street was flooded by at least 4 inches of rain. AMAZING!

2008-06-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

Who does Joelle look like most? Justin or Beth?

our spring flower

2008-05-31T09:10:00.001-07:00

what the poop...?!

2008-05-31T08:50:00.000-07:00

Joelle and I went for a walk a few mornings ago with a friend before it got too hot out. When we came home I realized that we didn't have any water pressure at any of the sinks. After talking to a friend we found out that the water to our neighborhood was shut off temporarily due to construction. No big deal. EXCEPT...Joelle had a MAJOR BLOW OUT in her diaper! She had poop coming out the back of her diaper and going all the way up to her neck! I successfully removed her shirt over her head without getting more of her head dirty. I had to stand her up to clean her so she wouldn't get everything dirty. She got a baby wipes bath since I couldn't throw her in the tub. Once she was cleaned I then had the dilema of how to clean her "Mommy's little sweetie" white shirt (which I understand is a very ironic shirt for her to be wearing!)...because we all know that baby poop stains. My only water source was the Brita in the fridge. So I emptied it into a pot and heated it up a bit. I added some baby Oxyclean and soaked the shirt for 10+ hours. FYI: 90% of the stain came out! Later that evening we did get the water back on and I was at least able to shower. What an adventure!

editing

2008-05-31T06:19:00.000-07:00

I'm learning how to edit my own pictures. Here's a few that I played around with this morning. This sure can get addicting! My goal is to eliminate the middle man and just take my own pictures. I think with editing I should be able to do that.

The brown toned picture is probably my favorite! I think it captures Joelle very well. The sketched picture is SO NEAT! I can't get over how unique it is. And I had to include the picture of Joelle and me because....well...there just aren't very many pictures of the two of us, or any pictures of me for that matter. I guess that's what happens when you are the picture taker!

All editing is compliments of www.picnik.com

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-05-27T15:28:00.001-07:00

12 legs on a walk

2008-05-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

I took the dogs for a walk today with Joelle in the front carrier. It's always an adventure! Ellie's nose usually gets the best of her, which means I'm constantly tugging on her to stay with us. Ben can get so excited when he sees other people (or animals!). So sometimes Joelle and I get pulled a house's length or two. But today the dogs did really well! Hallelujah! BUT Joelle was a mess! Halfway through the walk she decided to cry...and not stop! Can't I get a break? I guess a peaceful walk won't be happening anytime soon. Oh well, I still GREATLY enjoy my life!

beauty at 4 months

2008-05-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

Joelle is now four months old and it is so fun to think back on how much she has grown and learned in such a small amount of time. She now does a little bit better on her tummy each time I lay her down. She LOVES to laugh and smile! Which of course we love too! Drooling is a huge part of her life right now as well as "talking" a lot to us. She is becoming her own person and it's so fun to see who she will be.

like Joelle, like Daddy

2008-05-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

Joelle loves to suck on her thumb and sometimes that turns into sucking on her hand...which then turns into shoving her whole hand in her mouth. I was snapping away on my camera and daddy decided to join Joelle in all her fun. What can I say? Like Joelle, like Daddy!

AND sucking on Daddy's nose seems to be fun too! Go figure!

t-shirt love...

2008-04-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is about having a t-shirt on your head, but it makes me laugh! Last night as I was undressing Joelle and getting her ready for bedtime her t-shirt got pulled over her head, but stuck there, and it went inside out with the sleeves poking out the sides. It just was so funny to me! Of course I called Justin and had him snap a few picturs. Not sure why this is so hilarious to me...but it is!

how quickly time goes by

2008-04-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

Joelle is now 3 1/2 months old. I can't believe it! While I'm trying to learn how to set up a blog I thought I'd try posting a picture of Joelle.

Let's Give This a Whirl

2008-04-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

Today after viewing other friend's blogs I decided to try one for myself. I'm hoping to be able to change the backgrounds, add pictures, you know....MAKE IT LOOK COOL! Not much to add at this point. Let's see what I can make this look like...