Ash shower from Mt. Redoubt

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.....

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

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

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!

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...

Happy 1st Birthday Joelle!

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!!!