2010: Our Year in Review

If I was into sending out Christmas letters with our postcards, I would have sent a letter that was way too long, bragged way too much about my wonderful family, and still wouldn't have even touched on the enormous amount of gratitude we feel  for all we've been blessed with this year.

I do know, however, how much I love reading about all of my treasured friends and loved ones' families, so for those who took the time to search out my blog to see what we've been up to, here's our year in review (and what you would have read, had I sent out a Christmas letter this year)....

The two most exciting things we can share from 2010 is our family vaction this summer and our move this fall. We spent the first half of the year saving our pennies and in June, we packed up our Suburban to the very top (not kidding) and drove to Alaska. We spent almost a month traveling through Canada and Alaska. We drove about 8,000 miles in our car, rode to the top of the Space Needle, hiked a glacier, saw the ocean and lots of wildlife, caught our “first fish”,  rode a ferry, dug up clams, played with cousins, swam in a hot spring, camped in the rain, and had many other grand adventures. We had a wonderful time together and have so many happy memories! In August, a wonderful opportunity and blessing was dropped in our lap, and we took it and moved forward with faith! We moved moved into a new pre-loved house that is just perfect for us! It has lots of room inside and out, and is absolutely beautiful! We really like our new ward, and love that we have so many new friends already. We've all adjusted pretty quickly, which helped our new house feel like "home" almost from the very first day. It's just where we're supposed to be!

Steve (our Daddy) still works for U.S. Congressman Mike Simpson. He loves his job, and also had an opportunity to help his boss get re-elected by working part-time at night and on weekends on the primary campaign. By June, he wasn't quite busy enough, so he accepted the Mayor's appointment to fill a vacant seat on the Pocatello City Council. It's been an eye-opening experience, and as much as he loves working with the other members of the board, he's really had to make some tough decisions and then stand behind what he feels is right and best for Pocatello. We're so proud of him. As entrepreneurs do, he's also found time to pad the family income with his direct mail business which helped out a lot during the campaign season (and our move) with 65,000 pieces of mail we designed, had printed, labeled, and sent out for several candidates. He has also been crazy busy this year getting our old house ready to rent, working out the little kinks in our new house, serving on a couple of other community and state boards, spending incredible quality time with his family, and tinkering in a couple of other business ventures. He was also recently called as the Cub Master in our new ward. He really likes having the opportunity to be the "funnest" 10 year-old in the ward!

Julia (Me, the Mommy) still loves being a stay-at-home mom. My kids are my life and I love that I have the opportunity to be totally involved in their activities and schools. This was also a year of change and growth for me as I discovered and learned much about myself and developed many new physical and spiritual strengths. I end the year much healthier and happier than I started it, and much more the person I want to be. I spent  a few months preparing for our trip and then a few more preparing to move. It's been a crazy year, but so many blessings have been thrown our way, I know that the Lord has watched over and blessed me to be able to keep up and be the kind of mother and wife I want to be. On our 3rd Sunday in our new ward, I was called to serve as the 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. In the short time I have served there (almost 2 months now), my heart has been changed, and I've seen the Lord's plan for our family start to unfold. As you can guess, I haven't had a lot of spare time for hobbies this year, but I still love baking, blogging, and reading, and playing with my family the most.

Sarah (17) has had a pretty good year. It's been a healthy one (heart-wise) with relatively little action in that department. She found out this year that she has a pretty severe case of Scoliosis, which has caused much more heartache and many more challenges, but takes it all in stride and remains her sweet little self. She is a senior in High school, and is beginning the new year with college and scholarship applications dancing in her head. Besides our family trip and moving, the highlight of her year was attending EFY at BYU-Idaho. It was such an amazing experience for her and she came back a changed teenager! She loves to spend time with our family, and all of her extra time with friends (live or on Facebook).

Rachel (14) has become the best traveled member of our family. In March, she went on the American Heritage Tour with other 8th Graders in the community. Her favorite things were spending time in New York City, and seeing "Wicked" on Broadway, and making so many new friends! She earned all $3,000 herself (with help from her terrific parents) and had a wonderful experience. She also started high school this year and absolutely loves it! Being in a "real school" now, she can wear make-up, "real clothes" and make many new friends. She stays busy with piano lessons (taking and teaching) and friends, and thoroughly enjoys having her own room!

Bryson (11) is in 5th Grade now and still loves school. He was recently released from his occupational therapy and had grown and matured in such amazing ways. We hardly ever see evidence of his Asperger's anymore, and his confidence is apparent in his constant smile. His drawing talent has continued to blossom as he draws everything from the most detailed dragons you've ever seen to cartoon mice with goofy grins. He absolutely loves scouts, and earned his Arrow of Light just before we moved. His new scout leaders are amazing and he is looking forward to camping and many other adventures in the spring with his new troop. With our move came a whole handful of friends just down the street, a few he already knew from school. Having so many friends to play with all the time is a new thing in his life, but just one more blessing that came with our new house.

Joshua (7) is in 2nd grade and has discovered the joy of reading. He loves non-fiction the best, and any information he can gather about space, electricity and mysteries of the natural world are the best. He still loves to take apart and build things, but has discovered a new love for science experiments. He loves to draw, too, but his drawings are usually of mechanical or body systems, or data charts from his experiments. He also loves to play the wii, run around the yard, and play with his brothers and friends.

Nathan (5) is spending his last year at home with Mom. He is such a fun boy. He spent the first part of the year being a pirate, and the last part of it being a scarecrow. He often changes several times a day, and mom has to be careful to keep up. He also loves to draw and shows much promise of following in his big brother's footsteps. He started sounding out words this fall and has recently "published" his first book, "The Wizrd of Pos." He also loves running errands with Mommy, reading books, visiting Great-Grandma Mangum, and following his brothers around and playing legos with them.

Our family has been blessed beyond measure this year, and knowing that our Heavenly Father loves and watches over us is among our greatest treasures. We are so grateful for our forever family and all the amazing things that have happened this year to help seal our bonds of love and friendship. We pray that you, our family and friends near and far, have also felt the love and blessings of God rest upon you this year. We love you and hope you all have a merry Christmas and an amazing new year!

Christmas Blessings

I just tucked five of my most amazing blessings in bed on this beautiful Christmas night, and headed to bed with tears streaming down my face and a giant lump in my throat. I felt I just had to take a minute to record the gratitude I feel gushing from my heart. I am so blessed to have such amazing children. They are so eager to do what is right, so happy to serve, so thoughtful and kind (most of the time), and very forgiving (the rest of the time). They love to learn, thrive on love, and love to make me smile. They each have such different personalities, and I wouldn't change a single thing about them. Those individuals are so very extraordinary I am so thankful for each of them, and so grateful that they are mine - forever. I went back into their rooms and told each of them that tonight...that I was thankful that Heavenly Father gave them to me and that they were part of our family. That's when the tears and lump started forming. What a great way to end a wonderful Christmas day. Now I get to crawl into bed with their father - the love of my life, my best friend, and the other greatest blessing in my life -  and snuggle down in his arms and cry with gratitude some more. I can't believe how much my Heavenly Father must love me to give me the privilege of loving such choice people, and helping me realize it again tonight. I'm still sitting here wondering if it's the tiredness from getting up at 5:00 this morning, the lingering sweet Christmas spirit we started the day with, or the nyquil I took to help me sleep thorough my cold, but whatever helped prepare me for this experience tonight, I'm...well, ...grateful.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas...

Here's what our Christmas postcards would have looked like, had they arrived in any of our family and friends' mailboxes this year. We got them back from the printer a week or so before Christmas, but they had a problem with all the shadows around the pictures, and had to be reprinted. I'm hoping to send the new ones out next week (yes...a whole week after Christmas) just to make sure everyone knows we still love them and were thinking about them again this year!

Merry Christmas to Me!

I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT! Last night, I went to weigh in at Weight Watchers, and after 33 weeks of weigh-ins, I met my weight-loss goal! After only losing a total of about 7.5 pounds through our Dixon Girls' Biggest Loser contest, I realized that my my eating was still a little out of control, even when I was "trying". I had hit a brick wall, and it seemed that stubborn spot on the scale just wouldn't ever give way. My mom, after having come to the same conclusion about her weight-loss adventure, joined Weight Watchers and told me all about it and that she was really excited. It sounded like exactly what I needed, too. I decided that I needed someone to be accountable to on the scale besides myself, and a place where I could go that someone else would tell me what to do, and ask me how I did. Obviously, my methods weren't working. So, I joined Weight Watchers last April - at 154.6 lbs. I just wanted to lose 15, just to get past that brick wall, and closer the mid-point of the BMI scale. (I later changed my goal to include another 5, to put me right smack in the middle of it.) I love the Weight Watchers Program. It encompasses all aspects of how our bodies process the food we take in, healthy eating, healthy smart habits, exercise or increased activity, group support and encouragement - and most importantly - it includes slow, steady maintain-able weight loss. It took me a while, (with the trip to Alaska and the last 3 pounds I lost over and over again) but I DID IT! Through this process, I broke a few really bad eating habits I didn't even realize I had, gained some self-control, and got a whole lot healthier! Oh, and I went down another pants size and feel terrific about myself! Merry Christmas to ME!

Why is life so crazy?

I've thought about my blog a lot the last few weeks and really planned to spend some time at least every Sunday posting, but time never seems to slow down enough to get to it. I've got at least 5 major things to post, in addition to our Family Road Trip to Alaska, plus all the things I wanted to put in since we've moved. We had half of Steve's family here for Thanksgiving (which was wonderful), and now I'm working on Christmas projects, cards, decorating, and shopping... Stay tuned, maybe I'll have some time to catch up before the year ends! I think I've decided all I want for Christmas this year is a couple more hours a day...

A New Adventure...

It's been such a long time since I've posted again... so much to catch up on! But, the most pressing matter at hand right now is the move into our big, beautiful, newer home on Fairway. It was interesting how it all happened. We weren't really looking--joking about moving occasionally, mostly to get a rise out of the girls--but thought eventually it would be nice to have a larger home, with more room. I've always wanted to be the "kool-aid mom" as my friend put it. I just wanted to be the kind of mom and have the kind of house I grew up with, that all the kids' friends want to be there. I just like to know where they are, and what they're doing. Anyway, Steve's friend is a realtor and called him to tell him that this house he was selling had been on and off the market for two years now, and that it had just been reduced another $20,000. (First listed two years ago at $319,000 and now down to $189,900!) He said it would be perfect for our family and we just HAD to look at it. So just for fun, we did.

...And we fell in LOVE! I couldn't believe how I could picture our family living there, our stuff in certain spots, and how much fun we'd have with all the extra space and entertaining possibilities. It kind of "felt" like home. So, we went home and looked at the budget, considered all the possibilities, fasted and prayed, and made an offer on the house. We asked for 90 days to allow us to take care of our house, we pay the asking price, and they pay our closing costs. We didn't expect it, but they actually accepted our offer.

Then, we had the problem of the house we'd been living in that had a lot of updating that needed to be done. We were currently on year 2 of a 5-year plan to remodel and fix it up. So far, we had put in new carpet and painted the whole upstairs except the playroom, kitchen and the bathroom. So, we kicked it into full gear, and in a month painted the bathroom and kitchen, tiled the kitchen and entry way, put in laminate flooring, a new sink, and tub surround in the bathroom, ripped out ancient carpet on the stairs and hallway downstairs and had new carpet put in, finished and painted the walls in the hallway downstairs (it was still sheet rock for all these years), and fixed up the bathroom downstairs with new texture, paint, and trim. In the process, we decided that we'd just rent this house for a couple of years, instead of trying to sell it. Much more work and money to sell rather than rent, and if we wait for the market to recover, we may be able to get enough out of it to cover our mortgage.

So, here we are, 66 days into our contract, and we are scheduled to close next Wednesday!! We are so excited about the new house, change of atmosphere, changes in our family, and the adventure of it all. We're sad to leave our ward (and stake) and sad to see our house go to someone else. We've lived here for 14 years, and it's the only house and ward our kids have known. It's comfortable and we love it here. So, as excited as we are for our new adventure, we are having a harder time being released from our stake callings, leaving behind people we might not have occasion to see anymore, and saying goodbye to our wonderful neighbors than we thought we would have. Thankfully, though, the kids will be going to the same schools and being only 8 minutes drive-time from where we are, and with some effort, we'll still keep in touch and get together with our friends. The girls can't wait to have a party and spread out through the house and yard. They'll have a giant back yard with a deck, the sun room, the game room, and the family room, all in my view, but not in my space. It will be absolutely perfect for all the friends.

It's got some amazing extras inside, but looks like a pretty modest home outside. I like that it's not "showy", but it's beautiful and we're grateful that the prior owners had money to add so many fun extras (like the cherry wood cabinets, gas fireplaces, wrap-around deck and intercom system). We'll have a huge garden area, and beautifully landscaped yard (with a waterfall and stream,  raspberries and an apple tree), a 2-car garage, lots of storage space (walk-in pantry and food storage room, plus a potato cellar), a master bathroom and walk-in closet (both I've wanted all of my married life), and 6 bedrooms (or 5 and an office for Steve). Here are some pictures...

Part of the front, with its beautiful new paint job

Part of the back yard

Half of the sun room (door leads to deck)

Formal living room

Kitchen

Joshua & Nathan's room

(On the condition that we get rid of the flowers ASAP)

Steve's office, upstairs

Master bedroom, upstairs

 Master bathroom

Master walk-in closet

Main bathroom, upstairs

Game room, downstairs

Family room, downstairs

Rachel's room, downstairs

Sarah's room, downstairs (she's kind of excited)

Bryson's room, downstairs

Kids' bathroom, downstairs

We're so grateful that except for a little bit of "left behind" stuff to go to the DI, it's ready to move into, as is. We want to do some re-decorating and updating in some of the rooms, but those things will happen in time. We'll also have some very empty rooms for a while as we save up for furniture to fill it. But, we're so excited to move in and fill up all the space. (I'm sure it won't take as long as I think. We've got a LOT of stuff!!)

A Curvy Spine

Why does it seem like everything happens to Sarah? Last March, we took her to Primary Children's to see an Orthopedic Surgeon about the curve in her spine. I hadn't noticed it until we were trying on school clothes last fall, and when she was showing me a tighter shirt, I noticed a hump on her right shoulder and that it was quite a bit higher than the other one. In the months following, I talked to the pediatrician about it being an issue, but after taking a chest x-ray for something else, he confirmed the curve, but seemed to brush it off with a "let me know if you need a referral". I told him I did. But, then nothing happened...for months. Finally, I got serious and called a back doctor myself and they got the referral they needed, but then referred me to Primary Children's instead. That's where we saw Dr. Joshua Klatt. He's so great. He confirmed that Sarah has Scoliosis, with a 30° "S" curve. Here's what her x-rays looked like...

He told us that if we can keep it from getting worse, she should be okay. If the curve is in the 30° to 45° range, a brace is needed to keep it there, and sometimes it will improve it. After adolescence, when the bones are all hardened and full height is reached, the curve stays the same. Something weird happens with curved spines over 45°. Gravity seems to work against them and the curve just keeps getting worse, even though all growth and development is past. So, we're trying to at least keep it where it is, from getting to that 45° point, and trying our hardest to avoid surgery. (The tricky thing though, is we have no idea if she is done growing or not. Dr. Klatt said her hip bone in the x-rays looked like the cartilage cap was gone, and the bones are fully developed. But, girls usually stop growing 2 years after they start their period, and she's way behind in that. So, we're going to the endochronologist to see what we can find out about hormone levels, development, and such. ...And yet another thing she'll have to deal with!) So, until we know what we're up against, she has to wear a monster of a hard plastic brace 18 hours a day, every day (and night). If you've done the math, you've realized that the 6 hours off can't be during school or all of her sleep time (each is at least 8 hours). So, we've spent the last 4 months working up to wearing it that long, and as tight as she can. We were disappointed last month when we went for a follow-up with Dr. Klatt and found out that the brace has only been improving the curve 2°. She was so frustrated, but at least it's not gotten worse. We're now working with the brace people to get it to at least a 10°-15° improvement. Apparently, they do this with extra pads, tighter straps, etc.

Sometimes she complains, sometimes she "forgets", sometimes she hurts, and sometimes I nag. But, she's trying harder to be responsible for herself, and I'm trying harder to back off and trust her to care more and do all she can. It's been yet another struggle, and yet another item on her list of hard things she has to face and deal with. It's not fair, but as she has to remind herself often, Heavenly Father knows what she can handle. Well, apparently, she can handle much more than the rest of us. Bless her little heart...and intestines, and back...

Take a deep breath...

Okay, I got all the necessaries back up, thank goodness, but still need to work on a new header, with new version of my family picture. Not sure what to do with the music player anymore, either. It seems to think it has to be super wide now. Life is a little better at the moment. At least I can sleep now. Sheesh! I guess I should have gone to bed when I first discovered the "newsies" on my blog.

What has Blogger done to me??

It's been so long since I've posted, and I was so excited to start getting caught up and post about our exciting summer, but I opened my blog and my background was gone, the page elements were all mixed up, and all was chaos. Then when I tried to fix it, by reverting to the classic template, I totally deleted all of my presets and personal info and kids pictures and everything! Can I scream even though my kids are all in bed? I'm so frustrated! I guess I get to spend the next week fixing up my blog, and then I'll tell all about our summer adventures. Might take me all month....Why can't programmers just leave well enough alone?? AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

Our Family Road Trip

As taken from my journal, and pictures added...

June 9, 2010
     Yesterday was the first day of our family road trip to Alaska. We've been saving and working extra hard for the last 6 months so we'd have enough money to not go in debt for our vacation. It feels good to have actually earned this trip.
      We drove from Pocatello to Seattle in one day, stopping only 3 times for bathroom, gas and food breaks. We couldn't believe how good the kids were. Nathan sat in his car seat and drew all day as happy as could be. He almost filled up a 100-page doodle pad. The kids watched movies, we played a game of virtual hide and seek and sang some obnoxious travel songs. We had a fun and very happy day, considering how long we were driving. We stopped in Auburn, just east of Seattle.
     Today we're going to see the Space Needle and up to Vancouver. We saw some beautiful country across Oregon and Washington. Some of the mountain passes in Oregon were absolutely gorgeous. Northern Washington, like near Auburn and Seattle, were so green...waterfalls on the freeway. It is so beautiful here. So green...

June 10, 2010
     In the last day and a half, we've ridden to the top of the Space Needle in Seattle, crossed the Canadian border, ridden a ferry to Victoria, slept in a hotel by the ocean, visited a famous 100 year-old Victorian castle, had lunch with some local totem poles, and barely missed the ferry back to Vancouver by 5 minutes and had to wait 2 hours for the next one--first in line.
     The kids are still doing well. Most of them (everyone but Sarah) have a runny nose and various stages of some viral thing--coughs and runny eyes... but they're such good kids.
     The Space Needle was a fun stop. We have tow kids very afraid of heights--Sarah and Josh. Sarah actually considered staying at ground level--until she realized she'd be all alone for about an hour and Steve insisted she come. She loved it up there and felt very good about "conquering" her fears. Josh was totally fine, after seeing on the way up that the construction of it was solid and sound, until I suddenly lifted him up to see over the bar. He grabbed my neck and started to cry when he buried his face in my neck. I felt so terrible scaring him like that. Not sure what he thought I was going to do, but I guess his security was gone the moment his feet left the "ground". Nate was so excited to see the Space "Meedle". Little Einsteins went there in one of his movies and he couldn't wait to go there himself. It was so cute!

Boys exploring the straw maze we found at the Seattle Center

Playing in the fountain at the Seattle Center

A view from the top

Joshua felt a lot better by the back wall, just "facing" North
instead looking down over it!

     The border crossing was an interesting event. They pulled us out of line and made us go inside where yet a 3rd officer asked questions about us and our travels, looked over our paperwork (passports and birth certificates) yet again, and made us sit and wait about 10 minutes. Then he called us over and told us to have a good trip and gave back the papers. And just like that, we were back on the road--in Canada. One thing we learned through that experience...Canadian border patrol officers are very serious. Not even a smile cracked with Steve's light tone...like when they asked if any of us were traveling with over $10,000 in cash and he said, "No, but that would be nice...." Stone face... It was weird. The kids were a little nervous about being in trouble or arrested, but we decided it was either a routine random pull-out, they didn't like Steve's tone, or they couldn't believe all 5 kids really belonged to us! :)

     The hotel was a welcome rest that night after the ferry ride across the ocean to Victoria. We made macaroni and cheese and little smokies in the kitchenette in our room and went to bed early. The next morning, we got ready, had breakfast, and went to see Craigdarroch Castle. It was really cool. The kids like museums and the house was restored beautifully....incredible woodwork and stained glass. It was so pretty.

Rachel playing the antique Steinway

     We stopped at a park (I think it was Liberty Park) and Steve took the kids to see the totem poles while I made sandwiches. Then we got back in the car and headed to the ferry port... and missed it by 5 minutes. We passed the next 2 hours watching a movie and Steve and I tried to rethink our steps to make up for lost time and figure out how far to drive today.

A view of the Parliament Building from the park
(Victoria is British Columbia's Capitol)

     The second ferry ride was much better on the way back. We learned about the play area on deck 6, got there early enough to sit together and by the windows, and took a walk outside on the deck to see the water below us. It was much more fun and went a lot faster. The very cool thing about the first ride, though, was the group of orcas, or killer whales (don't know which) that we accidentally saw surface on the trip over to Victoria. That was really cool. After dinner, we hit the road again for another 5-hour stretch to Williams Lake, BC.

     The road is windy through the mountains--such beautiful country...tall, tall mountains, tunnels through them, trees--all kinds everywhere--and waterfalls down the side of the mountains. I hope the rest of Canada looks like this. What a beautiful place God's world is. How blessed we are!

June 16, 2010

     We arrived in Houston, Alaska on Monday, the 14th. Our last 3 days to Alaska we pushed hard, drove fast and spent whole days in the car. Because of all the rain, we stopped each night to sleep at a hotel. The pickin's were pretty slim in a few of those little towns. Williams Lake had a hotel with only 1 non-smoking room left. It was old and run down ("junky" as the girls called it) that smelled like stale Indian food. There was a restaurant in the hotel. But it was a place to lay our heads that had a shower and a flush potty. The next day we traveled to Fort Nelson--about another 12 hours in the car--and got in about 12:30 or 1:00 a.m. The hotel we picked that night was really nice and the last 2 rooms they had available were adjoining rooms. We wish we'd had more time to enjoy that hotel. It was really nice. The next night we stayed in Whitehorse--the capitol of Yukon. We stayed at an economy hotel that was nice and clean, but older, and they only had 1 non-smoking room available. The boys slept on the floor in sleeping bags there, too. We drove through so fast, we didn't really get to see the towns or anything, arrived late, slept in, left and drove all day. Some of the roads were pretty windy, but after Watson Lake, the Alaska Highway was pretty straight for awhile and so beautifully groomed. It was an amazing drive. Can't even describe how beautiful, and the pictures we took really don't do justice to the scenery.

 

    We also saw a lot of wildlife those 4 days: bears... black and maybe a grizzly, moms and baby cubs (they were so cute!), two wild horses, moose (and 1 baby with a mommy) elk, bison (buffalo, also with calves), sheep (dall sheep with large round horns) deer, and a ptarmigan (arctic grouse) among other birds, lots of seagulls, geese and... (of course) mosquitoes!

     The last stretch of our driving was after we stayed Sunday night in Tok, Alaska. The Westmark hotel there was really nice, too. There was lots of room for the boys to run--and run they did. I called Shaunna (our phones finally started working again, now that we were back in the US) and sat in a porch swing enjoying the fresh air. The kids slept in our room with us--it was big enough they brought in 2 roll-aways the girls used. We made dinner in the room and watched a movie together before we fell asleep.

     Oh! Sunday it rained most of the day. We had decided to stop and set up the camp stove and eat hot food we already had so we wouldn't have to buy anything but gas along the way. Well, it rained and rained, and finally we saw a rest stop and Steve said he'd cook (warm the chili) in the rain. When we stopped, the rain slowed to a sprinkle, and by the time we had all the stuff out, it had stopped completely. IT stayed away until we had cleaned up and started back on the road again. Thais trip has been full of little miracles like that--the only rooms left at midnight being adjoined rooms or non-smoking, rain stopping while we explored Seattle or made lunch, seeing orca whales when such a thing is very rare on the ferry. We have been abundantly blessed on this trip. Safe arrival after 6 days and 3,000+ miles of highway and no problems--with the car or the kids. They passed around a snotty nose and hoarse voice but are all mostly better now.

     We had a very warm welcome by the Lees ("Welcome to Alaska" posters and everything) and are so happy to be here playing with them. Their house--the log home they built--is absolutely gorgeous and it's hard to not be just a little bit jealous. There is enough room for an extra family when you put boys and little ones on the floors and couches. I went on an incredible 4-mile walk with Shaunna yesterday to the river and back. The cool air was invigorating and it was fun to have such conversation and fast pace. I could really get used to doing that in the mornings, and being in this beautiful piece of Heaven.

      Today we're headed to the Kenai Peninsula to camp. We're going clamming and to see Exit Glacier, take the kids to the Sea Life Center and Steve and I are going deep sea halibut fishing on Friday. I'm really excited, but a little nervous, too. It's wet and rainy today, so I hope the sun will shine down on us soon and will enjoy our stay near the ocean so much more. Landon (my nephew) asked Heavenly Father to bless us that the sun would come out so we wouldn't be so miserable. Hopefully that's part of His will today. :)

June28, 2010

     It happened. The rain stopped all while we went clamming, walked to Exit Glacier, through most of our fishing charter, and on through the week. It has amazed me this whole trip that the rain has stayed away just where or when we really wanted or need it to. With the exception of a rainy camping trip--rained most of the night, both nights--our every hope and wish has been granted. It's like Heavenly Father has blessed our trip and wants us to have the best time we can--it's been so amazing!

     Well, my journal was in the car all while w were at Shaunna's and I was so busy having fun and playing that I didn't write while we were there. So, here's a recap of what we've been up to at Shaunna's house (hopefully I'll write more someday and fill in the gaps)...

     Monday: arrived in late afternoon, kids were bounding off walls, so excited. Grand tour of Lees house... so beautiful!

 

     Tuesday: Stayed home and played all day, slept late, lots of resting, washed and repacked for Seward trip

     Wednesday: Left at 7am to Ninilchik to go clamming, Nathan got cold, Josh got stuck in wet sand and soaked,  and so did Sarah (fell in helping Landon get unstuck), Bryson came in cold, and Rachel stayed out for the long haul. We had a great time, though, and I was surprised they all touched the clams and played as long as they did--it was really cold. Luckily, Shaunna had boots and waders to take care of everyone in both families. Bless her! Drove to Seward in rain. Camp set up, no rain again til after dinner.

We called Rachel our "Gap Girl"

 

      Thursday: Hike to Exit Glacier and Alaska Sea Life Center

 

Branson, Landon, Rachel and Sarah / Carston, Joshua, LaKell, Bryson and Nathan

 

Nathan and Carston were "bad scouts" and kept leaving the trail

 

Tickling the anemones and starfish

Nathan was so excited to see real jellyfish. He watched them forever!

      Friday: Kids camped in rain with Lees, Steve and I went on halibut fishing charter. So fun! Caught my limit of halibut, 3 rock fish and 1 silver salmon--I was the only one on the boat that caught a salmon--felt pretty proud of that one! Such a great time and beautiful, calm ocean. Saw orcas, dolphins, puffins, and sea lions, all in their natural habitats--definite bonus. Cleaned up camp in rain and drive home. Home late.

      Saturday: Recovered, cleaned up, played, took 4-mile hike (around the block) with Eric and all the boys, rode tiny train--Nathan and the other boys loved it!

Rachel, Branson, Sarah, Bryson, Josh, Carston, LaKell and Nathan - Missing Landon

 

 

     Sunday: Church and Father's day. Treasure hunt for dads with matching ties, clues and "X marks the spot". Moose backstrap steak for dinner and pies for dessert. Nice day. Incredible husband. Love him SO much!

     Monday - Reindeer farm, "Snotty" kept sneezing on us...yuck! Kids were much less timid than expected--especially Nathan. He was so cute petting the babies and feeding those huge mouths from his hand.

 

 

     Tuesday: H2Oasis water park in Anchorage, fun double seated tube water slide--Rachel and I loved this! Pirate ship, shallow pool, lazy river, etc. Our kids were done way before the Lees, but we all had fun. Introduced the Lees to "Dippin Dots" ice cream (one of Steve's favorites) and went to see Toy Story 3--cute movie, just a little intense for little ones in one part. Laughed a lot, loved it! Movie theater gave us all coupons for free popcorn and small drinks--fun to each have our own! :)

     Wednesday: Steve and Eric took the boys fishing at the Johnson's in teh Lees' ward, nice ptople--let the kids ride the paddle boats and they caught tiny fish--first one for Josh. Girls went shopping in Anchorage, souvenir shops downtown and the mall.

     Thursday: Independence mine--explored old mining camp. Hatcher's pass--beautiful. In the morning Steve and I went to Wasilla. He got the car serviced, vacuumed and washed for our trip home while I went to visit Sarah Noel--nice visit, she seems happy in Alaska. Washed clothes, bought groceries and packed.

     Friday: Loaded the car and crammed in a canoe trip at the lake down the road, and roasted hot dogs and s'mores for lunch that we wanted to do all week, just before we left. Always came home too late, to bed too late, slept in too late. That Alaskan midnight sun is pretty crazy on the body.

     Oh! I forgot...Sunday night, late (10:30pm to 4:00am), Eric and his friend, Rod, took me and Steve salmon fishing on some rivers and creeks to get our kings. It was a slow night, no bites, but beautiful, peaceful, incredible, and I became a great caster! :)

     Headed home now. Sad, but anxious. I just can't believe it's over already!

     Friday night, we stayed in Tok, Saturday night in Teslin, and last night in Fort Nelson. Sarah and Bryson got coughs while we were at the Lees, so they've been feeling yucky--Sarah's been throwing up the last 3 days (with the coughs). Now Steve and Josh are coughing, and Josh and Rachel have both had earaches. It appears it's time for us to return home and get ourselves back together again. Kids are still doing well, considering the long days of driving and not feeling very well. To Edmonton tonight (seeing the largest mall in North America tomorrow morning), stopping at the Sign Post Forest and for a dip at Liard Hot Springs along the way, and then to Kalispell, Montana the next day, and home the next, if all goes according to plan.

...and that's where my journaling ended. I'm really not a very good journal writer. Obviously, we returned home safely, were really glad to be in our own beds again, and everyone got well again. You can tell by the pictures we had a good time on the way home, too. We had such a fun time together, and still laugh when someone mentions some of the funny little things that happened on our trip. The time we spent playing in the car was among some of our favorite memories, and everybody's been a little different since we got home. The kids became very aware of the little miracles that seemed to happen every day, sometimes several a day. It was definitely one of the best things we've ever done for our family, second to being sealed together forever and starting this family in the first place!