Alaskan Adventure

We just returned from our trip to Alaska. My sister (Beth) got married, and all of my siblings were able to make it. All 5 of my parent's children have been married in the temple -- pretty awesome! It was so nice to all be together! I have posted a bunch of pictures, but none of the wedding! I had my mom's camera for the wedding photos, so I will have to get some pictures from her. :-) Just a few for now. . . I am having a traveling hang-over! It was a long trip home. We had an awesome time!

(The pictures are in random order)

Seward, Alaska. We spent the day hanging out in Seward, by the ocean. It is always a fun place to visit.

On the way back from Exit Glacier

Daniel showing me his special badge. The Park Ranger gave him a booklet to fill out, and if he did, he would get a badge. He filled it out along our journey, then Grandpa had to haul bootie back to the Ranger's office (before it closed) luckily, they made it in time -- Daniel was thrilled!

Charles and Ray discussing deep doctrine, or something . . .

William was a happy boy throwing rocks in the water

McKinley showing-off her cute smile

My Dad has been living in the "Valley" a little too long, the cowboy is starting to leak out . . .

Exit Glacier

Charles and Mindy are discussing Alaska fashion

The bugs were really bad through the woods, they especially liked Charles

Stephen and his new girlfriend

Sweet Cousins

Throwing rocks in the lake at Wasilla, the same lake where Sarah Palin lives. :-)

Alaska Sun Beauties

What a cutie-head McKinley is!

Stephen is in his element outdoors, he has NO fear!

Sammi is sporting the Jedi-Knight look. :-)

Sisters

Hatcher Pass

Summer Sledding was the highlight of the kids trip, they would do it ALL day!

Daniel and his favorite dog Sage

Beppy getting ready for the reception (with some help from friends)

How cute are they??? :-) Sammi LOVED being with McKinley

Waiting at the airport

There are 12 years between us, but who can tell??? :-)

More to come . . .

Better Start Building...

... an ark, that is. It has been raining for the past 2 weeks -- very unusual for around these parts. I feel like we live in Seattle. The sun peaks out for a bit, now and then, and then the rain just keeps on pouring, and the thunder keeps on rumbling. It has been kind of nice -- as far as temperature goes. It has been staying nice and cool, and very, very, moist! Hail

It was the last day of school when it started raining. The day after we used our broken tree limb and made a tent for the kids to play in -- they stayed outside ALL day. I helped them with ideas of things to play. They were Indians, and they had to stay away from the Pirates (Peter Pan). They had to gather food, go fishing, make fires, go to war, etc. etc. They loved it. After that, it has poured almost everyday since! Maybe it was the Indian rain dance that we did?!

William thought it was awesome. :-) He even would pretend to eat pretend food (like rocks).

Charles had to go and chop-up their home and take it to the dump -- sad. :-)

Nasty Nature

We have had some pretty awesome storms blowing through our area. The kids were in the backyard (the weather was fine) and suddenly a HUGE gust of wind ripped through our yard and SNAP! A pretty good-sized branch fell from our tree. Luckily, no one was near it. You can see all the debris on the grass -- all the helicopter pods were flying like crazy. It was pretty neat, until one hit me in the face, and it hurt! It was a great storm that hung around all night. I thought I would pull out my camera to try and catch some of the action. If you watch (closely) you can see a bolt. The kids were loving it! William calls thunder, "Oh no!" :-) It should be more of the same today! Yes!

Field Day

I was dropping the kids off for school, and a parent was kind enough to tell me that a helicopter was going to be landing at the school at 9:00. I decided to go home really quickly, grab my camera, and I went back to check it out. I thought William would enjoy it, and me too! :-) It was pretty awesome. I saw it last year . . . I was walking to the school and suddenly I see a helicopter hovering above the homes -- it freaked me out! Anyhow, it was an awesome thing. We never had anything like that when I was in school!

The kids are going to have a super day! Bouncy houses, cotton candy, and helicoptors -- that is my kind of school day!