Tuesday, July 31, 2012

catching up

I think the pregnancy thing is making me forget things ...

Like this blog.

It's been awhile since I've written

and since nothing really new and exciting has happened so far this summer

except for our trip to Alaska--which was covered in my last post,

and the fact that we learned we are having a boy--which still makes me shake my head in wonder every time I think about it ....

I'm just going to toss in some random pics of our spring/summer.



my bathing beauties ...





Look my tulips actually bloomed!


lots of time on the backyard swings

after eating a blue marker ...



I made this shelf because we have NO. FRONT. CLOSET!--- it's been driving me crazy for years





my kids actually choose to sleep in places like this ...


oh yeah-- it's about time I mention that my little sister had her baby!!
Annabelle Lynette Nelson--welcome to the family! (she's now actually 2 months old already!)


here's the girls with grandma at the hospital to see her!










Memorial Day with my gorgeous grandmother Verna Mae!


Danna just being cute

Carina doing her "biolin lessons"
yes, those are skewers... she's just imaginative like that :)





playing in the sprinklers!




Brynny watches from the sidelines--though she insists on putting on her 'simming lessons' (swimsuit) when her sisters do


this picture just cause I can't resist this adorable face!




my front porch potted flowers which miraculously have stayed alive this year!  Go me!!



  the monarch butterfly that crawled all over an overjoyed Danna for 3 hours before flying away.




cup of water + paintbrush = hours of entertainment for my kids



my second successful garden since we've lived in this house! anybody want some zucchini by the way?



just making messes and being best friends

whew!!

it feels great to finally catch up!

I really sincerely hope all of you are having just as much fun as we are this summer!! Enjoy it for the next few weeks cause they are just going to FLY BY!



Tuesday, July 17, 2012

If you want to know a really great summer vacation idea--think ALASKA!!!

No, seriously.  It. Was. Amazing!


We just spent a perfect 2 weeks up there as a family.
Have I said it was amazing yet? cause it was.

And a huge THANK YOU to gramma and opa for the fantastic trip! My girls are missing you!


Pictures always seem to speak louder than words so here's a few.

We came home with over 700 pictures so you're just getting the smallest sneak peek---only like 60 pictures on here ...

Check them out if you've the time

I could talk about our trip for a long time so I'll cut it short with the captions.

Here's 2 weeks in like 3 minutes!


heading out in the motor home for Seward! 


getting used to the time change ...






here are the pictures from our boat tour in Seward ...





yes, we ended up seeing 5 humpback whales




we stopped for lunch at a place called Fox island. Almost every single rock was good for skipping. And the place was gorgeous ...



my girls were obsessed with the kelp rather than skipping rocks, however

bald eagle in this tree


Mike got some amazing shots of a humpback whale taking a deep dive--we had been waiting for a shot like this and he got some great ones!








The ocean from the shore in Seward--ridiculously gorgeous is it not?



a few shots from the Sea Life Center in Seward ...


every black and white bird is now called a puffin to my  kids



this was a monster sea lion!
stopped to take a picture of a smoky volcano (Iliamna) on our drive to Homer
^Homer, Alaska ...  looks a little bit like paradise right?



playing on the beach

beach, mountains, and forest all in the same place--amazing!  
Mike caught a picture of a sea otter in this picture


Danna was very proud of her collection of crab shells/claws and don't even get me started on how many shells this girl found and wanted to bring home!!!


Alaska is so gorgeous from every angle--this picture was randomly some place we stopped on the side of the road to eat lunch. 


^a glacier and floating glacial ice


And finally back home--we decided to go to the zoo in Anchorage!



Brynn insisted on being carried just like this


^see those gorgeous mountains-- now look up
behind the clouds a bit right in the center of the photo is a huge white mountain ...
Denali (Mt. McKinley)
tallest mountain in North America

Mike was ecstatic!



He and I got to go on an overnight trip to see Denali National Park without the kiddos!
^we stayed in the hotel just to the right in this picture


here are a few pictures from our bus tour ...

mama grizzly and 2 cubs



^sporting the sexy mosquito nets


The tour went as far as it could go into the park--here we are at the end of the road


And to the end of our pictures!

Did anybody make it all the way to the end?

thanks for reading!