Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. I have always admired and looked up to my mom, but never more since becoming a mother myself. One of the greatest gifts that my mom gave to Jason and me is being at home with us while growing up. I remember mom having us help planting the garden, taking us to the library, baking cookies with us, going swimming at Cherokee pool, and letting us play hours and hours of make believe using pots, pans, chairs and whatever else we could find. Mom always made a great breakfast to start our day and made sure to have nutritious meals for us to eat.
Mom showed us above everything else the value of family, the importance of demonstrating care to others and most of all the importance of prayer in our daily lives. I have never met anyone that is more of a prayer warrior than my mom. She has a lot of life wisdom that comes in handy quite often. She is an amazing grandma to Kaley, Olivia and now little Easton. She always comes bearing gifts and trinkets chosen especially for Kaley and always has some cute little outfits for her to wear. She has a lot of love to share and I appreciate and love her very much.
You are an amazing woman and we thank you for all that you are to our family and for the time that you give to your family. We love you very much mom and wish you a very happy birthday.

Mom holding her second granddaughter Kaley

Grandma doing what Grandma's do best!

Grandma with her two little girls.

Grandma getting her hair done by Olivia.

Our Little Baseball Commentator

Tonight just before Kaley was getting ready to head to bed, she was sitting in the living room with Mark and he called me in to see what she was doing. Mark had the baseball game on and all I heard was "ooo...ooo.ooo." She just kept doing it whenever something would happen on the t.v. She has never watched the t.v. for more than half a minute, but tonight the baseball game must have caught her attention (to the utter delight of her daddy.) I love it how she gets shy when she realizes that someone is watching her. It was very cute!

Alaska Vacation - Part 2

Day 4 - Juneau, Alaska
Today was really neat. We pulled into the dock in the morning and had breakfast overlooking Juneau. All of us decided to go into town for awhile and see what the capital city had to offer. They had the cutest main street and even found a Ben Franklin! There were a lot of jewelery stores and tourist attractions, but all in all, it was a nice afternoon. One of the highlights for Mark was finding this crab shack that offered a bucket of king crab caught from the Time Bandit boat from the t.v. show The Deadliest Catch. It was by his account "one of the most memorable meals of my life." Apparently the crab were quite large and the bisque was amazing. We also discovered this great little toy shop where Kaley had a lot of fun playing with the toys for awhile and even getting this fruit and vegetable chopping set which was great to have.

Us in front of the crab fishing cages. They were huge!

Look! It's a stuffed moose...

...and a totem pole!

I thought this was funny. The Senate building in the mall!

Kaley playing with the shopping cart at the toy store.

Taking some time to smell the flowers.

Day 5 - Ketchikan, Alaska
Today we stopped in our last port which was Ketchikan. In the morning, we went on a tour of the navigational bridge. We met the captain and saw all of the workings of the maintaining the ship. Everything was controlled and ordered and quiet. And, despite what you see on the movies, there was not a huge steering wheel that the captain stood at (haha). We also went on a backstage tour where we met a few of the singers and dancers. It was incredible the small amount of space that they had to get ready, make costume changes and keep everything organized. They were all very personable and obviously loved what they did.
After lunch, we docked in Ketchikan which was another cute little city. Mark and I went in for a bit while and found some great little shops. I found a fall/winter jacket and Mark looked at some watches. What was the most interesting was that as we walked over this bridge, there were a number of local people fishing. We looked down in the water, and here there were about 20 salmon swimming there! Quite cool. One of the highlights of this day was being invited to dine at the captains table during dinner. We were sat at a table at the back of the ship and were able to visit with the Staff Captain. It was quite an experience. Kaley went to the Kids Fun Zone where she played in the ball pit and played until it was time for dinner to end. We all had a lovely evening.

The view from the navigational bridge.

Mark chatting it up with the captain.

Mark and I at the dinner.

Day 6 - Cruising and the Inside Passage
This was the last day of our cruise before heading into Vancouver. It was another beautiful day for cruising. We enjoyed a delicious dinner together and then went to the pool deck to enjoy the scenery. It was a beautiful site to see. We were so close to the land on either side as we went through the Inside Passage. It was incredible to see mile after mile of just trees, islands and water...no shopping malls or houses or anything! There were a few whales that we saw before dinner, but they were really young and were quite small. We then went to the evening show which Kaley almost made it through, and then headed back to our rooms to pack!

Mark and his dad discussing the important things in life, like baseball!

All in all, it was a great family vacation. Alaska is truly an amazing and beautiful place. It was relaxing and a fun time to spend with our family!

Alaskan Vacation - Part 1

A couple of weeks ago we headed out for a vacation to Alaska for a 7 day cruise. We went with Mark's dad and mom and had an amazing time. I was a little hesitant about bringing a toddler on board a ship, but she did great and they were so accommodating for us. She ended up charming every worker she came in contact with as she usually does! We saw some amazing sites, ate fantastic food and created wonderful memories together as a family. Let me take a few minutes to share about our experience.

Day 1- Set sail out of Vancouver
We boarded the ship on Sunday afternoon and sailed away at 5:00 p.m. It was incredible to see this huge ship maneuvering itself out of the harbour, under bridges and out into what looked like the vast unknown. There was music playing on the pool deck and a buzz of excitement as we began our trip. Kaley was beside herself with curiosity and excitement as she explored the ship and all of its newness. We ended the night after supper on the deck closest to the water and watched the sun set on the horizon.

Enjoying the limo ride to the ship.

All of us on the pool deck as we set sail.

Day 2- Sitka, Alaska
On the second day of the cruise, we stopped at Sitka for a good portion of the day. We had to go in the lifeboats in order to get back and forth from the ship which was a fun experience. It actually put my mind at ease that they worked well and I had nothing to worry about (..duh!) Mark and I went into Sitka while Kaley had a nap and enjoyed the town quite a bit. We were in search of water wings and a ball as Kaley really enjoyed the pool earlier that day. We ended up buying Kaley a book and a set of nesting dolls which she had a lot of fun playing with that week. We were also looking for a pair of moccasins for Kaley from Grandpa and Grandma as a souvenir. We were successful on all accounts! It was a lot of fun and nice to be on land for a bit.





Day 3- Cruising & Hubbard Glacier
This day was by far the best in regards to the scenery. We were cruising for a good portion of the day, but stopped at the Hubbard Glacier for the mid morning and afternoon. The day couldn't have been better. The sun was out, there was hardly a cloud in the sky and it was actually not that cold out. It was amazing seeing this massive glacier and bits of ice floating in the clear blue water. They stopped the ship a ways away from the glacier and turned the ship 365 degrees so that everyone could get a glimpse of the glacier. It was quite cool. I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Kaley enjoying the glacier in the safety of the Snugli

America the Beautiful indeed!

The view outside our window!

Doing a little house cleaning

Mark and I made an agreement when we moved into this house that whenever we bought something new- whatever it was- that something had to leave so that we didn't accumulate unwanted items (i.e. junk). It was quite obvious with many things that this idea had been overlooked for some time- mostly by me!

I have sat down to post a few blogs on our vacation, but I found myself unable to focus and get words down on screen because as I looked around, I kept seeing things that didn't have a place! Worst of all, I couldn't find the best place to start. I would go to start something and realize that I needed to do three other things before I could even start to organize the thing I went to do. So, when this happens, the crazy need-to-organize side of me comes out to play and inevitably a list is made of some kind. Fortunately, this time it actually helped me prioritize things without becoming overwhelmed. I decided the best place to start was our bedroom.

There were a few unfinished projects in our room that needed to be done before anything else in the house. I have been in limbo over that past few months figuring out what to do in our room. I have wanted to create a prayer space/reading nook where I could pray, read, mediate, journal, etc. In order to do this, I wanted for there to be very minimal furniture so that the room didn't look busy and cluttered. The easiest way I could figure to do this was to combine my dresser and closet into one area. Before I could do this, I HAD to get rid of some clothes and sort through what fit, what didn't, what I liked and what I didn't. SO, today was the day!

I waited for Kaley to go to sleep for the afternoon and then the real fun began. Out came every piece of clothing from the closet and went onto the bed. I put in a few organizational things into the closet and then started to sort through everything. After that was done and the clothes were in the closet, then I had to go through the dresser and do the same. The sad thing was, I got rid of about 2/3 of my clothes that I rarely ever wore! There were even a few maternity items in the mix and it has been 18 months since I have needed them.

In the end, everything fit perfectly! It took the entire time that Kaley slept, but it got finished. Unfortunately, now I need to figure out what I am going to do with the empty dresser and how to reorganize the space, but that is for another day.

Before picture:

After pictures: