Dip Netting

We had the opportunity to go dip netting in Kenai this year with about 5 families in our ward. It was an amazing experience I will never forget! To dip net you have to be a resident of Alaska. You are allotted 25 fish per head of household and 10 fish per dependent so as a household we were allotted 55 salmon!

As a whole group we caught around 350 salmon!!! Crazy!!

This was such a fun experience. It was so thrilling holding the huge net in the water and getting a fish in your net. I wasn't too great at getting the net back in the boat, or getting the fish out of the net. They are huge, slippery little suckers! Jathan on the other hand was a pro! I am just glad I was able to go and did not get nauseous being on the boat with the smell of fish and the sight of blood.

Jathan on the boat, getting his dip on!

Lance, James and Brittani.

Zanna on the boat making a funny face! She was pretty excited to go out with her daddy and catch some fish.

Our boat was having some technical difficulties, as we floated to the shore we saw these huge bear tracks in the mud. Creepy!

Brittani sitting on the boat next to all the fish guts and blood. Such a glamorous job.

We got the kids camping chairs and cute little fuzzy sleeping bags for the camp out. They were pretty excited about their new toys. They played in the chairs at home all day the day before and slept in their sleeping bags in their room that night.

Playing in the mud by our camp site.

Troop loves to wear Zanna's helmet. We need to find him one that is a little more suited for a boy!

Oh boy.... how can he be crying when he is surrounded by mud. Every little boys dream!

We took a trip into Kenai to get a bite to eat and see some of the dip netters from the shore. The kids (and Jathan) loved these huge carvings of Salmon.

Jathan's award winning catch!

You can see all the people lining the shore with their dip nets in the water.

Zanna and Jathan just got off the boat

Making funny faces, and yes those are fish guts on Jathans cheek!

Dip netting was super fun! My favorite Alaska experiences thus far. I am excited to go again next year!

Baby # 3... Ready or not... here we go!

Well as it turns out we were not suppose to wait long at all to get pregnant again.... because I surely am pregnant! We were even preventing for the first time ever... and the very next month... botta-boom botta-bing. I guess that is when you know you are really suppose to be pregnant.

The funny thing is the very day I found out (before I found out) I was watching two kiddos so there were four kids here. I was ornery, and snappy and everything was just driving me crazy.

I decided right then I was definitely going to wait a year to try to get pregnant. Clearly I could not handle having more than two children right now.

Then as I am cleaning my kitchen I get more ornery because the cleaner I had bought smelled so sick and so strong. I was getting really ticked off.

I was so tired and had been taking naps for the past few days.

I went to the computer to check some things and as I sat there, reflecting on my morning, I wondered to myself... why on earth was everything making me so mad?

Then it hit me. When was I suppose to have my period? I had no clue but knew it had been at least a month. Since we were not trying I was not keeping track of such things.

I took a test and sure enough, Positive. No wonder I was acting like a crazy person!!

Well this pregnancy has been a rough one. Rough on me and my whole family. I have felt pretty crappy. Sick, tired and feel as though an alien has taken over my body.

Oh my poor kids. I am kind of a cranky mommy. I feel so bad!

Oh my poor husband. Clean house? What? What does the word clean even mean? I am just not sure. All I know is I have ZERO motivation for anything!

Blah, Blah, Blah. I know I am a whiney pants.

By the way I am excited to have a baby!! And I will act much more excited at about twenty weeks. By that point you look pregnant and not just chubby. You feel pregnant (and not in a vomit sort of way) because you can feel your sweet little baby in your belly. Twenty weeks is also when I stop feeling yucky.

So here is a funny story. Today we went outside to play. I started feeling real nasty, grabbed Troop and told Zanna we had to go inside right now. The saliva was welling up in my mouth and I could feel my body getting ready to ralph.

I ran into the bathroom as fast as I could and knelt before the porcelain throne.

I could hear Zanna outside the bathroom door doing the potty dance. Then she said "Mom, can you hurry and throwd up? I need to go tinkle".

Ha ha ha! Oh it gave me some comic relief. When she came into the bathroom she said. "Mom, i'm sorry your throwd up. How you are always sick?"

Feels like summer!

Ah, the weather here has been absolutely beautiful! It was a long LONG winter and we are so thankful for this beautiful sunshine and warm weather. We have been in the 60's the past week. YAY!

(some of my photos are kinda blurry... I took a beginner photography class and am trying to shoot in manual mode... I have not quite got it down. One day, hopefully I will!)

Oh to be young! Zanna has been having the time of her life running and dancing.

We are going to go shoe shopping this week. The only shoes that fit Zanna are her warm winter boots!

This little lady is our neighbor, Echo. Zanna is not too sure how she feels about giving her a hug. Not too sure why!

Zanna was upset she didn't get her way and sat down on the pavement striking a perfect, pouty pose.

This photo is totally over exposed. But the girls were playing with little ropes, calling them their snakes. Always a reptile involved with Zanna's imagination.

Troop getting a ride in the hot pink, hot wheels Jeep!

Mmmm, Capri Suns. Poor Troop got attacked by mosquito's over a week ago and those bites refuse to leave his cute little face.

Zanna thinks she has died and gone to heaven every time she rides in this Jeep.

She is so funny. Can you just see the total and utter joy in her face? Do you remember just dying to have one of these when you were little? I sure do.

These girls were a crack up to watch. They were just giggling and having the best time! I don't have a picture of this, but the next day they were out sitting in the Jeep with otter pops and listening to the radio (yes the cute little Jeep has a radio. Zanna thinks it is the coolest thing ever.) They weren't even driving. Just sitting and listening to the music with their otter pops. Pretty cute.

I love Troop's expression in this photo. He just wants to get in with them.

Watching Zanna drive, I felt like I was fast forwarding to when she will be 16. Kind of freaked me out. She was good at turning but she was not good at stopping, didn't pay very close attention to where she was going and ran over all sorts of things. Oh boy!

Eating Corn on the Cob on Echos big wheel. Echo has some pretty fun toys!

Troop and Zanna have both loved this little car. It has all sorts of buttons that make fun noises. I am not super fond of it though and have had it in my Salvation Army pile a few different times but every time Jathan reminds me of how much they love it. One day I will be rid of it. Until then my children will continue to love it. You know if it was always out side I really wouldn't mind it. But it drives me crazy in my apartment.

Anyway... Welcome summer! We will live it up and be outside as much as we can, for soon the rain will come!

AHHHH!

Oh this little boy is going to give me a heart attack. I look out the window, and what do I see?? Troop has climbed up the deck railing and could so easily fall down... AHHH. Now that Zanna can open up the sliding glass door all by herself I am going to have to watch him like a hawk, or I guess I am going to have to figure out a way to keep the door locked.

Our apartment is SO not up to code! He can climb the lattice, and if the lattice was not there he would be able to fit through the railings. Our deck is super long and there is a gate seperating the other end of it. On the other end it does not have lattice so I can't let Troop go to that portion of the deck at all. I am thankful the gate is there but it would be really nice if the deck was safe so we could just use the whole thing! Oh well!

Some tid bits about my Zanna

Ahhh Zanna, how I love you.

Zanna has been such a funny little girl lately... and sassy. She gets in trouble a lot for her sassy-ness. And when I tell her not to be sassy, she says "you don't be sassy mom" which kind of makes me upset in a quicky. Little stink! Then she ends up sitting on the toilet,"time out" for five minutes.

The other day we went to Fred Meyers to get groceries. She found a little package of the individual waxed cheeses. Do you know the ones I am talking about. They are so DELISH. Anyway, she was begging me to buy them so I finally gave in and said yes.

Zanna: yells in excitement "It's my best day ever!!!"

Me: "It sure is!"

Zanna: "Yay it is my best day ever. Mom it is not your best day ever anymore. It is my best day ever right now!" (she is referring to Mothers day. She kept telling me it was my best day ever on Mothers Day)

That gave me a chuckle. Silly little girl. So the next day we have to go to Fred Meyers for a few other things and of course we have already eaten all the little cheeses we got the day before. They lasted us less than the drive home. So we pick up two more bags of the DELISH cheeses.

Zanna: Yells in excitement "Mom, it is my best day ever again!!"

Me: "It is, are you so excited?"

Zanna: "Mom can we eat one right now?"

Me: "Yes, but only one"

So she opens her cheese and eats it up in a jiffy. She then starts to open another one...

Me: "Zanna, I told you only one"

Zanna: "Mom this one is for Troop"

She opens it up, gives him a bite, then takes a bite herself.

Zanna: "Mom, we are sharing"

So after they have finished sharing, she starts to open another cheese.

Me: "Zanna I told you no more"

Zanna: Biggest frown face you can imagine. Eyes welling up with tears "It isn't my best day ever anymore!!"

Ha ha ha! Oh how I laughed to myself trying not to bust out. It was so funny and so cute. What is with her and "The best day ever"?

A few other things Zanna says that I love. She always says "Mom, you are making me silly" Or today it was "Mom, you are making me serious" I think she says it this way because I say on a daily basis "Zanna, you are making me crazy" ;)

She loves to pretend she is the mom and I am the daughter. She says "darling, you help me with dinner?" Or "Sweetie pie, you need to clean up your toys." Or "you are my darling, I love you." I love it when she pretends to be the mom because she is always so sweet and always refers to me as sweetie pie or darling. Pretty cute really!

Today she was pretending to be Troops mommy. They were pretending to go to sleep while cuddling on her bed. It was so sweet. I love how her little hand is on his head and putting her fingers through his hair. So so sweet.

Here is a cute photo of the kiddos after getting in their jammies. They are sitting on the couch watching a bedtime cartoon. They both LOVE their blankies and always want to snuggle up.

Butterflies

My friend Brittani ordered a butterfly garden, and accidentally ordered 4.

We were lucky to reap the rewards of her extra purchase!

We had ten caterpillars in two jars eating and growing and making silk looking webs.

As you can see Zanna has been fascinated watching them grow and move.

About a week or so after getting the caterpillars they turned into crysalis's (cocoons). It was so cool to watch this process.

Then about a week after that we had beautiful painted lady butterflies emerge from the chrysalis. WOW. This is one amazing process. I am seriously amazed by it all!

Zanna has been the butterfly whisperer. She is so funny to watch. She loves holding her little butterflies. They will fly around her room, she will wait for them to land and set her finger right up by them and they climb right on. It is pretty cute. Although I have to monitor her and only let her get one butterfly out at a time. One time she had five flying around her room and we only found three. A few hours later, as I was walking down the hall, there was one of the butterflies flying about. It was kind of fun and whimsical.

Troop is trying to blow the butterfly off of Zanna's hand.

Troop gets really excited when there is a butterfly flying around. He kind of gives me anxiety. I have to watch him really close because he kind of makes it into a game of trying to chase or stomp at them. Oh BOY!

Zanna trying to make the butterfly land on Troops head. She is so funny. She always tries to make them perch on her head too. Silly girl.

Mmmm. He melts me! He is getting so shaggy! It is just about time for a cut.

Break-Up Season

A few weeks ago we were experiencing break up season here in Alaska. Oh what a mucky mess that is. Rain boots are a must. Other wise you just end up with wet, muddy shoes and socks. Thankfully we are pretty much out of it!

Here are my bambinos racing down the street. Troop looks pretty awesome sporting his camo jacket! And Zanna is still loving her balance bike. She hauls booty on that bad boy!

Jathan racing with the bambinos.

My handsome boys.

I mean really!! Love them.

I ADORE how this shot turned out. I love the two of them silhouetted against the sky.

Playing on the rocks.

Heading up the huge, massive, butt crunching hill at a park near by.

The baseball fields are a full on river with melting snow. I forgot to throw my rubber rain boots on and my poor little feet were so wet and freezing. At least Jathan and the kids were prepared.

The kids (Jathan included) were fascinated with walking in the stream and playing with the ice chunks.

A hold on baby #3

Well I suppose it is about time I tell everyone that I miscarried.

I miscarried at ten weeks... about ten weeks ago. Don't worry, we are doing fine. I kind of felt it coming. This pregnancy was just so different from my other two. First off, I wanted to get pregnant... but the second I found out, something was off. I was excited but something was just different. I wanted to hold off telling anyone for a while (usually we tell the second we find out, with this one I announced to most at around 8 weeks... I know, not that long to wait but it felt much longer than with the other two and it is long for us ;).

As my pregnancy progressed I had a few normal pregnancy symptoms. Mostly I was just really tired and I got my normal after noon headache, but that was it. Usually I would be super nauseous and very sensitive to smells. I was amazed when I would smell a strong smell that with my other pregnancy's would make me want to puke and with this one didn't really phase me. In the back of my mind I was really worried. Worried something was not right. Then at ten weeks it happened.I started spotting so I went into get an ultra sound. Apparently my sac had developed to 8 weeks and the baby had only made it to about five. So really, it was still an embryo. I was so thankful to know that the baby had not made it to a fetus yet. It made me feel so much better about it all. As far as miscarries go mine was easy. I passed everything on my own with minimal cramping. I was thankful for that.

You know it is strange how something like this was a total testimony builder. It gave me a greater understanding of just how much the lord knows me. He knows what is best for me and my family. I have always felt a little rushed with getting my children here. Not by anyone but me. I was excited and hoping and praying to get pregnant and I got pregnant with in a month. Then once I got pregnant a few realizations came to me. Things I had not thought of before I was pregnant.

Then I miscarried. I honestly feel it was the lord answering my prayers and letting me know I do not have to be in such a rush. Not that I want to wait many years... or even another year for that matter. But I don't think I would have been fine with the thought of waiting any other way than this.

I hope that made sense!

So yes, baby number three, we will wait patiently until the timing is right!
weather that be in a month, a year or three years.

Bulls Eye

I know I know... all you need to see is another photo of Zanna and a lizard.
But we have some bad news... cupid, our last lizard died (I had to kill the poor thing).
So here is Zanna's new lizard bulls eye. She named him all by herself.
He is a nice little lizard... not quite as nice as cupid.
Cupid was just so chill.
Bulls eye is a jumper.
NO GOOD.
But he is still really sweet and Zanna loves him to pieces

P.S. we did not make Zanna eat cupid... ;) Even though she was the reason he had to pass on. She stepped on him to try to stop him from going into the closet. OOPS!!! He did not do too well after that point and unfortunately I had to put the poor little guy down :(