ALASKA!!!

Well for those of you who don't know... Jathan graduated in December (YAY!!! and CONGRATS!!!) And was offered a job with the Corps of Engineers... in ALASKA! WOW! So the past few months have been crazy busy with decluttering and getting ready to move 56 hours away! We sold a few more things, a horse, our 4Runner, a covered wagon (so funny we had one of these to sell :) a few more guns, a baby cradle. KSL is our best friend! So Jathan made the long trek, starting last Thursday morning. He drove 15 hours to Bellingham, Washington, about 2 hours from Seattle. In Bellingham he caught a ferry, The Alaska Marine Highway to be exact, and was ocean bound for three days. He then got off the Ferry in Haines, Alaska and drove about another 15 hours to Anchorage. What a trip!! He finally arrived Tuesday night. Started work Wednesday morning and is currently house hunting... Crazy, CRAZY Exciting times. Once he has a home for us I will fly out with the two little kiddos.

We were going to give Zanna's Betta away but Jathan could not stand the thought of Zanna having to part with her beloved fish... so he took the fish on the week long journey. He said betta almost froze to death twice but he was able to revive him...

A Horse Drawn Sled

The other day we decided to do something fun and get Zanna out of the house. So we went to the barn and Jathan and Ray pulled Zanna and Jaden on some sleds behind the horses. It was SO fun and the kids absolutely loved it. I thought Zanna would last about an hour but that little lady could not get enough of it and lasted for three and a half hours. I also thought we would have a bit of a rodeo pulling the selds behind the horses but to my surprise they did fabulous!

Jaden and Zanna

Jathan pulling Zanna behind the paint.


Ray pulling Tessie and Jaden while Baisey and Mason (thd dogs) follow.

Zanna got tricky and laid on her belly.

Tipping over...

and off they go.

Grandpa Ray

Anytime Zanna wasn't on the sled she was laying down on her belly in the snow.

Yes, I was there too.

And later on that night. My little Troop looking ever so eddible.

A Dancing Indian Princess

Tessie had preference a few weeks ago and I had to post pictures. She looked so beautiful. I helped her get some of the accessories for her dress and did her hair and make up.

We made her a raw silk flower with some added beads, tulle and feathers. then added some Russian lace for a bird cage veil look.

I just adore the way it looked on her.

A closer look

We found this phenomenal vintage inspired bolero online. I bought a pattern on ETSY for it. I wish I could say I made it but I didn't. They got the bolero made and we then made some more fabric flowers and added them to the bolero.

A full dress shot with her date. Isn't her dress beautiful?? I loved it. She looks like an Indian Princess ;)

I decided to make Zanna a few fabric flower hair pieces. They look so cute in her hair!!

A few firsts for my little Trooper!

At 5 months, Troop gets a few firsts....

His first haircut!

and his bottom two teeth!!

Here is a before shot of his hair cut. His hair was getting a little funny. He had a very thick tuft of hair right at the front of his head. He was also strutting long locks that curled around his ears. Yes it was high time this little stud received a hair cut.

Can you see the curls around his ears. They were adorable and cute in a very comical way.

Jathan the professional stylist.... or he looks professional in a very straight way :)

I think he was getting a little bit of hair in his eyes because he kept rubbing them. Poor little guy!

Did I say Professional?? Oops... definitely not!

When Jathan thought he was all done he combed his hair forward and then thought otherwise!!

Can you believe all of this hair came off of my 5 month old baby??

What a little stud! I can not get over his new do. It is so dang cute. It makes his eyes look so big and sparkly!



After a long day... looking handsome as ever. He is all tuckered out. I mean really, it has got to be hard being that cute :)

A Cabin New Year

Zanna, Troop and I headed to Montana for the new year!

Jathan stayed home to bring home the bacon :(. We missed him!! But had such a great time.

One of the many reasons I love going to the cabin is my little girl gets to run about with her cousins playing to her hearts content. This trip she may have had a little too much fun though...

She got into things EVERYWHERE!!

Poured fabric softener onto the carpet and onto a chair. Poured one of my eye shadows all over the carpet. Smeared my mascara all over the back of a couch. Poured detergent all over the floor of my parents room... luckily it was powder detergent and not liquid. Christian caught her in the act of squeezing mustard into the sour cream. Carolynn found a bottle of Clorox in the middle of the room (thank heavens for child proof caps) that could have been very bad! The list goes on.... I mean when they say terrible two's they don't exaggerate! This child is resourceful! She is quick as can be and can get to pretty much anything.

Well other than all the crazy things Zanna got into it was a fabulous trip!

Here she is strutting her snow clothing..

We headed out to go sledding (is that mascara under my eyes from the day before?? Yeah pretty sure it is!)

Zanna froze her buns off so that did not last long. I am pretty sure it was 2 degrees outside.

Cameron, Bergen and Troop hanging out on the couch in their jammies. One of the fabulous things about the cabin in the winter... jammies all day long! (nice new bright blue couch eh?? All the furniture at the cabin is hand me down's from the family)

Zanna... trying to figure out which wall needs a little extra color!! ;)

Mikelle is always doing fun things with the kids. Below she has Andlein and Bergen preforming acrobats on her hands and feet.

Zanna is loving the show... and getting an idea...

there she goes....

A little help from Andelin and Voila!!!

Mikelle and Bergy

Jamming out on the piano!

I am starting to realize that I need to start taking pictures of more than just my children. We were there with so much family and I didn't take pictures of hardly anyone!

We brought in the new year by playing card games around the table... Pretty exciting eh??... I wouldn't have it any other way!!

CHEERS TO 2010!!!!!

Christmas Morning

The presents under the tree...

The stockings......

The excited little girl (we are in the process of moving, hence the boxes)...
The aftermath.....

Christmas morning can be so hard for a little girl....

And Christmas night... getting comfy in Troops Bumbo

The winning photo of the season...

Christmas morning was so fun. Zanna had a blast opening her presents and playing with her fun new toys. She got a cute little food set, a tea set, an apron specially crafted by her mother, a dolly and some clothing.

After opening presents at our house we went to my Parents house to open presents and have our annual Christmas breakfast of Eggs Benedict. SO DELICIOUS!! This has been a tradition for as long as I can remember. Started by my Grandma Ruth.

We then headed to Jathan's parents, opened presents and had some delicious hot cocoa.

It was a great Christmas and so fun to celebrate the season with our two little ones.