May Birthdays and a Graduate!!!

Happy Happy Birthday Amanda (the 4th) And Jared (the 28th)

Amanda, I am so glad you married my brother! I love you so much and so happy I can call you my sister. Thanks for ALWAYS being so fabulous. I LOVE you so much.

Jared. I love you. Thank you for always being so protective of our family. You are a the best biggest bro. And did I mention really talented on a bike?

These two are one of the hottest couples I know. They are so fun and always doing something active with their family. You inspire me to do more with my own little family. Love you guys!

(for some reason I can't make their picture bigger)

Happy Birthday Melissa (the 19th)

I love you girl and am so glad you are my sister! Won't you come visit me soon?

Melissa is always down for a good time. She is also one of the busiest people I know. She is a mother, a wife, a teacher and a student. I will never forget going to Las Vegas with you when you were engaged to Joshua. That was a fun time!!

(I hope you don't mind I stole this pic off Lindsey's blog... love it!)

Happy Birthday Meagan! (the 28th)

Meagan I love your bunz! I am so thankful Jathan has rad sisters that I get to call my own sisters. Thanks for being my good friend!

Meagan is ALWAYS laughing and has the most contagious smile. She is one of the most inquisitive people I know. She is always learning and finding out the best way to do things.

CONGRATS TESSIE!!!

Tessie graduated High School yesterday.

We are so proud of you and we are so excited for this next chapter in your life. You are going to have so much fun in college and I can't wait for all the fun stories I am in store for. You are amazing! We love you sister!!

Tessie just got her senior pictures. These are just a few of my faves. Tess you look stunning!

Eklutna Lake

Our first Alaskan adventure! Well it wasn't to big an adventure but it was certainly fun and BEAUTIFUL!

This amazingness is less than a half hour drive from where we live.

Zanna had the time of her life playing in the water with her daddy... and her feet FROZE! The lake was bitter cold!

A few highlights of this trip...

Zanna went tinkle her pants. She was not use to the sensation that oh so cold water brought to her and she just tinkled! And when she told me she had to go tinkle (a little earlier from when she wet her pants) I took her up towards the restrooms but could tell she was not going to make it... when what to my surprise she went #2.... I was sure unprepared for that... so we did what we had to do and I burred it.

The real highlights of this trip were watching my husband and my daughter. I got some great photos of them playing together. And it felt great to get out and do something fun with our little family.

On our way home we went to this cute little ice cream shop. The ice cream was delicious... and the food was ummm... slightly overpriced... but we paid for the view.

How cute is this place? I love all the colors.

Zanna told me she needed to go tinkle. When I turned to grab her hand to take her to the bathroom, she was squatting with her drawers around her ankle. This girl loves to go to the bathroom outside. It cracks me up! Well she did not get her pants completely out of the way so she basically wet her pants once again. Oh well... what's a kid to do?

Zanna was loving MY ice cream... I only got a few bites:(. She was freezing cold and her face was so dirty from playing in the mud at the lake but she was so content eating that ice cream. Jathan got a "Glacier" which is like a root beer float but with 7up and blueberry ice cream. It was pretty tasty.

(Bottom left) They had this cool telescope there. You pay a quarter and it allots you so much time. Jathan and Zanna were fighting over who got to look through it... really though... they were. Yes I am raising him too! We saw 19 Dall Sheep, pretty cool. Jathan was dying.

And to end our day we got the kids in the tub, washed our muddy feet and slept well. Well the kids and I did... Jathan had to get up a few hours later to work the dredge. Sorry love!

Side note: We were watching River Monsters today... one of our new favorite shows... and Jathan has informed me he is scared to go swimming in rivers now. He said he wishes he never watched it because it is better not knowing what is lurking under the water waiting to eat you!

Who cares about the bears... when there are big scary fish! ha ha!

Alaska Sunsets

Some of the sunsets here have been absolutely breath taking.

We have an amazing view from our back deck. You can even see the ocean. The sunsets here last FOREVER... because it takes forever for the sun to actually set.

Right now the sun sets at 10:36. But it does not actually get dark until around 12:45. The sun rises at about 5:30 but it starts getting light around 3:45. It is so crazy.

So trying to go to bed at a decent hour is pretty ridiculous! I have a hard enough time getting to bed when it is dark.... And trying to get my kids to bed, especially Zanna is the absolute DEATH of me. We will be investing in black out curtains... like tomorrow!

It is pretty cool though. I am glad I get to experience it. We gain about 5 minutes and 45 seconds of light every day. Which is about 3 hours every month. Isn't that amazing?

I wonder if there will be beautiful red sunsets for much longer. It seems the sun won't be actually setting at all pretty soon here.

Tub Time

Tub time is an exciting time these days. Other than the fact Zanna hates to get her hair washed, Troop likes to play with any toy Zanna has in her hands so he is constantly climbing onto her. She just giggles at him. She LOVES that little man and is always so sweet with him. I am thankful she doesn't try to push him off her.

Even though Troop has been sitting up for sometime now, it is so weird to see him sit up in the tub by himself. It makes him look so big. STOP GROWING SO FAST!!

Balance Bikes and Such.

Now that the weather is getting nicer we decided to get Zanna a bike to play with...but not just any bike. A balance bike. These things are awesome! They don't have pedals so instead of having to learn how to pedal, steer, break and eventually balance... they pretty much just learn to steer and balance. At first she sat on the bike and just kind of scooted along, but now she cruises... it is pretty cool. How cute is she in her little helmet? Too bad she hates putting it on. I think it must pull on her hair.

Poor Troop... why did I buy everything pink with Zanna... I could have gone with something a little uni-sex.

Finally able to play outside. Don't worry this was a few weeks ago. Thankfully the snow has melted!

We went to a park near our apartment with some friends that have a little boy Zanna's age. They both had their bikes so they both had helmets on when they decided to move over to the Big Toy.

Chase and Heather. Jathan works with Chase. They are a really fun couple and have kids the same ages as Zanna and Troop. They are both from Idaho falls area and know some of my cousins. It really is a small world.

This makes us look like paranoid parents... our children are playing on the Big Toy with their helmets... SO FUNNY. I giggle!

Holding hands, wearing helmets, going down the slide. Little cuties!

Riding back home with daddy. My little girl is getting so big.

Mothers

Happy Mothers day to the amazing, beautiful mothers in my live.

(this is my all time fav pic of my parents)

I love you so much mother!

I love that you will take an hour of your day to sit and listen to me.

I love that I have someone I can tell everything to.

I love laughing with you.

I love how nurturing and thoughtful you are.

I love that you love me so much.

I love receiving packages from you now that we are in Alaska.

I love your love for adventure and nature.

I love your example.

I love how much you love my daddy.

I love playing with you.

I love that you can make everything feel better.

I love that I cry as I write this.

I love that I am your daughter.

Love Marianne

(how darling is this picture?)

To my other mother!

I Love you Milli.

I love that you can make everything beautiful.

I love walking into your home and smelling the beautiful flowers.

I love your funny stories and your "milli-ism's"

I love your love for your culture.

I love watching your Native dances.

I love how you raised my husband and moulded him into the man he is.

I love how at home & comfortable I feel with you and your family.

I love your amazing ideas.

I love your example.

Thank you so much for being my mother!

Dinner at Rodney and Sheena's

Rodney, a gentleman Jathan works with invited us to dinner at his home the other night. It was so fun. Sheena... his amazing wife with a southern accent, made a DELISH meal of Halibut enchaladas. Yummy!

Rodney and Sheena

Those are bear skulls in the window behind Rodney. Crazy! He is an avid hunter.

Holly and Andre

Jathan works with Andre as well. They are fabulous and I am excited to hang out with them again!

Look in the window. That is their HUGE MASSIVE dog. He is saying hello to Sheena... begging to come in for a nice cup of joe... really. He loves a good cup of Joe... how funny is that!!

Can you believe these dogs. The one on the left weighs 190. WOW! He is a special breed of Alaskan Malamute.

Zanna loved them and wanted to play with them the whole night.

Rodney had to hold him back. He is not use to little kids and he didn't want the dog mistaking her for a chew toy!

Troop liked the dog's too. He was not scared one little bit at his ginormous size.

I adore this picture of Zanna. She is giving me a true smile. This is just not someting you can get on camera every day!

Me on the other hand... I am not giving you a true smile. Zanna took this picture of me. It makes me giggle. How do you like all of my mardi gras beads. These kept Zanna entertained most of the evening. Puting them on and taking them off me. Again and again.

And that there is a grizzley bear hanging on the wall. He is HUGE!!

Thank you Rodney and Sheena!

Oreo's

One of the many reasons this little boy loves his big sister.

She feeds him yummy things like oreo's while mommy's not looking!

Sorry sweet boy, that is the last time you will taste that deliciousness for a long long time. XOXOXO.

Why Red?

Red Lipstick + Zanna = Disaster

I put Zanna down for a nap

I nurse Troop and put him to sleep
I feel so content with the quietness of my home
I walk into the living room
I about loose it!

Apparently she climbed out of her bed. Grabbed the darkest lipstick she could find. And used the couch as her art canvas. She also had it all over her face and chewed up a bit as well. After using Goo gone, Oxi clean, soap and water I finally got it out... well almost out :( It is a good thing she is so dang cute and so good at apologizing. These are the only things that saved her.