Hallie's New Do

After Matt said that Hallie looked like Hulk Hogan, I could take the mullet no more. The pigtails were cute, but she was putting up with it less and less. I have to say that I am quite pleased with the way it turned out. On my first snip she turned her head and that dictated the whole rest of the cut. A 17 month old does not hold still for a haircut!

Alaskan Summer

So far, this summer leaves a lot to be desired. It has been cold! On the few sunny days we've had, it has been windy. And it's not the Santa Anas either! When we have a sunny day, we fill up our little pool in the morning, in hopes that it will warm up. On this day, it was cold! But I just couldn't keep Hallie out of the pool. By this time, I had already changed her cold, wet clothes twice! She just plopped down in there with her coat.

Completed New House

The house on Meandering Road is finished and up for sale. I fought hard the urge to move in. It is so beautiful and I absolutely love the floor plan. I told Matt if we ever decide to build ourselves another house, that I want to duplicate the floor plan, but fit in another bedroom. It is so functional! If you want to see pictures of the inside, click on the title.

Matt has moved on to his next project, a duplex that we will keep as an investment property.

Cute Summer Outfits

We've finally had some sunny days!

Daddy's Girls

Matching jammies on clearance from Old Navy and both in love with their daddy!

Self Feeding

Hallie has now reached the stage where she does not want any help being fed. Do not even reach for her utensils or she might freak out. She did pretty good with this pudding, I thought. Also, I believe these are the last pictures of her pigtails. (For awhile, anyways!)

Summer Dress

We got to wear this one time!

we forgot again...

Two nights ago, Matt and I were watching some movie on TV at about 10 pm, when I said, "what's the date today?" And Matt said, "the 9th" and so I replied, "Happy Anniversary, I love you!"

We have yet to (either one of us) remember our anniversary on the day. Last year, Matt's mom said, "Isn't today your anniversary?" while we were visiting them for dinner. Oh well, some day, one of us is going to remember ahead of time and plan a big surprise and it will be really sweet. (But I'm not holding my breath.) We've been married 7 years! And they have been great.

Opening the Fishing Rod

Grandpa "Al" gave Carson his prized possession for his birthday, a Pirates of the Carribean fishing rod. That was back in February. Grandpa told Carson he should wait to open it until summer, so it stayed safe. There has been much temptation and few little "pull back at the edges", but Carson has kept the packaging intact the entire time. He also has slept with the rod in his bed almost every night. He finally got to open it! Now we are waiting for some sunshine to get out in!

Cool Pic

I just love how vibrant this picture is!

The Tyonek Reunion!

We spent two teaching years of our married life in Tyonek, Alaska. If you know anything about that place, you understand what I mean. In our second year, Matt was able to hire two fresh, young couples to join us. Being in that situation together has created a lasting bond and friendship between us. When Matt transferred out, so did they! Lucas and Kristen Peless "followed" us over to Kenai/Soldotna area and even helped us build our home! They have since had two children, Micali and Elijah. Ryan and Carly Geagel landed in the Wasilla area and also have had two children, Trenton and Ethan. Once or twice a year, the Geagels pass through our area on their way to or from Seldovia, where Ryan grew up.

I had been thinking it would be fun to plan a yearly Tyonek Reunion in August that lasted for a weeked and involved a lot of outdoor activities. When I learned that the Geagels would be here for two nights at the end of May, I figured we better go with it, because who knew if they would be able to get back down here in August?

We really had a great time, and I hope the Geagels and Pelesses did too! We didn't get to do as much outside as I had hoped, but did have some sun (thank you Lord). And we had two nights of Catan, which is always enjoyable. I'm already looking forward to the next Tyonek Reunion!

I wish I had taken more pictures, but I am never on top of my game when it comes to that!

Settlers of Catan

If you like games, especially those of strategery, you really must try Settlers of Catan. The Peless' introduced us to this game while in Tyonek, and I have to admit, it took me a couple of times to get the hang of it. I felt so stupid the first time I tried to play, that I was angry and vowed to never play again. I really enjoy playing games, although I am not super competitve (unlike some people we know, Matt and Luke). In Tyonek, we had game night every Friday, or was it Saturday? Either way, once a week. We played a few other games here and there, but generally we always played Settlers of Catan. Some people take it a little too seriously at times (Luke) and some people are just mean to those people (Matt). I am proud to say that I had a good streak of winning Settlers of Catan like 3 or 4 times in a row, but that was only playing with 2 couples, I don't recall ever winning with all 6 of us.

Let's just say, on this night, it's a good thing Luke went home as the Lord of Catan!

Deck Stairs

Everyone helped Dad out with building my deck stairs!

Finally I can access the yard from the deck without using my crazy acrobatic skills! See the previous "stair" off to the side?

My Sweet Hallie

Can you guess what's in the washer?

Memorial Day Camping

My work is piling up and I thought, well, I have time for at least one post tonight...hopefully I will catch up soon! Our camping trip was a lot of fun! There were 5 of us families from church that went, all with kids around the same age. The adults were outnumbered by one, can you guess which family has the extra kid? Maybe we're crazy, but neighbor Jaime is pregnant, so they're catching up! The youngest camper was Brooklyn, she is a month younger than Hallie and the oldest kid was Avlynne, who will be in 2nd grade. All the rest fell between! We feared that all campgrounds would fill up before all of us could arrive, so we set out to reserve or pre-set-up our sites earlier in the week. After a few different places, all five campsites ended being set up by Burr, Contessa, and Matt at Bings Landing. We learned with some slight scolding that we are not allowed to set up our campsites, pay for them, and then not stay in them. Geez, they got some extra money out the the deal!

The camping was fun! It was sunny and windy the first night we were there. It turned out that our site was most sheltered from the wind, so we all gathered around the fire there. The kids played in the dirt and the woods and had a great time. Each family was responsible for one meal. It was really nice not to have to worry about bringing all the different food needed for various meals! We had planned on staying two nights, but the second day it began to rain. We toughed it for awhile, but when the rain got harder, Matt was the first one to wimp out and pack up for home.

I should also mention that Hallie did not come with us the first night. I drove home and picked her up from my mom in the morning. It's a good thing too. I don't think she would have slept. I did not sleep. It was COLD. Matt and I are the only dorks who did not have an air mattress to sleep on. Let me tell you, the ground is hard and cold.

Sorry for all the pictures. I hate choosing!