Our 5th Anniversary!

The Fam - before Brent and I went out...


Eagle River from Skyline




Looking towards Wasilla/Palmer

My Hubby

Saturday was our 5th wedding anniversary! I can't believe it's been that long already! This has been a great year in our marriage with the birth of our first child and moving into our first home. I'm excited and curious what the rest of our years will bring us!
On Friday night Brent and I went out to celebrate and left Ben with his Auntie Brittany and Grandma Debbie. We went to Haute Quarter Grill in Eagle River - it was quite tasty. But I ate so much I didn't even want dessert and I ALWAYS want dessert! We had also planned to go see My Bestfriend's Girl in the theater. Now Brent and I haven't seen a movie in the theater since War of the Worlds... yes I KNOW it's been forever! Anyways, we get to the theater and they say they only take cash! What is this a mom and pop movie place? Brent hardly ever carries cash (who does these days?) but happens to have $15 - but the movie is $19.95. Hmmm... of course I forgot my purse in my rush to get out the door with all the things Ben needed for being at Grandma's. Brent tries to go to the Chinese place next door to see if he can strike a deal and get some cash with his Visa - no luck. So we rented a few movies instead and then drove up Skyline to check out the views because it was such a pretty night.
Here's my theroy about movies in the theaters:
I have a hard time paying the ridicoulous amount it costs because we get Netflix for $8.99/ month and probably get on average 8 movies/month. We get as many snacks as we want without paying an arm and a leg, we can watch in our pj's, nobody talks during the movie and if a baby cries it's ours and we can just pause the movie until we are ready to watch again. So yup - that's why we haven't seen a movie in the theater for over 3 years! :)

Future Weight Lifting Champ!

Grrrrr.....I think I can lift it....


Yup I can! It even tastes good!

Ellie and Ben

Ben getting advice from an older woman...


Sharing the activity table


Ellie and Ebee


Ellie asking if she can "see" her picture!

A couple weekends ago we had our friends Summer, Andrew and Ellie over for dinner. Ellie just turned 2 and is so much fun! I can't wait until Ben is her age and can communicate with us with something other than crying! :)

My Boys

Looking so cute in his new fleece bear outfit from his Granma Cathie


I hope this isn't a sign of things to come, but Ben has ALWAYS been obsessed with Brent's beer!

New Address!!!

We have a new address! I'm not posting it here for obvious reasons, but I am going to send out an email. If you aren't on my email list and would like our address leave me a comment here with your email address (I won't post your comment on the site so your email will stay private) and I'll send it to you!

Our Deck

The "door to nowhere" now has a purpose! It leads us right out to the deck! It's a little late in the year to be putting a table and chairs out but come next spring I'm sure we'll be out here a lot!

Fall in Alaska

Before the Fall Winds...


After... and yup that's snow on the mountain across from us! Winter isn't far off!


Beautiful trees right above our driveway


Looking out... the mountain turns red in the fall - it is so beautiful!

Fall in Alaska is short but so pretty. If we are lucky it won't get too windy too quickly and the yellow leaves will stick around on the trees for longer. I think this is my favorite season because the air is so crisp and you finally stop hoping for warm days because you know they are done and it's time to look forward to snow!

Helmet Head

Yup - we got Ben a helmet! You might think I'm crazy but after the scare I had from his fall a couple weeks ago on the concrete this provides a little piece of mind for me. It's called a Thudguard and is super light. He doesn't wear it all the time, I just pop it on when gets adventurous and decides to walk along the walls or cupboards. He doesn't seem to mind it at all either which is amazing!

Lil Buddies

The boys and their Grandma


They are their fathers... Mr. Serious and Mr. Goofy


Rub a Dub Dub two boys in a tub...


Let us out!

Ben has been having a really great time with his cousin Landon. We have them over to visit often and sometimes we go to Debbie's to visit. The boys don't necessarily play together but they do interact a little. But I am really enjoying having Brittany around... it gives me sometimes to hang out and chat with on a regular basis!

Cruising like a Pro!

From the chair...


To the Jumparoo...




And back again!

When Ben fractured his foot he wouldn't put any weight on it for about a week. Then he would sometimes stand on it but wouldn't pull up like he had been doing before. Well now he is completely back to his normal self... pulling up on everything and anything and walking around anything he can hold on to or balance against. I wondered when he got injured how far this would set him back but it's like it never happened!

My Sweet Sweet Boy

I love this picture!!! I'm not sure why...maybe it's the teeth??? :)

Dirt Work

First time on the backhoe...three generations - Ben, Brent and Jim :)


Jim brought in dirt with his dump truck to fill in our driveway better - 40+ loads - so he was smoothing it out


Ben and his Papa

Hiking Back Valley

Ben's 1st time on a real hike in his backpack!


Caleb, Landon and Brittany


Ben, Me, Debbie, Brittany and Denali's butt...

About a week ago we went hiking back valley. It was my 1st time hiking with the backpack. It wasn't as uncomfortable or difficult as I thought it would be and it got easier as we went on. It was an overcast day (like most of our "summer" has been) but at least it didn't rain! It is starting to turn to fall here and the mountains are turning red which I love!

Ben and Landon

Ben's new activity table from Granma Cathie




Playing nicely together :)



Ben has been spending a lot of time with his cousin Landon. They sort of interact...it's more Ben taking a toy from Landon or vis versa. Ben does like to pull on Landon though. Soon enough they will be playing and fighting together!

Ben Update

All is good! Yay! Our visit with the orthopedic surgeon was quick and he didn't see any need to do anything further unless he didn't seem to be improving over the next week. He already seems to be getting better. He is putting weight on his foot when held up and doesn't object as much when it gets touched. He still isn't pulling up on his own but I'm sure he will soon. I don't want to push him by walking around with him or helping him to pull up because his foot needs time to heal and the doctor said that the good thing about babies and injuries is that they are usually self limiting when it comes to doing things.
This has been quite the week for us and I'm honestly glad that it is over!!!

Ben's First Major Injury :(

Ben officially has his first major injury...On Monday he fell on the concrete floor in the kitchen. He must of smacked his foot on the chair or table because we found out today that it is fractured. Since it happened he has been holding it up like a puppy with an injured paw and won't let you touch it without getting upset. We finally went to the ER today and they took x-rays which was fairly traumatic for Ben...think really big scary looking equipment and a lady you don't know holding you down in an uncomfortable position...he cried the whole time. Then we waited for the doctor to look at them and originally he said they didn't see anything but then later after we left another doctor looked at them and they found a fracture in the bone leading up to his small toe. They also had to draw blood which was extremely traumatic for both and Ben and I. He cried really hard and then screamed a screamed I'd never heard before when they stuck him with the needle...so sad. To make matters worse they had to stick him in both arms because they couldn't get it the 1st time. But he recovered quickly and is home in his bed napping right now. Tomorrow we go to an orthopedic surgeon to see what they want to do. I'll update when we find out more!

A little randomness...

Brent, his dad and grandpa putting up siding...


More siding...


Ben and his cousin Landon


First time at the Alaska State Fair


Too much fair fun!!!


Most recent family picture


Brent and the boys


Ben having a tubby at our new house


Reorganizing the DVD's - needless to say my obsession with having them alphabetized has gone out the door...


I got up here but how do I get down???


Ben loves to chew on our metal trunk - but I hate when he does because he always smells like he's been eating coins afterwards...


Ben had his second illness last week - a cold - which didn't last more than a week thankfully but he did have a couple hard days in there...poor guy!

House Update: I am still working on getting things unpacked and put away. And as you can tell from the pictures above Brent is still working on the house. They spent most of the Labor Day weekend hanging siding and working on the deck. Amazingly enough Ben could nap through all the noise of the nail gun and hammers which was really loud!!! What a trooper... We finally got our 4 doors that were originally messed up so Brent will be hanging those soon. Too bad my dad can't come back...he did such a good job hanging the first eight!

Ben Update: He seems to be learning something new everyday! His latest is clapping. He just did it out of the blue a couple days ago while I was changing his diaper. It was so cute! Brent says it's a "golfers"clap because one hand stays still and the other does the clapping.
Last night after his bath I was brushing what hair he has and he took the little brush and started to brush his own hair. He is really surprising me on what he picks up so quick now.
He is also a full time cruiser and goes just about anywhere he can get to. Yesterday he was walking along the wall and this morning he was walking under the dining table along the chairs. I don't think it will be long until he walks by himself but I guess we'll see!
I have posted a ton of new videos too so check them out! :)