Mr. Yah-go

Happy 2nd Birthday Owen! We love you...
This shirt was Tom's when we was a little guy:)



Tom puts Owen to bed everynight and this is usually what it looks like...both of them asleep on the couch!
Aimee gave Owen his first "real" haircut not done by mom. He did great and so did she:)!
Owen adores babies. Always wants to hold Baby Jacob:) next door. Reminds me of Ella as a little one.
Owen and I had a special "date" the night before his birthday. We went on a canoe ride together. Here he is showing me how old he was....Sigh....no more baby. I love age 2, but a tiny part of me was sad that day as my baby isn't really a baby anymore. 2 makes that official.

LOVE Owen's growing vocabulary. Here's a peak...

"fose" - I want to do it mySELF! "baby" - blanket

"boat" - blow on it "pappy" - pacifier

"TarTar" -Tar "no key coo" -no thank you

"E-I-O" - Baby Doolittle movie " no" -snow

"wiff!" - go with "yun" - run

"Nana Booboo" -chase me! "tee" -treat

"Me-mo" -snowmachine "yuck" -stuck

"ra-mo" -pasta "got you!" -share with me NOW!

"Ee" or "Bubee" or "Pappy" -Thomas "wa" -watch me

"On" -off "off" -on

"hello" -phone "Autee!" -anytime the phone rings:)

...and my favorite "yah-go" -water

love my job!

shrimp & ski

2K and a S...Two Kroons and a Smith. Loren, Kep & Tom went out on the boat in April to catch some shrimp and do some skiing. They had a great time and the weather was absolutely perfect.


Only in Alaska...
They hike up the mountain with skins on their skiis and then ski down.


POUNDS of bacon are often consummed on the boat during these types of weekends. Yikes.

We TRI'd!

Ella and I competed in the Gold Nugget Triathalon on Sunday & had a great time. I am so proud of her for completing it! I did my first triathalon at 37 and here she is....10 years old! We certainly enjoyed ourselves during the race. Lots of talking & noticing of things around us:)...fuzzy caterpillars & even a moose! She read each note of encouragement written in chalk on our run and sprinted to the finish line. What a sweet, sweet, memory for the two of us. I look forward to many more races together!

The Valley Rookies!

They're back!

The swans are back! Ella took these photos...

vegas

My aunt Sandy turned 65, so the 5 of us celebrated this milestone in Vegas last month. Kim & Kristi were like sisters to me growing up and while we haven't all been together in years, we were able to catch up like it was just yesterday. It was great to see my mom twice this winter too:) We were together only two full days. Could have done another week of chatting, walking and eating with these ladies, but it was quite easy to say goodbye to the city itself!


The Belagio had an amazing display of flowers.

And my favorite memory of this trip was laughter. Non-stop, always something to laugh about. Thank you ladies!! Here's to next time....:)

stacy

Stacy...I was blessed to spend 3 full days with Stacy in April! What a great time we had. We talked and laughed and walked and shopped and ate...and then did it all over again! It felt so good to sit down with Stac in person and talk. Boy, do I miss her!!
We also went to the tulip fields in LaConner and took tons of pictures. What an amazing site to behold...ACRES of bright tulips in bloom! Of course, we squeezed in some more shopping...and eating and talking while there:)

The site of green grass and flowers in bloom was so refreshing. I wanted to bottle it all and bring it back to Alaska with me...including Stac! Thanks for the memories, friend! You're one in a million! I miss you...

signs of spring

The signs of winter releasing it's grip are everywhere around here. Thank you God, the sun has returned to Alaska! The first sign is less frequent blog posts. Another is the itchin' for a new hair style...and if you can't think of what to do with your own, try a brother's hair!
Another sign...The annual Mother-Daughter Easter Tea.
And the sunglasses come out of their dusty cases! In this case...they come in the mail from Gramps Tom. Owen's first pair of shades:)
Hand-painted terra cotta pots filled with grass in my kitchen window. Another sign! We grow grass in little pots each spring. This makes me smile when it seems the grass may never be uncovered again. The kids love to cut their grass and I LOVE to smell the fresh clippings!
Great Grandma Darlene sends us way fun eggs. Personalized this year with yummy goodies inside!
And the Ryans come over and we hunt for eggs.

Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day. -W. Earl Hall