Isabelle Turns 12!

Scott and I have spent the last 12 years watching our first born grow and develop into the beautiful and intelligent young girl that she is today. Isabelle has always been in a hurry to grow up. She rolled at 3 months, crawled at 6 and walked at 9. And started talking talking talking! I remember her hounding everyone with "What's that?" by 2 years old. Most of all she has loved to be with people, friends and/or family. Her first friend was a little girl named Heather that lived next door to us. She was a year older but Isabelle didn't have any trouble keeping up! She learned to ride a 2-wheeler at 4 just to keep up with the big kids of the neighborhood. Isabelle was more than ready to go to preschool and kindergarten, going through 5 before finishing elementary school! She has moved 10 times, lived in 4 different states and driven through Canada. She was the first of all the grand kids on both sides of the family and the first "great" on both sides. Most of all, Isabelle has been an amazing big sister, taking on more responsibility at younger ages than most kids ever see. She has always been my big helper and saved me more times than I can count. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father sent her to us. The next several years are going to be an adventure I'm sure but we are going to have a blast along the way! Happy birthday babe, we love you!

Wesley Turns 2!

Today is Wesley's second birthday. I can't believe how fast he has grown and how much life has changed in the short two years since Wes was born. He came into this world at about 100 miles per hour, literally! What a crazy delivery that was!

Wesley has moved three times, been driven over 3,600 miles from California to Alaska, seen snow, sub-zero temperatures, wild moose, glaciers and most exciting of all, a new baby brother born! With so many exciting things already experienced I think this little boy is going to have an amazing life.

Wesley has what we in this family like to refer to as "an excess of personality". He is wild, hilarious, headstrong and loving.

He is a joy and we love him with all our hearts! Happy birthday baby!

Beautiful

This year we are truly appreciating what goes for "summer" here in Alaska. Sure, there's no outdoor swimming and we still can't leave the house without sweaters "just in case", but it is really beautiful here! Thanks to our education in rain and bugs while living in Georgia the weather and insect life don't bother us so much. Rain here is more like a mist and the mosquitoes are huge but slow and easy to avoid, unlike those dang sand gnats in Savannah! The best part is that when the sun does come out it can be absolutely breathtaking! 

The kids and I have spent a lot of time at our favorite park on base and made a special visit to the lake across the street from our church building! The Canadian Geese had hatched their goslings and we wanted to get a peek. Unfortunately, we missed them when they were cute and little with yellow fuzz. Instead, they looked like goofy miniature ostriches! We liked them anyway, especially when they laid on their tummies with their feet sticking back!

Since Scott was on leave this last week he took the kids swimming at the indoor pool on post a few times. They had a blast and I was really glad that they got to go and brush up on their swimming skills. Me and Charlie stayed home with Wes while he had his nap. Wesley has never been swimming the poor guy! We are going try to get him there but the problem is that the open swim hours are during Wesley's nap time, and trust me, you don't want to be around if he hasn't had a nap!

While Scott was home I had wanted to go camping but the timing just wasn't right, so instead we investigated some possible camping sites. There are lakes on post and one is called Otter Lake. They have cabins around the lake plus bathroom facilities and a little store and boat rental. It's definitely a family campground, not for the rugged outdoor type who prefer to wipe with leaves! It was so pretty and peaceful there and we had a nice picnic enjoying the sun and scenery!

Scott and the big girls played some football. He and I tried to play catch but the baby was fussy. (Turned out he was getting an ear infection!)

The kids all had fun blowing bubbles, playing in the dirt and swinging. Unfortunately for our picnic there were a lot of "flying bees" as Spencer calls them. They were just giant flies but all the kids were screaming and running for their lives so they didn't really eat much! What a bunch of wimps!

Wesley loves it outside! It was so sad to watch him all winter look out the windows and wish he could go out. Unfortunately, he just wasn't big enough to negotiate through the snow and he HATED the sled I got him! (Probably because the first time I put him in it the thing tipped over and I drug him about 10 feet before I realized it!)

Spencer was worried Darth Vader might show up on our walk so he was prepared to protect us! My little Jedi!

Julianne is always so sweet! She spent a good portion of the time at the lake just blowing bubbles for Wesley. She is my little momma!

Madeline has been learning to appreciate nature a lot more (as long as we don't have to walk too much and there are no bugs!) and she loves taking pictures!

Desiree gets more beautiful by the day! She loves our adventures and is our little naturalist!

Isabelle got to go to Girls' Camp with church this year and it was very exciting for all of us! I am loving watching her make this transition despite all of the challenges and frustrations. She has great leaders and good friends so of course she had a wonderful time. She can't wait until she turns 12 this month so that she can start attending Young Women on Sundays and going to Mutual on Wednesdays!

There are still a few more things we want to do this summer and I hope the weather and timing allows us! It already feels like winter is just around the corner, particularly because I've been doing so much preparation for school! My next entry will most likely be all about our homeschool and getting that set up. We are really excited about it and I can't wait to tell you all what's going on!