Weekend Wrap-up(s)

These last several weeks have been so busy that it's been hard to find time to blog! (Or maybe, it's my slight addiction to a new game called Words with Friends...)

A few weekends ago, we had two birthday parties in one day.

Dane with his "Dora the Explorer" themed binoculars!

And here are the boys at the pirate themed party in the afternoon.

We had such a wonderful day filled with cake, party favors and games galore, but when we talked about what we were thankful for that evening, all Dane could talk about was seeing this earlier that morning....

(and there was a police car on the other side!!!!)

It still amazes me that after two years, Dane is still completely and utterly obsessed with all things FIRE!!!

The following weekend was absolutely goregous! Clear blue sunny skies on Saturday meant a family walk on the Flume and a trip to Castle Park.....

Here's our sweet Jaeger Ray enjoying a ride on the swings.

And last weekend, I was able to enjoy a girls' night out. My sweet friend, Tristan choose to celebrate her birthday at the Shrine of St. Therese with a good 'ol fashioned slumber party! It was a wonderful evening (and morning) filled with good friends, fun games, great conversation, yummy food and no responsibilities! I had such a great time and I'm already looking forward to Tristan's next birthday. :)

I was having too much fun and managed to only snap a few pictures, but that morning in true Alaskan fashion we saw a whale and this eagle perched on the tree right outside the window.

A beautiful weekend

It's been absolutely gorgeous here in Juneau. Last week we had blue skies and sun although that meant we were freezing our little biscuits off so we didn't spend too much time outside. This weekend, on the other hand, was perfect. It was warm (35 degrees - it's all relative folks!) so we headed out to enjoy our beautiful backyard.

We went out to the glacier and found this amazing iceberg on the lake. The boys had a blast exploring it. Here are a few pics.




Meeting a porcupine along the way. This little creature actually found a home under our car for awhile - I guess he liked the warmth.


Our most recent favorite pastime.



And a few cute up close photos of my little snowbirds.


Dane's ready to help Daddy snow blow!

Happy Holidays!

Yes, we are here! I can't believe another month has gone by and I haven't posted any pictures. I guess that's what happens when you lose your camera in Palm Springs. :( My sweet husband actually bought me a camera almost immediately upon my return, but I'm still figuring out how to use it! (Plus the fact we're still have lots of sleep issues with our sweet boys.)

We had a lovely Christmas. In fact, it was pretty close to perfect (minus one new toy telescope being used as a baton across someone's back. Don't you just love 2 year olds?!)

Here are some pictures of our preparations:

Dane making his Reindeer Food to sprinkle on the lawn on Christmas Eve.

The finished product. We decided to make a few extras for some friends to drop off on Christmas Eve day.


Jaeger Ray helping make my sweet Grandma Lorraine's yummy salad. In my mind, no Thanksgiving or Christmas is complete without this delicious salad.


On our way to Christmas Eve candlelight service.

Opening the first gift on Christmas eve. A pair of matching fire truck jammies!



Putting the finishing touches on his letter to Santa.

I'm proud to say he did this all by himself (except I did help him spell Santa.) It says:
Dear Santa,
I love you.
I'm gunna be gunna be good.
Fire Station Playmobil.
Love,
Dane

Jaeger Ray making sure Santa's cookies taste good. :)



I only managed to get a few pictures on Christmas morning. This one tells a pretty good story - paper and new toys scattered everywhere and Daddy as a building machine! If you look closely, you can see Dane's new Playmobil Fire Station on the train table half built and in Daddy's hand is a rescue helicopter he is putting together. In case you're wondering, that thing on Jaeger's head is a headlamp. ;)

Duck Hunting

Daddy is not the only duck hunter who has been braving the weather this season...



(P.S. - the curtain rod is actually a shotgun.)

Snowzilla - Take 2

You may remember that Dan and the boys made the most amazing snowman last year. If you need to refresh your memory, click HERE.

Well, the opportunity presented itself a few weeks ago to make an awesome snowman myself. Dane and I were playing outside in the snow and it was the perfect consistency for a snowman. I was pretty impressed with my California self coming up with this masterpiece.

Sadly, our Snowzilla is now gone (and has been for quite some time!) I'm sure my Juneau friends are laughing at this post as winter seems so far away these days! In fact, with all this beautiful sunny weather Snowzillas accessories have finally emerged from under all that snow. Spring has definitely sprung here!

More Fun in the Snow

Here are a few more pictures from yesterday's awesome day (until around 5pm when the vomiting began. More on that below!)

Sadly, all this fun came to a screeching halt and Jaeger is officially sick. I was hoping it was just the sugar overload, but our poor little man has thrown up a few more times this morning and can't even keep Pedialyte down. Thankfully, Dane is at school right now so it's nice and quiet for Jaeger Ray. I've never seem him so mellow. He's just been hanging out in my arms. He finally fell asleep and I'm hoping he'll get a good nap in to kick this fever and whatever virus is running through him.

Hopefully, he'll be back to this smiley guy in no time.




Until then, I best get to the 3rd load of laundry of the day! Every time Jaeger Ray throws up I have to throw his blankies in the wash. He sadly reached into the dryer to try and grab his beloved airplane blankie as I was putting it in to dry.
Poor guy has to use his back-up blankie!

Beyond Beautiful

When the sun is shining here in Juneau, there's nothing more spectacular. Add a sprinkling of snow on the trees and it's just breathtaking. Take a look at this amazing place we live in.

And here we are taking a walk around the neighborhood.

I had such a fun day hanging out with my boys today! It was an extra day off that I wasn't expecting! Dan had to work and we didn't have anyone to watch the boys, so I got to cash in on some time I had given the district for an in-service I worked a full day at awhile ago.

We played firefighter and astronaut, read a ton of stories, played outside in the snow, went for a stroll in the neighborhood, pretended we were ice skating in the snow, and even got an ice cream at McDonald's with Gramma Wenny. The best part of the day though, was when the boys and I sat on the red bench on our porch and ate a lollipop while the sun shined in our faces. It was pure bliss.
All in all, it was a perfect day!*

*Until Jaeger Ray threw up twice after his late afternoon nap!!! After a bath and some snuggling he seemed back to his old happy self. Let's hope that it was the lollipop and ice cream that did him in and not some ugly virus creeping into his sweet little body. ARGH!

Brrrr.....

It's been cold here!
This morning it was a chilly 18 degrees! It's that kind of bitter cold that stings your hands and chills you to the bone. Thank goodness for cute hats, scarves and mittens. And all of that bitter coldness means we get some pretty spectacular blue sky days and in my book that's just fine with me.

Here we are all bundled up to head to Dane's Thanksgiving party at pre-school.
We hope you all have a snuggly warm day. :)