Emerson's 2nd birthday!

The favors we handed out at the "airplane" themed party!
Emerson didn't understand the concept of getting gifts on his birthday. We told him "so-and-so brought that gift and you can open it" and he got up and handed it back to them.
The happy two-year old (for that moment only and then the next moment he was throwing himself on the floor) :)
Blowing out his candles and papa wisely holding his arms back so that he doesn't burn himself.
The cake I had a ton of fun making. I really enjoy making the kids' birthday cakes! I would never want to do this as a career or anything; it is fun to do two times a year. I do realize this post is a bit late since his birthday was September 15th, but better late than never right?!

Minnesota!

We had a birthday party for Levi in MN. He didn't like being sung to!

The little bro-Emerson-scoping out Levi's birthday presents.
The little kids at the party: L-R, Chloe, Levi, Levi, Emerson, and Madeline.
Uncle David entertaining Emerson with (what are those things called?). Needless to say, Emerson loved it!
The "Mater" cake that my mom and I made specially ordered by Levi.

Half-Marathon

This is out of order (I am still trying to get back into blogging and part of that is remembering which way the pictures upload), but this is Marcie and Allison, who I ran the race with. We didn't run together because we were all trying to get our best times but we enjoyed being apart of the same race! We saw each other at the end when we received our medals!
Before the race, I wanted to get a picture with the boys, but they weren't too keen on the idea. I was in a bit of a hurry since the race was about to start and I hadn't even warmed up yet, so no time for a better pic. Oh well.
At the end, final 400 m. I'm tired here, I battled a side cramp since about mile 9 at this point and so ready to be done. But I am glad that I was able to train for and accomplish this race!

Family!

All of the cousins on John's side of the family! They are so close in age, it is so fun to watch them get along so well! From left to right: John, Peter, Levi, Ella, baby MacKenzie, Regan, and Emerson.
The six of us did a fishing charter out of Seward. These are all of the fish that we caught! We had so much fun (along with a little seasick) that it is definitely a trip to remember.
This is all of us! We worked at Solid Rock Bible Camp over Memorial Day weekend helping clean up the camp.

Sacramento!

My friend, Sarah (top photo), and I took a trip to Sacramento for my cousin Heidi's (bottom photo) wedding. We left on Wednesday night, May 18th without our husbands or without any children. It was pretty amazing getting to sleep on the airplane instead of wishing I could go to sleep. Sarah and I rented a car and stayed with Heidi at her apartment. Along with doing all the normal wedding stuff, we got to do a lot of shopping, sleeping in, running, starbucks everyday, and going to a midnight movie. Needless to say, it was a nice little getaway!

Time to blog again!

It has been too long since I have blogged, but I intended to do that anyway. I wanted to take a break blogging for the summer time since I wanted to be outside as much as possible and on the computer as little as possible. But now as our vacations are over, it is pouring down rain, and as I sit here all cozy on my couch, it is a great time to start posting pictures and writing again. Thinking back on all the things that happened this summer I would say I have plenty to keep me busy for a few months. :)

skating lessons

John used to play hockey, well, for most of his life and so we thought we would let Levi try it out. We had bought some skates for Levi for his birthday and just a couple weeks ago attempted to use them. John and his dad, were able to help Levi at least get a feel for what skates feel like. Levi didn't like the fact that he wasn't able to skate the moment his feet touched the ice, and this led to a few tears and a little frustration. We will try again next year and who knows, maybe he will just really not like skating or hockey and we can save thousands of dollars. :)

Cousin MacKenzie

Our newest niece was born December 28th, 2010. We got the privilege to go see her along with Jenna and Bill (her parents) a week ago. We had such a good time hanging out and getting to hold baby MacKenzie! She really is a precious little girl and so loved by her parents and extended family. While in CA, we also crossed paths, just for a day, with auntie Danielle and her three kids. Levi and Emerson had a blast playing with their cousins! It was so nice to send the kids outside to play on the green grass and in the sunshine. By the end of the trip Emerson kept walking to the back door, picking up his shoes, and saying "side, side (outside)". It's amazing how happy kids get when they are in the sun. We went to the beach one day which was so nice to just put our feet in the sand. I could go on and on about the trip but I will keep this short. We had a great time and maybe it will have to be a yearly thing!

No Pictures

Wow, I have no new pictures to put up of the things that have been going on in out lives. I am a pathetic picture taker! As much as it is fun to have the pictures and look back on them I just can't figure out that in order to get those pictures I have to SNAP some! Anyway, someday I might get better at it. Brad and Andrea have lived with us for a year now and I have just a handful of pictures of them with or without the boys and none with the four of us-how disappointing.

After a year, Brad and Andrea, have bought a new house (still in Anchorage) and this is moving day. We are excited to have our space back, but we are sad to see them leave. John really needed an office for his business/inventory and with a 1200 sf home we were running out of space really quick. Having the hardest time with the transition of them leaving is Levi. He loves his aunt and uncle and doesn't understand why they need their own house. It's fun to watch his relationship with them; they got so close over the course of a year.

So now that we have some space to move stuff around, we have decided to go through all of our stuff and get rid of anything we are not using. I love throwing things away and making areas neater. As I declutter, I destress! We also have a few house/yard projects planned for this summer and John and I both get excited about improving our home.

But as for now, John is doing some traveling for work. He is traveling to Memphis for a week and then Portland for four days. A few days after he gets back we get to go down to southern california to see our new niece, MacKenzie! We are all so excited to meet her and of course to see Jenna and Bill!

Christmas!

Levi got a piston cup race track for Christmas from "Santa" and he was not excited at all! Emerson got a play tent which he loves! We had a good Christmas spent with family. What a joy it is to see little kids' faces light up when they open a present (more Levi than Emerson).

The beginning of a new year, another year married!

January first not only brings the start of a new year, but also our wedding anniversary. We have been married six years!