Summer's Almost Over

This summer has been one where I am not exactly sure what I have done, but I can't remember being home much, so I know it was a busy one! Things have been crazy around here. I am back to work at Primary part-time, nights. I used to hate nights but it makes the most sense to work them now. I can actually see my kids this way, I get paid more, and it is usually a slower paced shift.

Brett is off to school in Washington. It was difficult to say good-bye to say the least. The weird thing is I knew I was going to see him in just a couple of weeks and it turned out he came home yesterday for a surprise visit. Yay! I know this will all work out. I just worry about me being a walking zombie from lack of sleep. I guess I will have to start going to sleep when I put the kids down.

The kids are doing well. School starts Monday. I can't believe I am going to have a first grader. Gone ALL day. I really think having him gone and having the other one off to pre-school a couple of times a week will help me keep my sanity.

We had a great summer playing, and swimming and trying new things out. We have now almost officially completed our basement. We finished it so my bro and sister in law could move in to keep an eye on the kiddos while I work and Brett is away at school. Dan and Amanda had to put up with bringing a brand new baby home to a place not quite put together down in our basement, but they are being troopers. Their baby is darling and I hope I don't drive them crazy running down to hold her so I can have my baby fix. That, and the kids being up in her face!

This is just a quick update. I really need to get some pictures to show some of the things we have done. Until then, this will have to work.

Relay for Life

The Southwest Valley Relay for Life is this weekend. This is a great opportunity to Fight Back and help recognize surivors. If anyone is interested in making a donation for this event vist www.relayforlife.org/relay and search for team Happy Feet Nelson. Thanks and hope to hear from you soon!

Ketchikan, Alaska

Ketchikan was our last port of call on our cruise, although it wasn't supposed to be! was originally settled as a fishing camp. It has a little river that runs right through it, and I didn't see a single salmon. It is a beautiful city though. The houses along the creek are built on wooden pilings, completely over water. We even got to see "Hello, Dolly's" house! I guess there were a lot of brothel's in this town, and "Dolly" had one of the originals. We didn't have an excursion here but just walked the town and did some shopping. The sunset out the night before was absolutely amazing. The colors shifted so quickly that I couldn't stop taking pictures because each one was so different.

Skagway, Alaska

Skagway is a tiny little town approximately a 20 by 5 block area. It has approximately 800 people that live there; however, many students come up for the summer to work. The town at one time had a population of about 20,000. This was during the big Klondike Gold Rush. We went on a four hour train ride up the White Pass Yukon Rail. The scenery was amazing. There wasn't much else to do in Skagway other than to shop, but it was a fun little town to shop in. I am realizing that most of my pictures for this train ride were taken on my father-in-laws camera. It has much better capabilities than mine, so I stole it for this ride. I will have to post them once I find where we saved them on the computer!

Juneau, Alaska

The sign says: Delicate-Please do not pet furs

I bet you all can guess what our favorite joke of the day was....So our first little town in Alaska was Juneau. The cute little capital of Alaska. No sightings of Sarah Palin, but we did see the Governor's Mansion. Juneau is the largest land city in America covering over 3, 100 acres of land. But only 30,000 people live there. The only way in and out of Juneau is by BOAT or PLANE, the longest road in the area being 47 miles long. It usually only gets into the 60-70's and rains most of the time. Juneau was founded during the great Alaskan gold rush but not a lot of gold was ever found. It survives today mostly by tourism. We were told that for fun the teens like to pour rum in the streets to see the bears come for a special treat and get a little buzz. We visited Mendenhall Glacier. I think the pictures say it best!

Embarkation Day

My computer is not liking blogger right now so these are the only pictures I can get on today.

Where to even begin! Brett and I recently returned from a 7-day Alaskan cruise. We had such a great time. We went with Brett's parents and 2 of his brothers and their wives (no, they each don't have more than one). We also left our kids at home with my mom, and brother and his wife-a big shout out: THANKS! It was so relaxing and divine. Alaska truly is majestic. Our port of call was out of Seattle. We left early that morning and headed straight for the ship to check in and of course have our first meal of the trip. We couldn't miss out on an opportunity to eat. We had the mandatory muster drill and headed again to our first meal in the dining room where I got the princess love boat for dessert. I have decided there are so many great pictures I am going to have to do a day by day and that still won't even cover it all!

A Teaser