Well, we are finally getting summer in Alaska and really enjoying. The past week has been sunny and bright and relatively warm (high 50's) Yesterday Dad and I and Rosculp's took our kayaks and went from Cottonwood Lake to Mud Lake and then across Wasilla Lake. It took a couple hours and with perfect weather it was really enjoyable.
Dad is still working on cabinets but I think the end may be in site. A couple weeks ago MEA went through and chopped up all the woods between our yard and ranch road. They really made a mess so whenever Dad has been home we have been hauling the bigger stuff away, burning and raking.
We are now at the point where it will wait until spring and we will have to rent a bulldozer to get rid of all the stumps and then get a bunch of top soil and eventually have a lawn all the way down to the road. I definitely preferred the trees but I guess they could have become a problem for the power lines.
I think you all know that Cassie and Nate are moving back here so I have also been busy clearing out as much as possible downstairs. They should be able to be pretty settled down there and have everything they need except for a kitchen . It will make it easier for us to come and go without finding a housesitter, etc.
We are anxiously awaiting our next trip. We are flying into Chicago then meeting Nate and Sharolyn in St Louis for a few days. We will then drive up to Grandma's and spend a few days before driving back to Chicago to fly home. It will be somewhat rushed but we will get to see everyone and that means alot.
Shannon, I love your idea of getting together with everyone on Skype. We will definitely have to try to work that out.
Well, I am going to get busy on some family history.
Love You All!
Mom

Never Ending

It just seems like the projects around the house are Neverending!!!But, I know, that is no excuse for not being more faithful on keeping in touch. Here are a couple pictures of the demolition process... What a stud! Thoroughly enjoying operating his "mini" Jack Hammer! Not really!, but he was glad to be able to accomplish that dream of playing with one. He felt it for a couple days later though, so that part wasn't so fun.



It's still a work in progress. Hopefully won't be too much longer. We figured we might as well knock out both downstairs bathrooms at the same time. Now, not so sure that was the wisest,...considering all of us have to use the upstairs bathroom since there are no accessible toilets or showers on the main floor. As you can see, the toilets are IN the showers.
Makeila, being the one home during the day has been an extra big helper. She is the assistant tool helper and tile handler. Although a lot of the work now has been after all the kids are in bed, and Nathan has left for work,..so after 10pm.

A fun Idea!

I came across this article -LDS Living Magazine- and thought it would be fun for us to do once in a while...not necessarily Family Home Evening, but choose a time like every third Sunday afternoon that we can all meet on Skype or something and actually talk and see each other. I know we are all busy, but it is important to stay connected....Thoughts?

Happy birthday, Toby!

It’s been one year since our newest family member joined the team and we can’t imagine life without him. We feel like Toby makes our family complete. Our little Toby is growing every day and his personality is really starting to show. We always thought he was the sweetest, most laid back baby. Well, that sweet little baby has grown into a very vocal and determined toddler. That’s right. Our little Toby now bullies his big brother and has an iron grip when it comes to grabbing a toy or piece of food that he wants. It’s so fun to watch him learn new things, or new techniques to get his way. He is a determined guy, that’s for sure. We had a birthday party for him the last Saturday and he had a wonderful time. He got to play with his cousins and a couple close friends and then eat his first piece of cake. Toby went to bed happy that night, and I think for the first time in a couple weeks, he actually slept through the night, all night, in his own bed.

As for his big brother, Xavier started preschool about two weeks ago. He LOVES it. Let me just say, on his first day of school, he was so brave and ready to go. Bottom line, I cried, he didn’t. He didn’t stay still long enough for me to take a good first day of school picture, but I do have one from the open house. Xavier’s teachers are really nice and, since it’s a co-op, I go in to volunteer about twice a semester. It’s really nice to be involved, but still be able to let him go and see what school is like without mom around. Toby apparently loves preschool too. During open house, I couldn’t keep him from playing with all the big kid stuff and when I went to drop Xavier off on the first day, Toby managed to tackled one of Xavier’s classmates and swipe his toy. I think Xavier may be our little thinker, while Toby is just a bully already!

Scott and I are doing well. We’ve just been incredibly busy! During August, Scott’s segment was going through an audit and several people from headquarters were up to go over everything. There were several trips to the slope and a lot of business meetings and dinners. Now that it’s over, it’s nice to have Scott back to his normal schedule. As for me, filled in a bit for the Morning and Newshour editions, which was fun, but made me realize, no matter how much I think I miss work at times, I would so rather be with my boys. It makes me remember how lucky I am to be able to stay home with my boys and just fill in, get a taste of what it’s like to work in the newsroom again, and then get out before getting burned out. Scott is content with the current situation at work, so it looks like we will be in Alaska for at least the winter, but transferring is still an option in the future.

We’ve been plenty busy since I last wrote. We’ve been on playdates, hikes, berry picking, to the state fair and I took Xavier to a special show called, “Walking with Dinosaurs.” Xavier loved it. It was a little spendy and we didn’t think Toby would sit through it or really care about is, so Xavier and I had a mommy and me date. The dinosaurs were amazing! Basically a “paleontologist” describes what the world was like when dinosaurs roamed the earth and they were all life sized. Of course, some of them were baby dinosaurs so they would fit in the arena, but it was still incredibly impressive. I was blown away! Xavier couldn’t stop talking the whole time. He kept saying, “mom, mom, mom! There’s a dinosaur! Mom! Hey, hey mom! Do you see that dinosaur..” He was shouting and oowing and awing the whole way though. It was fun to watch. When Scott came to pick us up and he asked Xavier if he liked the show, Xavier said, “no dad, I didn’t like it. I LOVED it!” That was pretty funny.

We’ve had a lot of fun this summer. Between soccer, playdates, family visiting and the start of school, we’ve been booked. I can’t believe that I am saying this, but I just may be ready for winter to set in. Just so we can have a set schedule and I can have the routine down again.

We love you guys and we will be sure to check in and write more in the weeks to come!Yvonne, Scott, Xavier and Toby!

1 Year Old

We can hardly believe that iswas 1 year ago ( almost to the minute!) that we met our sweet Caleb. He has brought us so much joy! We love his easy smile and sweet personality. Today was really the first time at church that he fussed to be able to get down and go, he is usually happy to sit on my lap and look around. We had a fun little party with just our familytoday. Caleb loved grabbing his cake the first time, but once he tasted it, he was not impressed! He is almost walking and says mama....still a tiny guy, but so much fun!

We are finally home to stay for a while. We got home from a two week trip to Lake Tahoe and Idaho last Tuesday and snuck in one more trip for a day at the beach and our nephew's baptism yesterday. This week we have to get back into routines and ready for school next Monday. Elijah was thrilled to find out this week that he will have the same kindergarte

n teacher Aubrey had. Courtney and Aubrey are still anxiously awaiting their assignments. Mark even has a new schedule this year teaching seniors for the first time. It should be a fun new challenge for him. Christian has a preschool group set up for two days a week. It is 6 three year old boys, so all the moms are a bit nervous about keeping all that energy going the right direction, but is should be fun!

Well, I have certainly been horrible about writing. I guess my every week plan didn't quite work.
The last few weeks have been very enjoyable. It was great to have Shannon and family here and then head to Idaho to see Amber and her family. It also worked out to meet up with Shannon on our way through Idaho Falls so I got to see them again for a little while. It was also good to have Nathan here for a few days - it would have been even better to hakve the whole family but I certainly know about the cost of airline tickets so I can't complain. Dad and I will be heading to Chicago in October and we will be meeting Nathan and his family in St Louis for a few day and then head up to see Grandma for a few days before going home. My goal is to see everyone of you at least once a year and so far I have pretty well managed that. I sure wish it could be a lot more often. Dad is still working most nights on that cabinet order so he sleeps about 4 hours a night. It will probably be a good thing when the fish are gone for the year. I have been really enjoying my kayak and hopefully I will be able to get out several times before the weather gets too chilly.
Dad just got home so I'll stop for now. He has to head out again in an hour or so for a seminary meeting.
I Love You All.
MOM

Busy Summer

Now that summer has officially ended, I have figured out a way to get pictures off my camera. Apparently my SDHC card can't be read from the computer I have, so I finally got my camera cord back that was left in Virginia.
Yes, that is right, our summer is officially over! The first day of school was last Thursday. The kids have been dying to go back to school, since right after they got out at the end of May. Not to say that they haven't had all kinds of fun over the past 2 months, but they do love school.
Shortly after school got out, we headed up to Virginia for several weeks. It was fun to be able to spend time with my family, especially that first weekend, since we were ALL able to be together, for the first time in several years. As we all know, it's not easy to get EVERYONE together at the same time.
Nathan flew back to attend the Stake YM High Adventure, and had a blast for 4 days, white water rafting, rock climbing, golfing, hiking, camping,...and all the other fun things that boy scouts like to do. He managed to get a little bit of work in over the next couple weeks, but also helped to carry out Youth Conference. Meanwhile the kids and I tried to find fun things to do while in Virigina. We made several trips to Washington D.C., and I think the kids had a blast. The finale of our trip was first greeted by Dad coming to get us, and then spending the 4th of July downtown at the Capitol watching the fireworks.