Our Alaska visit 2010

We just got back Tuesday night from a great two weeks in Alaska, spent the night in LA and finally made it home Wednesday afternoon. We are very happy to be home, but not too thrilled about the 105 degrees it has been the last couple of days. Luckily we have friends with swimming pools! We will be home for about another week, then head to Lake Tahoe for a few days and on to Idaho Falls. If only we could swing by Mississippi, we could see everyone!! I guess Nate and Sharolyn need to plan a trip out here!

Anyway, here are a few pictures from our trip. We loved mom and dad's new kayaks and the kids are still talking about how fun itwas to use hammers and nails while building the treehouse. Even Aubrey and Prince became the best of friends. The boys made it to the top of the Butte and the girls to the top of Twin Peaks trail in Eklutna. Thanks again mom and dad, Scott and Yvonne and Cassie and Nate. We love and miss you guys!

See... this is not elaborate!!

I can't believe so much of our summer has gone already. They have been predicting rain just about everyday but it really hasn't been too bad. Shannon and family got here on the 30th and we have been enjoying our time with them. Over the fourth of July weekend we worked on a tree house of sorts. When I suggested making a treehouse I was thinking of a couple pieces of wood stuck up in a tree. Of course, once Dad started thinking about it, it got a lot move elaborate. Anyway, it is done and hopefully the kids will have fun playing there. Shannon and Mark headed for Girdwood yesterday and took Caleb with them. Elijah went to Scott and Yvonne's to spend some time with Xavier so I just have the girls and Christain here. Last night Cassie and I took the kids to see Toy Story 3. I only slept for a few minutes so that was pretty impessive for me.
I hope you all had a fantastic fourth. I wish everyone could be here.
I Love You All
Mom
I planned on attaching some pictures but apparently the SD card that they are on doesn't work in my computer so I will have dad post some pictures.

Just a quick note to tell you all that I miss you and love you. I am feeling a bit "homesick" for all my family of late so I figured I would remind you all that even though we are spread far and wide, I love you and think of you often.

Love you tons
Megan

So summer finally arrived in full here in Rexburg. Less than a month ago we were still having weird snow flurries, but now we are in the 80s everyday. It is hot, but fun. We are definitely missing our old apartment with the air conditioning. Right now in our apartment it is 84 degrees, that is with the windows open and the fans running 24-7. Oh well though, we'll survive. We have been enjoying the summer sunshine and having lots of fun. There is a program that provides free lunch for kids at a couple of the local parks 5 days a week. So almost every day we either walk or ride the bike to the park for the lunch and to play for a while. At Porter Park there is the splash park that some of you played at with us last summer. The kids love it. There are a lot of different size fountains and a few water slides. Ayana finally got brave and now goes down the water slides on here own. Ayana is still in toddler lab at the University and she enjoys all the different activities they have there. The teachers are very creative and there is always something new to try. Her favorites are playing at the sensory table (usually has water or rice in it), playing outside, and the role play area (mini grocery stores, etc.). Today while Ayana was at class we brought Asher's little push toy that helps him walk and he LOVED having long hallways to walk down instead of crashing into the walls all the time like at home. Our other summer activity is the library reading programs. We go to story time every week and Ayana loves to get stickers in her program book for being read to every day and get her prizes like passes for the carousel at the park, etc. I am in a reading program too and have been able to earn some fun certificates like free ice cream and a swimming pass. We are excited for when Trever is done with school in another month so he can join in more of the fun with us. Other than that we just hang out at home and try not to melt. Last Saturday we went with some friends to some local caves and had fun walking through them. Asher got a little bothered by the dark toward the end, but Ayana loved using a flashlight and did really well walking on the uneven ground and scrambling over the rocks. Anyway, here are some pictures of our latest adventures. Love you all!

Ayana and Asher with their friends at the caves


Splash park fun







Ayana enjoying the country girl lifestyle at a local stores anniversary celebration

It has definitely been a quiet rainy Sunday. Dad and I are both sitting here looking at pictures on the blog. We loved seeing Jonathan's entry. It sounds like you had a great trip. Cassie and Nate are getting settled in their apartment and we are now anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Olsen's. I wish everyone could be here. When I talked to Keilee a while back she said she wanted to come visit Grandpa and Grandma at our big log house where she could see all her cousins. Unfortunately that won't happen again but hopefully in another 2 or 3 years we will be able to figure out a place for everyone to get together again.
Dad is back from his fishing trip. He had a really good time but not quite as many fish as he had hoped. They definitely put in a lot of time fishing. Their "lodge" left much to be desired but it was a place to sleep and get in away from the rain and mosquitos.
The weather has been pretty rainy this past week but even with the rain my garden looks pretty pathetic. The friendly neighborhood rabbit has so all in all it hasn't had much chance to grow.
I have been doing some woodworking projects with the kids at the center and that has been really fun (usually). The only power tool that they use is a small drill but a couple of the kids can be a little scary even with that. When grandkids come to visit it will be fun to do some of the projects with them.
I have scheduled a few days visiting Amber in August and we are hoping to see Nathan's family in October. I feel like grandkids are growing up so fast and I am missing out on seeing them so I am trying to get to see everyone at least once a year. More often is always better.
I hope you are all doing well. I Love You All!
Mom

Jonathan's Adventures

I had tons of fun at Disneyland. One of my favorite rides at California Adventure was the swings. I was a little scared and nervous when I first saw it but it was fun after all. We spun really fast on the teacups.And Midway Mania, the toy story ride, was sooooo fun. It was also in 3-D. I liked the Indiana Jones ride but I did not want to do it again. On the Dumbo ride, I was spinning around and going down and up and it made me bounce of my seat. It was pretty fun! We saw lots of characters at Disneyland. My favorite ones were Goofy and Mickey and Pluto. We went to the Turtle Talk show. We talked to Crush from Finding Nemo movie. I got to ask him questions. My question waswhat is your favorite color? He asked me what my favorite color was and I said silver. He made me guess and his favorite color was green but then he said purple. Katelyn was making noise so Crush called her a crying baby dolphin and said she was hungry for a Churro. My favorite ride in Disneyland was a rocket ship ride in Tomorrowland.

The Olsen cousins came to play with me yesterday and it was super fun. I wish all my cousins could come and play. I love you.

Jonathan