Summer Blossoms

Here are some pictures of some of the flowers we grew this Spring and Summer. Everything we grew and planted this year we started as seeds in the house this Spring. By the end of May our living room looked like a little jungle and when we finally moved all the plants outside our windows looked so bare. But this flower is a Dahlia and has a beautiful blossom but it doesn't stick around very long. We are still so knew at all this and are still trying to learn what grows good and doesn't grow good in Alaska. This is our garden a few weeks ago, it's a lot bigger now. We have to put a fence up to keep the moose out. Thankfully no visitations yet! We harvested our first broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, and zucchini this week. Hooray for fresh veggies!

This is the most amazing thing in our garden. This March at mush for kids the girls were given a sunflower seed in a paper cup. They bought them home and started watering them. One of them did nothing but the other started to grow and just kept growing. The fence is about six feet high and as of today the flower is about two feet higher then that board and the actual sunflower is starting to grow. It's so amazaing to me that something this big can start from a little seed. It will be fun to see if we actually get some sunflower seeds from it.

Some of the flowers, tomatos, and herbs we have growing on our deck

The stars alined

A few weeks ago we took the whole fam and went on a beautiful hike in the white mountains. It was our first real hike with the boys and even tho we only went about three miles it was wonderful to get out. I have been worried about how Saige would do hiking this summer because last summer she always wanted to be carried. So ever since we found out I was pregnant we have been drilling it into her that once the babies come it's Saige out and the babies in. Still I wasn't sure how she would do because she is not our real go getter like Ali is. Thankfully she has surprised us completely. She has done wonderful on our hikes and doesn't complain at all. Infact most of the time she is out in front and sometimes does better than Ali. We are both so relieved and happy she has turned into a good little hiker. She can not be called a May! But anyway on this hike it was such a great day and Jeff says it was a day when the stars all alined just perfectly for us because the girls did great hiking, the boys were great, and even the dog minded!

Canyon above and Hayden below sporting their too big sun hats. It's hard to find sun hats for such little heads.

Saiger hiking on the boardwalk with her little camelback! She's so dang cute!

A Beautiful Summer

We have been having such a nice summer with the weather, despite the smoke from all the fires buring. I wanted to get a picture of our house with all the flowers blooming but I don't think you can really see them so you will just have to take my word that it was really pretty. Our garden is also growing good now if it will just produce something. We have lots of big leaves but not much veggies. Hopefully our rookie garden will surprise us
We've had some days when it was in the 90's so I introduced the girls to a favorite past time of mine, jumping on the trap with a sprinkler underneath. They had a blast!

Here's a picture of a fire we took over the 4th that was burning just outside of Nenana. I guess there are over 60 fires burning thru out the state right now.

More 4th Fun

During the 4th of July we went to Nenana where for the 4th they close down their main street and have a bunch of races for kids. Ali and Saige love to go to it because every time you race you get a quarter and if you win you get a dollar. Both Ali and Saige each won a race and when it was all over Ali had almost nine dollars and Saige had about four. They think it's great because then we let then go to the store and buy something with the money they won. Below is a picture of the girls with two of their friends that came with us to enjoy the fun. Jeff even got to do a race for the adults. You should have seen those skinny legs a move!

At the end of the races they have a big pile of sawdust that they fill with money and all the kids race to it and start digging. Ali's in red on the bottom left. It's crazy but the kids don't seem to mind, it's money!

A Day in Denali

Over the 4th of July weekend we did our first big outing with the boys. On the 4th we went to Nenana and they do a bunch of races and games for the kids down their main street. The girls love to go because everyone that participates in a race gets a quarter and if you win you get a dollar. Then at the end they have a big saw dust pile filled with money and the kids get to dig thru and find all the money they can. Ali came away with almost $9 and Saige had about $4. After Nenana we went down to Denali for Sunday and Monday and did a fun hike out at Savage, pics below, and hung out with friends. It felt so great to get away. We have been pretty home bound the last month with the boys, so it felt good to get out and do something fun.

Growing Big

Here are some pics of our cute boys at 5 weeks old. I can not believe they are that old already and growing so big. We had their one month check up a few days ago and I could believe how much they weighed. Hayden was 8lbs 10oz and our little Canyon was a whopping 8lbs 5ozs. They also slept 4 1/2 hours last night, their longest yet. They are doing so good and are such good boys. We are so happy they are a part of our family. We love our boys!!! Hayden Thomas

Canyon Bruce

Hayden Canyon
Sporting our cute summer outfits from Great Grandma and Grandpa Holman

Hayden Canyon

Day at the pond

It has been so hot here, 80's-90's, that last Friday after work we were all anxious to cool down so Jeff blew up the girls little raft and took it to some ponds close to our house. They had fun paddeling around while I stayed busy keeping the bugs off the sleeping babies. Ali, our crazy little fish didn't care that it wasn't the cleanest water and jumped right in and went swimming with Tana, our dog, who was in heaven.