Our Soccer Champ

Ali did great this summer for her first time playing soccer. She is very fast and aggressive and loved playing. It was so fun to watch her. Here she is getting a medal for the end of season which she is very proud of. Ali is very athletic and I would love to see her play other sports. Right now she says all she wants to play is soccer because that is what she is good at, that is fine but I hope she'll try some other sports. I'm probably getting a little too anxious, she is only seven and doesn't need to be playing three sports a year......yet!

Our New Addition

Here's the newest addition to our family, a six month old lab/Samoyed mix named Dawson. Jeff and Ali have been wanting a new dog for months now, since we lost Tana this winter, but I have been a little more hesitant. Thankfully Dawson has been wonderful, very mellow, great with the kids, and the best part house broken. We got him from a man in the military that is getting deployed this winter. Jeff was wanting more of a lab dog but once the girls saw this one it was all over. I'm not too excited about all the shedding hair, but this way we won't have to worry about him being outside this winter.

Every one checking out Dawson

Poor guy, I don't think he knew what he was in for coming to our family. I woke up the first morning from bringing him home and the girls already had him all dressed up. He adores the girls though and follows them every where and listens to them way better then he does Jeff or I.
Hayden, much to our dismay, thinks it's so much fun to share his food with Dawson and Canyon just loves to climb on him and pull his hair.

Garden Harvest

Pictures of some of the flowers and plants that I started from seed this spring and the garden to date. I have really enjoyed growing and working in the garden this summer and I love the idea of sustainability and growing what my family needs. It's also been fun to experiment with flowers and what has worked and what hasn't. I was hoping for a greenhouse this summer but a 4-wheeler won preference. It will be a must or else next summer!

Ali showing off our first real harvest of the season. We have been getting some foods for awhile but this is our first big one, minus the hoards of lettuce we have growing. I have been so excited because last year our squash and zucchini did horrible but this year the goat manure must be doing the trick, check out the size of the zucchini and cauliflower!

Our Little Climber

A few pictures of the ascents of our little climber, Canyon

A Day in Denali

Earlier this summer I took two 18 year olds and four kids on an 8 hour bus ride and three hour hike in Denali all by myself. It was a fun but by no way a relaxing trip! Thankfully the boys did good and we had patient fellow passengers that either endured or passed looks of exasperation my way. It was great to be back in the park again, it had been a couple of years, and even though the mountain was not visible it was still a beautiful day. Below are some pictures from our day.

Brando with Canyon

Just some cute ones

Hayden on the left, Canyon on the right. They are getting close to walking but not much yet. They take a few steps but that's it. At first we were just fine having them take their time but now they are almost 14 months and still not walking. All the other babies from church that are younger then they are are walking so now we feel the pressure. Come on boys you can do it!

Ali in front of our Irises that were beautiful this summer

Another cute one of our boys and one of the last pictures I have of Hayden with all his beautiful hair before Jeff, with the aid of my Dad when he was here visiting, decided to cut it while I was out for a run and couldn't stop him. He thought he looked to much like a pretty boy but I loved his curls.

Butte Lake

So I am trying to get caught up on all our adventures and happenings so far this summer but at the rate I am going it might take all winter, but here goes my best shot anyway. For Father's Day this year Jeff was dying to use his new four wheeler so we decided to go fishing at one of our traditional spots, Butte Lake. We went with our great friends Keith and Jessie Clark and there little girl Cecilia and Keith's brother Craigola. Keith and Jessie rode their 4 wheeler but there wasn't room for all of us on ours so of course, I hiked in with Hayden the four miles while Jeff took the girls and Canyon. The trail is super muddy and slow going so I hiked in almost as fast as they could ride, but the girls had a blast and thought all the mud holes were great. It was a long drive and hike for a few hours of fishing but atleast we caught a few lake trout and grayling and Jeff got to ride his 4 wheeler!!! The ride in

Saiger's fish

Ali's fish, thanks to a stranger who let her reel it in and thought we were absolutely crazy to bring 4 kids, and especially two babies all the way out there!

Hayden's fish

Mom's fish

The boys with their hoods on

and with their hoods off, Canyon left, Hayden right

A rare family shot beside the lake

the ride out