The Big 34...best one yet!

I have to say that my amazing husband makes aging a pleasure. Every year he surprises me with some wonderful time for my birthday, and while I knew something was coming, I didn't know what he had up his sleeve. Thanks to the help of the grandmas and Grandpa Ron, Aaron took me for a weekend in Anchorage. Miles and Becky tagged along for the day and we had a blast eating great food and shopping at the mall. At day's end, Aaron surprised me again with a night at the Alyeska Hotel in Girdwood. While I have been there many times, I have never actually stayed in the hotel. It was awesome. We literally traveled through the clouds (fog) to the top of the mountain to enjoy the best food of my life at the 7 Glaciers restaurant. This was after we got an unforgettable couples massage (I was sore for 3 days and Aaron had bruises!)

These pictures were taken from my phone in the dark, so they don't do the views justice. The beauty was incredible and very romantic. I just have to say that my birthday dinner won't be topped for a very long time. We had 5 courses of very fancy and incredible food, the type you see on Food Network! I wanted to take a picture of every course, but when the waiter would bring the next course out, I completely forgot to take a picture and dove in. I did use some restraint and took a picture of my amazing "baked Alyeska" dessert. It was incredible...yes that chocolate ribbon says happy birthday on it. Wow

That weekend was unforgettable, and I am proud to say that I am a spoiled girl. Thank you, my sweet hubby!!

For my actual b-day, we had a last hooray on the lake and had the Massey's, Pond's, Hansen's, Williams, and Richards over for a barbecue and lake fun. Keep in mind, this was September 20th, very much fall in Alaska (notice the yellow leaves). Yes, we are crazy, but you can do anything in a wet suit, right?

Me, blowing out my fancy birthday candle! Thanks Becky for my yummy poppy seed cake!

Here is a view of the back of the house with the landscaping project of the summer. Those concrete walls will be covered in slate for next summer's project and then I can plant to my heart's content. Notice the wide variety of beach toys cluttering the beach? Yes, I'm pretty sure the neighbors think we are crazy.

Here is Aaron catching some air. It thrills me to no end to see Aaron playing like a kid and reaping the rewards of all his hard work.

Aaron and Shayne tearing it up.

Maycee chillin' on the beach. Doesn't she look like she is having a blast?! Logan tries to get her to smile, but she is a tough nut to crack.

I did plenty of smiling on my birthday, and when it was time to take the big kids on the lake, I laughed so hard, I almost wet my pants. I do not like cold water...at all...so my official job is driver of the boat. I love this job. This was the first time towing 4 tubers, but Brian, Jeff, Aaron, and Becky provided me with lots of laughs. Ready guys?

Aaron is pretending to be bored because I was taking it easy on them at first. Okay, honey, you asked for it!!

Hold on Becky!!!

Brian, you are supposed to ride on the water, not Jeff's back!

Becky, you're going in!!
"I've fallen and I can't get up!!" I really did have a memorable 34th birthday, and am so blessed to have such amazing family and friends that make me feel so special.

Seward Trip

We took our annual trip to Seward for Labor Day this year to celebrate Grandma Pauline's birthday and get one more camping trip in for the year. As always, we had a great time despite the fact that the silvers were not in. We got a quick trip up part of Mt. Marathon, biked all around town, went to the Sea Life center, and had lots of fun by the fire. Unfortunately, this shot was the only one I got from the weekend, but I think it's a pretty good one. Chloee and Dad are looking for spawned out salmon...you don't know how tempted I was to go give Aaron's bum a push.

Frog Boy

We had a cub scout day camp the weekend after school started at Johnson Lake. The boys did all sorts of cool stuff like canoeing, fire building, and orienteering. After the day was done, Aaron and I took Brady, Chloee and Jaron to fish for trout, but all we caught was this little guy. Jaron fell in love, but don't worry, we let the frog go. It was a great day.

Park Fun

Soldotna has a new, awesome park!! This park was due to an incredible community effort, uniting to give our kids a place to play. We took advantage of one of our sunny days and let the kids play till they dropped. I didn't get as many shots as I would have liked, but that's because we were too busy playing!

Caribou Jolee

Squirrel boy Jaron, complete with buck teeth

I don't think Maycee likes the swings. We are so excited to play again next summer.

First Day Fun

This year, we had a Sophomore, a 7th, 3rd, and 1st grader head off to school. Last year, the kids had to get ready in the motorhome we were still living in, so this year was especially nice to be able to celebrate the kids first day back. The kids continue to do well in school and we are so blessed that they can get an amazing education.

Getting the sillies out before they hit class.

Chloee is enjoying full day school as a first grader. She is awesome...usually.

Goodbye PopPop

One of the sad moments of this summer was the loss of our beloved, PopPop. Aaron's grandfather, Hank "PopPop" Weyand, passed away suddenly in June. Aaron and I decided to make the trip down to California with Maycee to say our last goodbyes and love on Grandma Mary and Aaron's other set of grandparents, Ken and Jean. It was a poignant way to spend Father's Day, but we were able to gather with the many friends and family of Pop Pop to remember his amazingly funny and sometimes crazy life. All who knew Pop Pop loved him and he will truly be missed.

One of Pop Pop's favorite things to do when he came to visit Alaska was go halibut fishing. Aaron and he spent many a days on the water fishing. Those memories are very special and we are grateful that Grandma Mary and Pop Pop were able to go on many Alaskan adventures with us.

Maycee got to meet Grandma Mary for the first time and we all enjoyed watching them get to know each other.

We were also able to make a quick trip to Santa Barbara to see Grandma Jean and Grandpa Ken. They are both in their very golden years and it was bitter sweet to see them. Grandpa Ken is in the late stages of Alzheimer's and it was very difficult to see the effects of the disease. We love them both so much and pray that they will continue to enjoy life.

It was beyond sweet to see Maycee with her great grandparents and the smiles she brought to their faces. She was the hit of the retirement home!

We couldn't go to California and not get Maycee's feet in the sand and surf, so we made a quick trip to the beach on the way back from Santa Barbara. She wasn't too impressed and I personally think she likes our beach at home better. It was a quick trip, but we were happy to be able to reconnect with so many relatives and will be telling Pop Pop stories for many years to come.

Swimming Lessons

Since we live on a lake, Aaron and I both want all the kids to be proficient swimmers. Haylee, Brady and Jaron all have it down and swim quite well. The little girls, however are not friends with water.

Before we started lessons, Chloee would not put her face in the water...at all. After lessons, Chloee had progressed to a level 3 swimmer, but then regressed to a level 1 after a bad day with her teacher, Mr. Luke. The last thing she needed to do was jump in the deep end with a life jacket on. She was so worried that water would go up her nose that she was terrified and stood at the water's edge forever. Mr. Luke pretty much threw her in and needless, to say, he needed to rebuild her trust for the rest of our sessions. She did however, end up learning how to blow water out her nose, swim small distances with her face in the water, and dive for toys. Good enough for now.

Jolee proved to be a tougher nut to crack. Not even Mr. Luke could get her to be brave. The farthest she progressed was to ride on Luke's back once.

I did manage to get her in the pool a few times to practice kicking, but she would have nothing to do with the teacher.

This is how she spent most of the lessons...gotta love this girl!

Bear Paw Fun

As far as our summer weather went, it pretty much stunk! May was beautiful, but June, July, and August broke all sorts of records for rainfall. It's a good thing we have had a beautiful fall. In June, we headed up to our old stomping grounds in Eagle River for the Bear Paw Festival. We started the morning at the parade and got lots of candy. The kids had a great time watching the parade with all their cousins. We did get a break in the rain long enough to take the kids on some rides.

Daddy with a couple of his girls...

Abbi, being the dare devil she is, convinced her older boy cousins to take her on the kiddie roller coaster. You can't see much of her, but she is comfortably squeezed between her two favorite big boys.

Notice the ominous black clouds in the sky? Abbi toned down her inner thrill seeker to ride the elephants with Jolee. They are too cute.

Miss Chloee is trying to be patient in line...not one of her strongest character traits. After we blew most of our money on the rides, it was off to face painting and ice cream. Jolee wanted a butterfly...hold very still, Jo!

So pretty! Jaron, of course wanted something crazy...like a blood-thirsty dragon.

Yep, we are proud of this guy! We had a great time despite spending way too much money on junk, but made lots of fun memories with the family and that is what summer is about.