Another Milestone

After much anticipation, Haylee took and passed her driver's test. We enrolled her in Driver's Education and it was the best decision. She was a quick study and on April 4th, she took her right of passage into the driving world. We then had to head to the dreaded DMV to make it legal. Doesn't she look so thrilled with me taking her picture? I love embarrassing her!

Smile for the camera Haylee, you need a cute pic on your license.
Yes, she is blind, and has to wear "correctional lenses" according to her license.
Posing in front of the DMV with her new license. I was actually trying to stall because Aaron and I wanted to surprise her with the truck we bought for her to drive. I had it parked in the lot and I walked her over to a cute little blue Ford Ranger and handed her the key.

Her smile, trying not to look too surprised at the truck.

Posing at home, love how her sweatshirt matches the truck.Watch out world, Haylee is on the road!!

Family Alaska Trip

Every few years, we try to take the family on a week long trip through our amazing state. There is just so much to do and ground to cover, that a week isn't nearly enough time, but we do all we can to get as much adventure in as possible. We talked the Hansen family into coming with us this time and had a blast. I'm horrible about taking pictures on the road, but luckily Becky is great at it, so most of these are hers. Our first big stop, other than Costco in Anchorage, was at the pipeline. It really is massive.

We were really hoping for the great Alaskan sun on this trip as we headed north to Fairbanks where most summer temps are in the 80's, but wouldn't you know we picked the wettest summer on record! The rain chased us the ENTIRE trip, but we still had a great time. We had to stop in Denali, where the rain actually let up enough for us to have a great day at the visitor center and enough time to enjoy a hike.

Next stop was in North Pole, and when in North Pole, you have to go visit Santa.

By far the sunniest, and therefore best place was at Chena Lake campground. We have stayed here before and had the best time, so we were so happy to get some good weather at this great campground. We rode bikes, played at the playground, fished, and played in the lake.

The dogs even enjoyed some entertainment from some tormenting squirrels.

The last place we camped was in Talkeetna, somewhere we have never been. The weather was great here too, and we enjoyed more bike riding and campfire time.

We had to stop at one of the local landmarks for lunch where Aaron and the kids took on the "Seward's Folly" burger. This monster consists of 2 half pound reindeer patties, 12 slices of cheese, 12 pieces of bacon, 3 pieces of bread, and a pound of ham!!

Aaron is all smiles before he digs in...

I love the look of disgust that Chloee is giving her dad. Notice this is only HALF of the burger...

Aaron had to throw in the towel half way through. This thing could have fed our entire family I am sure! We had the best trip with the kids and are so grateful to live in such an amazing place. We are hoping to go again next summer!!

Crusin

Aaron and I decided to take a Caribbean cruise way back in March. It was amazing and we had the best time together in the sun. As always, we ate too much, got too much sun, and made some awesome memories with our Hansen buddies.

Leaving Orlando, cruising in style on our very own deck off the stern. These cruise ships really are incredible, with endless things to do and eat. We had a blast dressing up for the fancy dinners and watching the wait staff do their nightly performances...

those waiters can really shake it! So funny. Speaking of dancing, Aaron was called up to show his break dancing skills during a floor show one night. He was such a good sport, as he HATES being in front of people and HATES dancing even more. Aaron doing the wave...

hanging with our new home boys. So fun!

One of our most favorite things to do at night was to sip hot cocoa out on the open deck and watch a movie on the big screen under the stars. It was so relaxing to hear the open sea, feel the warm breeze, and just relax and laugh for hours.

I can't remember all the ports we stopped at, but the Cayman Islands was one of our first stops. The snorkeling and sun was awesome.

I am getting more brave about swimming in the ocean and actually enjoyed the snorkeling, until Becky got stung by a jellyfish, and I got a little zap myself. Those suckers hurt! This star fish was so cool, thankfully our guide dove down to bring it up for me.

Our other most memorable stop was in Belize. We decided to take a rather long and stressful (the driver went about 80 mph and texted the entire time) bus ride to the Lamani ruins. After an awesome boat ride up the river, we were able to see some great ruins.

We hiked up this incredibly steep pyramid in very high temperatures. Needless to say, we were soaked at the end of the day. That's me in the black shorts half way up. Aaron is of course in the lead, but only after he got a nose full of Miles' back end. Another funny story...

We made it to the top! Awesome views from here.

Aaron and I are always grateful to be able to get time together and this was a trip we will never forget.