The Birthday Girl Party #1

Our sweet Maycee turned the Big One on 9-29-10! Since her special day happened to fall on a very busy Wednesday, we decided to save the big party for the weekend and squeeze in a quick celebration at the Hansen's between activities. We started with a photo shoot in her new birthday outfit. She will probably give me a lot of grief over this to die for tutu in 15 years, but for now, she looked amazing on her big day.

Maycee loves to walk, but for now she still needs help. We took a stroll out to the porch for a picture in Logan's rocking chair.

She loved rocking all by herself until....

...she had enough of the picture taking. So far, Maycee's personality has been quite pleasant, but she definitely knows what she wants and is getting more expressive in her opinions. We decided to go all out and let her feed herself a gourmet birthday dinner of spaghetti. So I carefully stripped her down to her diaper and we all enjoyed watching her dig in. She didn't go crazy, mind you...she is a little lady. She just used 2 fingers to grab the noodles and that worked quite well for her.

"Man this eating stuff is hard work, I need to take a break!" After dinner, it was cupcake and pink #1 candle blowing time. She loved everyone singing to her, but didn't quite know what to do about the fire in front of her face. Her siblings quickly took care of the the fire issue and it was on to digging in to the gooey goodness.

"Hmmm, this looks interesting." "Yep it's good."

"Let's see if I can get the whole thing in my mouth!" "Don't worry, Mom only had to prevent me from choking once."

After Maycee couldn't eat another bite, I had to run to a pack meeting, so Becky bathed the very dirty babies in the sink. Could they be any cuter?

Happy Birthday big girl, we love you!!

A Blessed Year

The week leading leading up to Maycee's birthday was quite a nostalgic time for Aaron and I. We kept thinking about were we were a year ago..."Oh, I think I'm having contractions 3 weeks early, oh well." "Hmmm, that lesson in relief society about learning to receive service was a good one. I need to be better about that." "I think I need to go to the hospital." "Yep, in labor and having this baby 3 weeks early, yay!" "A 7.9 pounder, she would have been huge at full term!" "I don't like the way she is breathing...she is really struggling." "Please let her be okay." "You are taking her to the NICU in Anchorage? On a plane??" "We need to get a blessing for her." "Please, Heavenly Father, let her be okay."

The next 16 days proved to be the most trying of our lives to this point. Aaron and I grew closer to each other and the Lord more quickly than ever before, but that is what trials do; they bring clarity to what matters most. We continue to be grateful for each day with have with all of our children and even more grateful that we have the knowledge that they are ours forever. We thank God every day that Maycee is a healthy, sweet, and happy 1 year old and cherish those simple moments that we used to take for granted.

Happy birthday Maycee Faith! We are so glad you are ours.

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.