Tax day!!

April 15th is a very special day!! Some people dread it because it is tax day, but for me it is very special. Fifteen years ago at the age of ten, I became an Aunt for the first time!! I can't hardly believe my niece, Oaklie, is 15 today. I still remember the sweet curly haired little girl who called me Aunt Hoggy!!
Happy 15th Birthday Oaklie!!!
God has since blessed me with 7 more nieces and 2 (soon to be 3) nephews!! I am definitely a proud Aunt!!
Also this time 3 years ago I found out I was pregnant with Lexie! I remember being so shocked and scared about having two little babies so close in age! It was hard at first, but my babies are the bestest of friends and such a blessing!! I couldn't imagine life without either one of them or their wonderful dad!

Funny little things

Lance is so funny. You never know what is going to come out of his mouth
Here are just a few little things that he has said recently

While on the ferry boat Lexie started to cry and he said "Lexie, stop it! You're embarrassing me!"
* I have never told him that. I have no clue where he heard that

While on a hike he grabbed a stick and said "this is in case we see a bear! I'm gonna poke him in the eye"

While in the bathroom on the ferry he said "this isn't a very big space for a wedding!"

Lately we have been talking about breeding Happy and I guess he has been paying attention. He told Happy "you're gonna have puppies! I'm gonna be a daddy!"

At breakfast time "Jesus and God don't have to eat, cuz they don't have bellies"

While driving down the road Lance seen a sign with kids on a teeter totter "that sign means to watch out for kids teeter tottering in the road"

After a trip to Costco, Lance was dumping water into little cups saying "Three samples! Would you like a three sample?"

I could go on and on about the funny things he says. I love my little man so much. He definitely keeps life interesting

Cordova

Thursday morning was so exciting! We were all packed up and ready to take a ferry boat ride. We drive down to Whittier which take two hours. The drive is beautiful and you are always sure to see some sort of animals. That day we seen a mountain goat.

To get to Whittier you have to drive through a tunnel that is 2.5 miles long. The tunnel is one lane and is shared with the train. Once through the tunnel you are in Whittier, an old army base. There isn't much in the town but it is still pretty neat.
We were so excited to board the Aurora!! We parked are truck below and went upstairs. We loved exploring every inch of the boat. One of Lexie's newest discoveries is her shadow. We had so much fun running on the the deck chasing each other shadows and jumping on them. When night came Lexie would ask me "where my shadow, mom?" She didn't quite understand that at night time her shadow goes away.

Not long after departure we seen our first whale, a humpback. It seemed to be excited to us. It leaped out of the water several times. It was amazing!! You could hear its giant body slam against the water.

The whole trip we seen dolphins. Some would even come along the boat and ride in the wake.
While aboard the ferry we also seen sea otters, killer whales, sea lions, eagles and other kinds of birds.

We arrived at our destination, Cordova, after dark. Andrew makes friends everywhere he goes. Some new friends he had made in Cordova invited us to come visit. We really enjoyed visiting with them and having them tell us all the neat places to check out. Cordova is a very small town isolated from the rest of Alaska by the rugged mountains and the sea. It is a very small fishing town with only 35 miles of road. The setting of the town is absolutely beautiful!

We took a drive to look for wildlife in part of the Chugach National Forest. We were so excited to spot a moose. Once we spotted the one we realized they were everywhere! We seen about 50 of them in one field all together. I have always been told that moose were solitary animals, but I am beginning to rethink that. Rite now all of moose have already dropped their paddles (that's what moose antlers are called), but we still love seeing all the moose.

The road ended at a river where thousands of gulls were gathered. The rivers have recently thawed out so the fish are starting to return. We spotted quite a few golden and bald eagles flying around picking off any unsuspecting gulls. We also seen a family of river otters. We were hoping to see a bear, but we didn't have any luck this trip. Cordova and the surrounding area has a huge black bear and brown bear population. This time of year the bears are just now starting to come out of their dens. We took a little hike to a lookout tower. The kids loved exploring. Lance found a stick that he used for walking so daddy had to cut Lexie one too. Happy went crazy chasing the gulls an their shadows.

We had such a great time in Cordova. The people there are super friendly. They enjoy a simple kind of life.

A first for all of us was eating bear meat. I have had lots of wild game but never bear. It was made into a spicy breakfast sausage which was actually really good.

We can't wait to visit Cordova again when the salmon are running.
We had sunny cool weather while In Cordova and will be greeted with a foot or more of fresh powder back in Eagle River. Maybe next weekend we will finally get to fit in our ski trip.

Rite now we are on the ferry boat headed back to Whittier. The sea is kind of rough so the boat is swaying gently back and forth. It is snowing outside so the visibility is low, but i am hoping to spot a whale or two. Lance and daddy are asleep and Lexie is watching cartoons on my laptop.

I love being flexible so that when Andrew does get time off we can go explore Alaska. It would stink to be tied down to a job and miss him when he is off or miss my babies all day long. Just one more reason I love my Pampered Chef business; the flexibility it gives me!! O and speaking of Pampered Chef, I met my goal of promoting to director before my one year anniversary!!!

Another little miracle

Today is a very special day!! Our good friends, Cody and Amber, were made proud parents to a beautiful little girl, Jewel Michelle!!! Jewel was 7pounds 4 oz and 20.5 in long. She is such a pretty little girl with TONS of dark hair!! Baby and mommy are both doing great! Big brother, Jacob, loves to just hold her and stare at her. Congratulations to the family! God has blessed you with another beautiful healthy baby.

Daddy's home!

Andrew came home Monday evening. It was a wonderful surprise since I really wasn't expecting him till Tuesday or Wednesday. When he called to tell me that he was heading home I couldn't believe it. I said "this better not be an April fools joke!".
We spent the evening just relaxing and enjoying being with Andrew. Tuesday morning Andrew and the kids slept in a little bit then we all headed to Lance's gymnastics class. Andrew was so excited to watch Lance in action. Since Lance's classes are on Tuesday, Andrew has never had the chance to watch Lance. Lance was equally excited to have daddy there to watch. Afterwards we went to the splash park. Lance is so comfortable in the water. He loves to run and jump off the edge and do flips under the water!! Lexie gets a little more comfortable each time we go.
Today we had some errands to run, but we spent most of the day just hanging out with daddy. Tomorrow we have a very special trip planned that we are all excited about.

Happy Resurrection Day!!

Daddy is still gone so it just wasn't the same celebrating Easter without him.
Normally, I pick us all out a pretty outfit to wear. It is one of the few times that Andrew wears a tie and won't give me any lip. This year I did pick out the kids some adorable outfits to wear Easter Sunday.

Thursday evening the kids and I enjoyed dying Easter eggs. We made the biggest mess! I made the mistake of thinking that Lexie would know exactly what to do. I handed her an egg and told her to put it in the water. I guess she thought we were cooking because she tried to crack the egg which doesn't work with a boiled egg. I then realized she didn't quite understand what was going on, so we started with bubby. After watching Lance she understood so I gave her another egg. This time she put the egg in by submerging her whole hand in the blue water and then letting go. It was quite fun. Between Lance checking the eggs every 30 seconds and Lexie's dyed hands we had a big mess. The kids did three eggs each and that was enough for momma. I wasn't really able to take pictures since I was so busy supervising. Daddy wants to do more eggs when he gets home! He hated not being able to be with his babies this Easter.
Saturday I did a pampered chef booth at a local elementary school. We tried out the new baby sitter for that day. Normally when I walk in the door after a whole day Of being gone the kids run up and scream, "mommy's home!" And hug me and are super excited to see the sitter leave. Well, not this time. They had such a great day with Betsy that they could care less that I was home. I think we definitely found our new sitter!!! Praise God!! What a relief to know I have found someone who pays attention to the kids and they love. When Betsy was leaving Lexie looks at her and said, "Betsy, I wuv you!" It melted my heart and I think it did Betsy's too!

Sunday I started the day out in a bad mood. Going so long with Andrew gone has just wore me out! Sunday I rushed through my shower before the kids got up then when they woke up I gave them baths and gave them their Easter baskets and gifts from grandma and grandpa Conway (minus the candy). I'd didn't want them sticky after just having bathed them. Once they were dressed I kept reminding them Every minute to stay seated watching tv. I was so nervous that Lance would get dog hair on his suit or Lexie would tear her tights or something to mess up her outfit. I rushed into my room and through on the quickest thing I could find. Then grabbed the kids and rushed down to the car. I didn't even bother to try and do my hair or make up. Once at church it was crazy. They had people directing traffic. Luckily I was directed to a good spot. It was 40 degrees so the parking lot was all slushy. All Lance wanted to do was hop around in the slush. Once we made it to the church doors Lexie yelled "my show gone". Her shoe had fallen off along the way. So the three of us back tracked and finally found it back by the car. Can you get a picture of how my morning went? Crazy!!
Once into church I was escorted to a seat for one. The church was packed!! I had a horrible attitude and I knew it. I couldn't even sing through most of the songs. I prayed for God to change my attitude. The preacher preached a wonderful message. After seeing so many people accept Christ as their Savior, I was definitely in at the Easter spirit. It's not about fancy dresses, eggs, or bunnies but about our Risen Savior!!! He lives!!

Hopefully daddy will be home tomorrow evening and we can have our own Easter celebration!

Update

Last week went by super fast. I really have no idea what took up our time but I am glad we are one week closer to daddy being home.
This past weekend was Lance's last soccer game. We had a fun season, but glad it's over with. The kids had a pizza party afterwards to celebrate the end of the season.
Sunday was church and then a day spent of relaxing. We did make a run to Walmart where the Easter bunny just happened to be visiting.
Yesterday after gymnastics the kids and I went with a friend and her two girls to the indoor splash park. The kids had an amazing time. Lance is such a good swimmer. He really amazes me at how good he is! Lexie enjoyed sitting in the shallow water playing with her mermaid Barbie, she was so cute! They were super wore out so it made for a very calm relaxing evening.
Today a prospective baby sitter is visiting with the kids. Our favorite sitter is getting married and moving away next month so we need to find a replacement. I have high hopes for this lady. She is a newlywed who just moved up here with her husband to help with the start of a church. They don't have any kids of their own yet, but love kids. I am very excited for the kids to meet her. I really like her and I think they will too!