My little fisherman

Today Andrew took Lance fishing at Fire lake by our house. Lance caught this little pike all by himself. Andrew called me and had me and Lexie come down rite away to take a picture.

Isn't my little man getting so handsome!! 

Here's a couple silly things he said this week

"you know what a ghost is? A ghost is a white thing in a sheet"

While staying at the hotel in Fairbanks the kids watched a few minutes of spongebob square pants. Lance says, "spongebob is a man that is made out of a cheese"

Fairbanks trip

This week we drove up to Fairbanks to find a house to rent. We loved spending time with daddy. We had really missed hime since He had been gone the 5th-29th for work. 

The drive up was beautiful! We stopped a few times to stretch our legs and see the sites.

Lance & Lexie loved picking flowers. These purple flowers are called fireweed. They will soon turn red and then seed out. Allot of people say that is the sign for the end of summer. 

Denali is along the way so we made sure to stop since last time we went through it was closed for the winter. We took a nice long hike then had a picnic.

We spent a few days looking at different houses. One thing we was concerned about was having a super high heating bill. We found the perfect house by a park that is 5 star energy efficient and includes all utilities except electric in the rent price.

I am not sure what it was about our hotel, but every time we went into our room the kids would go nuts. I think they were just super excited to spend time with daddy. Here they are having a pillow fight,

Andrew and Lance tried their luck at fishing in between looking at houses. They didn't catch any, but had a great time anyway.

On Wednesday we got to all go visit the new shop that Andrew will be working out of. They were having a grand opening and had invited EVERYONE to come check out the new place. They served lunch and gave the kids toy caterpillars and hats to everyone. 

I got to meet allot of the guys Andrew will be working with and his new bosses. 

Wednesday was also my 26th birthday so we went to dinner at Tubby's bbq and Alaskan Grill. Tubby's had some amazing BBQ!! 

We had a great trip to Fairbanks. Finding a place to live was a huge load off both our minds. The best part was just being with my husband! God continues to bless us and provide for us. 

A year ago

A year ago today the kids and I boarded a plane in Missouri where it was 105 degrees and headed to Alaska where it was 51 degrees. I never could have imagined what lay ahead for us.

God blessed us with a chance to fulfill a dream of ours to live in Alaska. We have loved living here. We have experienced so much and still have so much more ahead. Eagle River has been an amazing place to live, but now we will be moving north to Fairbanks. I am so thankful for this transfer. Rite now Andrew is out of town so much and we hardly get to see him. Once we move to Fairbanks he will be home every night and actually have weekends!! I can't wait to have dinner at the table  as a family every night or go to church as a family again every Sunday! 

I do have to admit that I am nervous about how cold it gets there in the winter, but we are very optimistic and have always made the best out of everything. 

Now that we've been here a year we are now residents and that means we can hunt and not have to pay an arm and a leg. Fairbanks is a wonderful spot for hunting! I can't wait! I am really excited about this move and experiencing so much more of Alaska. 

More Pics from Our Missouri Trip

Aunt Juju got Lance a fishing hat. He looked so cute fishing!

Lexie and my oldest niece, Oaklie

Lance and Uncle Scott

Lexie and Papa

Aunt Juju loves taking Lexie's pictures

Aunt Holly with Alea and Megan

All 11 grand kids 

Headed back to our Alaska home

Our trip went by so fast! We are already headed back home. I can tell we are close because its the middle of the night and it's getting lighter and lighter outside as we get closer. 

We got to spend lots of much needed time with family & friends. There are still so many people that we wanted to visit with, but didn't get a chance.

I think my favorite part of the trip was a fishing trip with my dad and Lance to our secret spot. 

As usual our spot proved to be an awesome spot. We reeled in several big blue gill, large mouth bass and crappie. Lexie loved handing papa the fish to skin out.

 That evening for supper (my parents don't say dinner lol) we had corn fresh from the field, squash fresh from the garden and fish straight out of the pond. It was yummy! 

Me and my sisters got to spend a girls day together. Julie and I got pedicures while Sarah wanted a manicure. I say wanted because the nail salon was so busy and never got to her. Julie and I was done and they were no where near close to getting to Sarah. It made me kind of upset since I had actually called and made us appointments. O well, what ya gonna do. 

The kids had a blast too. They loved all the cousin time. Papa and Aunt Juju were Lexie's favorite people! She was constantly asking for one of them. The second we took off on our first flight she was looking out the window crying for papa. She didn't cry long once I told her we would be seeing daddy soon. 

Daddy just got home yesterday from working in Nome and Gambel. He has been gone since the 5th. We miss him like crazy!! He should have the week off so we are looking forward to spending some MUCH NEEDED family time! 

A couple cute things from our trip:

Lexie learned to pinky promise and it is so darn cute!!

Lexie is still afraid to use the airplane toilet

Lances prayer one evening 

"Praise your food

Bless God and keep your eyes closed

Amen"

Missouri fun

The kids & I are having a great time in Missouri. So far, We have enjoyed a birthday party for my nephew, visiting friends with new babies, lots of swimming, and just spending time with all my family.

Yesterday I took my oldest sister Julie and her kids to Cape Splash. We had so much fun.

Sweet Home Missouri

Tuesday evening our journey to Missouri began. We drove to Andrew's work, parked and then called a taxi. It cost $15 (including tip) to have a taxi take us from Andrew's work to the airport or we can pay $15 a day to park at the airport, so it was definitely a smart move parking at Andrew's work. Plus, the kids got to experience their very first taxi ride. Lexie was asleep the whole time, but Lance loved it!!

We made it through security in less than 5 minutes so we had plenty of time to spare before our first flight. Lance spotted a sign with a milkshake on it in front of Cinnabon and thought we all should get one. I said, "sure why not we are on vacation now"and we stepped in line. We patiently waited our turn when the gentleman in front of us threw $15 on the counter turned around and said "let me buy you guys milkshakes since your on vacation" then he walked away. So sweet!! When I walked up to the counter the teller was laughing and said "that's so funny because I was going to give your kids free fries". We ordered two milk shakes and a cinnamon roll which came to a total of $14.95 plus the lady gave us French fries that someone had ordered and change their mind. How awesome! What a blessing and a great way to start our trip. God knew how anxious this momma was about traveling. He definitely heard my prayers and answered them.

    Our first flight was to Minneapolis and was 5.5 hours long. It went great since the kids and I slept over 4 hours of it. Once in Minneapolis the kids were pretty tired and they both wanted me to carry them. I came up with the perfect solution by using an airport wheel chair. 

I had quite a ways to walk so having the wheel chair and being able to walk at a fast speed was super nice!

The next flight to St. Louis was only an hour long and went super quick

The kids loved looking at their highlights magazines on the plane. They were so good!!

Once we got in St.Louis we were picked up by my dad and sister Julie (aunt JuJu to my kids). They were so excited to see papa. JuJu was so happy she was actually crying. Once we got to mom and dads Lexie and I took about a 3 hour nap . We had a nice relaxing day and even spent some time at the creek catching crawdads and small bluegill fish. We made sure to FaceTime daddy and sing Happy Birthday to him. I hate that he can't be here with us, and so does he. 

Yesterday was great. Lance slept in till 11:45 (8:45 Alaska time) while Lexie and I hung out with grandma and grandpa. Lexie even got to check the cows with papa. We then went to Aunt JuJu's house and swam in the pool and played with her kids. Last night we headed to Aunt Sarah's house. My parents had went to the airport to pick up my brother, Matt, Stephanie and their little baby, Addylynne. I was so excited to see Addy! She is the cutest thing! She was looking everywhere at all the new people! We couldn't get enough of her!

The kids didn't are much about Addylynne. They were too busy playing with Sarah's little dog, Tini. 

We are enjoying being with family and having so much fun. Today we have a birthday party!! So much to look forward too and so much fun to be had! I have definitely missed my family, the hot Missouri summers........not so much