I've Been Tagged!!!

So, my friend Lauren(if that is what I should call her...she's my brother's girlfriend- but I consider her a friend) tagged me to tell 10 random things about myself. So...I will try...but I have a pretty boring life right now, so we'll see.

1. As the opposite of my sister Becky, I am actually really good at math. When I was a freshman in high school, I took both Algebra I and Geometry. As a sophomore, I took Physics- which I know is a science, but it is mathematically based. My junior year I took Trigonometry, and my senior year I took Calculus. I tutored high school students during the summer in Algebra when I was in college, and I clepped out of College Algebra. Now, don't ask me where I got this talent for math, or how I am using it today, but I am good at it. So, enough about how smart I WAS...

2. I really like to cross stitch. My Nanny taught me when I was about four years old. I remember sitting with her as she did really detailed cross stitches, and I sat there and she showed me how to make a row of stitches. I would practice on my own right next to her. She was a really good teacher. I haven't done this since I had children.

3. I also really like to scrapbook, but even though I buy all of the stuff to do it, I haven't scrapbooked since my daughter was born.

4. I like singing, and I like to listen to songs on the radio, but if you ever ask me who sings what song, or the name of a song, I honestly have NO CLUE!! I am terrible at knowing that kind of stuff...I am just content to sing along and not pay a bit of attention to all the fluff inbetween the songs.

5. My husband is the only man that I have ever kissed! I love and cherish this fact, as I know he does.

6. I have traveled to five foreign countries. Mexico, Canada, Thailand, Dominican Republic and Argentina.

7. I really don't like being outside. Not a nature girl. In the least. I do it, but I don't always like it. Nathan has to really urge me to go do stuff outdoors with him and the kids. I mean, a walk to the park is OK, but fishing the Russian, hiking...not my cup of tea.

8. I can belch with the best of them. Much to my family's dismay- especially Becky's. And, I usually only do this around my family. And, I really can't help it. :)

9. I have a really hard time sleeping when Nathan is gone. So, please come back soon Babe!!! Since he has been gone this time, I have been sleeping with Brianna. Let's just say, my back hurts a little. Little feet have that effect.

10. Well, since I am having a hard time here, I'll just save my last random fact for another time. Sometime, when you all least expect it, I'll post a random fact about myself. Can you tell I like suspense???

Adventures in Kenai

Ok, so we headed out late Tuesday morning to just get out of town. The only plans that we had were to let Nathan fish at the Russian River, and to stay at a hotel with a swimming pool that night. We had a great time. It took Nathan some convincing to get me to take the kids to the river front because I wasn't to excited about sitting next to the water with the kids, in bear country. But, he promised to stay close, I had the bear spray, and the kids had their life jackets on. So, we went. It was a lot of fun. Especially since we got to see Nathan catch a salmon within the first ten minutes we were there.

Here is Brianna sitting on the ramp to get into the water. It was an absolutely beautiful day!!!

Here is the salmon that Nathan caught within the first few minutes. He actually hooked a few more, but they fought off of the line. We also got to see a couple other guys catch some salmon. And, Nathan also caught a Dolly Vardin (sp???), which is just a certain type of trout...apparently a rare kind. I was really glad people were catching fish, because it helped keep Nate occupied. Otherwise, he just cried because he wanted to get in the water.

Towards the end, Nathan took Nate out into the water and let him touch it. It was cold!!!

So, that night, we went and ate at a fun restaurant called the Bear's Den. They are famous for this huge burger that Brianna got. Actually, we all four shared it. It was really good, and for feeding all of us, it was worth all of the $16 we paid for it.

After dinner, we just went back to the hotel and swam for awhile. The kids had so much fun, and so did Nathan. Actually, I am not sure who had more fun. I forgot to take the camera with me, so I don't have any pictures of swim time. Oh well!!!

So Wednesday morning we slept in, checked out of the hotel, and then went to eat at this little bakery in Soldotna called "The Moose is Loose". It was a really fun place, and they had the most amazing donuts ever. They were absolutely huge, and off course they were delicious.

On our way home decided to just take it easy and stop at various places along the way. One time, we saw some horses crossing the road, and their was a sign for horse back riding, so we decided to stop so the kids could see the horses up close. The people were really nice, and offered to let Brianna take an impromptu ride. I followed along behind her on foot, and Nathan actually got in the car to see her riding for part of the trail. It was a lot of fun. Definitely the highlight of the trip for Brianna. The above picture was taken at an air strip that was nearby. The lady in the picture is Casey, who was her guide.

Overall, we had an amazing time and we are so thankful for the fun times we have had this week. We just took Nathan to the airport, so I am a little sad that he had to leave us. I always hate it when we are separated. I know, being a military wife I should be used to it, but it never gets easy. We don't have too much planned for this next ten days while Nathan is gone, but I am sure we will find plenty to do to fill the time. We'll keep you posted!!!

A Fun Day

Nathan has this week off of work. The plan was originally to just stay home and do fun things each day with the children, but since Nathan is on the Pastor Search Team for our church, our plans had to change. They are leaving Wednesday evening to go to the lower 48 to interview two potential pastors. So, please pray for Nathan. He is leaving from there and going to OK for a week for work. So, also pray for me while he is gone.

Anyway, back to our fun day...since Nathan was home, we went to the zoon, and then to Chucke Cheese with the kids. It was a fun filled day. First though, we went on base and bought a new camera, because the old one isn't working. So, I had lots of fun learning the new camera and taking lots of pictures.

Here is Brianna picking wild flowers at the zoo.

Here is a cute picture of Nate.

Here is a big brown bear. He was picking the green leaves on our side of the fence. It was so cool because he was so close to us.

Here are a couple of polar bears. Nathan took this great photo!

And, here are our cute kids having fun at Chuckee Cheese! We had a really fun day but we were totally exhausted by the time we were finished.

So, today we are heading off to the Russian River so that Nathan can fish, and then we are going to Soldotna, just for the fun of it. There isn't much in Soldotna, but we are staying at a hotel with a swimming pool, which is a rare thing. And, there are a couple of fun restaurants there. So, I'll post more about that part of our week in a few days.

Long Time, No Blog

Well, lots has happened since I last blogged. I have been meaning to write for awhile, but it just hasn't happened. So, let me start with where we left off.

We left OK Saturday, May 24th, which was also Brianna's third birthday. I also came down with some sort of bug that day, and thought I was going to die. Not really, but I didn't even want to get out of bed to pack my suitcase, let alone fly all the way home with two children by myself. But, the Lord gave me the grace to make it home. Thanks to my mom and sisters who helped get me packed and watched the kids that morning. And, my children weren't too bad on the flight home. We all actually slept part of the time, so it was OK. Not good, but OK. We were glad to be back home with Nathan, which made it all worth it.

So, Sunday I got up to try and go to church. I still didn't feel good, so I laid back down, still planning to get up and go to church. I slept until 11:45, waking up to find that Nathan had just taken the kids to church without me. I felt a little better after all that sleep, but I still didn't feel great. But, we had promised to take Brianna fishing when we got back, so we packed up and headed to church camp in Wasilla for Memorial Day. It was a good time, even though I didn't eat much and drank a ton of ginger ale.

To make a long story short, I was sick for about five days. But, thankfully, I am feeling much better now. I am still trying to get my home in order from being gone so long and then being sick as soon as I got home, but things are looking better.

Last Wednesday, I went to my last appointment with my foot doctor. My bones are completely healed, and I can now enjoy whatever shoes I desire. Time to shop!!! No, really, I still can't run or do anything high impact, but for the most part, I am good to go!

We celebrated Brianna's birthday with her (and our) friends at the park last Saturday evening. It was a lot of fun just getting together and letting the kids play and visiting. I will have to post pics from the party on another post. Soon.

So, that is what has been going on around here. Not much this week except getting things in order- cleaning, grocery store, etc. Oh yeah, and I have to get ready for a garage sale with our Sunday School class this weekend. That sounds like tons of work, I mean fun.