Seattle, Whidbey Island, Sisters

We had so much fun this last weekend. We definitely missed our other 3 sisters and Mama! But, we had so much fun walking around and exploring Seattle and the surrounding area. It was the perfect weekend with the perfect weather!

 Jumping pictures are my favorite!! :)

 "Ruth"

Enjoying the Sunshine!

Today, I got to hang out with the Cook kids for a few hours! We had fun playing in the backyard and enjoying how beautiful the weather is today!

 Averi is getting so big.

Cadence was being goofy :) 

Sweet girls.

 Jasper and Aiden. Jasper doesn't quite know how to act around kids yet. So he had to "stay" on his bed. 

Below is his favorite sleeping position :)

On Sunday afternoon Misty and Andy Bolick and their two kids, Mason and Savannah, came over. They brought the game cornhole with them and we enjoyed the backyard sun while playing!

Picture Post

Here are a bunch of random pictures of the last few weeks. In no particular order :)

Jasper is getting so big. In two and half weeks he has now double his weight. We were thinking about taking him with us (carrying him on) to Texas in June....

but I think he is going to be over the 20 lb weight limit by then!

Piper is getting so big! He is smiling and "talking" a lot. So fun to watch him grow!

We got Jasper a super comfy bed to sleep on (for the living room), and yet he chooses to sit/sleep on my house slippers (or by the front door).

This is Owen! He is my friend Emma's 4 year old. He is quite precious. They live 0.6 miles from us, so we look forward to many afternoon walks, picnics and trips to the park this summer!

Piper wearing his mustache shirt, in honor of his Uncle Logan!

Meet Jasper

Matt and I have been talking about how we wanted a dog ever since we got married. But we didn't want to get one until we owned a house. Well, we own a house now! :)

We have been looking for a dog now for a couple of months and have not been able to find any. (we have been slightly choosy though). We wanted a lab mix. And we didn't want the lab to mixed with a pit bull or a rottweiler (which is difficult to find up here!!). AND, it had to be mixed with a big dog, not a small dog. AND, we wanted a male that was less than 2 months old. Yes. We know choosy :)

So, yesterday while I was at work I checked Craigslist once again. And finally found some lab/husky mix puppies! I immediately called Matt and asked him to go look at them (since I was at work). He went and found this adorable little guy who is now the newest member of our family! :)

Jasper resting his head on Matt's chest.

 Jasper resting his head on the Bible.

 Jasper resting his head on Matt's foot.

 Resting his head on Matt's arm.

 Meeting his friend Piper for the first time! :)

He is super chill and laid back. His dad is really big (over 100 lbs), so we are hoping he'll be big like his dad as well! We are so excited to take him hiking, fishing, and camping this summer!

123 Inches of Snow!

We are on the road to getting more snow here in Anchorage/Eagle River than they have gotten since 1954-1955! On average Anchorage would have about 63 inches of snow by this time of year. So, we are doubling the amount of snow that is usual for Anchorage.

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/snow-records-near-bursting-across-alaska-accumulation-mounts

Childhood Sounds

Today I am pressure cooking pinto beans. We are going to have beans and cornbread tonight and then chili tomorrow night. The sound of the pressure cooker in my kitchen brings back so many memories of my mom's kitchen. Memories of living in Galveston and eating LOTS of beans. We had beans and cornbread, beans and spanish rice, cabbage bean soup, beans and corn tortillas....I do not make them very often now that I am grown. But they are one of my favorite meals. I am not sure if it is because it reminds me of growing up or what. But I do enjoy them! Especially with some cornbread. Although, my taste in cornbread has changed since I was a kid. Growing up I DID NOT like sweet cornbread AT ALL. If it had even the slightest sweet flavor I couldn't stand it. But now, I like it super sweet! Now, if only I could learn to like onions I'd be golden! :)  Having the pressure cooker going just brings back this entire feeling that comes along with the memories. There was such an innocence and a carefreeness when we were young. For some reason it makes me think of building "forts" underneath the dinning room table. We had a HUGE dinning room table. And we would gather up blankets and cover the whole table with them and then all crawl inside. And we would play for hours under there. We would always leave a huge mess with blankets everywhere. I am pretty sure it was Mama's favorite game for us to play! :) One time (this was when we lived in Abilene, in the two story house) we crawled under the table and were pretending that a tornado was coming, and (I am pretty sure it was Tyler) kept calling it a giant "tomato" instead of a tornado. I can't remember exactly, but I think Landon and Tyler may have been defending us with their guns against the giant "tomato". After a while, the name "giant tomato" instead of tornado stuck, and we started pretending there was actually a giant tomato rolling towards us that was going to roll right over our house. So, the boys were would ride out on their "horses" with their "guns" and try to get the tomato while us girls were safe underneath the table. Oh, what great imaginations we had. I am thankful that we did not have a TV growing up! We spent hours, literally, making up games! 

Crazy. Just the sound of the pressure cooker in my kitchen led me through all that.

These Boys

Look at these precious boys.

 Sarah burping little Piper.
It is pretty fun watching your friends learning to be parents!

 Piper enjoying some time with his Grammy :)

Aiden. Check out this smiley little one.

All you have to do is talk to him and his face will light up with this big ol' smile!

LOVE getting to hang out with these boys and their parents!

Visit and Big Decision

Matt's mom, Gabrielle, came to visit us a few weeks ago. It was a super short, but great visit! We have been so blessed that she has been able to come up to visit us at least once a year since we have lived here. And she has talked about maybe coming back up to visit us sometime this summer :) 

These ice sculptures are downtown all winter!

 Matt and his mom riding in an ice train.

One said this:

Although Sarah was spelled wrong, it was cute :)

Also, while she was here we took here to see our soon to be house. Matthew and I (along with many friends and our family) have spent a lot of time in prayer about what to do next. Matt will be done with his enlistment with the Air Force come November. The decision about what he should do, as well as where we should live has been a tough one. We miss our families so much. And hope to one day live near them again! But for now, we have decided to stay here Alaska. We are very at peace about our decision and are excited to see what/how God continues to work in our lives here. As usual, we always LOVE visitors!!! So, you are welcome anytime!! :) There will, of course, be pictures of the house to come!

Blog Poaching

http://preachermike.com/2012/02/24/when-a-child-dies-13-intubation

This is a link to a blog of a friend of my family, Mike. Mike is the one that spoke at Tyler's funeral for us. His daughter Megan died about 10 years before Tyler did. He has had a series of blogs recently, about losing a child. I have enjoyed reading them and they have meant a lot to me. So, I thought I would share.

In this particular post he was giving advice to the friends of those that have lost a child. This was one of the things that he said that really spoke to me: When you are the friend "You can’t turn loose of your end of the rope. Even if your friend is hard to be with. When you’re on the other end, that rope is actually a lifeline. If feels thin and frayed. Even if they’re unable to express thanks or are irritable, they need you more than you can know."

Audrey and Ivy

I have been meaning to write this post for quite some time. When Matthew and I first moved here we began going to this church in Anchorage where the people welcomed us with open arms and made us feel so loved. Audrey Cortez was one of the first people that came up and talked to us after service. She also invited us to lunch that day! After that we were invited into the Cortez home many times. We always felt so loved by them! They will forever hold a very special place in our hearts. Not long after we met Alex, Audrey, Miranda, Mariah, and Ethan....Audrey was diagnosed with cancer. She showed great faith and hope throughout her battle with cancer. In the end, she went home to be with the Lord. But I will forever remember and be grateful for the short time that I got to know Audrey. She encouraged me in my faith and in my marriage. During our short friendship she also gave me a small piece of this beautiful ivy. It was just one small piece with maybe 10-12 leaves on it. And this is what it has grown into! Plus, I have been able to cut some pieces off and give them to friends who now also have flourishing ivy! Because of this plant I get to tell people about Audrey and her faith all the time, and I remember her everyday as I see this plant in my kitchen.

Cold is Relative

In the morning on my way to work it warmed up quite a bit! 0 degrees.

But by the time I was on my way home from Bible study that night it was back to those frigid temps!

It is crazy how anything about 0 degrees can actually feel rather warm 

after having a couple of weeks of below 0 temperatures!