Gull Rock

Last week some friends and I went on a 10 mile RT backpacking trip.  We drove to Hope and hiked along the inlet to camp at Gull Rock.  Gull Rock is almost directly across Turnagain Arm from Anchorage.  About a half hour into the hike we spotted a black bear up in a tree just 10 feet off the trail.  He was only about 15 ft up the tree just staring at us.  It was pretty cool!

I was so excited to go on this trip so much that I didn't care that I was 6 months pregnant, I just REALLY wanted to use our backpacking gear that we got last year at REI's $.83 sale!!  I had EVERYTHING I needed in my 25 lb pack, except a stove.  I carried a two-man tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, extra pair of clothes, rain coat, Mountain House meals, water purifier, water, leatherman, a gun, and some misc things in the top pouch.  Surprisingly the strap around my waste was very comfy and supported my protruding belly.  I didn't get any braxton hicks till we got back to the car the next day.  On our way home we ate at the yummy Coast Pizza place in Girdwood, and saw Mountain Goats off the Seward Hwy.  I told Jason that I want to go again somewhere before I get really uncomfortable in the next coming months!

Me, Julie, Kia, Julie

Our black bear friend

This is our view from our tents looking straight at Anchorage

Half way to Gull Rock (almost looks like an island)

Our new 2-man tent!  LOVED IT!!!!

Graduation '09

Meg's Kindergarten Graduation was today.  It was very cute.  We went to the school to hear all the kindergarten classes sing some songs, get their graduation certificates, and eat cookies!!  Grandma and Grandpa have a tradition of making Candy Leis for their grandkids who graduate Kindergarten & High School.  Meg forgot all about them, so when they had her close her eyes, she was SO EXCITED to get them.  Her favorite one was with Swedish Fish!  It was a very exciting day for Meg, but I think she is MOST excited that school is almost over . . . I think I might be in for the long haul since she is ONLY in Kindergarten :D

{Mrs. Hardy}

It's A . . . . . .

18 weeks has FINALLY come . . . so we found out today what we are having and we are THRILLED!!!  I told the girls when they went to school that I would have a suprise for them when they came home that was about what we were having.  We had them close their eyes when we brought the cake out!  Meg didn't know how to read it and thought it said happy birthday {my sister was over too, and today is her birthday}, so I think they got confused a bit.  But it was great fun!!  We are very excited to even things up a bit!  Here is a cute video of the heart beat and of him waving his fingers at us!  

Hula

Just recently, a friend of ours in our ward came home from BYU-Hawaii for a week.  She dances at the Polynesian Cultural Center, and decided it would be fun to teach the girls in our ward how to dance while she was here.  

Prior to her coming her mom taught all the moms how to sew a Hawaiian Pau skirt and shirt for the girls to wear at class and at the performance.  

As soon as I was done sewing the skirts, the girls asked EVERYDAY when Nelli was coming home so they could  shake their hips!!!

They only had classes Monday-Wednesday for an hour a day, then performed for all us parents on Thursday!  It was too cute!  They LOVED every minute of it and are STILL singing and dancing weeks after!!  

So now the BIG talk in our house from the kids is that they are planning to "save" their hard earned money for ... HAWAII!!

#4

Ok .... so I have REALLY been neglecting this bloggin' thing!!  

    

BUT for a very good reason!!

We are expecting our 4th (AND last I might add!) kiddo around October 7th.  It's been a mess around here the past two months!!  My pregnancies were never this rough.  I've been REALLY sick, just sinking into the depths of the forbidden COUCH!  But just as expected, 14th week came around and I'm doing MUCH better!!  My poor kiddos, I've missed EVERY signup sheet with a deadline that they could possibly have at school, and our food storage ran out of cereal I swear the 2nd week of being sick!!  

So with all that said, yes we {jas & I} would like another boy ... while our posterity for some reason would like another girl!!  Including Owen, but I don't count that since that is ALL he knows :D  Plus he's a big time follower when it comes to his sisters!  

So keep posted, cause heck yes we will find out!!!

ERHS

Life in our household has changed as we know it for the next three months!  Jason was asked to coach the JV Girls Soccer Team at ERHS.  He's pretty excited for this opportunity so that as the girls (oh yeah ... AND Owen!!!) get older, he would have already had experience coaching.  He wants me to come along every now and then to help out.  We wont see him much that's for sure, but it WILL be fun (kids are crossing their fingers) to ride the bus with them to games, and the kids LOVE riding their bikes on the track to keep entertained.  

I did graduate from Chugiak, but oh well ... GO WOLVES!!!

A Light At The End Of The Tunnel

OMGoodness!!!  This is a LONG & PAINFUL story ... one that I won't bore you with.  Our bathroom is on it's final stages of being completed!! We borrowed a tile saw from some friends and started the tile work this last week.  Jason wasn't too thrilled with my design, especially since he's never tiled before.  {above the top row, I have 6x6 & 6x12's that will make a decoration line}  But he is loving it now and says that I made a pretty design.  After the walls are done, we are doing the floor with the same tile, just in a square pattern.  

I CAN'T WAIT TO USE MY DOUBLE JETTED TUB!!!!

Bad Ball

Ok so I PROMISE I've never said this to Owen ... but I just saw him talking to his ball saying ...

"Never get snack, never get snack ... 'cause BAD!"

School Vacation

Our sixth day of school off, I could kinda care less what the kids did ... AS LONG as they didn't fight.  Things were touch and go with the Wii today, so that got banned.  Toys weren't as fun today since they played with EVERYTHING in the past 6 days.  So what else to do than to make a fort!  {and in swimsuits nonetheless}   Normally this doesn't work because the girls are YELLING at Owen for not crawling properly under the blankets making the fort fall completely apart.  So we decided to join in the fun and help build an "expert" fort (as Meg liked to call Jason & I).  After this pic was taken, we added even MORE blankets!  Eventually Owen had had it with the girls getting after him, so he sighed and went to his room to play with his train set.  I think I'm ready for school tomorrow :)

Spring ... Already?

Just after Christmas we had a horrible spell of -20 degrees for almost three weeks.  The kids went back to school with it still below zero, had one day where they could have recess, and then poof!  It all changed!!  

In alaska we call high warm winds a Chinook.  This one had high winds from 65-80 mph with some inlet areas getting up to 105!  The temps went from -20 to +50 ... a 70 degree difference!!!  School was cancelled wednesday, thursday, AND friday ... and on top of that, monday is a holiday!  So the kids got a 6 day weekend!  Some moms were HATING life, but I was enjoying it!  The roads the first two days were too icy to drive on from all the melting water pooling on top of the snow.  It was a MESS ... but we enjoyed spending more time on the Wii, and when the highway cleared ... we headed to Target getting SPECTACULAR deals of 75% or more off toys ... mmmmm ... Legos!  

Here's a picture of our house with NO snow!  The kids were bummed though that their XX-Skiing was cancelled.  It feels like spring break up ... but unfortunately it's only JANUARY!!