Boom Baby!

Wow, we have had a wild and crazy month! Lots to catch up on- so I'll try to hit the highlights!

First off- Pioneer Peak- the mountain I spent over 8 hours lost on back in July. Don't worry, I wasn't alone. I had my good friend Chantel with me and my man came and rescued me as soon as he could. Even still, it was a very cold, wet, scary night! So foggy too, we couldn't even see 10 feet in front of us, hence the scary part. You wouldn't believe what can look like a bear when all you see is a big dark outline! I even had to ration my water and food sources- that consisted of half a cucumber and some craisins! I didn't want to eat it all if I was going to have to survive up there indefinately! I have watched Survivor Man, you know! Anyway, definately not my best day hiking, but most memorable! And don't you worry Pioneer, I will be back up there soon, devil mountain. This time I'll watch the weather. Here's a few other picts from the experience.

At the bottom of the mountain with our rescuers- my neighbor Shane & Richard. This is at 3am, about 11 hrs after first getting lost! It was sooo muddy coming down from all the rain, we pretty much fell all the way down the mountain. Torture.
My "I am so mad that we are lost" face.

At the top with Kenzie, prior to the getting lost, hence the smile!

Ok, traumatizing experience #2. Amy, my mom and I were enjoying a nice Friday night chat. The kids were downstairs playing so nicely. We even commented on how there was no screaming and fighting, highly unusual for the cousins. We should have known something was up. When I went downstairs to get Avery to go home, I ran across a tiny little puff of black curly hair. Hmm. Kept cleaning up. Then another, ok, this is really suspiscious. I call Avery in to see what is up and you could not have prepared me for the damage! Dane, or the Barber of Seville as we have been calling him, had decided to give Avery a new hairstyle. Needless to say, Dane and I do not have the same taste in hairstyles, he's a little too cutting edge for me. I was really sad, I admitt. It was 3 years of growth and was finally long enough to do some really cute stuff. But now that I'm used to her new do, it is really cute on her and she loves wearing headbands and bows and matching them to her outfit every day. It's also so nice not to have to sit her down for a few hours to do her hair every week! :) So I guess in the end I should really be thanking cousin Dane?!

We were able to go fishing with my dad out in Prince William Sound a couple times. This last time we went was beautiful weather and we caught lots of silvers and halibut and shrimp. Avery LOVES going fishing on Grandpa's boat and talks about it all the time. She especially loves bashing the fish on the head, morbid, I know.

We went up to my parent's cabin twice in the past month. It's on Lake Louise and is a great escape. The first time we went we went with the whole family! Everyone except Calvin was there, bummer. Even Melissa and James and their kids Louis and Elsie made it all the way from Boston! My cousins Heather and Tina even got to come too. We went to the beach, did some tubing (even Avery!), Avery did lots of swimming in that icy cold water too! We picked loads of wild blueberries, ate some really good food, and played lots of games! I won at Settler's one night, which really made some certain sore loosers mad, so they boycotted me from then on. But alas, I didn't even come close to a puzzler record. Drats. The one thing in life I really care about. The second time we went to the cabin was just Richard, Avery and I. Rich had just graducated from the residency and took a day off, so we decided to get away as a family for a couple days and enjoy some peace and quiet. Quiet it was, but not very peacefull! We ended up taking the Seadoo across the lake instead of a boat, and this is one BIG lake. Anyway, long story short, we flooded the Seadoo, almost sunk it to the bottom of the lake, and were pretty close to being stranded up there, 3 hours and a long boat ride away from home. Not that I would have minded extra time at the cabin, but a little scary when the watercraft you are on is sinking with your entire family, including your 3 year old on it, it's only 60 degrees out and the water is probably 50! So that was another adventure, needless to say we will never just take a seadoo across to the cabin again, and will most likely have a backup next time, just in case! Avery sure loves the cabin though. So quiet and secluded, Richard really just wants to retire up there!

Ok, so I did mention that my cousins Heather and Tina came to visit? And my oldest sister Meliss too? I just love these girls and have missed them so much, so I was so excited when they decided to come and see us! I took Heather and Tina to Talkeetna one day, and we went biking on the coastal trail, a little shopping, and lots of eating! It was so fun to spend almost two weeks just playing with visitors! I stole some picts from Tina's blog, because let's just face it, I'm a lazy blogger! There are lots of picts of the kids, the gardens, and fun times we had while Melissa, James, Heather and Tina where here.

Me and Heather in Talkeetna, Denali is right behind us! If you could only see through the clouds!

Heather and Tina- so pretty!

Various garden/greenhouse/market pictures!

The kids! So crazy, but so much fun. Daisy was just in LOVE with little baby Elsie, as were the rest of us. She did not get put down much, and I really, really miss holding her! Louis was so cute too, he really loved having all the big kids to play with and thought he was so big too. We miss them both so much, and Meliss and James too I guess!:)

Biking the Coastal trail, then dinner at Sourgough- yum! My 10 year old bike pretty much sucks though! I'll spare you the details and/or explatives I shared with those on the bike ride, but to sum it up my but was sore for days, days people! That is not right. And Heather, flaunting her super soft, springy, cushioned seat right in front of me. Too bad I WASTED pretty much everyone on the hills. Even if they say they weren't racing, i still wasted them.

More picts from lake louise. Tubing= best day evah!

All right, that's all I got for now. Oh wait, no it isn't. I guess I should tell any of you who don't know yet. We are going to Japan! Yeah! Rich leaves in a week, me in 3. We'll be there for 3 months. Temporary duty assignment. We are totally stoked. Should be back by Christmas. Oh, and I also forgot to mention, should be back in time to close on and move into our new house that is being built right now! Now if that doesn't call for a Boom Baby! I don't know what does.