Tandy got married!

Awwww! Tandy, my dear friend, got married! Her wedding on was on January 8th and she married Mr. David Mann. She has always wanted a winter wedding and her favorite number is 8. It was at Settlers Bay Restaurant and her colors were red, white, and black. She wore red flipflops with her dress...awesome! It was so fun and relaxing for me to attend a wedding where I have such a long history with the family. Normally at weddings I am running from morning until late, late ...early next morning. Tandy, her family, and her bridesmaids helped with the decorating the day before. We did flowers on the dancefloor the night before. The day of the wedding was a snap. I felt like I didn't even have to coordinate anything. Loved it!

Once I get the pictures from the photographer (focus unbound) I'll post them to my weddings and events blogspot. The link is over there with my "fun blogs" links. Love ya Tandy!!

Swimming

I enrolled all of the boys in swimming class at the Wasilla Pool. Tucker and Gunner are in Swimming 1 and Calvin is in the Pre-1 class. It worked out to where they have class at the same time so that was fun. I wasn't able to get that great of pictures inside the pool but here are a couple that weren't completely blurry. We have gone to about 4 classes now and the kids are still so excited about going everytime we pack up to leave. Maybe we have some future swimming champions in our midst??? Okay, I'll try to focus on them just learning to get comfortable putting their whole head in the water for now.

Beauty and the Beast

Chris here. I had a 4 hour allergy appointment today. Four hours in a little room with nothing to do but stare out the window. Luckily I was on the 4th floor with a southern view of the snow capped mountains, spruce trees laden with clumps of snow, and birch branches blooming with rime. It was a picture so peaceful, quiet, still and strikingly beautiful that the creation of God could not be quieted. I'm so fortunate to live in this blessed state where everyday I'm reminded of the presence of God's through his creation. After the appointment I started my hour commute home. It was -12 and dropping, my car has no heater, I had gloves on with hot hands inserted inside, my fur lined bomber hat strapped around my head, and my down coat zipped to the top of my neck when I asked myself why do I live in this God forsaken state!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!

Ah, Gunner. :) I had to share a quote from him today. "I think we should all bulldoze our snow into one big snowpile. Because then it would be summer and we could play in the sprinkler". Ha!

How low can you go??

A while back Chris and the boys made a huge snowman in our front yard. The weather then became really warm and then we had wind and then it got pretty cold. Our snowman has been slowly leaning more and more to it's current position. I just am amazed that it never broke. It has stayed completely together. When Marie came over she mentioned how it looked like it was doing the limbo. I couldn't agree more!

Now it has a nice cozy blanket covering him too.

DisneyLand!!!!

We just got back from a great trip to sunny southern California. Thank you so much Grammy, we had a great time! We visited SeaWorld on the first day and the kids got to see the whales, sting rays, dolphins, and other cool sea creatures. We also enjoyed the other fun activities they had there including the "Journey to Atlantis" which was a water slide type ride. We all got a little wet on that one much to the enjoyment of the boys!


The next day we spent in DisneyLand. We explored decided to focus on one half of the park on the first day (we had a three day park hopper pass) so we didn't feel quite so overwhelmed. Tucker and Gunner were chosen to be trained as Jedi Padowans (sp?). I was so relieved that they were two of the many kids they picked out of the crowd because they had been looking forward to that part of Disney so much. For the final test Gunner fought Darth Vader, and Tucker fought Darth Mal. So we now have two certified Jedi padowan's in our house!
The next day we went to Laguna beach. There was a cool mist that covered everything for the first hour or so and then it finally lifted so we could actually see where we were. The mist made for some neat pictures. Gunner definately had the most fun playing in the waves.

After the day at the beach it was back to DisneyLand for day two! We spent the second day at the DisneyLand California Adventure park. Raegan and Calvin especially liked Bug's land. Gunner really liked the Scream roller coaster ride, I think that is what it was called. Tucker liked the more laid back rides better. We sure had a great time being able to see how much fun the kids were having. The day at the California Adventure park ended with the coolest parade. We all then headed back to DisneyLand for the lightshow that would be going on. Annette really wanted for us all to see it and I am so glad that we did. The show was so incredible. They used a fine mist of water as the projector screen and also had fireworks and real props and crazy stuff. It was so cool. We were all so captivated that we didn't take any pictures!
Disney was getting ready for Christmas when we were there so all the streets and rides were lavishly decorated. So pretty!

The next day we went back to Disney land and checked out all we hadn't seen yet. Just a lot of fun and such a great time away from the routine as a family.