Alex's 2nd Birthday

Well... the big 2 has come and gone and we're working towards the 3rd birthday now. It's gone by so fast. It doesn't seem like 2 years has gone by but in a few it won't seem like 5 has gone by either. His actual birthday was pretty quiet. We didn't do much, stayed at home and worked on the birthday cake. Alex helped... or tried to :) We baked the cake and let it cool. Aaron and I didn't give him any presents, we figured we'd save them for the birthday party on Saturday. We did get a package from Grandpa & Ann in the mail though. Alex had to open it immediatly. It was a cute outfit from Macy's. Alex usually doesn't care much but this time he had to immediatly get down off of his stool and strip so that he could wear his new clothes! He was so funny and loved them a lot. Aaron was asleep cause he's now working a mid shift so he missed out on some of the fun. Later that evening, I was trying to cook some dinner (halibut! YUM!) and the doorbell rang. It was the UPS man delivering a package from BB & TT. Alex's eyes lit up and I knew right then he wasn't going to eat any dinner, he had more important things to do now. It was a cute little Diego bike. I made the mistake of telling him that "Daddy had to help him" put it together. He then RAN upstairs and woke up Aaron. Boomer had woke him up when the doorbell rang so it wasn't too shocking but he still didn't want to get up. He did though and did the "good dad" thing and put the bike together. However, it's a motorcycle to Alex :) We let him ride it around in the basement and he had a ball all night. He can't quite reach the pedals when they are all the way down but he tries.... Friday we finished the cake and made a last minute run to town, but that's about it.... Saturday the fun began. We didn't have the party till late in the afternoon, 4pm, so there was lots of time to get things done and for all the kiddos to get hier naps in. Somehow, we invited the same amount of people as we did last year and it didn't seem as crazy. I was really worried there was going to be too many people, flashbacks from last year had me super scared, but it was all ok. The bigger kids went downstairs and ran around like crazy people, and the adults stayed upstairs and ate. There was plenty of food and everyone got full. The cake was a big hit! I was proud of it. Alex scored, to say the least. I think he got more for his birthday than he did at Christmas! It was bad, took FOREVER to open presents, I think people were tired of watching. But by the time that was over, and people started to leave, it was time for bed. I dont think we could have timed it any better. He was pooped and went to bed without any problems. Now we look forward to next year! FUN! ;) Thank you to all that came and to all of the wonderful presents! Everything was great!

Note to self.... Blue Ring Pops are not good! :)

So today Alex went over to the neighbors house. Alison gave Alex a ring pop. He LOVED it, of course! But blue may not have been the best color! He loved it though! Thanks for the cute pictures!!!

Fishing on the Kenai

So... we've been back for almost a week and thought it was time that I finally wrote about the wonderful (kinda) trip that Alex and I took down to Anchorage and Soldatna. Alex, Me & Mom were in one truck and Dad, Cail & Max were in the other truck and off we went Saturday morning. It was pretty uneventful except for the heavy rain in Wasilla. Alex didn't get sick! I was pretty thankful for that. I hydroplaned once and scared mom, It was fun :) We stayed the night there with my Aunt Terry and Shari. We woke up on Sunday and drove the other 2 1/2-3 hours into Soldatna. Aunt Karen & her boyfriend Ron, were already there and saved us a camp site next to them. The whole family followed. Right off we started to set up camp and had the usual family drama that follows that, it wasn't so bad though. Right off we noticed our camp site didn't have a picnic table so what do we do?? Steal it from the people across the way, of course! They had a camp set up but there was no car there, so it was fair game! HA! A few hours later they came back and the look on thier face was awesome! We went fishing without any luck and came back to camp to do our lazy camp thing. We had fun visiting with everyone before they had to leave. Monday, Karen & Ron packed up and left, along with Don & Cammie and Rebecca, Lee & Kaylee. After Karen & Ron left the 2 guys from the campsite across the way came over and "stole thier table back" or so they thought :) They then made small talk with us and we kinda became friends! They left us soda and water by the end of the week. Terry & Shari had to head back to Anchorage on Tuesday to get Shari's sister, Cyndi, to the airport (she was visiting from Oregon). So then it was just us! Me, Alex, Mom, Dad & Cail. It was nice and quiet. Every day we went fishing and every day, NO FISH! It was pretty frustrating. Everyone around us was catching but us! How does that work?? I don't understand. It was always to the right of us and as one JERK pointed out, that just means they had to swim by us to get to them! We were using the same poles, flys, techniques, EVERYTHING! It was just not working. We finally gave up and found the number of a fish processor down the way in Soldatna. So mom & dad went and bought some fish from them so we didn't go home empty handed. The salmon just weren't our friends! So we headed back to Anchorage a day early, Friday, and had a nice quiet night. Dad & Cail headed home on Saturday after we all went to the Saturday Market in Anchorage. It was so cool! Why we don't have something bigger like that in Fairbanks, I'll never know! It was awesome! Not just crafts, but TONS of food, local farms, entertainment, stuff for the kids, lots of stuff. Later on Alex and I went to suprise Amber for her going away party. She didn't know I was comming over so it was a nice supprise. Allison was suprised to see me too. I hadn't seen her since high school! We sat around and chatted and had some good food! It was then time for the girls to have some fun! So the crazy Aunts and Gram got to watch Alex for a while and I went out on the town with the girls. Haven't done that in FOREVER! It was so much fun and I definetly paid the price the next day! So So fun!

We're Not Going Anywhere!

Hey all!
We just found out today that we aren't leaving!! Not yet anyway. Aaron's extention actually got APPROVED! We get to stay another 3 years which makes us not leaving Alaska till September of 2012! WAHHOO!! We are very excited. We really didn't think it was going to go! All of the other Tech Sgts in his shop got denied so we are very greatful that we got approved. We don't know about any of the Staff Sgts yet, there were a few that had put in to stay as well. The only way we can have this denied is if Aaron doesn't reinlist in the next 30 days but that shouldn't be a problem! No more bonus :( but oh well! We can count the dividend as a bonus right? :) Hope everyone can come up and visit us! This gives you a little more time! hee hee!

The Big 4th of July Weekend

Wednesday - Aaron had gone to the store the night before and
bought himself a chain saw so that we could go and cut some fire wood for our camping trip to the lake. Alex thought it was so cool. He kept saying "Daddy, Chainsaw, Trees, Cut" over and over agian. We went for a drive, just Aaron, Alex and I. That never happens. We don't go out like that very often, but it was a nice little family thing. We went far off base and Alex brought his chainsaw also and he had such a good time out in the woods. He was trying to cut with his little "Craftsman" but it wasn't quite doing the job :)

Thursday - We packed up our stuff early and headed to the lake. We, along with 2 other couples/families, got cabins at Birch lake. We only had it for Thursday night and they had thier cabins for Thurs, Fri & Sat. We werne't sure how Alex was going to do so we were just going with the flow. We put the jet ski in and sat on the beach. It was a SUPER nice day and everyone got a little sun that day. Alex didn't want anything to do with the jet ski though. He loved to sit on it in the garage and he loves to sit on the snowmachine. He loves rides on the "Wheeler" with Daddy, Gram & Papa, but he did not want a THING to do with that jet ski once it was in the water. He just wanted to play in the water with the sand toys. We had so much fun! We decided to stay till Friday night because we had bunches of things to get done on Saturday and 2 days there was enough for us. It was draining! We were exhausted!

Saturday - To my surpise, my good friend Amber and her mom Barb came out to see us. I'm not suprised that they were here, just that they came to see us. No one ever comes to see us ;) It was so nice to visit her before her big move to California. I'm sad to see her move but understand her need to go also. We then we to go play poker at a friends house. It's only the 100th time we've been over there to play and FINALLY Aaron won it! $180!! WHOOHOO! I didn't do much but play RockBand all night. Kicked the boys's butts! It was a LONG night. We didn't get home till 4:30! We haven't been out like that in a LONG time. It was fun and exhausting. Alex did good, he loves playing with the older kid's cool toys! So needless to say we didnt' do a DARN thing on Sunday. Recouperated and relaxed. Aaron went for a bike ride but that was about the extent of it. What a long weekend!

At the park with the Delimonts

Today (and the other few days that have passed) was pretty uneventful but that's ok. Nice summer days. Today we got up and went for a walk with our neighbors. Alison brought her two boys, Daniel & Denton. Daniel is a week older than Alex so they like to play together and get along good. They had so much fun. They didn't like the new playground equipment so much as the older, wooden & metal stuff. I guess we're just old fashion :) Our master plan worked though and by the time we were on our walk home, Denton was passed out in his wagon and Daniel & Alex were shortly behind him, although they made it all the way home before crashing. Alex sat on the couch for 5 minutes and he was OUT! Worked like a charm! We're now in prep mode for our big 4th of July weekend trip to Birch Lake. The one time a year (atleast) that we put the jet ski in the water. We almost can't afford it now! The sucker has a bigger gas tank than my car! We'll see how it goes and have lots of pictures to send out to everyone!

We're going to give this a go and we'll try and keep up with it. I put these pics on today cause that's fresh in my mind. I think I have to just go forward from here on out and not think about all the past stuff we would like to share with everyone because that's where I get overwhelmed.... Today we went to the neighbors house. Alison invited Alex and I over to play and attempt to fingerpaint. Alex wasn't having it though. Her two boys (Daniel & Denton) had a ball! They thought it was the best! Don't know what Alex's deal was. He went to bed too early the night before and in turn, woke up too early so his whole day was thrown out of whack. He got to spend a few good hours with Daddy while I went to a meeting though. It's good for them! Aaron tried to get him to go in our new pool but he wasn't having that either. What a bum :) Hopefully I'll keep up with this every night or so to keep everyone informed on Alex's busy life! HA!