New Doo

This was where we started...

Then Daddy got started shaving his head... and Mommy thought "Maybe I should just buzz Henry's too.

And this is what we got! Too cute!

My Little Ones

Our hike up Hatcher Pass

AMAZING

That's the only word to describe it... I love being eye level with the clouds and mountain tops!

Our Hike back down, the wind literally almost blew us off the mountain side. And that small dot of a building is where we started! It was really fun though.. and yes Elizabeth is in J's back pack! Lucky!

Elizabeth's very first BIKE!

She's a dare devil like her father! Already trying to ride with NO hands... lucky for us there are still training wheels.


He doesn't look very happy but he DID enjoy the sparklers...

Elizabeth enjoyed the s'mores... you can almost see them all over her face!

Not a good s'more unless it's all over your face.

She wasn't quite sure about riding it at first, but now Mommy pushes Henry in the stroller and Elizabeth rides her bike. It is wonderful!
(pics little out of order.. sorry)

No, we did not get a dog. And especially not a small dog. This is the neighbors dog. Elizabeth LOVES it to death...almost literally! She is obsessed! And while the dogs like the attention at first, eventually they are pleading for help to get away! She means well... she just loves them a bit too much!

BOB the Builder @ the Library

The kids got fun hats, coloring books, treats and got to do fun activities.

As you can see, the hats were the best part!

I think this is one of my favorite Henry pictures! What a goof ball!

I am so grateful to be their mother! Some times they are cranky and crazy and well, act their age, but I DO love them sooo much! They are such wonderful children! We are reading "Who's your Hero?" A book of stories from the Book of Mormon, about Nephi, Abinadi and Ammon. Every day Elizabeth makes good choices and then says, "Look mom I'm being just like Nephi!" It's so cute and I'm so grateful that she enjoys the stories and is actually learning from them. What sweet joy the gospel brings into our lives!

Not a day goes by that we don't think about where we have been and how grateful we are to the Lord for bring us through the struggles and into a time of rejoicing!

Hope

As life continues here in Alaska for us, our hearts and thoughts are still very much in Seattle. Last night another sweet little girl lost her battle with leukemia. My heart aches for their family. Although I am far from them, my prayers and thoughts are with them.

Through our own experience in Seattle there were times when we wondered why one family got "the miracle" and another family didn't. Why does one child survive while another loses the battle? The thing we came to really learn and understand was that no one wins or loses. We are ALL children of a loving Heavenly Father, who provided a plan that would ensure our return to him. We are ALL brothers and sisters to an Elder Brother who made life after this possible. Our Savior endured the Cross so that we might all live again. He won the battle over death, so while we may think that a child has lost the battle to cancer or leukemia or whatever, they have not lost the ultimate battle. Through our Saviors atonement we will all live again, it is an unconditional promise.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I believe, and know, that we can be sealed to our families for eternity. We have temples built all over, wherein we perform marriage ceremonies that not only bind a family for life, but for ALL ETERNITY. This knowledge coupled with the promise of life after this through the atonement provides an everlasting peace in my heart. I do not assume that knowing this makes the loss of a child easier. I only know that as we have struggled and faced possible death, I knew in my heart that we would meet again. What a blessed day when we shall gather together again with our loved ones in heaven, and meet again our Elder Brother who selflessly made it all possible.