Last weekend I decided to take the kids to the Truck Touch in Fairbanks. It was a fairly warm and sunny day.
Liberty was about ready for a nap. She made it through most of the time, but passed out before we were through.
The kids met Officer B. Safe. This was kind of a neat thing. It was an air-conditioned balloon with a man inside. He could walk around and wave and shake hands and things like that. They LOVED him.
They also really like this police robot. There was a man inside a truck controlling the robot. He kept taking their construction hats and then driving around with them and bringing them back to the kids. Glade thought it was so great he kept following the robot around and holding his hat out to him. So fun!
Another of Glade's favorite things! What little boy doesn't like this?
This was the most interesting thing there (to me anyway). They called it a train, and it kind of looks like one. It was from WW I. They said transportation was a problem at that time. This vehicle held 40 soldiers and 8 horses. (You can see those numbers on the side of it.) It was from France, hence the words on the side. Kind of an interesting vehicle.
A helicopter was fun to climb into and try out. They made sure to buckle up!
There were a couple of little race cars. The kids both enjoyed those.
It was such a fun day. There were lots of other things: old tractors, construction equipment. old cars, an airplane, a city bus, an ambulance, and more I'm forgetting, I'm sure. The kids had a good time and especially enjoyed the popcorn and snow cones we enjoyed!
We were able to go to Kimberly's Kindergarten Program a few weeks ago. We came back from our trip not too long before the program, so she didn't know the songs quite as well as the other kids. She has a great memory and learns fast though, so she did all right. Unfortunately, she's not super-tall and they put her on the back row. There was a boy in front of her with paper feathers on a headdress. That meant she was covered for most of the program. It was also hard to try to get a good picture while trying to keep two other children happy and stay out of everyone else's way. This picture of when they were lining up is the best I was able to get. Sorry it's so dark.
Kimberly with her beloved Mrs. Pauley after the program. We will really miss her. She was a wonderful teacher.
On the last day of school they have a picnic where they do hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. Families are invited and the kids and I went to see Kim on her last day of school. Glade had been asking and asking to go play on the playground at Kim's school, so this was his chance!
Kim with friend Amber.
Getting ready to go home on the last day of school.
Well, I think this officially catches me up. We are hoping to do some fun things this summer and look forward to Ryan's return several months hence.
We have moose again! At first I thought this must be the same pair that we had last winter. Then, this week, I saw a young moose in the neighborhood and was close enough to see some points. I decided that this must be the same mother with a new calf and the other single moose was her calf from last year.
We came home to Spring. It was beautiful around here. Still lots of brown, but getting greener all the time. I really liked looking at the slough and river. There was still quite a bit of ice on the slough near our home when we got here. You can still see some of the snowmobile tracks from this wintertime road. :)
One of the things that I thought was most beautiful was this. Places where the ice had mostly melted except at the edge of the water, where it was above the water and reflected back on itself. I don't know why, but I really loved the look of this.
Let me tell you, the traveling was the worst part, for obvious reasons. Fairbanks is a LONG way from Phoenix and it takes a long time to get from Point A to Point B. Fortunately, we only had one layover each way: Seattle. SEATAC is our home airport from last year, so we were a little familiar with it. We were NOT, however, knowledgeable about it's great trains. We had a 4 hour or so layover there. We walked around, played in the playground, had some lunch and later some frosties, AND we rode the train. The kids really liked the train. It was so fun to just ride around in circles. The whole loop only takes about 2 minutes and we rode the loop several times. It was a good way to kill time that the kids enjoyed.
The kids do really well with traveling overall. I can't really complain. It could have been so much worse than just a long day.
Kimberly had a birthday and timed it just right, in the partying sense. This girl managed to get three parties out of this year's birthday. LUCKY! She timed it just right with visits to both sides of the family around her birthday. We get to be with family so seldom for birthdays that I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to celebrate with both Abbotts and Lunts.
With sweet cousin Heidi. Cake and ice cream.
Birthday party with the Lunt cousins. Armand and Cheryl were kind enough to let us do a birthday dinner at their house. It was a lot of fun!
The cake we decorated using Grammy and Grandad's gift of a frosting decorator. In case you can't tell, it's a garden with flowers, grapes, celery, and carrots. Kim's ideas.
Kim's actual birthday, the day before we flew back to Alaska. We HAVE to do the candle in a waffle thing!
We had another little gift opening the morning after we got home with a picnic breakfast down by the fire. I really didn't want to haul any extra things (including birthday gifts) on our trip.
When I told Kim that we were going to be traveling to visit family and wouldn't be back until AFTER her birthday, she was really sad . . . until I promised to do a friend party after we got back. So we did. We made necklaces, made pizza, ate said pizza, fruit pizza, and . . .
These cute mini cupcakes, again using the cupcake and decorator set from Grammy and Grandad.
After being in Arizona for about 6 weeks, we flew up to Utah to spend some time with the Abbott side of the family, and Aunt Mindy, of course. It was a lot of fun to see everyone. It's always especially gratifying to see the kids form good relationships with their grandparents. It makes it worth the expense of traveling relatively often.
Glade in the lightening tree at a Living Farm in Salt Lake.
Going out for dinner to celebrate Grammy's birthday. Give that girl some food!
The birthday girl.
The kids really enjoyed having dogs around, especially Cocoa. Kimberly loved to feed her and "train" her.
A day or two after our arrival in Utah, the Abbott family had another special arrival. The long-awaited twins came! Here they are with Kimberly and Tanner (proud big brother). They are such cute little girls. They were healthy babies and identical twins.
We went to spend a night with Uncle Scott and Aunt Mindy in SLC. Liberty learned to do push-ups.
Aunt Mindy reading a book to Stephanie. Liberty couldn't resist going to check it out.
We got to celebrate Addie's 2nd birthday at Uncle Reed and Aunt Katie's house. Kim lost her 2nd tooth, thanks to help from Grammy (and promptly lost it in the carpet, never to be found again).
We had a great Easter in Utah with Grammy and Grandad. Rob and Natalie and crew made the drive for a long weekend for Easter and conference. I was so glad they made the trip, but was glad it wasn't me! Thanks for making the effort! We managed to get a picture of all the grandsons (except the steps in ID).
Here's a picture of all of the granddaughters except Leah and Dusty's girls. We sure missed you!
Liberty getting a taste of her first Peep.
Grammy lovin' on Libby.
Aunt Katie and Addie went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point with us.
The kids had a great time playing in the snow with the sand toys the Easter Bunny brought them. (I thought we left the snow behind in AK!)
We made a quick weekend trip to Idaho. It was great to see Leah and Dusty and crew. They are obviously way more cool than we are. They had baby chicks which the kids LOVED. I somehow managed to get no good pictures of the kids together. Did you get any Leah?
Glade snuggling with Grammy. Signature happy Glade smile. I love this smile and will miss it if he ever grows out of it.
All three kids with Grammy and Grandad at the house in Idaho. Last time for us to see it.
Warning! Long post with many pictures. Trying to make up for lost time here! :)
We had a great time in Arizona spending a lot of time with family. It is wonderful to be able to see all of my siblings but one when I travel home. Thanks for taking the time to come and visit everyone! We miss you a lot!
Here are some of the things we did, in no particular order.
I made matching skirts for us three girls out of some retro green fabric that was in my Grandma Lunt's stash. I haven't had a twirly skirt since I was a little girl! We had to get a picture by the pink popcorn tree.
We attended Maren's baptism. She is a really special girl and we were very glad to be able to go.
Gabriel, Mason, and Lauren hanging out at Grandma's house.
The poppies were awesome this year! They were everywhere. The kids really enjoyed having a picnic with cousins and then picking huge bouquets of poppies.
Emilee and Glade sliding down a hill at our picnic.
Uncle Armand and Aunt Cheryl are always so generous and fun. Here's something they came up with during our picnic.
The cottonseed is always an attraction. They never used to let us jump in it when we were growing up. I guess that's the difference between kids and grandkids, right?
All the close by grandkids slept over together one night, except little Sarah. As you can see, it was pretty chaotic, but fun with 9 kids around. They had a great time kicking on the air mattress.
Liberty and Grandpa seemed to have a special bond. She LOVED him. He could really make her laugh and he really enjoyed doing it.
We enjoyed Grandma's tent. All three got in it this time. We need to get our tent out more often.
Kimberly and Glade really enjoyed a new selection of stuffed animals at Grandpa and Grandma's house. They had a hard time decided which to sleep with. When in doubt, choose all of them.
I made a trip to the dentist while in Arizona. Glade got to meet one of his namesakes, Glade Smith. Since he was born while in dental school, we named him after our childhood dentists, since Ryan and I both had dentists named Glade. What are the odds?
Glade and Gabriel together at Burger King, where we met them for lunch. Glade enjoyed the crown, but Gabriel wasn't taking off the hat for anything!
Kimberly with a puppy at Uncle Armand's house. The kids really enjoyed the "little butterballs," as they became known.
It was fun to be able to attend a baby shower for my cousin while at home. We were the 4 amigos in high school, each of us a year apart. My sister Tara jumped in for the picture too. Me, Mindy, Sonya, and Stacey on the couch and Tara in front.
Where else but Arizona can you do slip-and-slide in March? I love how wet Glade's shirt is here. His sleeve is like twice as long as normal!
Flying kites!
Cooking with Grandma
Glade enjoying Grandpa's football helmet from when he was a boy.
Kimberly and Brailynn enjoying a story with Grandma.
We helped plant some onion sets with Grandpa. It was great to be able to send the kids out to play every single day.
Liberty getting acquainted with Uncle Calvin and Aunt Terra's dog.
It's amazing how much fun a kid can have with a box.
After 6 weeks of Arizona fun, we went back to Mesa for a night before flying up to Utah.
We got to go to the zoo with my sister-in-law Jessie and her two cute boys. Here are Glade and Clayton hanging out on a bench.
My brother Byron juggling 2 babies (along with school and a job!) Way to go Byron! One more year left. He's holding Liberty and their precious little Darren.
