Fun at the Cabin!

This past weekend we went to Gatecreek Cabins with our good friends, the Bentley's. Originally Brett and I were going to go to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversay, but when we saw the pictures of the cabin we thought, "How could we go to such a fun place without our children?" Then when we saw how many beds the cabin had we decided to invite friends to come with us! We had such a blast! Our kids get along so well with the Bentley children, and we think Chance and Lori are pretty awesome too! It was a nice get away, and we wish we could have stayed longer!



This is the "Forget Me Not" cabin that we stayed in. There was a bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom on the first floor. Upstairs were four more beds and another bathroom. The boys had fun bonding in one of the rooms, and we attempted to let Maren and Jenna share another room, but that didn't happen! They would not go to sleep! Too much fun to be had I guess.

Crozman, Dallin, Jared and Dane. I don't know if they are excited enough. What do you think?

Brett and I making out by the fire! I'm glad Brett was keeping an eye on the marshmallow so it didn't burn!

Jenna and Maren having so much fun playing on the fence.

Crozman and Dallin are such good friends a get along so well together!

Jared and Dane are in the same Primary class and were in the same preschool this year. They are best buds and are inseparable!

The boys loved the paddle boat and went for a lovely jaunt around the little lake. It was so beautiful!

Jared loved the whole weekend, minus being forced into the canoe. He was not a happy camper, but I think he enjoyed it more once he was in for awhile. However, I don't think he'd never admit it! Hmm, I wonder where he gets his fear of water? It couldn't possibly be from his mother! =)

Jenna, Dallin and I getting a little exercise and enjoying the beauty of the great outdoors!

Chance and Lori cooking us a mean chicken dinner!

Crozman and Brett working so hard. Dallin enjoying the ride! That's my boy!

Aren't they just so dang cute! We are lucky to live in such a beautiful area and have such wonderful friends!

Jenna is such a daddy's girl! She was funny, because whenever she had her life jacket on, she felt like she couldn't move.

My three little angels! I love you Jared, Jenna and Dallin!

Peek-a-boo little miss Jenna!

Check us out! We should start our own red-neck reality show!

Okay, one more thing......This was the local grocery store. I realized the batteries for my camera were dead so I decided to stop by this quaint little place. The second I pulled up, a lady from the house (see picture below) walked up to the store door with a key and opened it. I couldn't believe she was opening it just for me. The store was fully stocked, but price tags were no where to be found! It's a good thing, because I really don't think I would have paid as much for my batteries as I did! Oh well! After I was done she turned off the lights inside the store, locked the door behind us and she walked back to her house. Such a different life!

The store is on the left and her house is on the right. Brett asked if I would want to move to a little community like that. My response was a roll of the eyes and silence. Really, after 8 years of marriage do you really even need to ask such a question? I love you Brett! Happy Anniversary!

Jenna's 3rd Birthday Party!

I can't believe that my baby is three years old! It seems like yesterday that I was holding onto the porcelain throne for dear life and that my ankles were too swollen to wear any shoes. It seems like just yesterday that we welcomed a precious baby girl into our lives. Jenna has been such a blessing to us and brings so much laughter into our home! We love you, Jenna!


On Saturday we invited four extra little princesses into our castle. Each of the girls looked so beautiful and were very well mannered! The party was hosted by King Brett, Queen Kristy, Prince Dallin and Prince Jared.

Of course Jenna loved being the center of attention and enjoyed her princess friends. We also invited the kids' favorite babysitter, Addison, to help paint the girls' fingernails. She was such a big help!

Jenna loved her pink princess cake and didn't want us to eat her! I must say a huge THANK YOU to my friend Michelle for decorating this beautiful cake. It turned out so cute! We had so much fun and I learned so much from her!

After the girls ate sandwiches, grapes and strawberries they were ready for the yummy strawberry cake. (Jenna insisted on everything being some shade of pink!)

Here the girls are admiring the cake. Maybe Jenna is coming up with a good blowing-the-candles-out plan!

The next 3 pictures crack me up! In the first one she was concentrating so hard on blowing that single candle out. Then she was so mad when it wouldn't go out, even though she practically spit on it! When she finally did blow it out, she was a very happy princess indeed!

As the girls were waiting for their cake, Addison painted their nails. Of course Jenna chose HOT pink! The girls were so cute and held very still.

Jenna was so funny because even though her nails were dry, she was so careful about handling things for the rest of the day. She just kept staring at them because of how beautiful they were!

Jared could NOT wait for Jenna to open this present! It had arrived in the mail earlier in the week and the anticipation was just killing him! What could Grandma and Grandpa Lacey have sent that was so big? It was so cute because after waiting two seconds for Jenna to open it, Jared got impatient, grabbed it away and opened it. It's a beautiful, very soft and very big princess blanket. (There is a picture below.) It was a big hit for the princesses!

Here is Jenna with all of her fun presents! She received paints, a paint book, markers, notepad, a Doodle Pro, two "Groovy" dolls , a bunny and a princess pack containing a brush, comb, mirror, sunglasses, purse and pretend lipstick. (She will get to open our presents later today.) What a fun day! We'll just have to do it again next year!

Easter and Other Fun!

Happy Easter! We had a fun couple of days leading up to the big event! We started with the annual decoration of the eggs. Who started that stupid tradition anyway? They must not have been a control freak like me!

Okay, so notice my kids and the table wearing protective gear. (I was looking at my sister's blog and her daughter, who is younger than Jenna, was wearing a white shirt!) Hey, at least I didn't make Dallin wear an apron this year! Also notice the dye neatly placed on a pan so that if it spills the mess will be contained! (For those of you thinking I'm crazy, some dye did spill so the pan came in very handy!)

Dallin had fun making his eggs kiss! I laughed so hard when Jared dropped one of his and said, "Hey, we can call him Crackhead!"

Jared was very proud of his colorful eggs. (By the way, Crackhead is the one on the left.)

Nothing better than a finished product! What great sibling bonding!


The day before Easter the kids were invited to a birthday party at the Imaginarium. Dallin loved petting the reptiles, Jared wanted nothing to do with them and Jenna eventually touched the iguana and the snake.

Jenna also had fun with the trains, climbing the rock mountain and coming down on the slide.

I love this bubble thing. The kids pull it up and a bubble surrounds them.

Why pet a turtle when you can eat a delicious cupcake, right Jared?

Poor Jenna was a little sick that day. She looks like she's had a little too much sugar!

Jared was super fast at this bubble thing and completely surrounded himself! Look at his pants. He's completely covered in soap. I guess if I could choose one thing to have all over my kids it would be soap. That's so much better than other alternatives out there. Much better than the cow/mud pies I used to play with when I was a kid!

Once the birthday party was over, we raced to the church for a Primary activity. We dropped the boys off and Jenna and I went to the mall to buy some white shoes and sandals for her. We got back to the church a little early so Jenna could find some egss. As you can see, she was not thrilled about posing for a picture. She wanted to go home and take a nap!

Easter day finally came! The kids woke up a little too early and raided their baskets. We got them all sugared up, took a few pictures and went to church. After our meetings we invited some friends over for lunch. It's always nice to have people come to our home, especially people who bring good food to share!

Jared was very much enjoying his Storm Trooper that he received!

Jenna just wanted the candy! Toys are not necessary when there is candy to inhale!

Our movie-star-in-the-making, Dallin freaks out at the sight of Darth Vador without his mask on!

My little darlings all being bribed to smile! Just kidding, they're always this happy when I make them sit on a hard bench and pose! I sure love my kids! Happy Easter! (Sorry Brett, we didn't get any pictures of us this year!)

Gone Fishin!

On Saturday we had fun at the annual Sportsman Show. The kids have been looking forward to it for months now. It was only a few years ago when Dallin caught his first fish there! They turn the local convention center into an outdoorsman type shrine! It's really not my cup-o-tea, but the kids love that they have fish for them to catch, or should I say "TRY" to catch.

We thought this bear was a fun way to capture the events of our day. It's hard to believe that this guy in the background begins with a piece of wood, starts his chainsaw, and begins carving.

The kids loved the bus ride downtown. They picked us up at Walmart, which saved us a very long walk or $5 in parking! Score!

Dream on Dallin! You'd better start doing lots of jobs if you ever want to own one of these!

Maybe you guys can pool your money! Jared LOVED climbing on all of the 4 wheelers! He's born to ride!

Hang on girl! Jenna also wishes she had one of these, except she'd replace the camouflage with HOT PINK!

Well here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for! Who will catch the first fish? Look at the concentration on their faces. I loved how the people running the event kept telling the dads to let the kids do the catching! Brett was so patient with the kids. When I was back helping them, I just wanted to place the hook right in the fish's mouth and yell, "Fish On!" Anyway, they stock this "pool" with little trout, and let hundreds of kids fish all weekend. They have the local DJ's and news anchors wear microphones and entertain the adults while they wait in line all day. Can you think of a better way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday? (Hmm, let's see.....the spa, taking a nap, watching a movie. Okay, so those wouldn't be very good memories for the kids now would they?!)

Well, little miss Jenna caught her first fish and won this Barbie fishing pole! I was so excited because I had just purchased one to give her for her birthday, so now I can take it back! This nice man asked us if he could take a picture with her to hang in his Sportsman Warehouse store. We'll have to go check it out! (I could not get her to smile. She wouldn't even do her "tilt and smile" move that she does so well!) Oh by the way, Jared and Dallin left empty-handed. They were pretty good sports about it though and are excited to try again next year!

I don't know what cracks me up more in this photo, Jenna or Brett! Jenna loved her new friend! She was so excited to take it home with her! (Don't worry, I scrubbed her mouth and lips after this picture.)

Jenna showing off her HUGE catch! We're so proud!

Jenna loved watching Daddy cut the guts out! She was just so proud of her little catch! (Don't you just love her hairdo? I worked hours and hours to get the perfect messy look!)

Jenna thought her little fish was pretty darn tasty! She shared a few bites with Dallin, but pretty much ate the whole thing by herself.



She licked the platter clean. Well she wanted to, but I wouldn't let her eat the skin. YUCK!

Mush! Mush!

Well, I can now say that I'm a true Alaskan! I have done it all and can now move to a warmer state! Okay maybe not, but this weekend I did something I never thought I'd do! Brett surprised me for my birthday with a very non-traditional gift. (He actually knew better than to surprise me, so he ran this by me first. Smart man!) Before my birthday (see prior March 2nd entry) he said, "What would you think of driving a dog sled? I was trying really hard to be excited because he was working so hard to find a perfect gift for me, which is not an easy task. Inside I was screaming, "Is this man crazy?! It's so dang cold outside and I really don't like animals! What is he thinking?" Instead I calmly replied, "Okay, tell me more." After a little coaxing from my awesome husband and some research, I actually got excited! I was even happier when Brett found some friends of ours willing to watch our kids for the weekend. Thanks Bentley's! We owe you big time!

So with that introduction, let me guide you through our fun-filled day! (I know it's a lot to read, but hopefully very entertaining!)

When we got to Paxson Lake, we were introduced to Zoya and John, the owners of the dogs. Not only were they great hosts, but were a lot of fun to talk to. We learned so much about the dogs, (They own over 50 of them. In fact all of these dogs were right outside their front door.) what they eat, their different personalities, etc. You can look up their website for more information. http://www.dogsleddenali.com/

You can see their home in the upper left hand corner of the picture. There is a truck partially covered with snow and another car completely covered in snow and ice. There is a glacier that is beginning to take over their property. John said the water from the glacier travels underneath the snow, so both vehicles are stuck there until May or June when it warms up. I really don't know how they do it living there. I told Brett not to get any wild ideas!

After visiting with Zoya and John we got aquainted with the dogs, the part I dreaded most. I just knew the dogs would sense my lack of true love for them and would toss me off my sled or something. They were actually very well behaved and didn't try to jump on me or lick me so it was fine.

Then they showed us how to harness the dogs. They were so patient with me because I did it three times slower than John did!

Brett caught on very quickly and looked like a pro within minutes!

After harnessing the teams we took a little ride, about a mile or so, to help us get used to the feel of the sled and everything. He prepped us beforehand saying, "Remember the brake is your friend!" He also told us that no matter what, we were not supposed to let go of our sled because then the dogs would get loose. I just knew I was going to bite it and have the dogs drag me across the frozen lake! Well, I'm happy to report that I didn't fall off the sled that first run. I pretty much partially braked the whole time so that the dogs wouldn't go too fast. (They were probably thinking, "What is this lady's problem? What a whimp!") In fact Brett started behind me, but then caught up and passed me within seconds. Oh well!

It was a fun, quick trip and I thought, "Piece of cake! Bring on that 6-7 mile (each way) run!" What a nightmare that turned out to be! I started out fine, just cruising along, until one of my lead dogs decided to make a U-turn. (Remember the whole sensing my dislike for animals theory?) I immediately put both feet on the the brake and decided to see if they would somehow miraculously turn around. Brett was following me and his dogs got too close to mine and they all got tangled. John had gone ahead with a different dog team and one of his dog handlers, Chad, was ahead of us on a snowmobile. Chad turned around and came back to help. (I'm sure he thought we were total idiots!) After spending about 15 minutes untangling the dogs we got started again.

I was cruising along for about a minute when that same crazy lead dog, Chucky, did it again! At that point I began to be concerned for our 14 mile journey! A few minutes later, John came back to see what was going on. He switched Chucky with a different dog, and then we were off again.

I did pretty well for a few minutes and then the hour and a half nightmare began! My sled kept tipping over! Did Brett's tip over? Did John's tip over? Oh no, just mine! I would put all my weight on my right foot, steer my sled right and I would still tip to the left! Now remember the goal is to not let the dogs get away from you, so picture this...... I'm hanging onto the sled for dear life, while at the same time trying to stand up. Each time I attempt, I sink into the snow up to my waist. When I would finally get both feet onto my left ski (I guess what you need to know is that while driving the team, you stand on two skiis that are attached to the sled.) I would command my dogs and they would take off, which would cause me to lose my balance and then the whole process would start again! This went on and on and on. John kept coming over to give me pointers, but nothing would work! Poor Brett had to watch all of this from behind and really couldn't do anything to help. Every time he would offer a suggestion I would yell back at him out of pure frustration. (At this point I wanted to kill him for even suggesting this ridiculous idea! I couldn't believe I was paying these people money for this torture!) Anyway, to make a long story even longer.... my blood sugar was a mess because it was now about 2:30 and I hadn't eaten, and my legs and arms felt like jello from having to lift my big'ol body up over and over and over again!

After what seemed like an eternity, John came over, unzipped my sled and took out a big bucket and put it on his snowmobile. I guess it was filled with 40 pounds of meat to feed to the dogs. He hadn't realized it was in my sled. After that I didn't fall at all! It all made sense! I really wasn't an idiot! There was a reason that my sled kept tipping over. This bucket kept rolling in my sled, causing my sled to tip. When I would try to go it would roll to the other side for a little bit and then roll right back. After the discovery was made, my life seemed perfect! Within a half hour we made it to the little cabin for lunch and a well needed break! Yeah!

Brett and his team. I told Brett I was glad he couldn't hear all of the choice words I was using every time I tipped over! I still love him though!!

My patient, wonderful team! I stayed nice and toasty with my goggles, facegear and other snow clothes!

Chad cooked some mean potatoes and moose steaks. This was my first time eating moose! Not bad!

We wanted a picture of the little cabin. It had a little bunkbed and table. I loved how John ate his meal with his pocketknife! As we ate, John told us stories of some of the races he has participated in. It's just so fascinating to me that people have this as a lifestyle. His wife is so dang cute, used to be a model in Wisconsin, has raced in the Iditarod and will race again next year. They live in the middle of nowhere, have compost toilet in their house (It was a big toilet that you had to use a step stool to get on and you don't flush, kind of like a porta-potty minus the smell. It was a very cute bathroom too!) and take care of and race dogs all winter. Amazing!

The view was just beautiful and as we rounded the corner near the cabin we could see the river. It was just so pretty with the mountain behind it!

I loved the trek home! Even though it was windy and the snow was blowing everywhere, my sled only tipped a couple of times. When it did I was able to get it going again without any problems. The time zipped by and we got back so fast! (It took about an hour on the way back, but that was much faster than the two and a half hours it took us to get there!)

I can't tell which one of us this is (I think Brett), but it was just a gorgeous day!

I know this is Brett because I would have never let go of my sled and stayed on. He was a pro!

This is my favorite shot of me, at least I'm pretty sure it's me, because of the way the sun is hitting. It's just a great way to summarize a wonderful day!

I know this post was mostly full of complaints, but much of that was simply for your entertainment. =) Once the bucket problem was solved I had a wonderful time and really enjoyed the dogs and the experience. Would I want to do it again? Maybe. Although you really should ask me another time when every muscle in my body isn't screaming with pain! Maybe I should extend my birthday another day and get a massage tomorrow! I love you Brett!

Go Away Ash!

Well it finally happened! Ash from Mt. Redoubt blew into Anchorage. I really couldn't complain too much because church was canceled today. (Man that is soooo bad of me to be so excited about that!) We had fun spending time together at home playing games, singing songs and taking naps. (I really enjoyed the nap part of things!)

Our lovely white snow, that I wish didn't even exist at this point, is now a dingy gray.

It looks like someone came by with a big pepper shaker. Snow cone anyone?!

I just can't even wait to start the cleaning process. This stuff is everywhere! Let the fun begin!

Another Year Wiser?

Well another year has come and gone. More gray hairs, (I've even given up on pulling them out. I decided if I kept that up I'd be bald soon!) a few more wrinkles, (Botox, save me!) and one more year of surviving Alaska! (Sarah Palin gossip really helped this year fly by!) Okay seriously, this year was a great one! I am getting used to Alaska's darkness and long winters. Maybe my "happy lights" and vitamin B's did the trick! Thanks Costco!


As you will see below, I had a very fun birthday! I must say that if you haven't signed up for Facebook you must! I have never had so many "Happy Birthday" wishes in my life, well except for when I taught school. I heard from so many people that day.

So I started my day going to Jared's preschool with Brett and Jenna for Jared's special day! (Brett had the day off, which was wonderful! I think I will request that every year!) Anyway, about once every month and a half a parent goes in to help with a center at school and provide a snack for the children. Jared helped with calendar time and got to bring a special toy from home to share. It's so fun to spy on him and see how he interacts with other kids.

Later that day we invited our friends, the Geroux's, over to help us make pizza and party with us! Jared, Dallin and Jenna made the cutest cards for me and gave me some spatulas. I'll have to remember to use those when they misbehave!=) Brett's gift is coming later. Stay tuned!

Here's the pizza crew! Shouldn't I get some sort of commission from Pam, Prego, A&W and Dole for the advertising? We made a canadian bacon/pinapple pizza and a 1/2 cheese, 1/2 pepperoni one. They were so yummy!

They loved adding more and more cheese! Marci and Mikaela were very big helpers.

My favorite part of the day was when my friend surprised me with this beautiful cake. I LOVE lemon cake and this was so perfect! I think Brett was so relieved when my friend, Michelle, offered to make this. That let him off the hook. The whole day I kept thinking, "When is Brett going to make my cake? Has he forgotten about me? He's in big trouble if he forgets." (You know how those pretend conversations go that you have with your spouse? They start small and then escalate into this huge thing. Before you know it, you're mad at the person and they haven't done anything to deserve it? Am I the only one that does that?!) So, thanks Michelle! You are the best!

After the pizza party, we went to watch a local high school basketball game. One of the girls that I teach in church was playing so we wanted to go cheer her on! Jenna was quite the cheerleader as she yelled, "Go Cara go!"

All in all, turning 38 was a pretty painless experience! Thanks everyone for spoiling me!