Last Hike of the Summer - Sept. 18th, 2009

Not edited...original.

This one is edited...I saturated the color.

We went on our last hike of our summer on Friday, Sept. 18th. It wasn't a very long hike at all, but it was just nice to get out. We have had an INCREDIBLE fall!! Seriously, it's been uncommonly warm and sunshiney(is that a word...my spell check doesn't think so.) So, we had to take advantage of it.

We ended up driving out Snug Harbor Road. We stopped at a lake (I don't remember the name), where Shayne of course had to bust out the fly rod and make a few casts. He didn't get anything, but it's just a matter of principle for him. :) Then he and Lachlan HAD to throw rocks in the lake. It must be a boy thing, Shayne does this every time we stop at a lake/ocean.

Then we backtracked a bit and went on short hike. It would probably be better classified as a walk. It was a new trail you could probably take a wheelchair on. I think it was called the Rainbow Lake Trail. Shayne did not get out his fly rod here...he does (at times) know when to curb his fly-fishing enthusiasm (plus it was a stocked lake, and he prefers to fish wild trout...sheesh).

Anyway...the scenery with the sun and lack of wind made for some pretty impressive reflections on the lake. Seriously...you can see the clouds in the lake. It was awesome. It's one of the many things I love about living in Alaska...you never tire of the view.

Anyway...it was nice just to get out for one last hoo-rah before burrowing in for the winter.

I added some photos (hence the duplicate photos) I edited using Picasa...I'm a fan of that software...pretty darn cool.

The Lion King

On Tuesday, September 8th, Shayne took me to the Broadway Musical, The Lion King, in Anchorage. Shayne had seen it while working/living in Sydney, Australia and really wanted me to see it. We left Lachlan at Kaye and Jared's and we had a date. The show was incredible!! I loved it! The costumes and stage set were pretty amazing, and the music...well if you've ever watched the Disney cartoon you know how incredible the music is. They actually added a few songs to the Broadway version so that was cool to hear as well.

It was such a fun night. I loved going out with Shayne. Being able to walk and sit next to him and have him hold my hand, without worrying about a baby, was the highlight of my night. Of course the show was good too, but there's just something about being able to go and do something like this just as a couple.

Thank you Shayne for insisting on getting tickets. It was well worth it. It was worth it just to be able to spend some time with you! I loved it!!!

Besides...doesn't he look good?! How could you NOT just want to hold his hand and be with him? ;)

September 19, 2009

We have been "storing" the Swanson's drift boat at our house this summer/fall while they are in the process of building a new house. While storing it, Aaron told Shayne he could use it to float the Kenai. Shayne had been trying all summer to get Aaron to go out with him, but he'd been so busy with selling the old house, building a new one, living in a motorhome with a pregnant wife and 5 kids, and a very demanding job, that he just couldn't get away to fish. Finally on Sept. 19th, Aaron, Brian (his friend and the guy doing the trim in their house), and Shayne floated the Upper Kenai. It was a beautiful day. Shayne got some great pics of some of the fish he caught. The first is an example of how beat up the trout get on the Kenai. They are fished so hard, by so many people that you often get fish that look like they've run the gauntlet...and in a sense they have. So...this fish is missing the lower left half of his jaw. Nice huh? Poor thing. I just thought the other two pics were pretty cool. Shayne likes having the water proof camera to take these pics with. He couldn't get that fish eyeball with out it! :) I love the color on the last fish...they olive green with the black spots and bright red stripe are pretty awesome.

Thank you Aaron for letting Shayne (and I) use your boat this summer. Wish you could have gone more often with us...hopefully next summer will be a little less stressful for you!

I like Dirt...and other randomness

These were just some random pics of Lachlan in September. The first is when he found the dirt in one of my house plants. He decided to taste it...and then taste it some more. I think he might be slightly anemic b/c he kind of thought it tasted good! :)

The other pics are just of him discovering his world. He crawled under the excersaucer and got stuck. Shayne took the pic about 30 second before he panicked about being stuck where he was. He's also discovered the television...or at least finally got tall enough to discover it. He's been messing with the DVD player for awhile...I'm shocked it's not yet broken. However, now he can reach the TV, he's all about pushing those buttons. So, it gets turned on randomly throughout the day, will be totally silent and then be blasting at maximum volume the next. Oh what fun!

The last pic is just a pic showing how good he is at drinking out of a straw. He actually prefers drinking out of his "sippy" cups that have a straw. His CamelBak is his fav. It's a funny pic, but I think it's still cute.

We just love watching this little boy learn about his world. It never ceases to amaze us how much he learns each day.

Labor Day Scout Camp Out

Shayne was recently put in as the 1st Counselor in the Young Men's Presidency, thank you Miles. :) One of his first activites was going on a 3 day camp out over Labor Day weekend with the Young Men. They left on Saturday morning and came back Monday early evening. They hiked about 8 miles up to the Russian Lakes Public Use Cabin, where the leaders stayed in the cabin and the boys (there were 13 of them) stayed in tents around the cabin. They got permission to camp over the weekend and had a pretty cool Sunday service. Shayne of course tooke his fly-rod and had some fun fishing in the Upper Russian River and the outlet of the Upper Russian Lake. They of course saw bears, but that was to be expected. Some of the boys thought it would be great fun to test the waters...it was cold. Gotta love scouts! :) It was a great experience, minus the "Beaver Fever" a few boys and one leader got later that week from the water.

Shayne's excited to be serving in the Young Men's. He loves being around the youth of our church and is looking forward to more activities and experiences.

We're Back

We are back from Hawaii, but before I can post all those fun pics, I have to do a little back-posting. I swear I will catch up on blogging...in November when there's nothing going on. Until then...I will STILL be catching up on our fun activities.

Pics of Lachlan

I took these pics on Monday, Sept 28th, b/c the sun was shining perfectly, the yellow leaves were on the green grass, and there was an incredible storm of black clouds moving in. It was fun taking them...just wish I had a camera with a faster shutter speed so I could catch those cute candid moments. And, a better flash so I don't have the shadows. Hmmm...maybe I'll add it to my Christmas list.

Lachlan is easy to photo. He loves to smile and play, and you can see in some of them how hard he is concentrating on whatever happens to be in his hand. He also loves to be outside, so keeping him happy was not a problem. Keeping the dogs out of the pictures was.

Sorry for the amount of pics, but he is my first born...and he is a miracle. Can you take too many pictures?!