Alaska

My new found freedom has brought a few blessings. It has been a tough road the last couple months, but I was absolutely, without a doubt, blessed to go on an Alaskan Cruise with my mom and great aunt. My great aunt, who is 80, has been the closest I have had to a grandma for the past 20 yrs. She has been so wonderful since her sister died (my grandma) to try and fill those shoes yet honor my grandma. She really wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise with my mom. When I was laid off, my mom offered to pay for me to go, if I painted her house in return. I still think this was a great trade.

I had a really great time, I will most likely never get that time with my mom and aunt again. Norwegian Cruise Lines, stinks in absolutely every way possible, but I'm not going to go into that here. Alaska absolutely took my breath away. Many of you know, I hate nature in just about ever sense of the word (getting attacked by wasps on a hike, Girl's camp hike where we got lost and 5 miles turned into 10 and we all had to sit and pray we'd figure our way back, picnicking at Joe's Valley Reservoir and getting my shoes lost in the mud, picnicking in liberty park a couple weeks ago and getting bird poop on me, should I continue?) I can get every outdoor fulfillment in Liberty Park (minus the day of bird poop), but I am telling you Alaska is hand down the most amazing place I've ever been! It is so beautiful and I am so glad I got to go. I really want to take Chris there (we'll be going Carnival Cruise lines, cruising is a great way for me to go because I got to see all this amazing scenery and still use a normal bathroom and have a comfy bed void of bugs) Below are my pics:

Side note, some interesting Alaska animal facts- Alaska is the only state where the bald eagle is not endangered, there's like 50,000 of them in the state. Puffins only have that colored beak during mating season. ("Hey baby, check out my colorful beak") And finally for that random guy on the cruise that didn't believe me when he was asking where the penguins were: there are no penguins in Alaska. They are native to Antarctica, ha- I was right, I just had to get home to check the facts (Not sure why I care so much, the guy thought this picture of a puffin was a penguin, not the brightest...)

Juneau:

(Above: awesome Juneau Public Library Architecture)

(Above: Chris and Charity tradition of the random heads vacation pic)

Ketchikan: Now for some fun Ketchikan facts. I'm sure Juneau is just as fun, but I didn't take a tour there. Below you will see Miss Dolly's house of "ill-repute" as they call it. Back when Dolly came to Ketchikan the ratio was 100 men for every 1 woman. She paid that house off in 3 MONTHS! The men were lonely and she was a smart business woman. Prostitution in Alaska was legal all the way until 1956. In Ketchikan it is now 4 men for every 1 woman. Ketchikan is on an island, the only way to get supplies to the city is either by plane or boat. The island is also solid granite. This means there is no underground plumbing system, the residents catch the rain water to use. Good thing it rains an average of 176"/year. If there is no rain for more than 14 days, it's considered a drought and they have to buy bottled water from the grocery stores. Also because Ketchikan is solid granite, it costs upwards of $30,000 to bury someone there, they literally have to blast out the hole for your grave. Quite the thought when you realize that Alaska has the highest suicide rate in the nation. So, most people choose to be cremated. But Since there is no crematorium in Ketchikan, the bodies have to be shipped up to Juneau and then the ashes are shipped back down. Hearing all these facets, I am torn. This is probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen. We could open a crematorium there and make lots of money, but I am pretty sure if there was a natural disaster of some sort, Ketchikan would be the first to be wiped off the map. No water, no supplies....

Miss Dolly's House of ill-repute, Ketchikan:

(those flowers on the shower curtain are made from condoms! The first condoms were made from silk. When Dolly realized they weren't really useful in that regard, made them into flowers.)

(Old red light district in Ketchikan.)

(This is the first thing I saw when I walked off the ship. They really are happy bears...)

(This tunnel is in the guiness book of world records. It's the only tunnel you can go through, around, over & when the tide's low- under.)
Cruising Alaska's inside passage (these pictures don't even begin to do it justice):

Easter Weekend

Easter was great this year. We went down to Castle Dale to be with Chris' family. On Sunday, Stuart blessed their little boy in Chris' parents ward, so the whole family was there over the weekend. I felt crappy all weekend with the WORST headache (I admit, I am a total wimp when it comes to headaches) and I thought it was allergies when I got back to Salt Lake, but when the doctor looked up my nose this morning, I apparently have a sinus infection. So, I am glad I played it safe all weekend and didn't hold the baby, sorry to the fam that I was so out of it!

Anyway, we had a lot of fun, Chris' dad recently got 4 more throwing knives to add to the 2 he had, so we had a lot of fun competing in throwing knives. I suck except when it comes to sticking them in the shed and NOT the target. And as usual, Daniel and Christella's little girl was the center of attention. The baby being too young, to command much at this point. She is so adorable, it is just fun to hear what might come out of her mouth, I am always impressed by her vocabulary at age 2. As usual, everything is beautiful and we are all teaching her to tell her mom and dad she wants a pet. I heard her tell them she wanted a pet lamb on saturday (next door neighbors have one) and a pet fly. She is old enough that it was so fun to see her when the easter bunny came and during the easter egg hunt. You can definitely tell she is an only child. I got a total kick out of watching her frequently get into everyone else's easter basket, esp Aunt Leslee's. Because, why can't she have any candy that might be laying around? I know this stressed her parents out way more than any of the rest of us! Below are some pics from the weekend. I should have taken more...

With her "glass slippers" on

Blessing Day! He's not too happy about being in his carseat...

Resisting Change

So, last week I got a wild hair and completely rearranged our living/dining room area. Chris and I like it a lot better. Sally has not been thrilled. I moved her food bowl and bed and here is the worried look on her face as I did it:And, that evening I watched her pick up her food bowl (full, without spilling) and move it back to where it had been, then she laid in the spot where her bed had been for like two days until we just moved her bed back...

Lake Family First!

My mom gave me some dog toys that their dog Chloe didn't like. For the first time both dogs were able to have a toy. Sally usually doesn't let Scotty have any until she has torn it apart. Here they are with their toys:

Stuart and Kristen's baby!

Earlier in the blog I told you pics of our new nephew would be up at least from the blessing. A few weeks ago Chris and I took dinner to their house and got to see the little guy. Here he is snuggling with me and napping:

Hanging out in his chair:

Not happy with Uncle Chris:

April Showers bring May Flowers

Well, March certainly did not go out like a lamb, so hopefully this month will be better. Below is a picture of Scotty looking pathetic because it was too rainy/snowy to be outside, I am ready for spring!:

And, what do you do on saturdays with bad weather? Below are couple pics of what went on at our house. :)