I have had my IPHONE for a little over a week now and I am LOVING it! I love having a camera right on hand that takes decent pictures. SO here are a few from the past two days, and yes, I use it ALL the time! 

1. Ellie did not enjoy eating, all she wanted to do was spit at me and make a big mess. 

2. Amazing sunset on a night run. 

3 & 4. I love FaceTime! Its been so fun to be able to do it more often with my awesome sister. 

5.Happy girl! 

6, 7, 8, 9. Our amazing garden. Loving it! 

10. Delicious club sandwich and the BEST home made fries! Going out to lunch with Cody while running errands is always a plus! 

11. First time in YEARS that I have been able to have my bangs in a pony tail without being pinned back.

12. Watching I Love Lucy, our new afternoon ritual, not pictured are the afternoon snacks!

13. Daddy's little girl! Always wants to be with her dad, even when he's cutting up food for dinner.

Do you know what the best part about losing my license is?! Getting a new one today and being able to have my weight as 20 pounds lighter than what it said last year!!!

 

 

 

 

I am at a loss for words about our trip. It was amazing to say the least. Alaska will always be home and having so much family to share it with was wonderful. Ellenor was amazing and for the most part loved all the attention. 

What I miss the most about living in Alaska is being so close to my grandparents. We get to see my mom's parents quite often and we love it. But we aren't fortunate to be able to see my dad's parents very often. It was great being able to just sit and talk to Grandma Liz and Grandpa Don and watch Ellie just play with them. 

We had a blast the entire time we were there, even when we were stuck in the middle of no where for 4 1/2 hours because a kidnapper with a gun was loose in the woods. I am so glad we were able to go and am afraid that it might have been our last for quite some time. 

Despite this 90+ degree weather we have been having and no air conditioning, today was a great day!

A few things that made it a great day included...
- learning I got an A in my class!
- running alongside an amazing sunrise.
- Ellie being in a great mood.
- as annoying as it may be for Ellie to be constantly pulling everything off the shelves I love watching her explore.
- trying to remember what I did during the day before school work, I actually had time to read a book for pleasure and it was marvelous! Well until Ellie pulled out my bookmark.
- Ellie's new found love for crackers, we sit in the middle of the living room in the middle of the day and eat our snacks while relaxing to a movie. Today's choice was a favorite-- beauty and the beast!
-finding a massive birds nest that got thrown out of the tree from last nights wind.
- awesome new running capris, I was in heaven
- Best of all... Getting to spend ALL day with my baby with no interruptions like errands or homework!

Well so much for posting about Alaska... Or getting anything done for that matter! I woke up this morning feeling sicker than a dog and not wanting to do anything other than lay on the floor. Right after I put Ellie down for her nap my stomach let loose. Ellie was amazing all day and just played while I laid on the floor. She is getting very, very good at pulling herself up on everything and also climbing.

The day before we left for our trip the second half of y birthday present arrived and we were able to use it once before we left. It's a bike trailer that also turns into a jogging stroller. So far we are both loving it!

What a week! We got home from our trip to Alaska at midnight last night and finally being home was almost a surreal feeling. I'll post tomorrow about the entire trip with pictures from my camera.

We got into Salt Lake yesterday at noon yesterday and we were completely exhausted! We found a Nike outlet store in South Jordan, scouted out good picture spots and hung out at my aunts house. We even found the UP house, it was awesome!!!!

Camping was one of my favorite things to do growing up, so was hiking. We decided a few months ago that we needed to take the girls out camping for a night and it was amazing!

We left around 2 pm on Friday and Cody was able to come and help bring girls up the mountain! It was fun to have Cody around with the girls because I love spending time with the girls and I do miss out on time with him. The only bad thing about it was that he told them a few more embarrassing stories about me. I really don't need help in that department but the girls loved it and kept asking for more stories about me.

When we got there we set up tents and played cards on a cot while the boys played with the fire. We had tin foil dinners, YUM! And of course we had smores! They were very gooey and messy but oh, so fun! A few of the girls had found giant leaves that they decided were Peter Pan hats and insisted that everyone have one. Later that night the girls attempted to play capture the flag with glow sticks. 

I forgot to mention that all night it was on and off raining. At one point we were all huddled under one tree to shield us from the rain. For breakfast we had omelets in a bag and I was really surprised at how delicious they really were! You just put all your ingredients into a freezer bag and place it into a boiling pot of water. So simple! I put eggs (of course), cheese, onions, peppers, ham, and mushrooms in mine. It was pure bliss!

We packed lunches, filled up our water bottles, and started up the mountain to the lakes. It was 3 miles each way and it was beautiful! It started to rain again as we were just about to the first lake. We were very excited to make it and I was really excited that I actually made it and was feeling great. 

The rain didn't stop at all on our way back down. It rained harder and harder. By the time we were halfway down the trail we were all soaked from head to toe. With about a mile left we started to hear thunder. Nothing motivates you to move faster than being caught in a rain storm completely drenched with thunder rumbling all around you. I have never enjoyed a shower more than I did that day! 

Sunday I had to give the lesson in our young women's class and also give a talk in church. I got a call last week from the bishopric wanting me to go into all the classes and take pictures. Needless to say I was so excited for church to be over on Sunday. 

We are leaving for Alaska tomorrow and we are so excited! I still have a lot to get done before we go and I have a feeling that it will be a very late night tonight. But it will be worth it! 

P.S. I just got the best package in the mail! The bike trailer is here!!! But it will have to wait to come out and play until we get back. Darn!