Goin' to Canada for real this time

My mother-in-law offered an offhanded question a couple of weeks ago wondering if anyone would like to go to Canada with them for the baby blessing of my newest nephew. Even though I have a passport, I silently dismissed it.

Then I received a comment on a blog post from Amber, "come to Canada with Mom and Dad next weekend for our baby blessing!?? Yes? :)"

That seriously got me thinking. I asked Tyler more than a few times if he wanted to go. Nope. Too far too drive. That's exactly what I thought. But it kept coming back to me.

Reason number 1: I should go to help drive. That's a lot of driving to do in 2 days.

Reason number 2: I wanted to see baby Ames and Amber and Aaron's new home.

Reason number 3: Never REALLY been to Canada other than the little jaunt we did on our cruise in June. So that means I might get an official stamp in my passport, not just some touristy mark.

Reason number 4: The fall colors right now are BEAUTIFUL! I suspect the drive would be just as gorgeous.

Reason number 5: I got kind of giddy thinking of all those hours of reading I would get to do. I just got a new book for book club and am way excited to get started on it. But I'm holding out.

So Amber, in answer to your question . . . YES! I'm coming.

I never thought having a passport could be so much fun. It has definitely allowed me to take advantage of this weekend.

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My main go-to fly swatter was out of town this week. I'm sure he doubted my ability to keep up with the pesky things, but between me and Al we managed to hold down the fort. Alex said, "Fwy" and I armed myself with the fly swatter.

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Last Thursday Ash and Nate and I had parent teacher conferences where Ashlyn's teacher handed us the dreaded poster board. Ohhhhhh! I forgot that 2nd graders get to put together their 1000s chart. You know the saying that goes, "Stick to your task 'til it sticks to you?" Well, Ash totally stuck with it. She diligently worked on her poster all weekend and handed it in Monday. I couldn't be more pleased to have that done.

Alaska - Ketchikan

So  I guess since summer has officially ended, I should finish documenting our Alaska trip. It seems so long ago.

Welcome to fall.

Welcome to Ketchikan.

We finally got see a bear in the wild. I know that's one of the big reasons Tyler wanted to see Alaska. Sometimes I "clearly" see some reasons for owning and knowing how to use a nice camera. This is a picture of our bear.
Ya, pretty hard to see the bear for the forest. We just could not get our camera to focus where we wanted it too, but thankfully Tyler asked a couple who was on our tour if they wouldn't mind emailing us their pictures when they got home.

And you know what? They did. We were both pleasantly surprised to see those come through. Boy, what a difference a camera can make.

We got to feed some reindeer which I learned are nothing more than domesticated caribou. You can't put a reindeer out in the wild; they will just die.

The conclusion of our tour included an all-you-eat crab feast. It was a messy job, but I guess someone had to do it. I honestly can't remember how many plates Tyler put away. A lot??

One of my favorite things we did in Ketchikan was sit on the wharf and watch the float planes come in and take off. For some reason it just fascinated me how the water was nothing more than a runway. They say nine out of ten people in Alaska own a plane. It really is one of the best ways to get around.
Burger Queen? Possibly the predecessor to the Burger King?

And is there something wrong with that restaurant sign? Is it Mexican or is it pizza? Maybe you can get a Mexican pizza there.

Our last night on the ship, as we sailed to Vancouver, Canada. Alaska and Canada are just beautiful places. 
It was a wonderful way to celebrate 15 years. It was also nice to go home. There is just no place quite like home where my little family was still up at 11pm to greet us when we finally arrived home. Even Alex was awake and refused to sleep in his bed that night, so we tucked him in with us.

Some day I would love to go back . . . to Alaska, to Korea, to Ireland. Isn't traveling fun.

Erik's first sacrament meeting talk

Erik actually volunteered several weeks ago to speak in church.

What 12-year-old preteen does that?

I guess mine does.

He did a fantastic job.

I couldn't tell that he was nervous at all (which I'm sure he was).

He spoke loudly and clearly.

And he even had the audience laughing.

Last night he had a bunch of random ideas spread everywhere.

So I helped him organize them into a logical flow and then we threw in a personal story.

Everyone likes listening to stories.

And jokes.

He started his talk out by telling us how he had forgotten his scriptures,
and thankfully the bishop let him borrow his.

At this point Erik picked up some scriptures that he had dusted with flour and proceeded to blow the "dust" off.

The audience all got it and laughed.

And he now had their attention.

He then told how his Uncle Jacob was needing a new job and actually had two interviews lined up. As a family we decided to fast for him on Fast Sunday that he would do well on his interviews and get one of the jobs. His interviews were Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday we got the call that he had been offered the job he wanted. Out of 27 applicants, 6 were interviewed and he landed the job. This was Erik's first real experience with fasting for a purpose.

From there he spoke about what fasting is and is not, the reasons for fasting, and fasting on Fast Sunday.

In conclusion, he bore his testimony.

I certainly never had the poise he had today and neither did Tyler at that age.

Now we're just wondering when Kiersten's going to get her turn.

It was inevitable

This is Ash, my little monkey who loves to play on the monkey bars:

Today she decided to see what would happen if she fell while hanging from the monkey bars at school and this is what she discovered:

A few xrays later it looks like there are no broken bones. Yeehaw! Only some swelling and bruising which the instacare doctor thought warranted a splint and a sling. I thought otherwise. But this girl scored a happy meal from McDonald's ("I know why you're getting me a happy meal, because it will make me happy.") and homemade chocolate cookies from the master cookie chef, Kiersten.

This is a girl who LOVES wearing skirts and wears them a majority of the week.

She divulged to me that she hangs upside down on the monkey bars in the many skirts she wears to school. I suggested that maybe she shouldn't hang upside down in a dress anymore . . . or hang upside down period.

I'm not sure how long the splint and sling will last, if it will even last until Monday, but she sure is excited to go to school and show it off.

My disappearing napper

I went to check on Al during his nap and didn't find him there.

But I knew just where to find him.

Nate's bunk bed.