Alaska trip

Well this summer has been going by QUICK! I figured I should probably start posting things or else it will be impossible to catch up. Back in the middle of May we flew up to Alaska to see my family and to attend my younger brother Michael's High School Graduation. It was so good to see my family! Time is kind of a funny thing. I hadn't seen my family for a couple of years but of course I continued to have love for them. When I actually saw them and spent time with them my bond with them and my love for them grew. I did not realize that I was slowly growing distant from them as the time increased between visits even though I kept in touch with them over the phone. My family is amazing and I just can't help but smile and laugh when I think of them. What neat people! All of the pictures below were taken in Alaska.

Our little family

Brandon and Amy's family

I just love all of the mountains that are in Alaska. You see them any direction you look.

This is Laurie's husky. It is still a pup believe it or not. It was afraid to walk over the bridge so Alan had to carry it over mud and all.

Michael and Laurie still had to work some while we were there but they slipped away from work whenever they could to come play with us. Here we are hiking on their lunch break.

Michael's with his new love! Michael burst into tears when he saw our house on the ride home from the airport. He thought we were going back to Laurie's house and was devastated! All Michael wanted the whole time we were in Alaska was Laurie. Hopefully time will heal his wound! =)

Brett and Laurie let us take their four wheeler for a spin.

This view is from Laurie's front yard.

The whole family went out to eat right before Mike's Graduation.

Cute little Luke (my youngest brother) is sitting right next to my Mom in this picture.

I love this picture of my Dad with Michael. Michael hasn't stopped talking about Grandpa West ever since we got back. His most favorite thing to do is to try to make scary monster faces like Grandpa does. It is quite funny! I will have to try to get a picture of it sometime.

Here is my Mom with Weston. Doesn't Weston look like he is enjoying every minute of it.

Laurie and Brett (I promise he isn't as mean as he looks)

Kennedy (Amy's girl)

Allie (Katie's daughter)

Katie and Payton

(Momma's boy) Congrats Mike! We are so proud of you.

Ready For Take Off!

Tomorrow this will be us! We are flying to Alaska to see my family. I am really excited about this trip because everyone is going to be there including my sister Amy and her family from Texas. It has been almost four years since we have been able to all get together. What a neat blessing this is. I just hope that my little Weston is feeling better by then.

Michael's many FACES

Michael's latest thing is to pull faces. Sometimes I will catch him looking at himself in the bathroom mirror practicing his "different" faces. Most are cute and funny but he has this one that has a little too much attitude. I wonder what he is going to be like in his teenage years? Hopefully his strong will will be used for good rather than bad.

One face that I will always like =)

Michael's two most favorite things

1) His foam letters that that only cost me $1 at Walmart last year.


2) His brother which is always his back up when he gets bored.

The Boys (of course!)

For two months solid after Christmas this is what I would find almost any hour of the day. Michael had so much fun acting out the nativity scene that he felt that he should dress like that every day(oh and of course his brother needed to participate as well.)

Now the latest thing is the so called "tent" game. It consists of throwing blankets on top of Weston and watching him try to get out. We just love that game! Weston is a pretty good sport for the first couple of minutes but then he gets frustrated as well. Hopefully sooner rather than later we will find another fun game.


This little guy is becoming a lot of fun! He is starting to really get into his toys and move around a lot more, has discovered his toes, makes quite a variety of noises, and has the best laugh ever! How can you turn down a face like this?

Finally!

Okay so I know that I am bad at posting often, but I have a good excuse this time. =) I haven't been able to log into my account for the last two months because of cookies and java script problems on our computer. I have tried and tried to fix the problems (which I still haven't figured out yet). My brilliant sister suggested to me Saturday on the phone to try a different internet browser and it worked! Thankyou Amy!

Lots has happened since two months ago but I don't want to overwhelm you all and I don't have the time to post all of it right now so I just thought I would post some of our Christmas pictures. We went to Alan's parent's home in Ashton Idaho for Christmas. It was a lot of fun. I just love seeing all of the family! We were able to snow shoe, ride snow machines, go to the Rexburg Temple, play racquetball ball and of coarse visit and play with family. We can't wait until we get to see them all again.

Michael with a lot of his cousins watching a movie (hence why no one would look at me).

The kids and some of the adults acting out the story of Jesus' birth.

Michael was a sheep and loved every minute of it!

Weston's first Christmas!

Michael opening up his race car set that Rob & Heather gave him.

Two of my guys just enjoying the Christmas break.

The Boys

Well as most of you know Weston is here with us and is healthy as can be. He was born on September 30th and weighed 7lbs 4 oz at the time. I have been meaning to post for quite some time now but between two kids and the holidays free time has been kind of limited. I am not even going to mention the projects that were "supposed" to be done by Christmas this year that are going to have to be for either Birthdays of next Christmas. =)

The first month and a half after having Weston was pretty hard for Michael. I think he has always liked Weston, but he didn't like the change that took place with it. The thing that triggered it all was me going to the hospital and not being home for a day and a half. Once I came home he was always worried that I was going to leave him again. After he realized I wasn't going anywhere then he started having a hard time sharing Mom's time with his brother. I think he was mad at me more than anyone else. Now Michael does really good. He loves Weston to pieces. The kisses and hugs never stop. Just yesterday I caught Michael showing Weston his foam letters and telling him what each letter was. It was really cute. In the morning he will always go up to Weston and say "Good morning Weston. Did you sleep good?" and then kiss his hands.

I am so happy to have Weston as part of our family. I would have to honestly say that it would feel really weird and incomplete without him now. Now if I can only get him to sleep completely through the night!

Michael's most favorite thing is to have me sing songs to both him and Weston in his bed. His face just lights up when Weston is able to join us.