Finally- All caught up!!

Wow- I have not posted any pictures in a long time. But now Thanks to Grandma, I finally had some time to get caught up. Grandma showed up a week ago and has been busy with Wyatt so I can help the guys with building a little more, get some extra naps and of course do some blogging.
The latest on Wyatt...He is almost 8 months old now! He is eating a lot of solid foods, has his second tooth in, is pulling himself up to standing while holding on to Mama, making some new noises (baba, mama, tongue clicking and fake coughing are a few of his favorites) and getting very squiggly. He is not crawling but can cover some ground but just squirming and rolling so now he get put in his baby jail so he can't get into trouble.

Sleep...well we are still working on that, but look how cute he is when he does sleep!!


We actually made it through our first night (last night) without feeding...It wasn't quite as hard on me as I thought it would be. I fed him at 11:30 then he woke up at 2:00 and was up until 4:00- there was some pretty sad crying (poor baby!) but Papa was there to comfort him and he eventually went back to sleep without Mama. We are going to see how this goes for the next few nights, I would love to be able sleep for more then 2 hours at a time- wish us luck!!!

Progress!!

As of today, friday the 24th, the addition is pretty much all sheet rocked, the bathroom tub and plumbing is hooked up (but not quite functional), the ceiling is done and they are started to plan on how to connect the addition to the cabin.

We are doing this outside insulation technique- 6 inches of rigid foam go on the outside of the building instead of insulation inside the walls.

Opps- who measured this one??

Dad put up the tongue and groove ceiling, it looks great!! and the 8ft ceilings really make it feel spacious. This is the kitchen, the one window on the back wall will be over the kitchen sink and there will be counters under the other two.

Taking a break. This big 4x4 window will be right in front of the dining room table- we will have a really nice view of the mountains from here.

Gone Fishin'

Grandpa got a well deserved break from building. He and Jeff went to George lake Pike fishing with a few of Jeff's buddies. Sounds like they had a great time, perfect weather and even caught some fish.
Here is John standing up in the boat.......

Here is John after falling down in the boat.

Summer Stuff

During one of our many trips to Fairbanks to pick up building materials Jeff, Wyatt and I made a quick stop at the Tanana Valley State Fair.






Our days are pretty much consumed with Wyatt and building but we did still manage to get a garden in this spring and it's doing very well, despite the fact that I have only weeded it once this summer.

Jeff is very proud of his experimental corn. It is tough to grow up here but it looks like we may get an ear or three.
The greenhouse.
First harvest. I also put up a bunch of broccoli and beans for the freezer and canned a batch of pickled veggies. Just wish we had a bit more time for harvesting-next year!

Adventures In Eating

Wyatt had no problems with his rice cereal but veggies were a different story. Here he is with his first taste of sweet potatos.

He actually got the shudders.

"Go ahead just try and give me another spoonful" This is when we decided he had enough :)

The next night we thought we would try some peas.....

Okay...so no peas either?
Nope, definately no peas.
We tried a few other things with the same results. Then I switched from making it myself to the store bought stuff and he is gobbling up everything we put in front of him. Nice- not even 8 months old and already complaining about Mama's cooking!


He is even eating prunes now- yum. Crazy kid.

Grandpa is here!

Grandpa Gary showed up in late July and is staying until September 3rd. He has been working his tail off building the addition and doing some babysitting.



They guys have been working really hard and its been amazing to see how fast the addition is going up. Here are the roof trusses. Dad saved us a bunch of money by building them instead of having to buy them pre-made.

The tin is up on the roof!!

Grandpa is teaching Wyatt all sorts of new tricks.


Pulling on Grandpa's beard is the best!!

Babies!

Weddings are also a wonderful time to catch up with old friends and meet thier babies!!

April and Marit (12 mo), Verena and Brianna (10 mo), me and Wyatt (7 mo), Alisa and Elias (12mo).

Here Elliot (Jp and Elizabeth's son) shows Wyatt how the train works.
I can't believe I didn't get any pictutes of our wonderful hosts- Kim and Paul. They were brave enough to have three couples and 3 babies staying at their house..... they slept out in the camper in the backyard-smart move! It worked out great but there was an awful lot of commotion in the house all day and all night.

Friends that breastfed together stay together :) I think we should be La Leche league poster moms.

The Mason family all dressed up.


April and Jeb's little girl Marit is a cutie- They made the trip back from Baltimore for the wedding, it was wonderful to see them again and meet Marit. And we hope that being back in AK will make them see how much the miss it so they will move back soon!
Shoot! I just inadvertly deleted the picture of Mike and Elias......well, they made a special break from their sailing to come for the wedding too. We are so glad we got to see them before they head too far off. The three of them are embarking a a trip of a lifetime, sailing from Kodiak Island, AK to Austraila!! I will put a link to thier blog on the sidebar, be sure to check it out. We wish them the very best on thier adventures!!

Dave and Shiway's Wedding

DAve and Shiway finally took the plunge! It was a wonderful celebration and we couldn't be happier for them, they make such a great pair. The wedding was gorgeous, Shiway picked out some incredible dresses for the ladies and it was amazing to see how well the boys cleaned up.
Shiway has a bunch more photos on her blog and a slideshow coming soon.

Dave and his mom.

Shiway and her parents.
The ladies.

In Alaska we have a neat law that anyone can officially perform a wedding ceremony. Jeff was very flattered to have Dave and Shiway ask him to do the honors. He did a great job.

And he looked great too!!!
Shiway's brother and Dave's sisters.

The Happy Couple :)

Two families unite as one.