Monday, September 29, 2008

D90 PICTURES ARE HERE!!!!


After several hundreds of pictures...I finally have some time to play around with the photos and take a look at how great they are. First off...TOTALLY worth the price for that camera. We are SO happy with it. We are going to take some phenomenal photos the next couple of years. These pictures are just a sample of the first couple that we've taken with our new toy. I can't wait to learn more.
This is Katy demonstrating the sign for book. Actually, she was a little frustrated that I wouldn't put down the camera and read her a book.




We woke up a little grumpy one day from our nap so I grabbed the camera and took a couple pics to show them later in life.



I think this was last weekend...we went up to Eklutna Lake (about 40 miles away from our house) to take in some of the fall scenery. If you haven't seen our fall pictures before, it is GORGEOUS! September is definitely my favorite month.


We set up shop in the back of the truck for some lunch. The girls loved it. They especially loved point and waving to every person that walked or drove by. We had a few people stop and tell us how cute our babies are...like we didn't know.







I'm telling you, I have dozens and dozens of pictures that we need to share.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

last of the point and shoot photos

2 more weeks worth of photos and we'll be all caught up. First, a visit to the zoo. The girls have been several times before but this was the first in a while for me.

If you've visited us, we've probably taken you to the zoo. We really do love that place. It has a great feel and you get real close to some amazing animals. The girls LOVE their animal books and actually a majority of the signs they know are animals...bear, dog, cat, bird, etc. I'm sure next year we'll buy season passes so we can go all the time.





The girls' hair is getting just long enough to start playing with it. Lisa put their hair up in barrettes.


As late summer quickly turned to fall, I made a push to get out and fish along our creek as much as possible. So every day for a couple weeks during our walk, I would bring my fly rod and throw in along the trail.

Tom joined us one day to see what the fuss was about.
...and no I never caught anything substantial. It was kinda late in the salmon run so I think I missed my opportunity. We heard there was better action further upstream...we never made it up there but I certainly had a lot of fun trying.
Back to the house for some more playing with the pots and pans.
That baby looks like it needs a little salt and pepper.
MMMMM, just right.
We didn't get any good photos of this little trick. The girls started putting their heads down when they would crawl like they were pushing their heads around on the carpet. We called it the "bulldozer". They don't do it anymore because they're too busy walking. This is one of the only photos we have of them doing it.
A night out with some friends and a sad goodbye. Another close friend of mine left for a job in California. The night before, we took him out to the Moose's Tooth one more time and treated him to some good stories, pizza, and beer.
The girls offered some of the entertainment.
Angry Sam determined to drink the last of the pitcher.
Tom showing off one of his departing gifts.
Tom is missed dearly. Tom always impressed us with his curiosity and kindness to the girls. From day one, he was always asking about them and I quickly realized he frequents the blogs for updates, pictures, and videos. His gift for the girls is still one of their favorite toys, the scooter. It was an extremely thoughtful gift and one that continues to bring them plenty of joy.

I haven't admitted this to many people but we found out Tom was leaving us for another job shortly after we found out Lisa and Ben were going to Colorado. I really took this news hard as those 3 people comprised of my Alaska family. I've been pretty down for about a month now...which has unfortunately lead me to gain some of my weight back. BUT we're back on track. We are keeping in great contact with Tom and expect to continue that friendship from afar. Sam and his wife Cindy are FANTASTIC people that we've been very fortunate to have met.

So Tom (and this goes for Lisa and Ben too)....you guys are missed. It's not quite the same without you. The girls miss you too.

NOW!!!!! D90 pictures coming SOON!!!

Monday, September 22, 2008

catching up with some older photos

Oh boy, we need to catch up on some older photos. The big news from the last week...besides the girls starting to walk...is that we bought a new toy. I mean, we bought ourselves our Christmas present. We finally made the plunge and bought a digital SLR...the Nikon D90. It is a FANTASTIC camera!!! In the first week, we've taken 200 pictures or so and they are amazing. Before I can start sharing all those wonderful pictures of the girls, I need to catch up from the last month with our point and shoot. Too many good pictures and fun times not to share.

So the weather is rapidly getting colder. We are knee deep into fall up here which includes high temperatures around 50 degrees and lows in the 30s. So that means a little more preparation has to go into our afternoon walks. Here's one of the outfits Lisa put together for our afternoon stroll.


Another big accomplishment lately is their ever-expanding vocabulary. Well, not so much words but sign language. Lisa has been keeping track of how many words they know...it's currently at 17. This is the sign for moose. She's holding a picture of a moose in her right hand and showing us at the same time.
Another new favorite trick...opening the cabinet doors and pulling all the pots and pans out. This went on for several weeks until we finally had to put locks on these doors too. This was supposed to be the one cabinet that we left open but it got to be too much of a hassle. They wanted to be in there nonstop and we couldn't store breakable stuff. We still open it up every now and then for them of course.
This was a funny story. Out of nowhere, Alyssa wanted to get in the basket with all the books. She worked very hard to get all the books out so she could climb in there and sit. Actually...she got in there and started pushing. It was too funny. She sat there with a book and grunted. The picture is Lisa demonstrating the sign for book.
Alaska State Fair. We went with a few of our friends to the Alaska State Fair the last week in August. The weather was pretty good and we all had a good time. The players:

Alyssa and Katy Sam
Cindy (Sam's better half)
Tom
Everyone enjoying funnel cake. MMMMMmmm, state fair funnel cake.
Sam petting the goat.....
...then smelling his fingers.
random chickens
large cabbage
Back to the car to stretch our legs before the hour drive home.


We get into our pjs and what do we want to do?...POTS AND PANS!!!!
One of our favorite pics of me and the girls
More pots and pans on game day.


And some more random cute pics


Wow. There are so many more pics I have to share. I will try to put some more on tomorrow. I have to get to the D90 pictures...you won't believe!!!!