I love this!

I first felt the baby move at 16 weeks in Palmer, AK (how neat is that?), and in the last two weeks, there were just a few kicks. Now, at 18 weeks, I feel it a lot! Yesterday, we were eating pizza and the baby kicked four times, and we decided it loves pizza, just like its father. And this morning, it must have been sleeping, until I awakened it when I called my dad, and it started rolling around like crazy. What a neat feeling. :)

I know, I know. AK part 1

I have been majorly slacking on blogging. Mostly because I have so many good pictures from Alaska, and I don't have the time and/or patience to post them. Plus, I haven't mastered this new blogger layout. Uploading them to facebook was much easier...
I had a wonderful time way up north. There was so much good conversation and that combined with the amazing sights made the trip unreal.

Our first few days were cloudy and snowy, but we did get to see the mountains when the sun peeked through a few times.

Hot tubbing in the midst of deep snowbanks in Girdwood. Amanda and Gordon H were staying at a house there, and she let us come visit.

That evening, we went to Moose's Tooth in Anchorage with a bunch of the Alaskan girls and guys for dinner. It was kind of strange; we were late to dinner because of an avalanche that slowed traffic on the way back from Girdwood.

This is Luke's cabin in Palmer, where we stayed most frequently. It was a bit cozy, but the girls were good about letting me have the bed or mattress so I didn't have to sleep on the floor.

The second morning, we woke up to a couple inches of snow, and it was still snowing. We left for Valdez anyway, and the sun came out shortly after, so we still got to see the beautiful mountains and the Matanuska Glacier between them. 

The day and a half that we were in Valdez, Anchorage had a blizzard, and broke their record for the snowiest winter ever!

More to come...

Alaskan Peek

Cowboy Challenge and the Circus

Dickinson State University has a rodeo team; how neat is that? We went to watch their rodeo competition on Saturday. They even had a bunch of female members:

The Shrine Circus was in town this weekend as well. It was fun to watch, but not as amazing as I remember from when I was a kid. Did I grow up some? Dang.

I just loved the elephant. She looked so old and calm and cute. After every ride she gave the kids, she would hold her trunk up for her trainer to throw a peanut in.

These two have got to be so strong.

It was a good last weekend together before I head out to AK for ten days.