....Jessica playing with Valeria

We sponsor a little girl in El Salvador and lately I have been praying for her with the girls. This morning Jessica was carrying around Valeria's picture and talking to her. It made my eyes fill with tears when she looked at the picture and said, "Jesus yufie Balri" For those of you who dont speak Jessica that means Jesus loves you Valeria. I was so over whelmed by her sincerity and kindness to a little girl she has only seen in pictures. I am truly in awe of our heavenly father and how he loving guides our children.

"Jesus said 'Let the little children come to me for the kingdom of God belongs to them'"

....Jessica's 2nd birthday

Thank you to all of you who called and sent gifts to make Jessica's birthday special. She is an amazing little girl and we are so blessed to be her parents. =) Here are a few pictures from her special day!

Thank you for my cute clothes Granny and Papa

I love my colors and coloring book Grandad

So much fun

Cuteness! =)

Thank you for Candy Land Mimi and Papa

Daddy was very patient with the birthday girl! 

Thank you Cindy Miss for the adorable tutu

Thank you Cami for the cutest, yummiest treats! 

Gracie got a tutu too! 

Thank you for the Legos Abel

Thank you for the outfits Cami and katie

Momma's little Bumble Bee 

Happy Family

...life at 40 below

Here are just a few things that make life more fun here in AK! =)

Ice inside the windows 

Ice inside the door

Snow

Sunlight coming through the trees

...Jessica and her Dog

Not to long ago Samson was intruded into our little family. He has managed to turn our entire life upside-down. But Jessica loves him so very much.  I think he might just turn out to be worth all of the extra work. =)

Fun in the snow

Yay

Awe sweet love

...playing in the snow!

It's finally here! =) We had such a fun summer and loved being with family, but are happy to have things be back to normal and have snow on the ground. Christmas is in the air and just around the corner!

Not quite sure if the snow is fun yet.

Cute little boots

The snow is cold! 

 I like it!

=)

leaving foot prints

Look Momma Grass! 

I love her in this hat! 

I love the snow! =)

...playing in the leaves

With winter not far away we decided it was a great day to get the leaves cleaned up. GG sent us these awesome bag that look like pumpkins. They were so fun and made the clean up go faster. Here are some fun pictures from our day!

She's growing up so very fast.

helping Daddy

My sweet baby Gracie

My favorite

My and my babies

Our family

...Daddy watching tinkerbell with his girls! =)

....baby buns diapered in cloth

It has been a long road for us on this cloth diaper adventure. With so very many options and differing opinions on the topic it was almost impossible for me to decide. But I'm happy to say that after all of the stress I have found what works best for us. I have been turning my prefolds into contour diapers. I'm so happy with them. They breath so much better than our all-in-one diapers and dont leak like traditional prefolds can. Even the girls are happier. Jessica has even started telling us when she needs changing. =) I'm so grateful for all of the Momma's who encouraged me and didn't let me give up. We are finally happy with our choice and I encourage you to try it out too! =)

...having running water!

After a difficult night and rough start to the day in which we had no running water do to city maintenance. I found myself so delighted to do the laundry (diapers, and throw up sheets!) What a blessing it is to wake up every day and shower, wash my hands, dishes, water the plants, fill up the coffee pot, or just have a drink of water. I dont have to walk to a river, or hall it to my house, I just turn on the faucet! God humbled me this morning as I complained to Him about how unfair it was that I had to wait. God has blessed me with more than running water but He has quenched my soul's thirst. I can come to the well a drink deeply and be satisfied by living water! =) Thank you Lord for shutting off the water today so I could be truly thankful for your Living Water.

"Come thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace, streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise..."

Happiness is hiking with friends

Over the weekend we went up to Ester Dome. It was beautiful! It was a clear day and you could see for miles in every direction. All of the trees are changing their leaves to pretty shades of gold and orange. I love fall here in Alaska. We have as close to normal daylight hours as can and the weather is nice and the trees are gorgeous! After we got together with our friends up at Moose Mountain. We had a bonfire on their property and let the girls run free! Jessica loved being outside and being able to wonder around. But most of all she enjoyed digging in the dirt and playing with the rocks! =) We roasted hot dogs and smores! YUMMY! It was a wonderful way to end the weekend!

 Enjoying the view with my love

our usual self-portrait 

Love these trees!

Happy girls just playing with the rocks!

Happiness is when GG comes to Alaska

We were so very excited to have GG visit! =) This was not only her first trip to Alaska but also to visit me and a married Momma. We had a great time. Jessica and Gracie were especially happy to have her here. We did the usual fun things in town like Pioneer park, the Salmon Bake, and moose watching. But the most fun was had here at home just playing with the girls. GG read books, played games, taught J to run fast, held sweet Gracie, and played outside. The girls had so much fun and so did David and I! We played Idiot and wizard so many times! It was so very sad when she had to leave but we can't wait for her to come back and see us!

GG and Jessica at lunch

Playing at pioneer park

GG and her Girls

WEEEEE!

They were so amazing to see this close

US at the Salmon Bake

True Love! =)

Happiness is Family coming to visit

 We were so lucky to get to have my family come out to Alaska this summer! Seeing them all together twice was so fun. The girls were so delighted to be with Papa, Mimi, Uncle Nicholas, Uncle Ben, Auntie Crystal, and Kylie! =) We had all kinds of fun. We took them to Pioneer Park and had fun learning all about the history of Fairbanks!

Excited for Pioneer Park

We went blue berry picking and used them to make yummy blueberry pancakes!

Not to bad! 

We went camping at Birch Lake and had fun being in close quarters.

Jessica loved playing with Auntie Crystal

We also went to the fair and saw animals and ate yummy pretzels! =) It was a wonderful vacation but was over to quickly. I can't wait until the next time we are all together.

Looking at the Bunnies