Thursday, July 26, 2018

We Went To Alaska!

June 8th was our 10 year anniversary!  It's so hard to believe it has been that long and we have weathered many storms together.  I thank God that He chose Jake to let me do life with.  
We celebrated by taking a cruise to Alaska!  It has always been a dream of ours and our amazing travel agent, Megan Rokey, helped us make it a reality.  Seriously, she was amazing.  Please use her if you need a travel agent.  (NOT a paid advertisement, just an incredibly happy customer)
This is going to be a really condensed version.  We took over 1000 pictures between the two of us.

We flew to Seattle and spent a little time there before we boarded the Ruby Princess and embarked for Alaska.
We seriously had the best sunrises and sunsets in Alaska.  Pictures hardly do them justice.

We hiked to the Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls in Juneau.



If you ever get to Skagway, AK make sure you look for their doughboys!

Chilkoot Lake in Haines, AK

We decided our relationship hadn't been tested enough in the last 10 years, so we chose to kayak together.  LOL- though I wasn't LOL'ing in the midst of the challenge.

What a beauty!

Sunrises happened around 4:30 am.  It was so worth it to catch this one.

Glacier Bay National Park was one of my favorite stops.  The views were spectacular!

One request Jake had when we booked the trip was to go fishing.  So we hit up salmon fishing in Ketchikan.  This was a highlight for him.

Working on bringing in his king salmon.  You are only allowed to catch 1 per year, so he limited out rather quickly.  Our guide told us that if we were commercial fisherman, this fish was worth $500.00.  It sells for around $25.00 per pound on the open market.



These are similar to the doughboys in Skagway, but are called BeaverTails in Victoria, British Columbia.  Victoria was a beautiful town with gorgeous flowers and cute little house boats.  It was our last port of call before we headed back to Seattle to fly home.

In Victoria, they light up their capital building every night and it is simply gorgeous.

We would love to go back someday and go further into Alaska.  We saw whales, orcas, porpoises, sea otters, etc. but no moose or bears.  We would love to see more land and wildlife of Alaska.

Our kiddos stayed with my parents in Iowa and they really enjoyed spending time with Grandpa & Grandma and their cousins!  Hope you are all having a great summer and school is right around the corner!  Z & K are starting to get excited!  K has been excited for the last month and Z is starting to get excited about lunch and recess.  Oh well!  Typical boy, right?

Friday, June 15, 2018

Get To Know Us A Little Better

Because getting to know people is fun...
Jake- AKA Dad AKA Handsome Hubby

▪️First Job - Like paying job? Helping my dad work construction during the summers.  Unless you count mowing yards.
▪️Dream job - Farming when money doesn't matter... you said dream, right?
▪️Favorite pizza - stuffed crust supreme with double cheese
▪️Favorite dog type- the obedient kind
▪️Favorite foot attire- house shoes
▪️Favorite Candy- favorite candy? oh man! Skittles, uh smarties, cherry sours, uh candy corn.  Probably candy corn.  No.  Candy pumpkins.  Fun size any kind of candy bar.  Yes.  I'm addicted to sugar, but it tastes so good!
▪️Favorite ice cream - Lime Sherbet
▪️Color of your car- red pickup, white car, and blue pickup.  I'm the patriotic kind.
▪️Favorite Holiday- Labor Day.  It marks the beginning of harvest and hunting season
▪️I love mornings- Seriously?  Says the woman who has to kick me out of bed every morning.
▪️Favorite day of week - Wednesday because it marks the slide to the weekend.  Everybody says Friday or Saturday.
▪️Like to cook- Yes and I like to experiment with meat
▪️Can you drive a stick shift? 3,4,5,6,10,13, or 18?  Yes.  I can drive them all.
▪️Favorite color- blue.  royal blue
▪️Do you like vegetables - Yeah.  In a white sauce, in a salad.  I don't care
▪️Do you wear glasses- Only when doing something dangerous.  Sunglasses/Safety glasses
▪️Favorite season - That is so tough!  I really like fall and I really like spring.  Probably spring.

Me- AKA Mom AKA Hey, Can you come out and help me?

▪️First Job -  Babysitting
▪️Dream job -  Graphic Design
▪️Favorite pizza -  Buffalo Chicken
▪️Favorite dog type- Golden Retriever
▪️Favorite foot attire-  Sandals
▪️Favorite Candy-  Just one? Hmmm... Sweettart jelly beans or Heath bars
▪️Favorite ice cream -  Vanilla- I know... I'm boring
▪️Color of your car-  White- Can you drive anything else when you live on a gravel road?
▪️Favorite Holiday-  Christmas hands down
▪️I love mornings-  YES!!! (I'm sorry to the rest of my family members who think I have too much energy in the mornings)
▪️Favorite day of week - Sunday
▪️Like to cook-  Not usually- I can enjoy it when I have time and trying a new recipe
▪️Can you drive a stick shift? You bet!  Learned after we got married.  P.S. to all future farm wives... learn before marriage!
▪️Favorite color- Coral
▪️Do you like vegetables - Yes!  But I haven't always... Does that mean I'm an adult now?
▪️Do you wear glasses- Yeppers
▪️Favorite season - Fall- all the way!  Give me all the fall weather, sweatshirts, bonfires, pumpkins, harvest, and hot drinks

Zak- AKA  Son AKA Bro or Dude AKA Zeke



▪️First Job -My first job?  I don't have a job.  Unless you count chickens as a job.
▪️Dream job - A farmer.  It's changed from a train engineer.
▪️Favorite pizza - You know!  All meat!
▪️Favorite dog type- A poodle! (lol?)
▪️Favorite foot attire- Those Puma shoes you bought me.  Wait.  Why are you putting the exact words I say.  Mom!!!!!!
▪️Favorite Candy- Caramel
▪️Favorite ice cream - Rocky Road
▪️Color of your car- I don't have a car.  When I grow up?  Lime green
▪️Favorite Holiday- Can I do two? Christmas and my birthday.
▪️I love mornings- Absolutely N-O with a thousand exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!!
▪️Favorite day of week - Sunday, definitely.
▪️Like to cook- Yes- especially scrambled eggs
▪️Can you drive a stick shift? Sort of.  As long as someone's with me.
▪️Favorite color- Uhhh..... green.  Mom!!!!!!!
▪️Do you like vegetables - No
▪️Do you wear glasses- Yes
▪️Favorite season -  Summer and winter, spring and fall.  Basically all seasons.



Kate- AKA Daughter or Fuzzy AKA Sis AKA Katie or Miss Bossy

▪️First Job - Dog chores
▪️Dream job - I think my dream jobs gonna be...uhhh...mmmm....writing books
▪️Favorite pizza - You can guess. Cheese.
▪️Favorite dog type- Border Collie
▪️Favorite foot attire- Flip-flops, but not in the winter time.  In the winter time, I'd rather wear boots.
▪️Favorite Candy- Bubble Gum and nerds and starburst.  I might have another one.  ummm....did I already put skittles.  Ok then.  Skittles.
▪️Favorite ice cream - Chocolate!!!!!  I mean twist!!!!
▪️Color of your car- pink!  Hot pink, I mean.
▪️Favorite Holiday- Can I put two?  Or can I put three?  My birthday, Halloween, and Christmas. 
▪️I love mornings- Yes!
▪️Favorite day of week - Friday
▪️Like to cook- Yes
▪️Can you drive a stick shift? No
▪️Favorite color- Hot pink
▪️Do you like vegetables - Yes I do.
▪️Do you wear glasses- No
▪️Favorite season - All of them