Alaska Pics, finally.

Well, for all you bums that like to spoil my vacation by begging for pictures.....they're finally here. Honestly! You'd think this normal everyday life--I'm holding a big grudge that I've had to do schoolwork the whole time I'm here. And you know, mothering never ends, and I've repacked our suitcases a zillion times, done piles of laundry, etc. And because I refuse to sit around and watch a barely post-partum woman do the chores (she's never made me feel obligated, seriously), I've helped with the food prep, loaded and unloaded the dishwasher who knows how many times, and of course, the funnest job of all--cuddled baby David.

I took today completely off from schoolwork since Keith took a vacation day to spend with us. He took us flying (wasn't that convenient, Mom, that I didn't tell you that BEFORE we went?!!) over the mountains and the Knik Glacier. Amazing is the only word I could think of. I was very bummed, though, that I didn't have my camera (or so I thought...it was at the bottom of the bag, and I kicked myself--hard--when I found it in there afterall). It's so hard to describe the mountains that go on and on. I thought there was just one chain of them, behind those mountains are rows and rows more, as far as you can see. The glacier was spectacular, a beautiful blue color. It was very fun flying right over Pioneer Peak, by far not the largest peak in Alaska, but still over six thousand feet.

After landing briefly in Palmer, Jacinda picked me and Carli up and Shaela and Howard Keith hopped on the plane and flew some more. We took a picnic lunch to meet the rest of the crew in Anchorage. Sat about a wingspan under the approach of many inbound flights, including some 747s which look huge that close. Driving up to that spot, we saw 2 moose about 10 feet away. We went to the Alaska Wild Berry Company to shop (Found an incredible Mother's Day gift for you, Mom! Don't you wish you knew?!!), and then on to the Anchorage Zoo, which is a tiny little thing, but beautiful and upclose to real Alaskan animals, such as Grizzly's, black bears, wolves, polar bears, etc. All of the animals have been rescued and nursed back to health.

Ok, now for the pics. I'll try to give a quick explanation prn.

Above, view out the east window on a clear day. There are mountains on three sides of Palmer, and it's stunning!
We went up to Hatcher Pass when we first got here. It was not snowing in Palmer (10 minutes away), but definitely in the mountains. It was still breathtaking.
Carli got to see Uncle Keith in his big car carrier. Someday I'll tell you about his trips to Fairbanks in -50 degree weather....there's a lot of considerations that take place even beyond survival when you're in the kind of weather. He's also a Flight Instructor out of Elmundorf Air Force Base, and a captain in the Civil Air Patrol, so we're definitely proud of him!

Back up to Hatcher Pass on a clear day. A totally different kind of beautiful. The buildings above were part of a gold mining camp not so long ago.
Olivia. This is about the only picture that turned out of her, though she looks not so great! She'd just pulled her bow out and the wind was wrecking havoc with her hair.
Carli at Hatcher Pass
Glen went with Keith on a run to Fairbanks. This is in Denali State (or is it National?) Park. Denali means "The Big One" referring to Mt. McKinnley
Hoke giving Livy some love.

Baby David. Man, I'm going to miss him when we leave!

Glen, Jeffery and Carli
Couldn't resist including this picture of Cinda. She looks great only 2 weeks post partum (at this point), and from the look on her face, she must have been teasing me about something.
Shaela and Oliva are quite the buddies.
We went on a little walk with some of the kids, and this was one of the views. Absolutely breathtaking in real life. Again, pictures don't do it justice.

Carli on the "hike." By this point she was pretty bummy since she'd been playing outside with the cousins all day.
The moose we saw up close and personal this morning.

Anchorage skyline. A little hazy today.

Carli at the Alaskan Wild Berry Company.

Daddy and Olivia. I loved this pic of her. And you can see that Glen's vacation has really produced some nice-looking results. I think his goatee looks terrific. :)

Carli and Jeffrey (along with a friend, Katherine), and of course a black bear.

OK! You all happy??!!! I've been at this computer for two hours!