The Bex

Milestones

2012-02-12T17:00:00.000-08:00

Even aside from the Giants' Superbowl win, these past two weeks have been quite monumental for Ellis and me.

Ellis is smiling--like really smiling. The intentional kind of smiling. Sometimes, they are so big and cheesy that you can tell they are his little form of laughter, but he just hasn't figured out yet how to make the laughing noise and the laughing mouth shape simultaneously. It is so much fun to watch him! He thinks that different things are smile-worthy almost every day, so Matt and I end up looking quite ridiculous as we run through the list, trying to figure out what will do the trick at that moment. Here are a few of the most successful:

Licking his face. Yes, it's true. I do this on a daily basis. It all began because we were trying to convince Matt's family that he loves it when Jemma licks him, and to prove our point, we licked him. He loved it! He was smile-laughing for the whole Skype session!
Rolling your tongue. This is good for me because I can practice my Spanish skills even while I'm out of the classroom.
Smiling at him. He can't help but smile back when he sees our smiling faces gazing at him...except for when he can help it, and does. Which is most of the time.
Tickling his mouth. There's nothing like a little nudge at the corner of his mouth to get a smile started!
Making farting noises. There is one specific way of doing this that I accidentally figured out one morning at 4:00am, and I've had a really difficult time imitating it. You have to make this vampire-like face by pushing air up under your top lip with your tongue, then holding it in like a bubble, then squeezing the air out of it...like I said, it's not easy. But he thinks it's hilarious whenever I am able to duplicate it!
Blowing on his ear. It's enough to get a giggle out of anyone, especially a baby!

Even more monumental than his smiling is his sleeping--last night, he finally broke the eight-hour mark! Since week 2, I don't think that he ever slept for fewer than six hours at night before waking up to eat, but he never slept for more than seven--until last night! He ate at 9:00pm, we put him in the crib at 10:00pm, and I awoke to the beginnings of a hungry cry at 6:00am! It was wonderful. I'm not sure if it was due to exhaustion from Sheri's rockin' surprise 40th birthday party or the relaxing smell from my new friend Chavel's perfume that lingered in his hair after she fed him a bottle at the party. Either way, it was amazing.

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The other amazing thing that has been happening for the past two weeks is my nursing strategy. I discovered that I can stack two Boppies on top of each other on my lap, stick Ellis on top, and nurse him hands-free! This is particularly wonderful because it allows me to play videogames while I nurse: namely, Super Mario on the Wii. I am modeling this strategy in the photo to the left, although obviously I am not nursing in it. The best part about the photo is that we were staging it on the night that the trees fell in our back yard, and Matt snapped this shot as the American Idol theme song was beginning, right before he opened the door to see how windy it was and the power went out. We meant to get a better photo, but the lights were out and so we were stuck with this one.

Ah, yes...the Wii. Matt and I purchased a Wii right after my mom left so that we would have something fun to do together in the house, since I was in no shape for adventures and the weather was COLD. Oh yeah, and we had a newborn. We were at Target one day, shopping their clearance sales on baby clothes. The trip went something like this....

Me: "Hey, Matt, look at this shirt! $1.83!"

Matt: "Get it!"

Me: "Hey, Matt, this shirt is $2.07...what do you think?"

Matt: "Too much. No way."

Me: "Wow. We have found six different things for less than $10 total! We are totally sticking to our budget. This is awesome!"

...a few minutes later...

Me: (in the electronics department...neither of us have any idea as to how we ended up there) "Hey, look, a Wii! Those look like fun!"

Matt: "It comes with Super Mario Brothers!"

Me: "Let's get it!"

And so our $10 clearance shopping trip quickly ended up going over budget. Rats. The good news is that we now have a Wii, and it's lots of fun. We only have two games: Super Mario and Zelda. Super Mario is great because Matt and I can play it together. And by "great", I mean "really bad" because we don't do well playing video games together. You see, I have this problem...I'm really, really bad at video games. Add that to the fact that I prefer to get every coin, kill every bad guy, and bust every brick, while Matt just likes to run through the levels and...it's no good. I end up jumping on Matt's character, kicking turtle shells into him, pushing him into molten lava, etc., and he runs so fast that I get dragged off the screen and die. In fact, Jemma is so scared of us playing video games together that she now walks over to the door and lays down--as far away from us as possible--as soon as we pick up the controllers.

We purchased Zelda because it is my all-time favorite video game. Once upon a time, our family (maybe Nathan?) bought a used Super Nintendo at a garage sale, along with a Zelda game. Before long, the Nintendo would no longer save, and so no one could get very far in any of the games because each child had limited time to play before it was someone else's turn. Frustrated with my lack of progress, I developed a plan: I pretended to be sick so that I could stay home from school one day and have the Nintendo all to myself! On that day, I beat Zelda! To my knowledge, I am the only child in my family to accomplish that incredible feat. Amazing, I know. I'm not doing so well on Zelda: Skyward Sword, but I'll get there...maybe after another sick day once I go back to school...

Little Eli

2012-02-08T21:43:00.000-08:00

Pre-Game Stretch

While my mother and brother were frantically rooting for a Patriots victory on Sunday, our little family was across the country cheering for the NY Giants! (I will never understand how Daniel got my mom on his side of this rivalry...) And as much as I "despise" the Patriots (I don't, really...just when they play my team!), I can't help but feel sorry for them, and especially Tom Brady. It's unfortunate that whenever there is a winner, there must also be a loser. And he wanted and deserved it just as much--if not more--than Eli and the Giants. Poor guy. But his loss meant that Team Bex won the post-season football pool for the second year in a row--woohoo!

We spent the day with the Pinedas, who arrived in mourning, dressed in the jerseys of their beloved Ravens (better luck next year!), and "J", a new friend that I met on Christmas at the Pinedas...you know, the day before the bebé :) In between plays, we were entertained by a shrieking competition between Pineda's daughter, Jazlynn, and J's daughter, and by Jazlynn's attempts to ride Jemma.

In light of their victory yesterday, we have begun to consider nick-naming our son "Eli". It would have to be just during football season, though, since Lord knows he already has too many name options! We go back and forth between Ellis and Henry, and we always said that his nickname would be Hen, but then mom said that we should call him "Driek" because that is the Dutch nickname for Henry, and then she suggested that we call him "Balz" (pronounced Baltz, not Balls, haha!) after his great-grandpa Schwitter who immigrated to the US from Switzerland through Ellis Island, but then she just called him "Lil' Poopsie"....the list goes on. All that to say that his nickname won't actually be Eli, but it would totally work :)

Poor Pinedas :(

We have decided that our little Eli/Ellis must be a good luck charm for the Giants, since they have not lost since he was born. Here's to a lifetime of Superbowl victories!

VICTORY!

This wasn't the plan

2012-02-03T12:48:00.000-08:00

My heart sank this morning as a dear friend and breast cancer survivor notified me via Facebook that Susan G. Komen For the Cure reversed their decision from earlier this week to remove funding from Planned Parenthood. Their change of heart was due to intense pressure from pro-choice advocates and made in spite of a 100 percent increase in donations since the original announcement on Tuesday. (Interestingly enough, Planned Parenthood also saw a rise in donations, so it's hard to see why people are complaining!) The organization was concerned that their decision was perceived as political in nature, prompted by pressure from pro-life activists.

As I was thinking and praying about this new development, I could not help but be perturbed by the idea that abortion is perceived primarily as a political issue. I certainly understand that individuals and organizations make politically motivated decisions with regard to abortion, but abortion itself is far from political: it is a moral issue; arguably the most important moral issue of our time.

Now that I have a child of my own, abortion seems more despicable to me than ever. The black has become more black and the white has become more white. Any trace of grey that existed around the fringes of the issue disappeared when a human being exited my body and was laid on my chest. Pro-choice advocates will argue that my body is my own, and that I may do with it as I wish. But is that really true? Do we not teach our children to share? I have a body and a life because my mother shared hers with me. My body was not my own for more than nine months--it belonged to me and to my son. I could have chosen to have an abortion nine months ago, and my sweet son would not be here with me today. Is there anyone out there, really, that can look at my baby's face and tell me that it would be okay if I had ended my pregnancy? That it would have been okay for me to decide that he should not leave my body alive? That it would be acceptable for me to end his life simply because it didn't fit into my plan?

In fact, I find Planned Parenthood's title to be quite ironic, because the truth of the matter is that nothing about parenthood is planned. I did not have the ability to examine my eggs, plan which one would make the most desirable child, and decide to fertilize that one. I did not plan the day that my son's heart would begin beating within my womb. I did not plan for him to develop brain cells or to grow perfect little fingers. I did not plan for my body to go into labor at just the perfect moment in his development so that he could exit the safety of my womb and be able to thrive in the open air. I did not plan how I could make my body begin to produce milk so that I could continue sustain my son's life, just like I didn't plan a way for a tube to form in my body that would sustain the first nine months of his life in-utero. No wonder the "sex talk" has created anxiety in parents for generations--how does a person explain to a child that mommy and daddy had sex and all of a sudden there's a human being?? It is miraculous in the truest sense of the word.

It is true that the majority of Planned Parenthood's services are not abortions. From what I can gather, only about 3 percent of their services are abortions. What disappoints me is that this figure is touted around as though it justifies the continued support and funding of the organization. The analogies are endless: I would not stay with a spouse that beat me only 3 percent of the time, I would not remain friends with a person that tried to kill me only 3 percent of the time, I would not keep a pet that tried to bite my children only 3 percent of the time. Sometimes, percentages matter; when you are talking about taking the life of a human, they don't.

Is not the mission of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization to ultimately save lives? Many will argue that their removal of their funding to Planned Parenthood is contrary to their mission, because Planned Parenthood saves so many women's lives through the early detection of breast cancer. It is true that Planned Parenthood offers breast cancer screenings, and that those screenings save lives. I am thankful that they provide low-cost screenings to women, and that their low-cost screenings have a positive impact in the fight against breast cancer. However, it is also true that Planned Parenthood destroys lives (even if it is only 3 percent of the time). My perplexity here is the same; how can one justify the support of anything with such a dichotomous mission? Planned Parenthood is committed to saving lives through breast cancer screenings, pap smears, and other services, yet they are also committed to ending the lives of men and women before they have even left their mothers' wombs. Until they commit to one position or the other--either we should try to save lives or try to end lives--I cannot justify supporting them or the people and organizations that fund them.

Unplanned pregnancies can place families in difficult, detrimental, and even dangerous situations. As I said, though, a cursory glance at the concept of life will demonstrate that it was not designed to be controlled by our plans. I personally know no fewer than six families that are or will be trying to adopt sometime within the next year. However, the adoption process is arduous and expensive! If my personal goal is to sustain life, then it would be wise for me to support adoption agencies or sponsor families that desire to adopt, but lack the means, in addition to cancer research foundations that do not support organizations such as Planned Parenthood. Susan G. Komen for the cure needs to critically examine its purpose and consider whether its beneficiaries are truly working toward the same goal.

Life happens. We can choose to celebrate that fact by standing firmly against abortion and seeking ways to support life, like supporting organizations and individuals that facilitate adoption or offer counsel and aide to struggling mothers. Or, we can scoff at the same miracle by which we think, feel, act, and exist by supporting organizations that would have allowed me to end my own son's life.

With every ounce of my being, I pray that eyes may be opened to the truth of the travesty known as abortion.

Oh, what a night...

2012-02-02T19:10:00.000-08:00

While Matt and I were changing into comfortable clothes and fetching snacks before we settled in to watch American Idol last night, we were completely unaware of the unfortunate series of events about to befall us.

As the TV screen darkened and Matt and I prepared for our theme song dance, our attention was suddenly averted from the screen by a loud noise outside. Matt opened our front door, and we saw trees bending over almost in half as powerful gusts of wind rushed snow and debris through our front yard.

POP! All of the lights in our home went out. With the lights went the TV, before the American Idol theme song had even finished. Matt was still standing in the doorway, and all we heard was silence. As suddenly as the wind had come, it had left, taking our power with it.

Matt walked to our bedroom, which is located at the back of our house, to find a flashlight.

"OH. MY. GOSH. MARTINA!", he called.

"What is it?"

"Come. Here. Now."

"What?! What is it?! Is it a tree?"

"You need to come see this..."

I rushed to the back of the house, baby in my arms, and was relieved when I did not see a gaping hole in our ceiling. Matt was standing at the window, looking out at our back yard. In the dim moonlight, I saw two of our trees laying partially buried in the three feet of snow that has accumulated in our back yard this winter.

For those of you that are familiar with our yard, you will quickly recognize the two toppled trees as my hammock trees, since almost everyone that has spent time in our yard has spent at least a few minutes lounging in my Mexican hammock.

As you can see, the left-most tree broke off at the very base. Our only evergreen tree, to the right of the fallen birch, split about five feet up the trunk.

When we moved into our home three years ago, Matt began the slow process of tree-cutting, and has cut down at least nine trees so far. The only ones that we left were very healthy and in desirable locations (or too difficult to remove). I can't believe that the wind knocked over these two trees! We are so thankful that they did not fall toward the house, because they were both close enough that they could have landed on our bedroom.

After we realized what had happened, Matt put on a coat and boots and went out to inspect the damage. The trees were laying beneath the power lines, but the power lines were still hanging. All of the homes across the street from us had lights, but the neighbors on our sides were also without power. Matt came back inside and we began strategizing how to spend the evening. Thankfully, the temperature had risen from -26F on Saturday to +32 yesterday, so we weren't as concerned about freezing as we had been when we lost power when Ellis was five days old and the temperatures were negative.

Our friend Jenn offered for us to come over to their house for warmth and American Idol, but we still hadn't eaten, so we decided to head into Anchorage to find food and kill time while we waited for the electric company to restore our power. I had to change Ellis's diaper in the dark...that was not fun...and Matt had to manually open the garage door, but we made it out of the house without too much difficulty.

As we approached the Hiland Road on-ramp, all we could see in both directions on the northbound Glenn Highway were car lights. Traffic was stand-still to the north and the south of the bridge. We decided that we might never get home if we headed to Anchorage, so we turned around and went down the hill into downtown Eagle River in search of food. At the stoplight at the bottom of Eagle River Road, we narrowly escaped a collision by sliding into the left-turn lane, only to nearly spin out as we turned right to head into town. The roads were SLICK!

We made it to dinner at the newly moved and upgraded Shine's Sushi (their new location is beautiful!!), and elongated our meal as long as we could by chatting with our awesome waitress! Back on top of the mountain, we were disappointed to see that the lights on our street were still out. We drove around the block and saw that ours was the only block affected. Boo.

Next stop, Walmart! We wasted more time thoroughly examining all of their battery-operated lighting devices, candles, and batteries, and left with a lantern, several flashlights, and batteries. Then, as we rounded the corner of our street to return to our darkened home, we saw lights.

Power! I was almost annoyed because we had just spent so much time and money buying emergency lights, but I suppose they will come in handy next time.

Moral of the story? We are in deep doo-doo if a real emergency ever befalls us!

Towel Apron

2012-02-01T11:33:00.000-08:00

I wrote a tutorial for Janelle's blog on how to make a towel apron...it's very easy to make, and handy to have around when bathing your baby! I've also discovered that it's nice to use when you've just changed into a new set of clothes and need to burp the baby. Matt seems to have the knack for attracting regurgitated milk to clean clothing, and while he hasn't worn the towel apron yet because he thinks it's a bit dorky (it is, I admit!), he's just about there.

Sun Dog

2012-01-29T23:12:00.000-08:00

While we missed the spectacular show of Northern Lights that was visible in our area earlier this week, Matt and I witnessed a different amazing natural phenomenon on Friday and Saturday!

Bonnie's photo of the sun dog
on Friday, January 27

As we were driving into Anchorage for a doctor appointment on Friday, I let out a gasp as I looked at the sky in front of us. After a reminder from my frustrated husband that it is not wise for me to gasp while he is driving, I directed his attention to the southwestern sky. Rising out of the steam from the power plant by Ship Creek was a bright spot of light composed of rainbow hues. It looked like a chunk had been removed from a rainbow and plopped randomly in that place in the sky. As I wondered what it could be, Matt pointed out another, almost-identical spot of light at the same height in the sky, directly to the right of the first light. He theorized that it must be a rainbow whose arch was mostly hidden so that we could only see its two ends. I was baffled! The ends were so close together, and although the lights contained a rainbow of colors, they did not look like any rainbow I'd ever seen!

That night, Bonnie posted her daily photo entry in her "My Year in Pictures" album--a photo of the very same light that we had seen earlier! Thankfully for us, Bonnie recognized what we had seen and identified it in her album. The light is called a "Sun Dog", and it is a phenomenon created by the interplay of sunlight and ice crystals in the atmosphere. She has also heard them referred to as "Ice Halos", which makes more sense to me. They can happen anywhere--in any climate--but we are in an ideal location because it is cold and the sun never gets very high in the sky during the winter months.

From Wikipedia: A sun dog viewed from
a different Alaskan highway

On Saturday, Matt and I were driving south on the Seward Highway toward Dimond Boulevard when we were blinded by a second sun dog. This one was even more incredible than the previous day's! The sky was crystal clear, and we were able to see the sun along with the lights on either side (I think that the steam from the power plant was blocking the sun from our view on Friday). The lights had a brilliant, rainbow center, and faded away along a line that matched the curvature of the sun. They were absolutely astonishing! I stared in awe, captivated by their brilliance and beauty and with renewed appreciation for this incredible place in which we live. It would be a challenge to remember all of the unique natural wonders that we've experienced since moving here: the midnight sun, the bore tide, migrating belugas, calving glaciers, northern lights, the entry of a human into the world (come on!!)...the list continues! I can't imagine a place in which the Glory of God is more tangible than here in Alaska.

Month One

2012-01-26T21:31:00.000-08:00

Baby Boy,

Today marks the end of your first month of life outside the womb. Can you believe it? Well, I'm sure you can't, but that's due to the fact that you don't understand the concept of time (or know the meaning of any of the words in that sentence). I can't believe it either. I'm not sure if I can't believe it because it seems as though it's been much shorter or much longer than that. Either way, your first month of life has been pretty incredible. Here are some of the amazing, monumental things that you've done:

Your favorite relative is still your big sister, Jemma.

You were born. That's pretty amazing! It still doesn't make any sense to me how that happened. You weren't super great at being born, but you did very well for your first time. I can't wait until you're born again!
You took your first breath. Your lungs filled with air, and you let out a beautiful cry. Since then, you've taken many breaths and released many cries. I'm glad you're breathing, but I could live without the crying.
You ate your first meal! You are very good at eating. You like it, too. In fact, you like it so much that you eat six or seven times every day! I am amazed every time that I look at you that every ounce you've grown since you were conceived has entered your little body through me. God's design for life is so amazing!
You spent two wonderful weeks getting to know your Grandma Durfee. She loved to hold you, burp you, cradle you, bathe you, change you...she just loved to be with you. I hope that you learn to love your Grandmas and Grandpas much as I love mine! They have so much to teach you and so much love to give you!
You met all of your grandparents and most of your aunts and uncles. For now, you've just met them digitally, but you will meet them in person soon. You also met Scott and Stephanie. You're going to make a lot of fun memories with them and their children, especially if they ever decide to move to Alaska!!
You went on your first field trip. It was to Costco! (You also went to the hospital, but that doesn't count.) It was an overwhelming trip for me, but you hung out with your Dad the entire time, and it didn't phase you a bit.
You ate out for the first time. We went to Samurai Sushi to show you off to our favorite chef. Everyone there was impressed with how big and handsome you were for being just one week old!
You attended your first Bible study. It's a study for women, but babies are welcome, too. I pray that you learn to love studying the Bible, and that this experience is locked away in the recesses of your memory. Maybe your future wife will attend a Beth Moore study some day? Then you can tell her that you have that in common.

You also love playing with your tongue!

You smiled your first smile. You had a lot of involuntary smiles, mostly while you were dreaming, but your first real smile came in the middle of the night, just after you finished nursing. In the dim light of your bedroom, you gazed into my eyes and you smiled. You were probably thinking of the delicious milk that you just drank, but I'll pretend it's because you were thinking of how much you love me.
You visited your soon-to-be-friends Jazlynn, Sarah, and Wyatt and Theodore at their homes. You had many more friends visit you, but going places with you isn't exactly easy, so we stay in most of the time.
You attended your first class. This class wasn't so much academic as skills-based, and you weren't so much learning as being learned upon, but we'll count it anyway. It was a class for me to learn how to massage you so that I can soothe away some of the pains that you get in your little body.
You laughed. The first thing that you thought was funny was when your Daddy blew on your hair. You don't think it's funny when I blow on your hair, but Daddy's breath gets you every time.
You wore pants! Actually, you wore a lot of other clothes first, but it wasn't until five days ago that you wore pants like a little man. Like a little old man, actually, since they were a little big on you. You looked like a mini version of your great-grandpa Henry, with your pants hiked nice and high on your big, round belly (his is bigger, but you he's had a lot longer to grow it!).
In your fourth week of life, you began to be amazed by the interesting things around you. You love the play mat that Thianny passed on to you; especially the lion and the elephant that hang from the bars. You love jiggling the animals simultaneously with your hands and feet, and trying to move the elephant toward your mouth.
You went for your first walk. It wasn't long; just from Reagan's house to (almost) her mailbox, and it was cold! You were snuggly warm, though, enveloped in the Ergo, tight to my chest. It's been very cold since you were born, so it may be awhile before we venture out again...
You started memorizing the book of James! Actually, I did. But I practice it while you are nursing, and you listen. I hope that you are locking away some of it deep down in your heart!

There are many more things that you've done, but you just woke up and are acting quite hungry. It has been a wonderful month, and we are so overjoyed that you will forever be part of our family.

Love,
Your Mama

Night and Day

2012-01-25T21:47:00.000-08:00

Nighttimes have been quite pleasant at our home since Ellis was born. Matt and I are debating whether or not it would be a good idea for us to have other children because we can't imagine them being as angelic as Ellis Henry, and we might end up hating them.

(Disclaimer: that was a joke. We will have more children and we will love them, even if they are not as angelic as EH.)

From the time that he was born, Ellis has been a wonderful sleeper. The nurses in the hospital scolded me on several occasions for not waking him up after three hours to nurse him. He was perfectly content sleeping for four or five hours at a time in the night. Since we came home, he has never woken up more than once in the night. Most nights, he sleeps for six hours, eats, and then immediately goes back to sleep until I wake him up in the morning. Now that Matt is back to work, we're on a good schedule of going to bed at 10:00pm, waking around 4am, and then sleeping until I wake him up around 7:30/8:00am...depending on how many times I hit the snooze button. We realize that this is highly unusual for a newborn, and I thank the Lord for this blessing every morning (and pray that it continues!!)

One item that has proven to be an essential sleep aide for our son is the Miracle Blanket. You might even describe it as "miraculous"! It's a swaddle blanket that was given to us by Jenny Keville, and she has used it for all of her four children. It's the only swaddler that keeps our strong little man bundled up in the night! He manages to work his little arms out of anything else we try to wrap him in. It works a little bit like a straight jacket (you wrap each arm individually before wrapping the entire body), and so I can't help but feel a little bad for the guy when I restrain him for the night. However, the sleep that it facilitates for both him and for myself makes it worth it! We tried letting him sleep in other swaddlers or in sleep sacks a few times, but we were always awakened by his desperate screams to save him from uncomfortable positions in the crib. He would either smash himself against the side of the crib, with his face against the bars, or turn 90 degrees so that he would be perpendicular to the position in which we left him. The Miracle Blanket keeps him snug and comfortable, and it prevents him from moving around the crib. I would highly recommend it for new babies!! Thank you, Jenny!!

As for the daytime...I've resigned myself to the fact that--for as long as I am breastfeeding--I am going to reek of sour milk. Our son is marvelously adept at providing self-relief for an upset stomach, and his first course of action is typically spewing chunky, sour milk from his cute little mouth. He has not yet learned discretion in determining when, where, or how to most appropriately evict the curdled milk from his belly, and so anyone and anything could find himself plastered in the stuff at any time.

Ellis shared his breakfast with me.

This morning, as I was trying to get ready to see the home that Reagan and her husband are building (infant massage class was cancelled for the day), Ellis spewed the contents of his mid-morning meal all down my left shoulder. This wasn't too big of a deal, because I had prepared for the guerrilla milk attack and had a burp cloth laid under his chinny-chin-chin. I switched him to the other shoulder as I wiped off his face and arm, and BLEHHH! He puked all down my right shoulder, covering my t-shirt, my elbow, and pooling in my lap. I now understand why moms with young children stop putting so much effort into their appearance--it's just not worth it! There's no point in changing out of any given outfit until after it's been barfed on, because he'll surely cover the next one within the first few minutes that I'm wearing it. It would be frustrating if not for the fact that Ellis is always so happy after he empties his stomach!

Plugged Ducts

2012-01-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

I had my first baby trial this past weekend.

On Thursday afternoon, I felt some red bumps in my armpit. PLUGGED MILK DUCTS! Yikes. And I thought that I was in the clear. I sought advice from reputable medical sources such as the internet and my friends (okay, so maybe not that reputable, but they spoke from experience), and began torturing myself by taking scalding hot baths three times a day and kneading the lumps with all of my might whenever I could. I became a nursing acrobat, holding Ellis in all different positions while I nursed, trying to get his chin pointed toward the clot so as to maximize the suction delivered to the clots. I squeezed a hot pad under my arm while reuniting with my beloved Nintendo game, Zelda, and washing dishes. Sunday evening, I became incredibly discouraged because, despite my best efforts, the clots were unrelenting! In fact, they were growing and multiplying! I went to bed Sunday night in tears because of the frustration and the pain caused by my now-raw skin, blistering from the constant heat and friction to which I was subjecting it.

Then, during my first bath of the day on Monday morning, two of the lumps broke open and started oozing. "Hm", I thought to myself, "that's not where milk is supposed to come out...and that doesn't look like milk!" I promptly called the doctor and made an appointment for that afternoon. I showed up at the appointment and...

They weren't plugged ducts at all. Can you believe it?? I tortured myself for nothing. Turns out it was a staph infection. GROSS! I know, I am disgusted with myself. When the doctor (actually, he was a Physician Assistant...very competent although seemingly determined to convince me that he wasn't. For example, he told me that he was going to confirm his diagnosis by checking photos in a medical book that he has, and then he brought me the book to prove to me that his diagnosis was correct (I hadn't expressed doubt). I don't care if he has to look it up, just don't tell me you're looking it up! Geez!) ANYWAY, when the "Doctor" told me that it was most likely a staph infection, I asked, "But how could I have gotten that in my armpit? Did I shave with a dull razor or something?" and he told me that, since everyone has staph and MRSA hidden away on their bodies, I could have gotten it from oh, say, picking my nose and then touching a freshly shaved armpit.

"AH-HA!" I declared. I had a pimple just inside my nose last week, and it was incredibly painful and caused the whole outside of my nose to be red and inflamed! And so yes! I did pick my nose last week!! Mystery solved. "Doc" called in four people to join him as he lanced and drained the abscesses (a female escort (of the chaperone variety, not adult entertainment), an assistant, a Resident, and my husband, who was there to keep me mentally strong so that I wouldn't pass out and...you know the rest), bandaged me up, and sent me on my merry infected way. In case you missed the significance of that last sentence--I was numbed and stabbed and poked and squeezed, but I didn't faint! I am so tough now!!

Although the diagnosis is much more disgusting than having plugged ducts (like I said, I am still grossed out by my nastiness. Ew!), I am very thankful that it has nothing to do with breastfeeding. I was prescribed an antibiotic that is safe for Ellis, and the whole deal should clear up by the end of the week. Hungry Henry and I can continue as before, happy and healthy!

Infant Massage

2012-01-19T22:32:00.000-08:00

I have a dear friend named Reagan who gave birth to her second son just three weeks before I had Ellis. She delivered both of her children at the Mat-Su Midwifery, and she has had an amazing experience there for each delivery. In addition to the actual midwifery services, clients are able to receive chiropractic, dietetic, and massage services as well. The massage therapist, Heather Barber (also a lactation consultant), offers four-week-long infant massage classes whenever she has a group of moms that are interested. Reagan and I used to see each other each week at Youth for Christ's Campus Life club at Clark (Reagan is the Campus Life director here in Anchorage), and we've missed our time together since her son was born. Reagan attended the classes with her first son and proposed the idea of attending together as a way for us to get out of the house, catch up with each other, bond with our babies, and--oh yeah--learn how to massage our little ones. Sign me up!

I had heard a lot about the midwifery from Reagan and from Sheri, who delivered her youngest daughter there, but even their glowing descriptions could not do it justice! When you enter, you find yourself in a foyer that looks like the entrance to any split-level home: tile floors, a bench, shoes scattered everywhere, carpeted stairs heading downstairs, and a door directly in front of you. We took off our shoes (there was a basket of clean socks in case you weren't wearing any--unlikely in the below-zero temperatures that we've been experiencing for the past two weeks!) and passed through the door into what appeared to be the most luxurious, comfortable living room that I've ever seen. The room was filled with oversized couches laden with dozens of fluffy throw pillows, all covered in warm, comfortable fabrics. The carpeted floor was heated and had a beautiful, extra-cushiony rug laid on top. A large, flat-screen TV was to the left of a half-set of stairs that led up to the classroom and birthing rooms, and young children would be delighted to discover a nook filled with large stuffed animals hidden behind the TV. A woman relaxed on the couch, watching TV as she waited for her grandson to be born upstairs. You would never know that there was a woman in labor in the same building! It was warm and inviting; completely tranquil. It felt like I was in my Grandma Durfee's living room. Reagan said that she spent her labor walking up and down the half-set of stairs while her husband relaxed on a couch, and I can't imagine a more desirable location to labor. It would be a wonderful place in which to bring a child into the world!

The massage class was held in that same "waiting area" (wouldn't it be great if all hospital waiting areas were so homey?). Reagan was prepared for both of us with cushiony blankets, towels, and "wiener guards" (that's what I'll call them--they were just small towels to block the fountains of urine that our sons would inevitably spray at some point(s) during the class). There were four moms and babies at the class, including us, and we sat in a circle on the plush, heated floors. Heather also sat in the circle with her subject--a small, stuffed teddy bear! We spent awhile getting to know each other and discussing what to expect from the classes and the benefits of massage before she began instruction. In the first class, we learned basic techniques for massaging babies' feet, legs, and stomach, and even some baby yoga!

Heather gave us a lot of great information in addition to the actual massage techniques. There was only one time that she warned us that she would be getting on her "soapbox" and lecturing us a bit, and it was about oils. Heather gave us each a bottle of apricot seed oil, but she said that any food oil would work just fine: grape seed, olive, vegetable, sesame, etc. She cautioned us very strongly against the use of any product that contained mineral or petroleum oil. That seemed a bit odd because "baby oil" is mineral oil, and petroleum jelly (Vaseline) is petroleum oil. Those products are made for babies! Now, I am pretty skeptical of "hippy theory" (after all, I literally drank farm run-off water as a child--unbeknownst to my parents--while playing in the creek down back with my siblings, and I'm fine!), so as soon as Heather began talking about the dangers of mineral oil, my hippy radar started flashing and beeping in my head. However, I listened to what she had to say, and then I came home and did some cursory research on my own. YIKES!!! People, the stuff is no good! Not only has it been proven to cause cancer (you know, like everything else on planet earth), but it actually coats your skin, creating a barrier through which nothing can enter or leave. This disrupts your skin's moisture balance and can create pesky skin conditions such as acne, eczema. It prevents your body from properly absorbing fatty acids, which have been proven important in the prevention of many diseases as well as cognitive development (kindof important for a young child!). As with most toxic substances, a little bit here and there is not going to damage your child for life. However, if I am going to be massaging oil into my son's skin on a regular basis, it would be wise for me to stick to food oils. (FYI--I did a quick check at home, and most Johnson's lotions and oils contain mineral or petroleum oil, as does Desitin. All Burt's Bees products and Boudreaux Butt Paste are all-clear!)

But who wants to read all that doom and gloom? I'm writing about an infant massage class, after all--it should be all bunnies and butterflies! In truth, that's what I felt. It was so nice to sit on a cushy, warm floor (can you tell that I loved the floor?? I think this is the third time I mentioned it!) and love on my son. I fed him right before the class began, so he was awake and alert as he received his first massage from mama! He was quiet and relaxed throughout the entire class, which made it easy for me to slide my oily hands around his soft, chunky, perfect little limbs. As I said before, we focused on the feet and legs and the stomach in the first class. Massaging the feet and legs improves circulation and promotes relaxation, but massaging the stomach has some actual "medical" benefits. Ellis has not had problems with gas--he is very efficient at passing gas from both ends--but stomach massage is proven to help relieve gas and improve the body's efficiency at passing it. We learned how to massage babies' feet (you can actually feel bubbles in their arches when they're gassy--I felt them in his feet tonight when I gave him a massage at home) and their large intestines for that purpose. Pretty awesome! The class ended after...an hour and a half? two hours? I lost track of time...and I plopped my perfectly content, beautiful son into his carseat. He promptly fell asleep and napped the entire way home.

Ready for his first at-home massage with
his wiener guard in place!

This evening, I gave Ellis his first at-home massage. I decided that my favorite thing about this new activity is that it's an activity! At this point, his awake time is pretty, well, boring. I love watching his expressions and examining his little features, but after ten minutes or so, I'm bored! After all, he doesn't have that many different, funny expressions in his repertoire! He is too young to play with anything, and he still doesn't understand that his limbs are his limbs and my face is my face, so interacting is limited to staring at each other. Massage gives us something that "we" can do together. (Jemma tries to participate, as well, but she is limited to the role of onlooker, much to her dismay. I did let her clean up the towel post-massage.) I added a few drops of lavender oil to the bottle of oil that Heather gave us because it promotes relaxation, and Ellis fell asleep quickly and peacefully when I laid him in bed after the massage. I imagine that his dreams were filled with a lot of nothing, since he still doesn't really understand anything that he experiences.

Aaaaand a funny story on which to end the post...

Oops...waiting for rescue

So when I pulled into the garage after arriving home, I realized that I hadn't brought the key that opens the door from the garage to the house with me. After all, Matt had either stayed at home or accompanied me everywhere since Ellis was born, and he always grabbed the house keys. Oops! No big deal, right? I have an extra key to the front door in my wallet. I grabbed it and went around front, popped it in the lock, and...nothing. The lock was frozen solid. I tried and tried and tried, but it would not budge. Ellis and I ended up waiting for Matt in the garage to come to our rescue for almost an hour. Thankfully, Ellis had his food source with him (it's me!), so he survived just fine. Bad mom moment #1. I'm sure there will be many more...

On Cloth Diapers

2012-01-17T21:33:00.000-08:00

Matt and I originally made the decision to use cloth diapers because, well, it just makes sense! Primarily, we were interested in the financial benefits of cloth diapering vs. disposables; however, we were also glad to think that our family wouldn't be contributing to the piles and piles of diapers sitting in landfills across the globe. (We contribute enough in other ways!) Although many people thought that we were crazy and that it would never work out (because it would be too difficult, too gross, and too much in general), we chose to believe my mom. She used cloth diapers--sans diaper service--for all five of her children, and insisted that it was "easy peasy". Turns out, mom was right!

Some of you may be super grossed out by poop (I am not; I grew up on a farm), and so the thought of additional poop exposure is just too much. That's understandable. Others may have totally packed schedules, and the thought of adding an additional 10 minute activity to your day really would push you over the edge. The purpose of this post is not to make you feel bad if you don't want to take on cloth diapering; it is to encourage you that if you are a person that wants to do cloth diapers, you can!

I did a lot of diapering research when I first found out that I was pregnant. There are many different kinds of cloth diapering systems out there, and I would encourage you to research them all. The most simple kind are all in ones, which work exactly like disposables except for the fact that you can reuse them. I eliminated this option because (1) the entire diaper must be changed with each diaper change, which means you'd need lots of diapers, (2) I'm not confident that the innermost layers would ever really get clean, and (3) they are expensive--over $20 per diaper. Janelle uses primarily Fuzzibunz, which are considered pocket diapers (a cloth outer wrap used with inserts), and you can read about her experience with them here. Even though the fact that the insert fits into a pocket means that the moisture is wicked away from baby's skin, which I like, I decided against them because they were a little spendy (just under $20/diaper) and you would need to change the outer diaper with every diaper change, therefore requiring you to purchase more diaper wraps.

That left us with the third diapering option: prefolds. Prefolds are what most people think of when you say "cloth diapers". Prefolds refer to the rectangular, multi-layered piece of fabric that goes inside a wrap (the modern day "plastic pant"). I chose to use a prefold system because it is the cheapest. The prefolds are placed inside waterproof wraps, and the outer diaper wrap does not need to be changed with every dirty diaper (only when there are poopy blow-outs). I use Thirsties Duo Wrap Snaps for the outer wrap (I chose snaps over velcro because velcro sticks to everything in the wash), and they cost about $13 each. While other diaper systems sell one-size-fits-all diapers (like Fuzzibunz...although most one-size diapers do not fit infants under 10 pounds), one downside to using Thirsties wraps is that you do need to purchase two different sizes. Two sets of six wraps will end up costing you $156. I wash a load of diapers once a day, and so far my supply of only six wraps has been plenty to make it through the day (. Once E-Dawg moves to extreme blow-out stage, I may need more. We'll see. I've tried four different kinds of prefolds (OsoCozy bleached, OsoCozy unbleached, Gerber birdseyes, and Kushies), and have found that Kushies flannel prefolds are the most absorbent. They cost just under $20 for 6 diapers, and I would recommend having at least three packages ($60 total). So, as far as the diapers themselves are concerned, my child's entire diaper-wearing-life will cost us $216. Imagine how much we will save by re-using the same diapers for all of our children!!

While the diapers themselves are all that you need, I would highly recommend a few additional diapering accessories:

A diaper sprayer - Kristen and Kirsten ordered us the Mini-Shower Bidet and Hand-held sprayer ($45) from Amazon, and we are very pleased with it. It attaches to the pipes on your toilet, and Matt installed it very easily. It has an on/off lever that adjusts the pressure, so you can turn it up high in order to spray off diapers, or you can keep the pressure low for bidet purposes (a nice option to have post-partum!). My mom used to just dunk the diapers in the toilet and swish them around to clean them off, but this is more effective and requires less direct contact with the turds.
A diaper bucket - Any bucket will do, but Sheri ordered the Bambino Mio diaper bucket ($30) for us from Amazon. We chose this bucket because it has a locking lid, which keeps Jemma and our future children out. I keep the bucket next to our toilet and stick diapers in it to soak after I've sprayed them off.
A wet/dry bag - This is what I use to store diapers in until I have the chance to spray them off. I have it hanging from our changing table, and I usually transfer diapers from the bag to to the bucket just twice a day. We chose the medium-sized Planet Wise Wet/Dry bag ($16.50 on Amazon), and it is the perfect size for a twice-a-day transfer. I wash it along with the diapers every other day. I also have the mini wet/dry bag ($15 on Amazon) to keep in my diaper bag. It can only hold one or two cloth diapers, but it's fine for quick outings.
Cloth wipes - Go big or go home! Wipes are expensive, so why not use reusable wipes as well? I have two packages of BabyKicks wipes, and that is more than enough to get me through a day of diaper changes ($30 total).

That brings the grand total of diapering supplies to $352.50. With the Thirsties wraps, there is no need for pins (or any of the modern-day alternatives, like Snappies) because you can use the many snaps on the diaper to adjust its fit perfectly to your baby. I also have to buy a box of Borax every month or so (I add 1/2 cup to the bucket for diapers to soak in), Charlie's Soap (all-natural laundry detergent) once every...two months?? (I haven't used up a tub of it yet, so that's just a guess), and baby powder whenever that runs out (I use baby powder with every diaper change because moisture is not wicked away from E baby's skin with this system). The only final consideration would be the additional amount of hot water and heat to dry the diapers that you are using--I run the diapers through a hot rinse cycle and then wash them in hot water with a single rinse before drying them. So far, no stains!

When it's all said and done, using cloth diapers probably adds 10 minutes of additional work to my day. The diaper changes themselves are just as easy as they are for disposables. I stick the dirty diapers in the wet/dry bag until I can deal with spraying them off, and I spend maybe five minutes a day spraying them off (two batches, usually). A little bit before I wake up Ellis for his last feeding of the day, I dump the diaper bucket into the washing machine and run the rinse cycle. I then wash them, and by the time he is done eating and I am ready for bed, the wash cycle has completed, and I can transfer the diapers to the dryer. I turn on the dryer and go to bed, and when we wake up in the morning, we have a clean load of diapers!

Easy peasy, just like mom said.

Silly Shirts

2012-01-16T22:10:00.000-08:00

Since Ellis's birth, infant clothing has become a constant source of amusement for Matt and me. I mean, come on! The slogans that children's clothing companies plaster on their wares is just ridiculous. Take this one, for example:

No, your eyes have not deceived you: the caption really does say "Daddy's Little Helper". Daddy's Little Helper. Think about that for a moment. Now, let me describe to you some of the ways that Ellis helps his daddy throughout the day:

He poops in his diaper so that Matt has to change it.
He pees while Matt is changing his diaper, making a big mess.
As soon as Matt finishes changing his diaper, he poops again, thereby requiring another change.
He cries a lot, which makes Matt miss the funniest lines on his favorite TV shows.
He costs money, which made us get rid of Cable and our DVR, which means Matt can't rewind his favorite TV shows to watch the funny line that he missed.
He exists, which means that he can't be left alone.
He is fragile, which means Matt can't pretend that he's hosting Top Gear while driving around town.

Do any of those things sound particularly helpful to you? I didn't think so. And the image on his onesie is of a tow truck--A TOW TRUCK?! On what planet would that EVER make any sense?? The only saying that we've found that is perhaps more goofy than "Daddy's Little Helper" is "Daddy's Hero". Ellis is quite amazing, but I don't think that anyone would call him "heroic".

Another favorite...

It is true that Ellis is supremely strong and intelligent; even so, it is quite a stretch to assume that he is able to find words to match his emotions. At this point, I think it's even a stretch to assume that he knows that he loves his daddy. Or his mommy. Or his auntie or grandma or anyone else that his clothing mentions. There are only two things toward which he feels any emotion strong enough to be described as "love", and that's only because they are his sole source of nutrition. One day, Ellis will be able to think real thoughts and use words to form intelligible sentences. Until then, we try to refrain from putting words in his mouth.

And what is with all the ears?? Why must clothing manufacturers insist on tacking ears onto otherwise cute and normal infant head coverings?? This basic, grey fleece sweatshirt has a pair of ears attached to the hood, and Matt and I just can't seem to figure out why.

(By the way, Ellis is rocking a bib during all waking hours now because his barf reflex has finally developed. He spews chunky, sour milk before, during, and after every meal.)

And because of all this silliness, we prefer to clothe our son very simply--

no words, no ears, no nonsense:

Introductions

2012-01-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

Both Matt and I love meeting new people, and we try to take every opportunity we have to engage strangers in conversations. Usually, we walk away with the awareness that the world is a little bit more awesome than we thought. There are so many people out there that have done such interesting things with their lives! Sometimes, we end up with some personal benefit: like a Moose Pie from a nuevo amigo at the Moose's Tooth bar, or Deep Fried Oreos from the waitress at Samurai Sushi, or a phone number for a date to visit a local flower guru's personal gardens. All too often, this results in us finding out way more information than we ever wanted to know...like the guy at Lowe's that had a vasectomy, then got his stomach stapled and remarried, then had his vasectomy reversed, and has had all sorts of gory health problems in between. Who tells that stuff to strangers?

At any rate, we hope that Ellis will love meeting new people as much as we do, so we have started him early! Since the night he was born, we have been bombarding him with visitors. (Don't freak out, germaphobes, they are all clean, healthy people that wash their hands and all that jazz...) His first visitor was, of course, his Grandma Durfee. Shortly thereafter came Kirsten and Kristin, our chauffeur/dog watcher/breastfeeding consultant extraordinaires. The only way that I can say for sure that it was these two fine ladies that visited me that night is because my wonderful husband snapped this disgusting photo of us before they left--my eyes were too squinty and bloodshot to positively ID anyone!! I am so blessed to be surrounded by friends that not only have had many children, but are still having them! Kirsten has a 7 month old son and Kristin has an 11 month old daughter that will surely be playmates for our son.

We gave Happy Henry a break from visitors the next day (He would have been fine, but I was more or less immobile, sleep-deprived, stinky, disheveled in general, and just plain ugly. Matt would probably add confused, confusing, and crazy to the list.), but we were back at it on day 3 of his little life when Bonnie (whose husband used to work F15s with Matt) and Amy (who I know from Campus Life, a Youth for Christ outreach for which we volunteer at Clark). Since we had Ellis at the hospital on base, all of our visitors had to have base privileges (well, Matt could have met others at the gate to sign them on, but he wanted to stay with his cute baby and loving wife). I was so glad that Amy and Bonnie were able to stop by, because hospital visits are among those Kodak moments that need to go in every scrapbook! Unfortunately, they arrived just as we received the news that we could be discharged at our leisure, and so we forgot to snap a photo with all of the excitement! So much for that Kodak moment.

(Which, a bit of trivia: Kodak was founded by George Eastman in Rochester, NY, and he invented the word "Kodak" as his company name because it began and ended with the letter "K", which is a strong letter. Now, I think it's funny that we live in Alaska and there is a Kodiak Island, on which live Kodiak Grizzlies. I have to wonder if Eastman had heard of the island before, because those two words are awfully similar.)

We had the rest of that day, December 28, to ourselves to settle in. Settling in for me meant laying on the couch and drifting in and out of dreamland. For my mom, it meant dusting all of our furniture and cooking dinner. For Matt, it meant catching up on NutNFancy reviews while snuggling with his son. (I don't get much snuggle time because all my time with Ellis is spent with him attached to my chest. Mom and Matt fight over the other two waking hours left in the day!)

On the morning of Day 4 of the life of Krol family member 4.69.195 (the 194th direct descendant of Johannes and Martina Krol (my great-grandma and my namesake...thanks for keeping track, Martha!)), our little guy met my dear friend Candice. Candice was the first friend my age that I made when I arrived here in Alaska, and we continue to be amazed at how God's timing was so perfect for putting us in each other's lives. She is incredible. She came with gifts of food and hand-me-down baby clothes, both of which have been put to good use over this last week! Candice has two children, one of whom is a son, Thane, who is about 14 months older than Ellis. I'm sure they will become great friends as well!

Janelle (you remember her...my milk machine donor and pregnancy buddy) came by to visit with her daughter Ocoee that afternoon. I can't believe how much Ocoee has grown in these past three months. It makes me a little sad (and a little happy, I must admit!) to think that our son will be growing just as rapidly. He already looks very different than he did when we first brought him home. His ears were delicate and paper-thin, and now they look like normal person ears. His face (and his butt, and his legs, and his tummy, and his fingers, and...) has filled out and his complexion has cleared. I'm so glad that my husband is such an excellent photographer and can capture the differences from day to day. We just have to make sure that we keep the camera out so that we don't forget to snap those shots! Janelle brought us some home-made salmon chili--it was delicious! She is a vegetarian and has the most fantastic recipes!! Sometimes, she is even nice enough to post them on her blog...like her Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas. Delicious!

The Fabulous Becker Family finally returned from Homer, and Sheri came to visit with two of their six children on Day 5 of Ellis' little life. We were hoping that he would wait and arrive after their return so that Sheri could be my birth coach, but I guess it was not meant to be. Other than our mothers, I don't think that there is anyone that has been so excited for us as Sheri has been. She has the gift of prophecy (although I don't think she would admit it), and is always having visions about what's going to happen in our lives. When Sheri asks us if thing X is going to happen, we can count on thing X happening shortly thereafter. She asked us if we were thinking about getting a dog just the week before we got Jemma (which was a totally unplanned and random thing), and she asked me if I was pregnant both times before I knew. She is so sneaky. Anyway, we were so glad for her to finally meet our son, for whom we know that she has been hoping and praying over the past nine months. We can't wait for him to attend his first extravaganza at the Becker home!

The Nottinghams arrived home from their trip to visit family for Christmas (which was quite a feat...you see, they are somewhat cursed when it comes to returning to AK from Louisiana...in addition to over-the-top versions of normal travel woes, like lost luggage, overweight bags, delayed flights, etc., they have also been on planes that have been met upon landing with bomb squads and, most recently, been told by airport security that they would not be allowed to fly because they were allegedly disrespectful to the airline reps...hilarious if you knew this family of the most mild-mannered people that I've ever met) and came by to visit on Sunday evening. Jemma was so glad to see Hailey, who is a total dog-whisperer, and spent the entire visit trying to steal the limelight from Ellis. They brought us an owl hat so that Ellis could join the owl-hat-club with Kirsten's youngest son and Jenn's son (who is...21 months old? Ish?). We'll have to get a picture of the three of them together one of these days.

John and Bonnie came by on Monday with their daughter Jazlynn, 20 months. Although I can't be certain, I think that Matt and John spent most of the time plotting how they will train Ellis to become an MMA fighter or an NFL star. Jazlynn spent the time taking care of Ellis--she followed me around with him and handed me toys for him to play with and tried to comfort him when he started crying. It has been so much fun for me to talk with Bonnie over these past nine months about everything that I've experienced, because we went through the same thing with reversed roles just last year. It is such a blessing to be with friends as they go through their first pregnancy and entry into motherhood, and it means so much more to me now that I have been through it as well! Everything that my friends have said actually makes sense to me!

Kirsten came by again on Tuesday with Jemma's leash and her two youngest sons. Paxson (7 mos) was too young to realize that he was meeting his new BFF, and Cole (4 yrs) was creeped out (I think) by the fact that he had seen me the previous week and I looked like a blimp, and now I was a normal-looking human being. Whatever the reason, he took on the job of entertaining Jemma and keeping her away from the babies.

Well, I guess that brings us to the end of the list of friends our son made in his first week of life. He's pretty popular already, and that's not even counting the people he met on Skype! I can't wait to watch him come to know and love all of these people as much as we do!!

The Milk Machine

2012-01-05T11:50:00.000-08:00

I have had the great joy and privilege to experience my pregnancy journey with another first-time mom, Janelle, who I worked with for my first two years teaching. (She has since abandoned me for another position at a different school.) In January, we not only found out that we were pregnant on the same day, but discovered that we had the same exact due date in September! We had a secret pregnant sisterhood, sharing all the new and amazing things that we were thinking, feeling, wondering, and planning. When I miscarried in February, she was my support at school (since no one else knew...well, except Berg since he had overheard our shrieking when we both realized that we were pregnant). Although we are very different in many ways, I think that I speak for both of us when I say that we have each played an important role in our respective journeys to first-time mommyhood. Her beautiful daughter Ocoee was born on September 30 via c-section (at 10lbs 10oz, that was the only way to go!), and it has been so much fun to watch her change over these past few months. Janelle has a great baby blog and would love for you to stop by and check it out!

Perhaps you are wondering why I am writing about Janelle on a post entitled "The Milk Machine". While I could probably come up with a million amusing (albeit false) explanations, it's really quite simple: Janelle has been incredibly generous and--along with maternity clothes, bamboo belly bands, diapers, and various ointments--she has passed along her milking machine (aka breast pump) to me! The military does not provide breast pumps for dependents, but the school district health insurance plan (in which we are not enrolled) does. And not just any breast pump--they give members a voucher for the Cadillac of breast pumps--the Medela Pump In Style Advanced Tote! It retails on Amazon.com for $349.00. Needless to say, I am incredibly grateful to Janelle for passing along this fine piece of equipment. While I don't necessarily need it now, I will be pumping like a maniac once I head back to work for the fourth quarter.

I decided yesterday that I would give the pump a try. I know that it is often quite difficult to transition a child from breast to bottle feeding, and have heard that the earlier the bottle is introduced, the better. For now, I will try pumping and feeding with the bottle once a day and continuing to breast feed for the rest of lil' Henry's feedings.

(By the way, Matt and I are still in the process of figuring out by which name we will call him--Ellis or Henry. Whenever he is eating, he seems more like a Henry to me (which makes sense if you know my grandpa!), and since he spends a lot of time eating, he is seeming more and more like a Henry. But we'll see! We just love both names.)

So yesterday, I busted out the pump, sterilized it, and read all the instructions before settling down at the kitchen table to give it a try. Boy oh boy, was I in for a surprise! For starters, there is this attempt-at-being-cute light-pink bra that you are supposed to wear that has two holes covered with criss-crossy flaps that is supposed to hold the cups in place. Then, there are cones that go under/through the holes and connect to bottles that end up hanging from your chest. Finally, there are two tubes that run from each bottle to a pump that is enclosed in the handy-dandy tote bag. Matt expressed it well when he said that it looks like some contraption from the 50's that is supposed to be futuristic, but is actually totally lame. I think it looks like some kind of a weapon, and that I could squeeze the bottles and fire out machine gun pellets at unsuspecting targets...except I don't think they would be too unsuspecting, because the whole deal is anything but discreet! I would post an image, but this is a family site! Google it if you're that curious ;-)

I won't go into details because...well...it's just too weird...but I can say that mom exclaimed, while observing, "Wow! That's exactly what our milking machines do!" It starts with a 'stimulation' phase, then changes to the 'Let-down' phase, during which you must adjust the pump-control knob to your 'Maximum Comfort Vacuum Level". After a minute or two on the pump, I felt like I was about to pass out. Don't ask why...why do I ever faint? It's a mystery even to me. The whole time, I was listening to my mom compare me to the cows back in NY. With fast milk let-down and high production, I would be a valuable cow on the Durfee farm! But I survived a few minutes, and stashed my first bag of breastmilk in the freezer. Success!

In addition to his appetite, it appears that
Henry inherited his great-grandpa's sense
of humor!

Day two: now that I had the pump thing down, it was time to add in the second step: bottle feeding. While Ellis snoozed unsuspectingly prior to his mid-day meal, mommy pumped out his food. I filled a bottle, gave it to Matt, and sat down to work on my school blog for awhile.

As it turned out, Matt was not quite as successful with his part of the process as I was with mine--at least, not at first. For a half hour or more, Ellis would suck on the bottle (kindof), fill up his cute little baby mouth, and then spit everything out all over his daddy. This happened over and over and over, and Ellis only "ate" a few ounces, none of which ended up in his stomach.

Just as Matt was about to give up, a miracle occurred! As Matt describes it, it was as if Ellis saw the bottle for the first time. As Matt lifted the bottle from the table and began to bring it toward him, Ellis fixed his gaze on the bottle, furrowed his precious little brow, extended his arms (en garde!), and opened wide. As bottle met mouth, the milk began to disappear. Within half a minute, the bottle was empty. Once again, success!

We're glad that our sweet boy took a bottle, but I have no desire to bottle feed him more than once a day. It is so much more work than breastfeeding!! But now we can sleep soundly knowing that our baby boy will be healthy, happy, and well-fed when I go back to work in March.

Being Home

2012-01-02T14:03:00.000-08:00

We were released from the hospital on Wednesday, thank the Lord! Despite the excellent customer service and spacious accommodations, it was impossible to be comfortable. It was especially difficult for Matt because he had to play chauffeur for my mom, who needed to be picked up and dropped off from our home each day since she doesn't have base privileges that would allow her to transport herself. We were thankful that Labor and Delivery was slammed with mommies-to-be on the 27th (they filled to capacity and had to refer women off-base), so they let us go before the mandatory 48-hour new-parent hospital stay requirement was met. Praise Jesus!!

A very kind and helpful nurse (who has five children of her own) helped mom and I properly strap Ellis into his carseat, gave me some last-minute breastfeeding pointers, and sent us on our way. We met Matt at the car, and off we went! Ellis was just as content to be in his carseat as he was laying in the hospital bassinet. We are blessed to have a very peaceful son!

Our first order of business (well, after a diaper change and nursing...but that goes without saying) was to introduce our son to his big (canine) sister, Jemma. Matt picked her up from the Eby's, and bounding into the house she came! While Matt and I were not concerned about her interactions with Jemma, my mom sure was! Jemma has lots of baby experience, and is always curious but gentle. She gave Ellis a few licks on the face (as my mom yelled "NO! Bad dog! Git!") before Matt and I told her to stop. She proceeded to find one of the toys that she'd been missing for the past few days, and went on about her business.

Sometimes I feel bad that we have the best and cutest dog in the whole world. It's really too bad for the rest of you ;-)

Since then, my life has pretty much consisted of nursing, nursing, and more nursing. I completely underestimated the amount of time that I would spend sitting around with a baby attached to me! I suppose that it's the same for every new mother. We have him on a three-hour feeding schedule, and it is crazy how fast those three hours pass. Mom watched Ellis while Matt and I went to the mall to buy some nursing gear for me, and by the time we got there, made the purchase, and returned to the car to call and say we were on our way back, he was already crying in the background. I am grateful that my milk came in without trouble, and that he is feeding well (as evidenced by the mounds of diapers that he is dirtying with explosive mustard for me to wash off!). There are so many benefits to breastfeeding (his health, my weight, our finances...), and we do not take them for granted...although I have to remind myself of that as I stare at my pile of pain management tools (cream, booby tubes, gel pads...) trying to decide which remedy will trick my brain into thinking that I'm experiencing some relief from the soreness!

Post-waketime bonding with Daddy

Thankfully, he cooperates very well with the "schedule" that we've set for him. After nursing, Ellis gets time with "The Burpmaster" (aka Grandma Durfee). Once he's burped and changed, we hang out with our little man and marvel at his funny noises and facial expressions for as long as he'll stay awake (30-60 minutes, usually) before letting him drift off to sleep. We then have our lives back for an hour or two until it is time to wake him up to be nursed once again. He wakes up once in the night, crying for food, and then settles back in until morning. I realize that this is a rare blessing, and I am very grateful for my four-hour blocks of sleep in the night. I pray that he likes his sleep habits as much as I do and decides to stick with them!

The Burpmaster at work

Even though our son is making this transition very easy for us, Matt and I would be struggling without my mom here! She is so amazing. For those of you that know her, you know what a hard worker she is. I think that she is incapable of sitting still! She dusted all of our furniture as soon as we arrived home from the hospital, and since then has vacuumed every square inch of carpet, mopped all of our floors, cleaned the bathrooms top-to-bottom, cooked three meals a day for us, and hemmed the curtains that I started making for the baby's room. Also, she walks Jemma, plays with Jemma, holds the baby, burps the baby, changes diapers, does the laundry...

wait a second--I'm going to have to do all of these things when she leaves, aren't I? Well, I hope you enjoy these blog posts this week, because it looks like I'll be busy with other things come Monday morning!!

The Birth

2012-01-01T11:29:00.000-08:00

I've discovered that having a baby is quite the out-of-body experience (get it? because the baby comes out of your body? Haha!). Seriously, though, I never imagined that my labor, delivery, and recovery would have happened as they did. This was mostly due to the fact that I was incapable of attending any birthing classes or even reading any materials about having a baby since, as most of you know, I have a slight fainting problem....okay, "slight" probably isn't the best quantifier, since the fainting also involves certain other...complications...which will go unnamed here. At any rate, I entered the entire experience knowing little more than Step 1: I'll be in pain, Step 2: I'll be in more pain, Step 3: The baby will be born while I am in more pain.

We had Christmas dinner with our good friends, the Pinedas, and some of their friends at their home. Throughout dinner (and dessert and dessert and...) I was quite uncomfortable, but not much more so than is normal for any 39+ week pregnant woman. Matt and I came home and went to sleep, and I awoke around 1:00am on December 26 (a Monday) to what felt like menstrual cramps. They weren't bad, but they were kindof coming in waves, and so I thought to myself, "Ah-ha! I think these are contractions!" I tried to sleep, but ended up getting up around 3:30am to do some housework and journal. In New York, mom was packing her bags and heading to the airport. I spoke to her on the phone, and she predicted that she would miss baby Bex's birth after all, since she was not due to arrive until 8:35pm that evening.

I continued to have contractions throughout the day, increasing in intensity, but continuing at the same interval of 4-6 minutes apart. I spoke with several friends throughout the day, trying to figure out at what point I should head to the hospital. Everyone agreed that I should wait until I could not walk, talk, or breathe through a contraction. Well, the day continued, and I was still perfectly capable of all three throughout my contractions. By 7:00pm, however, there was no reprieve from the pressure in-between contractions--even though the pain was completely bearable--and so I told Matt that I wanted to go to the hospital. We sent my mom's flight information to my good friend Kristin and dropped off Jemma at the Eby's on the way to the hospital.

The car ride was excruciating!! I felt every bump in the road (even though Matt was driving as carefully as he could), and all I could think was that they were going to send me home because I wasn't ready yet, and I would have to ride home and come back again later.

We arrived at the hospital and walked into Labor and Delivery. They got me settled in a delivery room, and a nurse came in to talk to me:

"So, you think you're in labor?", she asked. "Well, I have been having contractions at 5 minute intervals since 1:00am this morning, so...I think so." "Okay, well let's check your cervix".

As she was checking my cervix, she got a very puzzled look on her face, but didn't say anything. It seemed like forever before she said, "I...don't...feel...your cervix". I panicked and said, "I know it's in there!! What does that mean?" I was thinking that perhaps it was too high and I was nowhere near ready to deliver. She said, "That would mean that you are ready to have a baby! But I need a second opinion. Let me get the midwife". So the midwife came in and checked me and said, "Well, I still feel a little bit of the cervix, so I'll say that you are 8.5cm dilated" "So...I can stay?", I responded pleadingly. She laughed and said, "We wouldn't let you leave the hospital if you wanted to!"

The nurse then proceeded to inquire about my birth plan. "Birth plan?!" I laughed. I couldn't read any books about labor and delivery without having to lay down and drink juice to keep from fainting, much less attend classes. I told her that I didn't want pain medication, if I could handle it naturally, and...that was my plan. I asked her what happens now, and she said that I would just keep doing what I'm doing until I felt like pushing.

Until I felt like pushing?? What the heck is that supposed to mean? How would I know when I felt like pushing? She laughed at me, again (story of my life), and said, "You'll know. You won't be able to stop yourself from pushing". She drew up a tub of warm water for me, and Matt and I hung out in the tub room for an hour and a half or so until I got hot and bored. I hate baths!! It was nice for about 15 minutes, and then I was just soooooooo bored. So we headed back to my room, and I sat around for a few minutes before the nurse came in again. I asked for more information about this pushing phenomenon. "So...you mean...my body will just start pushing? Or....?" She said that it would feel like I had a huge poop that needed to come out. Well geez! I'd felt like that for the last four hours!! And so we decided to try pushing. They broke my water, and I pushed...

...and pushed...

...and pushed...

...and pushed...

...and pushed...

I always imagined that labor (the contractions, specifically) would be really painful and awful and excruciating. Not so! Contractions? Not so bad! Totally manageable. I had never given any thought, however, to pushing. It. was. exhausting. I think that it was mostly because I didn't have good technique--Matt observed that I was putting a lot of energy into my legs (he was holding one), and not keeping them relaxed so as to direct the push-force to where it needed to go. We tried six or seven different pushing positions, but nothing seemed to work. He just would not slip his little head under my pelvic bone!

I began to feel incredibly discouraged. In the end, I pushed for 1 hour and 45 minutes, which means that I was doing three or four pushes every two-five minutes during that time period. With the first two pushes in each contraction, I could feel him move out a little more. But every third push in the set, I could feel him retreat when I took the breath before the push. The midwife and nurse (and Matt too, since he could see what was happening), would grow a little more excited with each of the first two pushes, exclaiming "That's it!" "That's the push!" "Hold that push!" "That's the one!" "You've got it!"...and it was even more discouraging because I knew that their words were not empty. For 80 percent of the time, each push could have been "the" push. But it wasn't. I kept thinking that if each push was THE push, and it kept happening over, and over, and over, that I was never going to be able to push him out. I was so thankful for my husband at my side who prayed through the whole thing and kept encouraging me to continue. Again, the pain was totally bearable, but the physical strain was incredibly taxing. By the time he was finally born, I couldn't see straight or open my eyes, and I had burst zillions of tiny blood vessels around my eyes and throughout my face. All I could do was cling to Joshua 1:8: "You make me strong and courageous". I knew that I had everything that I needed to deliver my baby, even though I sure didn't feel like it.

But what are 105 minutes in the scheme of life? They are but a moment. And finally, at 11:15, I really did give "THE" push, and the midwife helped my sweet son maneuver his way into the world. She placed him on my tummy, handed the scissors to Matt to cut the cord, and our son took his first gasps of Alaskan air as a technician cleaned out his airways.

I wasn't overwhelmed with love or awe; I just couldn't believe that it was over. I had convinced myself that they would need to cut him out because I was incapable of pushing the way that he needed to. But I had done it!! Matt was so proud of me, and I felt like I could do anything. I still do!

My mom had arrived at the hospital shortly after her flight landed, thanks to my friends Kirsten and Kristin. I am so grateful that not only did they make the long drive to the airport from ER, but stayed with her and waited while I labored. Mom came in to meet her grandson after I was stitched up (six stitches...could have been worse!) and tortured (when they pushed on my uterus--OW! Now THAT hurt! I'll take the contractions any day!), and Kirsten and Kristin followed shortly after. They didn't stay but for a few minutes before taking mom back to our house to get some rest. Matt and I were up for a few more hours and transferred to a room in the perinatal clinic before finally dozing off around 3:30am.

Our experience at the hospital on base was amazing. Our son didn't leave our side until more than 24 hours after his birth, when he was taken to be weighed. Other than that, the doctors, nurses, and technicians did everything that they needed to in our hospital room.

The midwife that was on duty that night was just the person that I needed. She was so relaxed and positive, and made me feel like I was doing great the entire time, even when I know that I wasn't. The nurse at the delivery looked (to me) like my dear friend Candice, which put me at ease as well. They both laughed at my lame attempts at jokes throughout the labor and delivery, which helped distract me from the task at hand. I wish I could remember some of the things I said...I thought I was being hilarious, but I can't imagine that I actually was. Later, we found out that our double-bed, enormous suite in the hospital (one bed for me, one for Matt) is reserved for hospital personnel, but the nurse requested that we be assigned to that room because she was so impressed with how I labored. It was great for Matt to be able to stay comfortably with me and his son.

Thank you to everyone that prayed for us and offered me encouragement. God was so faithful to answer your prayers! Both Ellis Henry and I are healthy as our family of three (plus Jemma makes four) begins this new phase of our lives.

The Name

2011-12-31T12:32:00.000-08:00

Wehadababyitsaboy! Thankfully (thanks to modern technology) there is no need for us to cheat the phone company using the collect-call trick from that old Geico commercial. We texted out a picture of our sweet son just a few hours after he was born (whether you received it or not is also thanks to modern technology...namely, the poor cell phone reception in Labor and Delivery).

Ellis Henry Bex was born on Monday, December 26 at 11:15pm (Alaska Standard Time). He weighed in at 8lbs 2oz and measured 21 1/4in (the stats on the card in the photo are slightly incorrect). We are so thankful to everyone that has prayed for us through my first pregnancy and miscarriage, and my second pregnancy, labor, and our son's birth. God is so faithful to His promises. The journey has been incredible and filled with beautiful moments of revelation of the Lord's great love for us.

HIS NAME

We chose to find out and share the gender of our firstborn, but we did not share the name until he was born. I told all of my students that his name would be Pedro Pablo, which they thought was a terrible idea because his initials would be PP. They had all kinds of suggestions for me...Mercedes Paco or Benz Paco, D'vies, Ricardo Mango, Vince, McLovin, Marques Battle, Jr. Martinez, Luis Ángel, Bronsen Akuma...if we hadn't already chosen the name, we might have been tempted to use one of theirs!

Alas, our son had a name long before he was conceived. Matt and I have always believed that our children will grow into their names: their character will be a reflection of their names. We have never set out to find a name with a certain meaning, but we have a whole list of names (stored away in a note on Matt's phone!) that have resonated with us throughout our time together. Time and again, we have heard a name that we both loved, looked up the meaning, and felt that we are reading the description of one of our unborn children.

And so it was with Ellis. Ellis is a Bex family name; he was the brother of Matt's grandfather. We were drawn to it because it's old-timey (we like old things) and strong. Our son's middle name, Henry, is my maternal grandfather's name (actually Henrikus, but everyone knows him as Henry). Again, we like it because it is an older, strong name. Even more than that, however, we like it because of the man that bears that name. My grandpa is one of the most amazing men that we know. Both Matt and I are in awe of his strength of character, his joy, his faith, and his devotion to his wife. One day, I will need to write more about him. For now, just know that he is someone worthy of great admiration.

And so Ellis Henry began floating around in our heads as a neat name for one of our sons. One day, however, Matt and I were at St. Elias Brewing Company in Soldotna, AK, and were reading the back of the menu. We read that the Brewing Company was named after Mt. Saint Elias, and that Elias was a derivative of Elijah, which means "The LORD (Yahweh) is my God". We thought, "Hm, Elias is awfully similar to Ellis!" and looked up the meaning of the name as we were sipping away at our yummy brews. Sure enough, the meanings were the same. In love with the name even more, we looked up the meaning of Henry, and discovered that it means "Head of household" or "Leader of the home". What a strong meaning! (And, if you knew my grandpa, you'd know that he fit that meaning to a "T"). When you combine the meaning of the names, the result is "The LORD is my God, and I am the leader of my family". After reading the meanings, we just knew that we were reading the description of our firstborn son. Believing, as we do, that our children will grow into their names, this is a little frightening because defiance could clearly be an issue: our son will have a strong will. However, his first name shows his submission to the Lord. With the names in that order, there is no need to fear because he, as a leader, must first submit his own will to the Lord's. We know that it will take much work on our part to raise him to be the man that we have named him to be, but we are excited to watch him in the becoming.

No heart attacks, please!

2010-11-20T13:31:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it? We are making a blog post! After Sherry left, Rezsnyaks arrived a few days later, and school began for me a few days after their trip ended. The blog has been at the bottom of my to-do list, unfortunately!

The first snow fell a few weeks ago, and we drove out to Eklutna in hopes that there would be a few inches for Jemma to play around in. And there was! There was even enough snow on the ground for a fellow day-tripper to slide off the road in the heart of Eklutna, where there is no cell reception. Thank goodness we arrived when we did!

Jemma was so excited to be off her leash and play in the snow. There was just a little bit of snow on the ground still when we got her last spring, so this was really a new experience for her. But, as much as she loves snow, she still loves sticks that are way too big for her even more...

This was at sunrise at...oh...10:00am?

Jemma ran with her nose to the ground because she is so mystified by the snow! So she always had some residue on her nose from her sniffage...

Waiting for us like she always does :)

The snow was beginning to melt as the sun rose over the mountains

The next weekend, we headed south to our favorite rest stop on the way to Seward to let Jemma loose to play again.

Kenai Fjords Glacier Cruise

2010-07-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

Sherry and I drove to Seward on a rainy Tuesday. We were planning to go sea kayaking in Whittier, but the kayak company called and cancelled the excursion due to 15 foot waves in Prince William Sound! Needless to say, we were thankful for his discretion. When we arrived in Seward around 1:00pm, the skies were cloudy, but not pouring down on us. We decided to visit Exit Glacier, where I got to try out the panorama function on our new camera! (It didn't work great here because it's designed for landscapes, so it kindof distorted the glacier.) Oh well.

Of course, a trip to Exit Glacier cannot be complete without some glacier fishing! There was very little ice in the water, but I was able to scavenge this one chunk for Sherry so that she could hold a glacier!

We went to dinner at Ray's (YUM! As always.) then went to bed early so that we would be wide awake for our early morning departure on the glacier cruise. This is a partner cruise line of the one with which Matt and I traveled last summer with my parents, and runs out of Seward instead of Whittier.

Seward is situated on Resurrection Bay, which received its name from Alexander Baranov, a captain that was caught in a storm and blown into the bay, where he found refuge, on Easter Sunday. Even before we exited the bay into open ocean, we saw a bald eagle and a super cute sea otter!

...and magical jelly fish!

Still in the bay, we headed over to Bear Glacier, where our captain heard reports of a humpback whale sighting from another captain. Sure enough, there it was!!

We also were blessed by the company of a group of dall porpoises that swam alongside the ship while we tracked the whale. There's a video of them down below...

High speed into the open ocean....

This friendly Stellar Sea Lion left his (or her?) crew and escorted us around his little island to make sure that we navigated it safely.

Holgate Glacier was the end-point of our trip (well, the point at which we turned around, anyway). We watched it

The best part about Holgate Glacier was that a mother and year-old baby humpback whale were hanging out in the bay in front of it. Before we approached the glacier to watch for calving, we watched the mother and baby blow, breach, spyhop, and swim!

Although the two whales were breaching regularly during the half hour that we observed them, I was only able to snag two photos of them in action. A breach is when they leap out of the water, and as much as 75% of their body may be visible.

The baby did a "spyhop," where it peeked its head out to spy on us, then slid back into the icy waters below.

This was the closest I got to a photo of the whale breaching in front of the glacier.

Mom and baby swimming side by side

Panorama looking out of the bay

This glacier was in the same bay as Holgate Glacier--to the left--but I'm not sure what it's name is, or even if it has a different name.

As we began the journey back to the harbor, we couldn't help but feel like we were on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean! The sun was shining in through the windows of the boat, and gave us the perfect opportunity to take a nap as the waves lulled us to sleep after all the excitement of the day.

A perfect day in Resurrection Bay :)

Marissa in AK, Day Two: Hiking Mt. Baldy

2010-06-28T22:12:00.001-07:00

For our warm-up Alaskan hike, Marissa and I tackled Mt. Baldy, which has now become a regular on this blog. Mt. Baldy offers 3000 ft views with just less than half that gain in elevation. The only downside is that the trail is so popular that the erosion (combined with the steep grade) makes it dangerous without good tread or with a dog on a leash (so Jemma ran free).

About halfway up...

Flowers shot by Marissa....

From the top...

Heading down....

She did it!! Marissa is queen of the world!

Jemma during one of the brief instances atop the mountain in which she was being obedient.

Next stop...Bird Ridge!!! Well, maybe not just yet...

Marissa in AK, Day One: Kayaking at Eklutna

2010-06-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

Marissa rolled into Anchorage at 7:46pm, along with the Anchorage High School Class of 1960 for their 50th reunion. The distraction caused by the bright orange "Molden Oldies" t-shirts, wigs, and loud renditions of the AHS alma mater gave Matt and me the perfect opportunity to play stalker. Here is our first view of Marissa:

We maneuvered our way through the mob of molden oldies and watched from behind as Marissa made the brave decision to lift her carryons and walk down the stairs (she is so strong!). After a few steps, "Reggie" (Matt's alter-ego) greeted Marissa (and almost caused a major accident on the staircase). Hooray! Reunited.

We headed straight to Moose's Tooth--not so much because Marissa was starving and wanted to go, but because we had growlers to refill--and then went home to meet Jemma before bed. Thus ended arrival day.

Day One: Matt works today and tomorrow, so it's just me and Marissa during the day. We went to Eklutna Lake and rented a double kayak for two hours. And, I must say, we were amazing.

As you can maybe see on this map, Eklutna is slightly north and mostly east of Eagle River (just to the left of the center of the map; below the 1). We started at the northernmost part of the lake and stayed along the northern shore.

Look at the form! Can you even believe that this is her first time on a kayak?

Taking a break...

We are so skilled that we landed the kayak so that we could eat lunch and I could relieve myself. After the frightening pre-departure safety briefing from the rental girl, we were a little scared to do it on this lake. No worries...success!

After about 45 minutes heading east, we turned the kayak around (again, with Marissa's amazing rudder-control skills) and headed back. We went past the start point and kayaked down the southern shore for a bit before turning around again and heading for shore.

This is me trying to get out of the picture. Oops.

...and a picture taken from previous posture
Back at home, Matt was back from work and ready to grill fajitas. Marissa was ready to take some stalker photos of Matt through the hammock.

We are having so much fun with Marissa here!! Jemma loves her, and we love her. More to come...

Drive to Hope

2010-06-25T11:38:00.001-07:00

On some Sunday last month, Matt and I drove to Hope, which is on the way to Seward. We couldn't believe how much snow was still on the ground in the mountain pass that leads to the Kenai peninsula! We took lots of photos so that we could compare the views between now and when we drive to Seward with Marissa.

Our first stop along the way was at our favorite rest stop on the drive. It's in a wide open area between the mountains, and we wanted to give Jemma a chance to run and play in the snow!
We probably spent a half hour trying to get a good video of Jemma powering up and down this hill. The poor girl was wiped out after the senseless workout that we put her through.

The only thing funnier than watching Jemma run at top speed is watching Matt run at top speed. Heehee.

Hope is an old mining town that consists of....nothing, really. Mostly some historic buildings and a river that opens into the ocean. Hope is on the opposite side of the Cook Inlet from Anchorage.

Not an exciting trip by any means, but we'd like to return and do some hiking here with Marissa, perhaps. There are supposed to be some pretty great trails. Mostly, it was just nice to relax in the car and see beautiful Alaska :)

The adventures of Matt Bex

2010-06-10T23:37:00.001-07:00

So, you get to see all of my adventures on this blog, because I take pictures and...well, I take pictures. But Matt has recently started taking pictures of his adventures, as well!

One of his favorite things to do after work is drive around Alaska and search for the perfect fishing spot. This was on a drive around Fort Richardson...He also goes to the range from time to time with his friend Matt P. Between them, they have begun to build quite the gun collection. These were all the different kinds of ammo they shot on their last trip. I think it should be an AT&T image!

...and this was the damage done.

His adventures are much more manly and dangerous than mine.

The adventures of Jemma Bex

2010-06-10T23:13:00.001-07:00

This is our very first photo of Jemma EVER. I can't even believe how cute she is! this is in Matt's truck on the way home from picking her up. She was very scared, but she already loved me. And look how beastly huge her paws are!!
Jemma with her first teething toy...

*sigh* She's adorable.

Down at the Eagle River in early spring...this is a shot of the AWESOME and VERY COOL and FASCINATING candlestick ice that forms on many rivers here. I think it is amazing and super fun to walk on! Instead of being a sheet of ice, there are billions of vertical ice crystals all squished in next to each other. When you walk on them, they move side to side a bit and it feels really funny! Also, you can pull them straight out and eat them. YUM!

Also, I know that this photo makes it look like all I ever do is sleep on the couch. But it's not true. It's just that whenever I do, Matt is overwhelmed by our cuteness and has to take a photo. Also, it's the only time she slows down enough to take a non-blurrified photo!

This is a Sunday morning photo shoot that we did while Matt was drumming at church...

This is one of Jemma's favorite places to go. I know that it looks like we are in the wilderness, but we are actually less than two miles from our house, in the Eagle River.

(well, when you see the bridges it isn't so wildernessy)

Okay, and while some people really hate dandelions, we think they are beautiful and Jemma thinks they are super fun and delicious. We love having a beautiful yellow yard that we didn't have to pay to fill with flowers (and also it is way too difficult to mow our yard). Isn't she beautiful?

Jemmy got her final set of vaccinations this morning, and she weighed in at 36.3 pounds--that's a 12 pound gain from four weeks ago! The veterinarian is baffled by her, and says that she is still skinny. She also says that she is sexy, and we totally agree.

Hawaii...way overdue!

2010-06-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

Well we finally got our home computer fixed (the ram kept getting fried...thank goodness it was still under warranty!), so I have access to Matt's photos from Hawaii. For those of you that aren't aware, Matt was supposed to be gone for five weeks from the end of February to the end of March. The majority was to be spent in Thailand, and then a short stint at the end in Hawaii--during MY spring break, I might add! Well, after a LONG series of delays of all kinds (broken jets, weather, earthquakes, overtime pilots, etc.), five weeks turned into less than three weeks, and the entire time was spent in Hawaii. Matt was glad to not have to travel the distance to Thailand, but bummed that he wouldn't get to visit that country.

Matt stayed at Pearl Harbor Naval Base--pretty cool, huh?! He had a room to himself...well, mostly! He had a lizard friend that lived on his patio...

At work (if you can call it that!)...Matt FINALLY visited Waikiki Beach in Honolulu after being there for almost a week. He got there just as the sun was setting...

On an exploratory drive with some friends along the East Coast on Rt. 83, Matt was finally able to see some of beautiful Hawaii. This photo was taken somewhere between Kahaluu and Kaaawa (see map). Also, can I just say that these city names are redonkulous? How can there even be three vowels next to each other in a word (let alone the SAME vowel)!? In Spanish, that is a DANGER, DANGER symbol for my students so they know they spelled something wrong.

These photos were taken in Kahana Valley Park...

(This photo was pre-sunburn.)

After seeing this beach on the first trip, he made a point to stop here again the next weekend. This beach, in Hauula (Sacred Falls Park), is the site of his infamous Hawaiian sunburn (if I were there, he would have been wearing sunblock)....
This beach is somewhere near the Laie area. There, the beaches were very rocky and not so great for swimming.

This was a cool place to snorkel in the Kahuku area. It was a huge bay filled with cool fish AND......sea turtles!

As you round the Kahuku Pt. of the north shore, you find yourself in Hawaiian Farm Country! Don't be deceived--this is not a cornfield you are looking at: it's a field of PINEAPPLES! Yum! The Dole Plantation is in this area as well. Post-sunburned Matt went for a drive in his Mustang Convertible--with the top up to prevent further injury :( --along the western coast of Oahu. Route 93 is where more of the Hawaiian Natives lived and, well, let's just say that Matt didn't make any stops. Route 93 ends in Kaena Park, where this photo was taken...

All in all, Matt just wished his wife was there with him. And that he had worn sunblock.

A wedding, a lake, and a wet dog

2010-06-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 29

Mr. and Mrs. Ryan and Stephanie Conger

Stephanie is the youth leader at our church. Beautiful ceremony, beautiful day.

Thank goodness for the Alaskan midnight sun! After the reception, we still had many hours of daylight to spend on Clunie Lake in the Fort Richardson recreational area. It's deep in the heart of the military base, more than a half hour from the front gate...and it's beautiful! It was the maiden voyage of the two single-seater pontoon rafts that Matt purchased from his supervisor when he left the state. It took awhile to get the hang of maneuvering them, and it helped that there wasn't much wind on the lake.

We each caught a good number of lake trout since the lake was recently stocked, but they were still very small (9 inches maximum). It was a good first night of fishing.

Sunday, May 30

Tony Knowles Coastal Trail

In preparation for Sherry's trip to Anchorage, we decided to check out the Tony Knowles Coastal trail, a walking/bike trail that runs about 9 miles along the coast. We borrowed bikes (we are still hunting for the perfect Craig's List Bikes for us!) and drove to Elderberry Park. It was a beautiful afternoon, and the trails were packed with all kinds of people. One stretch runs along the airport, and we had a Korean Airlines jet fly right over our heads while we were coming in for landing.

The tide was just coming in as we headed back to Anchorage...

Downtown...

Monday, May 31

Memorial Day

Gwen Lake, Ft. Richardson

Gwen Lake is a much smaller lake that is not quite so far into the rec area at Ft. Richardson. We spent an hour or two on this lake, but it is very shallow, and with the burning sun, the fish were not out. This lake is so shallow that it freezes completely each winter, so they need to restock it each spring. This lake was also stocked with very small lake trout, and it wasn't really worth it to stay for very long.

Today's adventure was not in the fishing, but in the company. We didn't want to leave Jemma in her kennel all day when the weather is so beautiful, so we developed a plan for her to join us. We bungee-corded a laundry basket to my already ghetto raft, threw in a blanket and a few toys that float, and headed onto the lake. I knew that Jemma would not want to stay in the basket, so I held onto her for the first ten minutes until she realized that I would not let her jump out to go to Matt, or wander around the raft, or whatever. She settled into playing with her toys.

We passed some birds that Jemma ignored, and as we approached the opposite side of the lake, she began throwing her toys out of the basket. I had to scramble around the raft to re-position it and myself in order to fish them out of the water.

Well, as I was fishing her tennis ball from the water on the left side of the pontoon, I heard a SPLASH! from behind. Jemma had jumped into the water and was swimming as best as she could toward the shore. However, she quickly realized that the shore was too far, and turned around and swam toward me. She looked so scared and confused about what had just happened, but finally she got close enough for me to swing the pontoon around, grab her by the collar, and pull her into my lap. She was soaking wet, shaking, and coughing from all the water she had taken in through her mouth. My poor baby! After she had settled, I laid her back in the laundry basket, and there she stayed--never to jump out again.

Shortly thereafter, we headed back to Clunie Lake. We hoped that we would find fish in the deeper, cooler water that wasn't so affected by the intense sunlight. And we were right! This is a picture of the first fish that I caught--a 10 inch trout that had swallowed all three prongs of the hook. I had to have Matt come and help me get it off the line!

When Jemma started to get restless, I rowed to shore and found this old dock. We tied up the pontoon and came ashore for a little while. As we were heading back to the pontoon, Jemma stepped out onto some of the lily pads floating at the end of the dock, thinking that they were solid. Oops! Into the water she crashed once again. Poor baby. We played together in the shallows whenever I started to get leg cramps or overheated, and I couldn't believe how warm the lake was for being located in Alaska! I felt like I was at Toole's camp! (Which is apparently where my parents were that day.)

Toward the end of the afternoon, Matt and I attached our pontoons and fished together for a few hours. This was our loon friend. It would periodically dive into the lake, and we would watch it swim underneath our pontoons and reappear a few feet away on the other side of the rafts.

Another day of lots of little fish, but a beautiful day to be out on the water in Alaska! Next time we are going to go somewhere else in search of bigger fish.

Eagle Lake

2010-05-31T09:34:00.000-07:00

On Saturday 5/22, Matt and I made an exploratory journey down the South Fork of Eagle River to find Symphony Lake, a glacial lake that was recently stocked with grayling and will soon open for fly fishing. We brought Jemma along on the 10-mile round-trip hike, and we were all pretty tired by the time we reached home. The hike starts off with a significant incline as you walk along the ridge of the mountains to the right, but then the trail heads down into the valley and is more or less flat for the rest of the trip.

Jemma is amazing. We started with her on the leash, but soon grew frustrated with her sniffing around and holding us up, so we took it off. She never wandered more than ten feet away from us, even when we passed other groups of people and their dogs. She kept up with a steady trot, and only began to show her fatigue when we were almost back to the trailhead.

Just after the trail dips down off that first ridge, it crosses the South Fork of Eagle River. The entire trail is quite well-maintained, and there are occasional bridges (none so complex as this one) and boards to walk along where the trail gets muddy.

We are headed through the pass in these mountains to the left.

We came across several ponds, which was nice for Jemma to be able to drink from. We've been working on adjusting her to water, and even though this water is COLD, she was content to play along the edges. She hasn't yet figured out how to swim without taking in water through her mouth, but as long as her feet can touch ground, she is happy.

One amazing thing about Alaska is the evidence that glaciers have left behind of their presence. This enormous, flat rock was deposited in the middle of the valley with no other rocks near it.

As we got closer to the lakes, we encountered more and more glacial ponds. The color of the water created by the particles floating in the water is breathtaking! Also, although this pond is very small, it is VERY deep. It reminded Matt and me of Green Lakes, where you can see the bank for a few feet, but then there is a sharp drop-off into the abyss below.

Here is where we got confused. We meant to end up Symphony Lake, but this is Eagle Lake. We weren't really sure where we went wrong, but as it turns out, Symphony Lake is just beyond Eagle Lake. If only we had kept going! Oh well. As you can see, most of the lake is still covered in ice, so we will attempt the journey again in a few weeks with fly rods (when the season is open) to catch some grayling.

The journey home...

I had to get at least one photo of my mountain man photographer with his gun on his back before the trip was over :)

We returned to the trailhead at about 8:30 (can you believe how beautiful and sunny Alaska is at 8:30pm?! We love summer!). It was an awesome hike, and we look forward to doing it again soon....like with Marissa when she arrives in just three weeks!!! :) :) :)

Baby baby baby!

2010-05-29T12:40:00.000-07:00

To start off this overdue post, here is a picture of our good friends the Nottinghams with the newest addition to their family--Breyden Wayne. Breyden popped Jenn's water five weeks early, and although he was just five pounds and some odd ounces, he is a very healthy baby boy. We got to visit him at the hospital when we brought their two daughters to visit him when he was finally released from NICU at three days old.

...but enough about their baby!

We know that you just want to know about our baby! She is my snugglemuffin :)

This is a typical moment in Jemma's life:

Oh boy do we love this dog. She is growing like a weed! Between her first two appointments (4 weeks apart), she doubled in size from 12.5 pounds to 24.7 pounds! The veterinarian is not convinced that she isn't part Great Dane! She is so well behaved, loving, energetic, and snuggly. She is the best dog that ever existed. (No offense to your dogs, but it's true.)

Meet Jemma!

2010-04-10T23:01:00.001-07:00

We got a puppy!! I call her my Jesus puppy because she is an answer to prayer. Matt and I had decided to get a puppy this summer, and for about a month we've been doing doggy research. Plus, Sheri Becker prophesied it over us at Easter ;)

On Thursday, I got an email at school that a woman that I work with at school had forwarded from a friend about some puppies that she needed to get rid of....and this picture, among others! (p.s. this is her sister, not Jemma) We were smitten.

Well, I called Dana to grill her about Nana (their boxer), and then we drove out to South Anchorage to "look" at the puppy, knowing full well that we would probably come home with one. And we did! The first stop on the way home was a gear pick-up: Janelle sold us a huge old kennel for $25 (there is a box in it now until she gets bigger, which she will!), and Sarah gave us an old dog bed with a small tear in the hem. Then, we stopped at Petco for puppy food, carpet cleaner, and a toy: enough to get us through until the next day. Jemma went right to bed in her kennel without whining at all! The next day, we both left for work at 6:00am, but Matt was sent home after an hour!! He spent the day with Jemma and brought her to visit me and do a little more puppy shopping on my lunch break. She has been so good! As long as we take her outside to relieve herself every 20 minutes or so, she doesn't pee or poop in the house. At night, we wake up about every three hours to let her out. And today she stayed in her kennel for five hours while we were at the Sportsman's show without messing in her kennel!! She is so good. We love her!! I can't wait until she is big enough to run with me :) :) :)

Sledding on Saddleback

2010-01-23T22:58:00.001-08:00

It really is amazing and surprising how quickly daylight returns to Alaska. We slept in until 9:00am Saturday morning and had to close the curtains because there was sunlight coming through! One glimpse out the window revealed that today would be the perfect day to climb Saddleback; a mountain just a few minutes from our house that overlooks Eagle River. Daniel and I climbed it on a rainy day in waning sunlight, and Samantha and I climbed it in complete fog. I have been wanting to reach the top on a clear, sunny day because the vantage point from the top is perfect! We donned our snowshoes once again, hopped in Matt's truck, and up Mile Hi Road we went.

The first part of the hike is on narrow switchback trails through the woods. It's a very steep incline, and the narrow trails made it tricky to navigate with huge snowshoes and poles. We were sweating by the time we reached the first opening in the trees, so we were glad for the excuse to stop and snap some photos! This is Eagle River, and Anchorage is past the mountain on your left. You can see some of its high-rise buildings just above where that mountain flattens out.

After you leave the trees, the landscape opens up into a rolling hill of sorts that form a sort of valley between two peaks (hence the name "Saddleback"). It was on this hike that my friend Meghan watched a baby moose be attacked and devoured by a bear, and I imagine that it was in this part of the hike that she witnessed that. The trail headed off toward the left peak, but Matt and I followed some snowshoe tracks toward the right-hand peak, which is the one that I've climbed both times prior.

Although the sun is high in the sky (well, for the winter...this is about as high as it gets right now), the Eagle River Valley remains dark because of the mountains that surround it.

We watched a group of guys that were ahead of us seek some adventure and try to scramble up this snow-slope instead of sticking to the more exposed part of the peak. It took them about 20 minutes to work their way up those last 20 feet! The snow up top is just powder, and your snowshoes slide can't dig in because it just falls away beneath them.

Eagle River from a better vantage point. The puff of smoke that you see toward the top of the photo is just outside Matt's base, so that you get an idea of distance. The ocean is on the horizon.

You can see how the wind (that is usually fierce up here) has all but cleared the snow from most of the peak. Today was the perfect day for this hike not only for the sunshine, but for the absence of wind!

Eagle River from above. You can see how most of it is still in shade even at 2:30 in the afternoon! At the edge of the sunlight you can see Walmart, and our house is in the sun just three streets over. One more

Looking down the Eagle River Valley away from the town and into the Chugach Range.

Butt-sledding down was probably the safest, and definitely the fastest, way to descend! There's a much lower risk for broken bones when you don't fall head over heels down the steep incline. Be careful to keep the poles up, though, or they will dig in and flip you over real quick!

The setting sun...

It's been awhile since we've taken videos with the camera, so we forgot that you can't flip them on the computer...you'll have to watch these with your head turned to the side! Matt took this first one as we sledded down the hill that you saw me snow-shoeing across up above (the rolling hill part).

...and back down again after I fetched Matt's gloves! Next time we hike this in the winter, we are strapping sleds to our backs. Anyone want to join us?

South Fork Eagle River & My Husband the Electrician

2010-01-18T22:02:00.000-08:00

It may be January, but that doesn't mean that Matt has stopped obsessing about fishing. Since we returned home from NY, he has been researching fishing holes with a vengeance! (Probably since he has a new fly rod gracias a mis padres.) Since neither of us had to work today, we decided to kill two birds with one stone and satisfy my need to get out into Alaska and his need to scope out a new fishing hole!

We drove down Hiland road (which is across the Eagle River Valley from our house) to the South Fork trailhead to do some preliminary scouting of the trail back into the mountains. Hiland Road runs halfway up the side of a mountain before dodging back into a mountain pass surrounded on all sides by mountains in the Chugach range. The homes in this valley don't see sunlight for much of the year because the mountains are too high around them. Even so, it's a beautiful place to be! The valley is filled with evergreens and completely secluded from the rest of the world. Although the sunshine didn't hit us, it was a bright, sunny day and the the sky was a gorgeous, crisp blue. Just the kind of day that makes you love Alaska :)

Partway along the trail, we found evidence of a forest friend!

The trail heads between these mountains and eventually ends up at a pair of glacial lakes. We will wait for summer before we hike out that far!

The sun shines over the mountain behind us, but doesn't get high enough to light up any of the homes on this side of the mountain. However, with five minutes of daylight gain each day until June 21, it won't be long!

This is as far as we got!

The view heading home...the white line that you see at the tip of the "V" formed by the mountains is the fogline. It may not seem like we are up very high, but this valley is wayyyy above sea-level! We climbed through a thick layer of fog before we broke into the clear air that you see here! By the time we got home, the fog had settled in even more and the sun was blocked out at our house. I guess we should have stayed out on the trail longer to enjoy the sunlight!!

This morning, while we were waiting for the sun to come out so that we could hike, we went to Lowe's to pick out a paint color to match the BEAUTIFUL bedroom black-out curtains that Mom made us for Christmas and hunt for a ceiling fan. Matt spent the evening wiring the fan and....voila! He is amazing.

Moose at the Butte!

2010-01-12T22:23:00.000-08:00

It was a miracle! After a long week of transitioning back to work and a long morning drumming at church, Matt wanted to spend Sunday afternoon exercising! I told him about the beautiful afternoon that Sam and I had spent at the Butte while she was here, and we decided to attempt to beat the setting sun out to the valley for a snowshoe ascent of my new favorite spot.

The snow has a thick frozen layer on top, which made for a very noisy hike as we crunch, crunch, crunched along with our snowshoes and poles. The first half of the trail is a gentle slope that winds back and forth up the first part of the Butte. At one point when I was leading, I turned around to look back at my amazing husband and was SHOCKED to see a moose trotting straight up the hill from where Matt was! I shouted "MOOSE!" and beckoned for Matt to come get the camera!

Unfortunately, someone (*cough* *cough* ME!! *cough*) didn't charge the camera, so it kept turning on and off before it finally died. The photo story, therefore, is quite incomplete. My apologies.

The trail runs parallel-ish to the bottom of this photo, then winds up along the right-hand side before zipping back to the left, where it passes right by where you see the moose up top.

We snapped a few quick pictures of the moose after it reached a small plateau and stopped for a snack, then decided that we wanted to get closer! I searched for the closest tree so that I knew where to run if moosey went into attack mode, and we quietly started "tip-shoeing" up the path toward Mrs. Moose. She stayed relaxed and was much more interested in her food than she was in us, although she paused every 30 seconds or so to stare at us for a bit before foraging once again.

It's easy to understand why it is so difficult to spot moose when they are not out in the open! They are queens of camoflage.

Just before this picture was taken, we were probably 15 feet away from her as she stood off to the left of the trail. She finally decided that she had had enough of us and trotted off the trail to the right, where she stayed just inside the treeline until we decided that it was time to move on.

We high-tailed it to the top, but the sun was already back in hiding
behind Pioneer Peak.

However, our adventure for the day was far from over! Once atop the butte, we found two more moose friends that spent a half hour with us as we hiked up to the highest point on the Butte's top. We would advance, then they would, then we would, then they would. It was awesome! These two were much larger than female that we saw on our way up.

Mountaineering Moose

The Summit

The Valley

When we arrived back at Matt's truck, I started texting our moms to tell them about our exciting moose encounter. No sooner did I send out the message than I had to send out two installments of updates because we passed two huge bull moose that had already lost their racks for the winter.

It is so good to be home!

Labor Day Weekend

2009-12-06T02:03:00.001-08:00

So I realize this is very late, but we didn't take any pictures on our trip to Homer, Alaska over Labor Day Weekend, and I just got these from a friend (I knew she had some good ones and I was looking for a Christmas Card photo!). We spent the weekend with our Bible study group at our friend Gary's parent's home. His parents own like four radio stations, so they live up on top of Diamond Ridge, with a beautiful view of the ocean and Mt. Redoubt!!

Homer is famous for its spit, which is a long, very narrow strip of land that sticks out into the ocean. There are tons of trendy little shops all along it. Almost everything closes up on Labor Day weekend--on Saturday everything was open, and when we came back on Sunday 2/3 of the shops were boarded up for the winter. Crazy!

The pictures are a little backwards...the first three are from Sunday lunch--deep fried halibut!! YUM!!

The weather that weekend was unheard of. It was our first time in Homer, but we were told to expect cold, WINDY days. It was around 70 and completely still the entire time we were there.

Saturday, we made grilled cheese sandwiches on the beach on the spit.

The girls waiting for the men to get back from picking up sandwich materials (we waited FOREVER!). Sheri, me, Dana, and Jenn.

And...notice the mountains in the background? Amazing.

The Bex in AK

2009-09-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

Ken and Melanie arrived for their much-anticipated trip to Alaska on September 17!! We were so excited to see them and to show them the beautiful place that we now call home!!

Matt and I both worked on Friday so that they could sleep, but as soon as we got out, we headed down to Seward to enjoy what would probably be the last nice weekend of the year.

We stopped at Beluga Point on the Seward Highway...

Then arrived in Seward LATE on Friday night...we don't know how it happened, but somehow the trip took four hours with only two stops and Matt driving 75 mph on average. Weird, right? We think we were in a time warp. We ate dinner at Ray's Waterfront and had some delicious seafood :)

Then woke up early Saturday morning to see as much as we could!
We spent the morning at the harbor...

This was the bald eagle that Melanie woke up to!

Jellyfish in the harbor

We spent most of the afternoon at the Alaska SeaLife Center, which was SO awesome!!

We got to touch starfish and anenomes and lots of things!!

The majestic sea lion

Jellyfish!! Matt took an awesome video of them swimming.

Then we drove to Exit Glacier on our way out of town
Mel found moose poop! She thought it was a rock and she picked it up to keep and give to Corine haha!

At Exit Glacier

Melanie was brave and waded into the water that was freezing this SUMMER...she was in pain!!

Our first trip to the Moose's Tooth--on the way home from Seward on Saturday night.

Bonfire!!

Disc golf at Peter's Creek

They braved the drive up to Jack and Jeannie's to see the view--it was cold up there!!

Matt took his parents to the Nature Center on Monday morning...

Friday afternoon, we visited my classroom (this is my Promethean Board) and Matt's work, but of course we couldn't take any photos there! Top Secret stuff and all, you know...

Of course we HAD to go back to the Moose's Tooth...Ken and Melanie love it just as much as Matt and I do!!

Look--they are in love!! Aww...

Saturday morning, we got our first snow!! It melted as it hit the ground, but it was enough to let us know that winter is here. Thankfully, the weather warmed up and the sun came out, so we went back to the Nature Center that afternoon. There was lots of dying salmon to watch, and a wedding!!

Look! We're matching!!

There are lots more pictures on facebook if you're interested :)

Harding Icefield

2009-08-12T07:50:00.001-07:00

After I had such an awesome time at Exit Glacier with mom, dad, and Matt (photos to come...sometime), I couldn't wait to get back to Seward with Daniel to hike the Harding Icefield trail, a 7.8 mile round-trip, 3000 ft. elevation gain trail of wonders. Unfortunately, Daniel is a trail master. We summited in two hours--and there were NO breaks for breathers anywhere on the almost four mile climb to the top!! It was an awesome workout, but I can't say that I enjoyed the views on the way up--I was too focused on the ground beneath my feet! But that's why there's a thing called a descent...

At the trailhead down by Exit Glacier

Oh no! He is falling off the bridge!!

Daniel in the tundra + Glacier

First snow crossing

The Harding Icefield, from where Exit Glacier "flows"

The glacier spills out of the mountain pass...

So, I realized when I saw this picture that I LOOK LIKE DEATH, thanks to my lil' bro's grueling pace.

"The hole", where the glacier has melted away. Water was rushing from it!

GOATS! From far away.

This was the coolest thing for me...those are MOUNTAIN TOPS!! And they are BURIED in glacial ice and snow! How incredible.

Feet + Glacier

I asked Daniel to get a beautiful scenic picture of me sitting and viewing the landscape, but instead he got a picture of me sitting an eating. Awesome. Also, I'm making an expression that my mom always makes...yikes.

Goats! There were about ten, including a mama and baby!!

Let's focus on the beautiful landscape.

Perched

I apologize...you're about to see a lot of photos of Daniel's back side. But since I didn't have time to stop and take photos on the way up, I had to get them some time. And since we literally ran the whole way down, I had to get motion shots. Ah well...

Up in the clouds

Rock, glacier, mountain

Around the mountain

Picking his way through a rock-field...a glacier deposit

I think the sun breaking through the clouds onto the mountain is super cool.

Running through the arctic tundra...

A waterfall

After we finished our 7.8 mile hike to the Icefield, we decided to do a SEPARATE one mile hike up to the edge of the glacier, where I had been about a month ago with Matt and my parents. Here is Daniel and the glacier!

The Icefield trail was awesome. It is very well-maintained, and the views are incredible. Pack cold weather clothes for the top, because the temperature drops off VERY quickly once you pass through the clouds. Like I said, we summited in two hours, spent about 15 minutes on the top, and descended in 1.5 hours for just under a four hour climb. Pretty exhausting for Daniel's first day here in Alaska! We headed back home for SHOWERS because we were STINKY!!

Flattop with NAOMI!

2009-08-12T07:32:00.001-07:00

Naomi came to visit for about three days last week (she was in AK for a week, but spent the rest of the time with an aunt that also lives up here). I had the most special time catching up with her, and I was sad that it had to be so short. Naomi is awesome!

Our big event was climbing Flattop, which is the most climbed hike in Alaska. It's fairly easy and very accessible, with stairs built into most of the trail. It's about 1.5 miles up and 1300 ft. elevation gain.

Downtown Anchorage is to the right of Naomi's head.

The Cook Inlet

At the summit!

I don't think that I will ever climb Flattop again...I didn't like the stairs that they had built in (although they are necessary because of erosion on such a frequently used trail), and the last portion of the climb was straight-up rock climbing. There were too many careless people trying to pick their way around for it to be safe and enjoyable. But it offers stunning 360deg views of Anchorage and the Chugach range. AND I was glad to do it with such fantastic company :) Naomi, U R D Best!

Here fishy fishy fishy....

2009-08-03T10:55:00.000-07:00

Jack and Jeannie took us our last weekend on the Kashwitna for some silvers! Unfortunately, it wasn't the day for the Bex. Jack and Jeannie limited out (2 silvers each) within an hour, but Matt and I didn't get a bite the whole time we were there. Jack even set up my rod and cast it and everything! Here is Jeannie with the biggest catch of the day....YUM!

Well, we finally gave up and decided that we wouldn't be getting any fish, so I told Jack that I wanted to just keep casting out my bait until it fell off. So I was very angrily casting and reeling, casting and reeling, when all of a sudden...SNAP! My line shot down and I had a fish!! I was so excited until I saw what it looked like....

...kindof like a catfish on the front and an eel at the back. Very weird and ugly. It's a burbot, which is a freshwater cod. Turns out though, it's known as being the most delicious freshwater fish you can catch--AND IT IS! I have since decided that I don't care about salmon, I just want to catch burbot! You boil it in sugar water and dip it in garlic butter, and it tastes like lobster. Soooo yummy! I love my burbot friend :)

The four silvers and my burbie :)

Jack and Matt filleting the fish...well Jack filleted the salmon, but Matt had to skin my burbot. You are supposed to do it by sticking a nail through its head into a board, and slicing the skin all the way around behind the head, and then peeling it with pliers. Without pliers or a nail, Matt had to be creative, and the result was a slightly mutilated fish. But we salvaged all the meat!!

The funny thing about my burbot is that it would not die! Matt couldn't hold it still, so finally I told him to chop off the head so that its brain would be disconnected, but it just kept flopping around!!

Well, after our limited success last Saturday, we decided to head up on our own and fish off the shore on Saturday (August 1). We were there for a good four hours without even a hit, (no one on the river got anything while we were there) except for Matt's first official Alaskan catch....haha...

You can imagine how funny this was when we have been trying and trying to catch fish for...multiple weeks...and he finally did, and it was this guy. Oh well. I was just praying and praying that he would catch a good fish so that he wouldn't be discouraged, but it didn't happen. We gave up, and as we were crossing the river back to the main shore, a woman started talking to us and suggested going three miles north to Sheep Creek. So we did! And....

Beautiful bliss! It was very crowded (one person every ten feet down the river), so I didn't fish because I'm not very good at casting, but Matt caught ten fish in just a few hours! He had quite a few more on the line but lost them, usually because he had snagged them in a fin somewhere and you can't really set the hook when it's hanging on to something flimsy like that. You literally cast the line out and reel it in, hoping that it will bump into a fish and the hook will snag itself into their skin. CRAZY!

This is Matt reeling in a chum salmon...they fight the hardest, so they are fun! As you can see, he snagged this one in the fin on its back. It makes it even harder to reel them in because they can swim around all over the place!

A "humpy " (pink salmon)

After so much fun on Saturday, we drove back up after church on Sunday for five hours of fishing before we came home to get Naomi from her Aunt's house. The river was much less crowded, so I was able to get out and fish too! (And improve my casting!!)

Matt with his first catch of the day...a chum "dog" salmon

Me with the first fish that I actually landed (except the burbot)...another dog.

We ended the day with three dogs, two humpies, and a silver! The silver was the only one that we kept. YUMM!!!

OMG OMG OMG

2009-07-23T06:25:00.000-07:00

OMG the baby was just in the backyard and then it left out the back corner and then all of a sudden I saw it RUNNING toward me diagonally across the yard, so I stood up AND THE MAMA MOOSE WAS RIGHT UNDER MY WINDOW LIKE TWO FEET AWAY FROM ME AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT!!!! And then the baby started NURSING right under my WINDOW!!!!

...NURSING! Right outside our office window!!

I scared them a little :/

I love them and they are my best friends. :)

...and AGAIN!

2009-07-23T06:07:00.000-07:00

Okay no lie. As soon as I typed the last sentence, I peaked out the window and THEY WERE THERE AGAIN!!

THE RETURN OF THE MOOSE FAMILY

2009-07-23T05:35:00.000-07:00

Well, except for the absentee father, of course ;)

Matt and I were getting ready for bed, and I heard Jack and Jeanie's dogs start barking, and I said, "Oh, looks like the moose family is back!" But I didn't look and went to bed because I didn't want Matt thinking that I was obsessing about the moose, but then I had to get up for something so I sneaked a look out the window, and the baby was back!!

The mama was much farther away behind the Tope's fence, and it took her a good 15 minutes to wander out.

They just eat and eat and eat....this is good though because they are keeping the ground cover "mowed" back on the easement!

It was so sweet and magical...

Then the baby came on adventure down into the yard and ended up behind one of our wood piles.

This time, they wandered off in the other direction :/

Needless to say, I'm going to spend the rest of my summer looking out the windows for them!

A MOOSE FAMILY IN OUR BACKYARD!!

2009-07-22T14:22:00.001-07:00

As if I didn't already love our backyard enough...

This afternoon when I got home from Tech Training at Clark, I was on the phone with Sheri and looked out our master bedroom window and saw this ADORABLE baby MOOSE!! It was just meandering around eating the plants on our ridge.

Sheri kept saying "Well, where's the mama? Where's the mama? The mama's gotta be there somewhere!!" And finally I spotted her back sticking out above the Tope's fence. And then she started walking toward our yard!! Here she comes....

So they were both standing on the ridge eating for a little while....

...and then I started taking a video! AND THE MAMA WALKED RIGHT AT ME! I had taken the screen out of the window, and I thought she was going to come stick her head in and bite me, or jump through it or something! I was all ready to slam it shut and duck down and hide! But when she got about 8 feet away, to the edge of the sinkhole, she took off running! And the baby followed. They ran down the Wagner side of the house, across the road, through a neighbor's yard, and off into the woods. They were so fast that I couldn't even get the camera up to get a picture before they were out of sight!

Folks, this is probably the most exciting day since I moved to Alaska. SO awesome!!

Glacier Cruise

2009-07-18T22:53:00.000-07:00

The adventure began with a trip through the 2+ mile Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. from Portage to Whittier. It is a one-way tunnel, so the direction of traffic alternates every 30 minutes. It is advised to arrive 15 minutes before the switchover and wait in line, so that's what we did!

While we were stopped at this waterfall watching the gulls (note: not SEAgulls--there is no such animal! There are many kinds of gulls, and not one is a seagull), we watched a bald eagle swoop down and grab one of them and devour it on the rocks! Their strategy to defend themselves against eagles is to take off all at once when they see an eagle so that it can't work its way through all of the confusion.

The first non-bird animal that we saw was a porpoise! It raced along in front of the ferry that runs from Valdez to Whittier. It moved so fast that it was difficult to get a picture!

FISHIES! The first official "stop" on the tour was at the non-profit Wally Noerenberg Hatchery, which is the largest producer of pink salmon in the nation! There are millions and millions of pink salmon in those pens! One time, we watched a salmon flip up out of the water, onto the boardwalk, and into another pen--haha!

This is a salmon flipping out of the water--they were everywhere!

Here you can make out a school of salmon passing by the boat

...and here is a loner. They were HUGE fish!

EAGLES! We saw hundreds during our cruise, most of them near the salmon hatchery.
How many can YOU spot?

This is an "immature." Bald eagles are brownish gray for the first four to five years of their life, which is when they reach adulthood. This color helps them blend in better with their habitat while they learn how to be swift predators and gain strength.

BEARS! We saw five black bears from the boat. It was so exciting! This first little guy was in the harbor with the salmon hatchery. We watched him for a loooong time as he worked his way in and out of the treeline along the coast.

The next bears that we saw are the ones (well, you can only see one) in the meadow on the mountainside. They were running--or bounding, perhaps--up the mountain, chasing an elk or caribou! They were much farther away than the little cub that we saw first, but they appeared even bigger--they must have been VERY big bears!

One thing that was really neat was watching commercial fishermen at work. At this time, the majority were fishing for salmon. The boats that you see with the buoy circle let down the net in a ring and then cinch the bottom to trap the fish inside. Then, they just reel in the net and watch out for the jellyfish!

The next animal that we spotted were sea lions! They are almost black when they emerge from the water, but they dry to that blonde color. They are BORING! Probably the laziest animal on earth. I don't think we saw any of them move! But they are cool anyway.

We saw LOTS of sea otters. Sea otters are covered in lots of hair--60,000 hairs per square inch! (The average human has 6,000 hairs on his or her head.)

Just over halfway through the trip, we arrived at Surprise Glacier, the highlight of the cruise. We stayed there for a good 15 minutes and were able to see it calve (when a chunk breaks off) a couple times, but one HUGE one in particular! It makes a rumbling noise that ends with a thunderclap. It was awesome!

Glaciers appear blue because of light refraction--they are not actually blue. (But if they appear blue, doesn't that just mean that they are blue? I think it's silly.)

See the water pouring out of the hole in the middle of the glacier toward the bottom?
It's the meltage!

Just when we thought that all hope was lost and we were going to have to settle for a typical no-whale cruise, we spotted one! Unfortunately, we didn't get any good photos. This is a humpback whale, and it was sleeping when we saw it. Whales sleep with half their brain while the other half keeps them moving and functioning, so it still goes in and out of the water and blows out water and everything! It was really cool. We got to watch it sleep alongside our boat for a good ten minutes before we had to head back to shore in order to make the 5:00 tunnel time.

After that, Dad decided that it was time for a nap until we reached shore :)

We stopped just after we crossed back through the tunnel in order to get a few beautiful photos of the Portage area. Here is mom with some glaciers in the background!

On the way back home, we stopped at Winner Creek to try out the hand tram! I had been prepping Dad for it ever since I did the trail about a month ago. And, even though he's afraid of heights, he did it! And mom was the one that was scared haha!

Anchorage Museum

2009-07-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

Thursday night, we went to the Anchorage Museum. It's under construction, so many of the exhibits were not yet open, but we were able to view some art exhibits and a very long, thorough Alaska timeline.

Art outside the museum...how many animals can you spot?

Walking through the exhibit, "Enjoying the Inevitable," a photo story about ways that Alaskans have historically made the most of the winter weather.

(You are not supposed to pet the animals.)

(Matt petted the Musk Ox. I scolded him.)

At dinner, Matt said that everyone had to name one thing they learned at the museum. Here's what we shared:
Mom: The coldest recorded temperature in Alaska's history was -80degF on January 23, 1971 in Prospect Creek. That was the day after Mom's 15th birthday.
Dad: The Alaska Pipeline is 800 miles long and it took two men one full day to weld each joint together. Each segment of pipeline is 80 feet long, which means approx. 52,000 joints to weld. 33 people died during construction.
Matt: He spent lots of time studying the five kinds of Alaskan salmon (pink (hump), king (chinook), chum (dog), coho (silver), sockeye (red)) and talked for too long about the kinds to write it all here :)
Me: I learned that Prudhoe Bay, "The North Slope," is waaaaaaaaay farther north than I had imagined. It's the beginning of the pipeline, and many, many people here in Anchorage work there. It's a two weeks on, two weeks off schedule. I didn't know that they traveled so far!!

Day 2: Bodenburg Butte, U-Pick Veggies, Mirror Lake

2009-07-09T16:22:00.000-07:00

Finally, a photo of Jack! He couldn't talk for too long, though, because he had a date with his wife's best friend while his wife is in Florida for two weeks. (It's his second date with her since I've been home from Mexico...)
The sign on Jack's back porch, haha!

July 9...we spent the morning hiking the Bodenburg Butte from the Sandvik Trailhead. The trail is about 1.5 miles and the elevation gain is 875 feet. You'll see that all of the photos are "foggy," but it's actually smoke caused by the wildfires burning up north in Denali. It's a bummer because usually Alaska is crystal clear!

Between erosion and no rain, the trail was pretty much a sand pit the whole way up.

An airplane at eye level!

The peak

The descent

The white Chevy Suburban is pulling a hay rake--haha!!

Round bales

U-Pick Vegetables at the Mormon Commune...there were sex slaves and everything!

Weeding the lettuce rows

Yikes! Watch out! Crazy woman with a knife!

A beautiful bouquet of lettuce

Dad being nosy and snooping around private property...he later found out this was a pea sheller

We stopped at Mirror Lake for lunch!

Mom and Dad's Visit, Day One

2009-07-08T14:55:00.001-07:00

Mom and Dad arrived in Anchorage at 12:01am this morning after 16 hours of travel! (Syracuse-Chicago-Salt Lake City-Anchorage). A long day, but uneventful, according to mom. Mom and I woke up this morning to an empty house--Matt was at work, and Dad was nowhere to be found. I guess he woke up at Farmer time and decided to walk to Walmart. We spent the morning at the Eagle River Nature Center. The river is SO FULL because the temperatures are so high here right now that there is major meltdown on the mountains. The trails were flooded in places, too! Mom spent much of the walk snapping pictures of wildflowers so that she could identify them when we got home...I guess that's where I got it from!!

At the viewing deck...we were hoping that Pink Salmon would be running, but it is a little too early still.

The cottonwood trees shed their cotton bunches sometime last week while I was in Mexico, and the trails were covered with them!

Mom and Dad's turn in the tree cave!

A duck family....

...and a moose family! (Well, mama and baby)

Bear poop! But no bears, thank goodness. Mom wore my new bear bell on her backpack, and I had my bear spray. We were prepared!
Because of all the meltage, a small stream separated the trail from the rocky river bank, so we had to jump it!! On your mark...get set...

...GO!!!

Fireweed...the blossoms are approaching the tops!!

Thank goodness this sign was just laying in a maintenance area and not posted!!

Mexico

2009-07-08T14:28:00.001-07:00

I spent a week in Ensenada and El Zorrillo, Mexico with our church's high school youth group. We held a kid's club at Pastor Tacho's church in El Zorrillo, where we stayed, and built additional classrooms onto the second story of Pastor Teo's church in Ensenada. God was so good throughout the whole thing in keeping us safe and healthy, AND He did a miracle in clearing the lines and getting back across the border--we did it all in just over an hour!!

Entering Mexico...

The infamous fence "La frontera" that divides the U.S. and Mexico--it was scary!!

A view of El Zorrillo, the town that we stayed in. It was built over a landfill maybe...ten years ago? Very poor.

A sweet friend of mine, Blanca (age 6) lives here. She was very proud of her street and of her mom's flowers. She says that her mom never wants to live in a house without beautiful flowers.

The boys, aka trouble, and El Oso ("the bear"), the church's guard dog.

Beautiful Yenny

Katelynn, the oldest Becker, and a new friend :)

This is another sweet friend of mine, Laura. She is an only child and plays alone most of the time. She works in a textile factory with her mother after school every day.

Singing "Father Abraham" after we discovered that one of the boy's names was Abrán.

Abrán, on the right, and his family.

The coast at La Bufadora, "The Blowhole"

La Bufadora

Fishing!

2009-07-08T14:23:00.001-07:00

Jack took us up north to the Susitna River to catch some king salmon. His son had caught 13 in just four hours about a week ago (he could only keep one, though), so we were optimistic. Alas, no salmon were running on this fateful Saturday, and we left after three hours with not even a bite. Maybe next time...

Thunderbird Falls

2009-06-26T23:20:00.000-07:00

A short hike on a well-groomed trail leads to a not-so-breathtaking view of the falls.

Everyone minus me! (Army wives + Army husband + Army baby + visitors)

The creekside trail allowed us to get a little bit closer, and I could have climbed out illegally to see a full view of the falls, but the way was dangerous and I promised Matt that I would be safe. And I was :)

Albert Loop at Eagle River Nature Center

2009-06-26T22:31:00.000-07:00

I spent yesterday afternoon with 5/7 of the Becker family at Eagle River Nature Center. (Katelynn is at DCLA and I will see her on Monday in Mexico!!) The first big news of the day was that Mariyah lost her first tooth!! Gary pulled it out with dental floss.

I love this family.

We watched the squirrel descend the tree, pick a flower, scurry back up the tree, drop the flower, and come back down to pick it up again! A girlie girl squirrel, for sure.

Walking...the loop trail was about three miles long.

We finally made it to the river to eat lunch!! Yumm...In sad news, it was on this beach that I heard the news of Michael Jackson's death. (My phone started going crazy with messages and calls to express sympathy.) Speaking of Michael Jackson's death, I realize that many of you do not understand my sadness. I am sad for Michael Jackson's life, because it was a sad life. He never had a chance to just be normal! All of us do ugly, horrible things at times. I am thankful that I have two parents that love me and that protected me from the ugliness of the world throughout my childhood!! I am sad for his children. And you have to admit...the man was the most incredible entertainer that ever lived. NO ONE can do his music. No one.

Mariyah was the only one brave/crazy enough to get her feet wet in the freezing water!!

Is this incredible or what?!

Collin winning the race to the tree cave, and giving his mom a break from stroller duty!

Mariyah FINALLY reached her favorite part of the trail--the tree cave!

Aubrey and Mariyah

Up a tree...

Bear poop--we saw lots of it, but thanks to Mariyah's loud voice that never stops, we made it through the trail without any sightings. (This is the trail Kate and I had attempted but turned back after we saw the warning of a recent bear charge.)

Chugach mountains

...and baby Elise! One year and three days old.

Tree Removal

2009-06-26T22:01:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Matt took on the dangerous task of cutting down the two dead and one LAME trees in our back yard. We figured it would be pretty easy, because although our yard is surrounded on three sides by our house and our neighbors' fences, the back is totally open. Or so we thought, until Matt's friend Cook (um, I don't know his first name, they work together) brilliantly pointed out the electric lines that run behind the house. Oops! Matt and Cook and our very friendly neighbor Jesse began to work some strategery while Jack supervised, looking very concerned, from his back porch.

The first tree, a short dead one, came down without trouble or hassle.

Then came the not-so-easy one...we had to take down this tree so that the other dead one had a place to fall. However, this guy is TALL!! so we had to cut it down in segments. Which required a very tall ladder tied to the tree. I call this picture, "What am I getting myself into!?!"

My husband is so brave....or crazy!!

Step one: tie a rope to the upper segment that will be used to pull it down after it's notched.

Matt then came down, lowered the ladder a bit, then climbed back up to tie the ladder to the tree again. He came back down, went up with the chainsaw, cut a notch in the tree, came down, everyone tried to pull, it didn't work, he climbed back up and extended the notch, then climbed back down and....

Bliss.

From there on out, it was just another tree.

Winner Creek and BEARS!

2009-06-24T15:30:00.001-07:00

Last Friday, I drove down to Girdwood (with Thianny and some of the army wives that live on her street) to hike the Winner Creek Trail. On the way, I saw my first bears!! Kristiana said they were probably two year old cubs (brown bears). We were driving on the Seward highway and they were casually strolling down a walking path that crossed underneath the highway and then continued along the coast. Here they are!!

The trail was pretty easy to hike; mostly just through the woods, so the terrain reminded me a little bit of Green Lakes meets Chittenango Falls. Here is everyone toward the beginning of the hike...minus Thianny, who was taking the picture. All in all, we were six women, three large dogs, one toddler in a running stroller, and a fetus. No fear of bear attacks with a group that size!!

After about 2.5 miles, we came upon a bridge that crossed over the Winner Creek gorge = BEAUTIFUL!

And just a little beyond that, we came to the much-anticipated highlight of the trip, the hand tram! The hand tram was built in 2000 to connect the 5 mile Winner Creek trail loop to the Girdwood Iditarod Loop on the other side of Glacier Creek. There is a little station on each side of the creek (which is down in the gorge about 100 feet, maybe...anyway it's down there pretty far), and there is a metal cart suspended on a pulley system. So you pull yourself across the gorge, hopefully with help from people still on the sides! It was AWESOME!! Here are twins Emily and Elaine coming across to join Thianny and me on the other side.

Another photo from the Winner Creek gorge...

So, like I said, the Winner Creek trail is about 5 miles, maybe 5.5, and that's what we were planning to do. However, we were told that the WC loop continues on past the gorge, when in reality that is a new trail, and what we should have done is crossed back over the hand tram and continued on the WC loop. We think. Still not totally sure. Anyway, we ended up doing a 7.5 mile hike, toward the end of which Cortney hitch hiked back to the van to come pick us up because we had to get back to base for sushi night!!