Happy Birthday Talitha and David

We spent the afternoon at Talitha's house and had a party to celebrate Talitha and David's birthday, which are only a week apart.

 Talitha and David, the birthday couple.  It was sunny and hot and the weather was perfect for an outdoor party.

 David cooked individually made pizza on the grill.  Everyone put their own topping on a crust Talitha made and it turned out great.

 They had a tarp set up over the table with all the food.  Talitha, Penelope, Scarlett, and Agnes.

 Christian with some punch.

 Leon with a snack.

 Agnes getting her own water.  She likes to carry cups around.

 After the pizza it was time for some games.  Jacquelyn playing lawn Yahtzee.

 Julia's turn.

Who took this picture?  Can't a person take a nap in peace?

 Joshua and Christian.

 I played a game of catch the kids where you had to catch them and put them in this base here and the ones still loose tried to tag and free the captured ones.  Joshua had to take over after they wore me out.

Happy birthday Talitha and David and thanks for having us over for a great party.  Hope you both have a great great year.

Alaska activities

We did a lot of fun things in Alaska.  It might be the last chance we have to get up there since Joshua and Rebecca are moving to Idaho.

 I really like Alaska.

 Tianna and Doranda came with us and it was fun to see all the sights with them.

 We went to Iditarod Headquarters one day.  This is Doranda with Christian and Elliott in a dog sled run.  The sled was a four wheel drive buggy.  The dogs were so excited to run they could hardly hold still while everyone got on board.

They had puppies to hold.  Jacquelyn and Christian.

 Christian, Elliott, and Doranda with more puppies.  This was training for the puppies to get used to people.

We went to the Dr. Seuss House one day.  It's being built by an eccentric Alaskan millionaire.

 It's closed to the public but we asked this man who lives nearby and he took us out there.  I think he was charmed by the beauty of my women.

 Going up and down the stairs in the unfinished building was fun.

 Joshua and Rebecca were our hosts and we had a lot of fun visiting.  Here we are around a campfire in their backyard in Anchorage.

 At this mountain they have a spigot that funnels melted glacial water that is clear and clean and pure and makes exceptionally good drinking water.

 We did three hikes.  The first one was through the woods and featured a hand pulled tram over a mountain gorge and stream.

 On a log at the end of the hike, Julia, Christian, Tianna, Jacquelyn , and Doranda.

 Skipping rocks at a small likeside shore.  Dallen, Ethan, Elliott, and Rebecca.

 We did a little rock climbing.  Ethan.

 At the downtown tourist market.  Julia, Ethan, Christian, and Elliott at a totem pole.

 Dallen was there with us too.  He's very popular with his young nieces and nephews.

 Agnes and me.

 We had beautiful mountain scenery all around us all the time.

 One day we went to a park by an water landing strip to watch the planes land and take off on water.

 At the Alaska Wild Berry chocolate factory.  Behind us is the world's largest chocolate fountain.

 Our second hike was a mountain hike.  We had to split up here.  Doranda and Joshua and Rebecca's brother went up Wolverine Mountain.  Tianna, Dallen and I went up Flat Top Mountain.

 We made it to the top.

 Going back down.

 Our third hike was out to a glacier.  I think it was Byron Glacier.  Here's Joshua and Doranda almost to the glacier.   We actually got to climb up on the glacier.

Goodbye Alaska, we had a lot of fun.

Animal sightings in Alaska

We saw moose on two occasions in Alaska.

 We saw a bald eagle at a nature park.

 We saw grizzly bears also at a nature park.

Alaska is great.

Alaska - Kristen's Wedding

Jacquelyn and I had the privilege of going to Kristen's wedding in Alaska last month.

 They were married at the shore of this beautiful lake surrounded by scenic mountains, called Beach Lake.  Here they are at the start of the wedding ceremony.  She married Cory Williams.  You can see my brother Mark in the corner of the picture.  Tianna and Doranda were there too.  Also Joshua and his family.  It was really pretty.

Here you see Cory with his mom, and Kristen with her parents Mark and Angela.  This was a special day.

The reception was at the lodge by the lake.  Julia is signing the guest book, which was a globe.  We had hot dogs made out of buffalo and reindeer and afterwards roasted  marshmallows.  It was a lot of fun.  A real Alaska wedding.

The next day there was an Open House at Kristen's home in Eagle River.    They were visited by a moose with her two new babies that morning.  We found them around the corner.  It's kind of hard to see but there are two little moose babies by the mom.

A picture of Julia with the bride and groom.  Hope you have a happy life together Kristen and Cory.