A Jeep Ride to the Lake

It was a beautiful weekend, so we took a jeep ride to the lake. The dogs love being in the jeep and we love not having wet dogs in Brian's truck! Fun was had by all...we couldn't keep the dogs out of the water. Dawson slept for the rest of the day in sunspots around the house.

Harry Potter

Has anyone else purchased the final Harry Potter book yet? I got mine today!! I'm hoping that Harry survives until the end of the book...

The Lions!!

For those of you who have seen the movie "Ghosts in the Darkness," you'll appreicate these photos. These are the actual lions that the movie was based on!!! They live in the Field Musuem in Chicago. These were man-eating lions that killed close to 150 men. I was VERY excited to see them. They were origionally made into rugs, so they're smaller here than they would have been in real life. Interestingly enough these lions are male, but the lions from their area don't generally have manes. If you haven't seen this movie I highly recommend it!

Kissed By A Moose

Can you belive that there's a moose in downtown Chicago?! The proportions aren't quite right, but it was affectionate. It was nice to see something that reminded me of home! I'm having lots of fun, but am missing Brian. He's up the river with his boat this weekend with the dogs and some friends. Hope he's having as much fun as I am! I can't imagine he's eating as well. Last night Chicago deep-dish was on the menu. I'm still recovering!

Chicago Sculpture

I'm currently in Chicago attending a few conferences for work on how to better recruit students using new marketing tools. Most everything has to do with internet use. Pretty cool! We did spend yesterday on the Miracle Mile in downtown Chicago. One of my favorite things was a sculpture in Millenium Park called Cloud Gate aka "The Bean." This is actually a photo that I took of myself in the sculpture. Pretty cool! I love seeing the buildings reflected too.

Too Little...Too Big

Sometimes Dawson gets frustrated being the little dog in the house. Mattie is always snatching his toys and treats, and she can swim way farther than he can. Dawson gets left on the shoreline watching...and while at home often has to retreat to his kennel or a lap to get a break from Mattie in order to catch a puppy nap.

Mattie, on the other hand, seems to think that she's still a little dog. Even though only her backend fits into Dawson's little bed, she seems to think it is the most comfortable spot in the house. And yes, she does have a bed her own size. Guess the grass is always greener on the other side.

Lazy Sunday

Brian and I seldom have a weekend together, but for the last two days we've been able to enjoy each others' company. I'm heading to Chicago on Wednesday for 10 days of work conferences, so it is nice to have some time together before I leave. When we got up this morning for an early church service (we attend the First United Methodist Church in Fairbanks...where we got married last summer), we were greeted by a beautiful rainbow. "An excellent way to start a Sunday", we thought.

In the afternoon the weather cleared up, so we went to Pioneer Park to visit the ducks and ducklings.

Then we had brunch at the Pump House with Brian's folks and had a special toast for Brian's brother Jeff- who celebrated a birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!!! We realized about 7:00 pm Alaska time that we had of course missed our window of opportunity to call (drat!). Sorry Jeff, but we were thinking about you!!!

Brian's Toys

Summer in Alaska is all about using toys. Brian has many, many toys...of which his boat and jeep are the two getting the most use these days. The snowmachine is tucked away for the summer and the four-wheeler awaits for the days of snow when it's plow will once again be useful (those days aren't far away...). Brian purchased his jeep last year after clearing out the garage of the jeep that had been completly taken apart. Thankfully Brian's father Don was looking for a retirement project and Brian gave him a "sweet deal." I'm not sure that Brian's mother Patsy was really happy about having another "project" in the front yard, but it gave Brian the space to purchase a jeep that actually runs. He has had to do some tinkering (like replacing the engine and clutch and topping-off the brake fluid after loosing breaking ability on a trip home from work), but it runs like a charm (or at least generally gets him to where he's going...and back).

We've spent more time already on Brian's Weldcraft boat this summer than we did all last summer. We've been up and down the Chena a bunch of times and Brian was up the Teklanika last weekend with some buddies. We're hoping to take it to Lake Louise later this month and we must get down to Valdez for some Silver Salmon fishing before the snow flies. Brian's boat came in handy last summer when we left our wedding reception in it. I just had to post a photo of that too!

Tangle Lakes

A few weekends ago, Brian and I spent the weekend at Tangle Lakes (about 20 miles from Paxon, Alaska) with our friends Katy and Joel- and 4 labs. We had a great time canoeing (through shallow rapids), eating by the campfire, and rearranging campfire rings (which we got scolded for..apparently it's against the law to move state-owned fire rings). It was sad when the weekend came to an end, but hopefully they'll be plenty more adventures this summer.

Mattie and Dawson

I thought we would post a few photos of Mattie and Dawson. Mattie is 10 months and Dawson is 3 months. Mattie is a super-swimmer and has a huge amount of energy. Dawson is much more laid back, with a soft heart. They are great friends and spend all their time together wrestling and fighting over squeak toys and frozen carrots (their favorite treats). Here are a few photos of the pups during some of our Alaskan Adventures (which usually involve water, as you can see).

1st Anniversary!

Today Brian and I are celebrating our first wedding anniversary! We decided to have a relaxing day at home. We went to church in the morning, took the dogs for a walk to Chena Lakes when we got home (for some stick-fetching), and then settled in for some coffee and wedding cake. My bridesmaid Louise did an excellent job wrapping the top of our cake, so it was still moist. We had many fond memories of our special day and want to thank everyone who was there. Tonight we're going to have dinner at the Valada.

Our First Post!

Brian and I have decided to enter the 21st century and create our own blog! We have lots of new photos to post and information to share with our families! We're very excited!