Evie's baptism

The day after her birthday, Evie was baptized to become a member of our church. It was a wonderful day! (It was also storming outside, so I will have to come to terms with our church hallway pictures of the morning. Also, Trent needs a haircut and it shows. Oh, well.)

Evie's grandparents all played a part in her baptism, with Ed playing piano, Scott saying a prayer, Debbie giving the talk on the Holy Ghost, and my mom making Evie's lovely dress.

Evie's "best cousin", Ellie, was in attendance and spreading sunshine wherever she went.

Josh's Grandma Lamb also came, so we snapped a much needed four-generation picture. Anyone else see some slight resemblances?

Evie felt so loved that so many of our family members flew into town for the occasion.

We are all so pleased with Evie's choice to be baptized! She is amazing and we just love her to pieces!

Mississippi

"The Alaskans are coming to town!"

This is the song Trent sang all day on the Friday before Thanksgiving. Five of my family members (mom, Scott, Megan, Brittany, and Noah) arrived on a plane that afternoon and after picking up the girls from school we all set off for Mississippi in a mammoth RV (all except Josh, cuz somebody has to work around here so we can have nice things). My grandpa had no idea what kind of craziness was headed his way.

Grandpa Jack lives in a small town on the border of Mississippi and Alabama. He is in his late 70s and runs a 50 acre farm like it is no big deal. There was a lot of back-porch-sittin' and cow-watchin' during our two days on the farm.

When the cows were ready to be fed, Grandpa got in his tractor, put my 30-week pregnant sister at the helm of his Gator, and told us to follow him. We drove all around his property and didn't get mauled by the cows (a large fear of Evie's, who stayed behind for "safety reasons").

(Evie, safe on the back porch and separated from the cows by an electrified fence. Although, in all fairness, once she saw how passive the cows were she joined us on the next ride out on the farm.)

It was nice to spend time with Grandpa, whom I hadn't seen in fifteen years. He was really sweet and jolly the whole visit and kept telling us how much it meant for us to drive twelve hours to see him. 

Alaska-bound!

School ended the first week in June and shortly afterward the kids and I bid farewell to Josh and Gemma. It was off to Alaska for those of us not working and not a dog.

Evie and I were terribly sick the first week and had to cancel all plans in favor of recovering in bed. Luckily, Uncle Noah is excellent at being an uncle and he took care of the littlest Lambs. The weather was sooo beautiful-- sunny, but the air was still wonderfully cool. I told Josh I had forgotten how much I love air that doesn't feel like an oven.

All my siblings came up to mom's house on most nights. It was just perfect, spending so much time together. The kids, especially Trent, really bonded with their aunts and uncles. We also got to spend time with my Grandma Avant during Sunday dinners.

For our first weekend in town we drove to Whittier. The weather was amazing and we had a lot of fun exploring and being together.

Mom, Brittany, the kids, and I spent one evening at Potter's Marsh, checking out the wildlife and trying to avoid being attacked by the protective Canada geese.

We met my dad at the Alaska Zoo. The new baby seal and baby grizzly bears provided endless entertainment. It was also the only place where my kids saw a moose. I can't believe that we spent a month in Alaska and didn't see a single moose in the wild!

Since we were in Alaska for so long, we got to hang out with several of my close friends. Not a single picture was taken, I guess we must have been having too much fun with the Otts, Mason, Hibbert, Wilde, Cicotte, VanderMartin, and Chappell families. I did receive a text from one friend of a list she found after we left. I love that while I caught up with all my old friends, our kids built fierce friendships in just an afternoon.

Before going to the Saturday Market one weekend, the girls asked to get their ears pierced. Grandma graciously obliged and the deal was made even sweeter because they each got a free stuffed animal with their piercings.

Trent's sleeping was hit or miss. Sometimes he would wake a lot at night, other nights he slept soundly. He hasn't napped for a while now, but the go-go-go of our trip often left him little choice. After one busy play date, he fell asleep in the car, slept through being transferred to a shopping cart, snoozed the whole shopping trip, was transferred back into the car without waking, and slept another hour once we got home.

Noah was involved in a youth math and science congress thing in Boston during our stay in Alaska and mom sent me as his chaperone. We ate at food trucks and toured Chinatown in downtown Boston, visited John Adams home in Quincy, toured the Witch Museum and Hawthorne House in Salem, saw the Louisa May Alcott home and Sleepy Hollow Cemetary in Concord, and generally had a wonderful time. Here we are eating ice cream at the Screamery in Salem.

The kids stayed back in Alaska and were completely spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa. Every day Scott took them to meet my mom for lunch at McDonald's. They went to my mom's work party and enjoyed cotton candy, bouncy houses, and learning to throw a frisbee. Mom even found an amazing park in town with zip lines and other fun equipment. Every night ended with bubbles in "Grandma's bathtub".

My brother, Kyle, always runs the Mount Marathon in Seward on the 4th of July. Instead of staying in tents, this year my parents went all out and rented a camper. It was always been a dream of the girls' to "live in a house with wheels" and they were not disappointed with the experience. All my siblings came and it was just the perfect way to end our already perfect stay in Alaska.

On our way home from Seward we hiked to Exit Glacier.

It sure was a wonderful month in Alaska! Can't wait to see everyone at Thanksgiving!