Wasilla, AK December 27, 2014-January 3rd, 2015

A couple of days after Christmas we flew up to Anchorage to meet Quent's family for a week.  We all stayed in a vacation rental/house together.  The house was beautiful and spacious, which was perfect for 9 adults and 7 children under the age of 4 (Jackson turned 4 when we were there).  So it was pretty busy.  And we all took turns getting sick.  That part wasn't fun, but otherwise it was a really wonderful time together!

Jeralyn and Zion (Mikaela and Chad's daughter).

Zion LOVES Joshua.  Natasha made a time-lapse video of all of Zion's affection for Joshua.  It was so sweet!  And he loved the attention!

All of the grand-kids, minus Joshua (who was probably napping).  

Left to right: Aurora (2.5 yo), Jeralyn (3 yo), Levi (19 mo), Josiah (2 yo), Zion (19 mo), Jackson (4)

Joshua and Grandpa

This was a first for Josh (offering to share his food).

Family Photo with everyone!

The kids praying while Uncle Chad prayed.

All of the grandkids with Grandpa and Grandma.  This picture cracks me up for several reasons (one being that that's not even Josh's sippy cup).

The siblings...together.  This only happens every 3 years or so.

And then it all ended...and we booked it out of there one early morning to the airport.

Our flight back is a flight that stops in 3 different locations: Juneau, Petersburg, and Wrangell.  Each stop is about an hour long.  And then we had a delay in Juneau because of high winds.  It wasn't too long of a delay, but the turbulence was felt (especially by Jeralyn who threw up when we were on the ground in Petersburg).  We were GLAD to be home after that!  Home sweet home!

We loved every moment with our family!

Happy New Year!

P.S. These are Natasha's pictures.  I think Quent took pictures when we were there, but it might be awhile before I post them.

Merry Christmas 12.25.14

Christmas day was one I think a lot of would like to forget.  Quent and Natasha were sick.  Jeralyn said her tummy hurt and that she "didn't feel good".  So we all shared germs and napped and tried to be "normal".  Bah-hum-bug!

We opened presents first thing (after I heated up some pre-made homemade cinnamon rolls--which only Jeralyn and I ate).  I'm not sure what Jeralyn was talking about in this photo, but I love her expression.

Legos!

I'm opening a present from Quent and I'm totally smirking because we bought each other the same gift.  Great minds think alike!  Right?

And what's a Christmas without a turtle gift?

And this is my little man recovering from sickness (he and I got sick at the same time).

And then Natasha left that afternoon.  I never got to say goodbye to her because I was sleeping.  It was sad! But we were going to see her again in a few days, so it was okay.

Christmas Eve Presents 12.14.14

My (Christina) birthday is December 23rd and unfortunately, I was sick in bed all day.  So sad!  Who wants to spend their birthday in bed?  Not me!

The next day I felt better so I was able to sort of participate in the activities of the day.  We gave Jeralyn a couple of presents to open after dinner and a bath.  She opened some Frozen pajamas...

...and a movie from Aunt Natasha.  

And then we watched the movie.

Outside 12.22.14

We had only one day of snow (in November), so we had a lot of moss to play on.  Ha!

Silly girl!

He wasn't sure about crawling around on the grass, but he was happy to get to the ball.

And then we went up on the deck and Josh tried to eat everything he could find.

Reindeer 12.14.14

Every year, right before Christmas, some people who own reindeer here in Ketchikan invite the community to come and see/feed the reindeer.  Quent took Jeralyn out to see them and it looks like she enjoyed seeing them.

Princess Swimmy 12.19.14

Our neighbors surprised Jeralyn with a beta-fish for Christmas.  Jeralyn enjoys watching the fish at their house, so they asked me if it was okay if they got her a fish.  She was surprised!  And excited!

Aunt Natasha December 19 & 20, 2014

Aunt Natasha came on the 16th and we had a wonderful week and a half of visiting with her.

Jeralyn and Natasha mixing some no-bake cookies.

xoxo

Sweet Ones 12.18.14

Love these two!

I can see Quent in Joshua's expression.

9 Months 12.18.14

Jeralyn and Joshua at 9 months:

Gingerbread House 12.14.14

The day before we baked the gingerbread house pieces.  Quent had measured and cut all of the pieces out of the rolled dough.  It was quite a project!  

Quent helping with putting the roof on.

Jeralyn unwrapping peppermints.

Let the decorating begin.

Joshua was watching the decorating action from his high chair.

She's probably singing here.

More Gingerbread 12.13.14

It was time to make some more gingerbread cookies for our gingerbread house (next set of pictures).  See the Cinderella dress?  She wears it all.the.time.  Seriously.  All.the.time.  It was a hand-me-down from a friend and she loves it!

Bath Time 12.9.14

They are so cute!  Except it's not so cute when Jeralyn is afraid her toys will get sucked down the drain.  She's better about it now though (whew!).

Little Baker 12.3.14

I cannot remember what we were making, but I do know it involved evaporated milk.  She loves helping me cook/bake.

Grilled Cheese 12.1.14

It was time to move Joshua onto more "real" table food (no more purees).  He really likes grilled cheese sandwiches that I cut into strips for him.  He took longer than Jeralyn did with liking table food, but he's pretty much there now (January 2015).

Painting Ornaments 12.1.14

For school this day, Jeralyn painted some ornaments for the tree.  She enjoys all sorts of crafts, so this was really fun for her.