annual Kenai Lake campout

Kenai Lake has become our favorite place to camp in Alaska.  We love the views, the bike trails, the lake and we love how peaceful it is!  This year, the weather was rather windy and drizzly BUT it didn't stop any of us from having a blast!  All 3 kids found 2 new favorite things about camping... paddling a canoe AND binoculars!

It is crazy to think that our kids are old enough to be out in a canoe by themselves but they did awesome! Parker is one coordinated little guy so he was able to steer them around like a PRO and since the other 2 are such great rule followers... they would keep reminding Parker any time they were getting too far out, like more than five feet away from shore!  Perfect combo!  ;o)

Love this girl~ she is so silly!  I love that she laughs when things go wrong, like falling out of her chair!

My family!  I am blessed to have such an amazing family and to go on these adventures with them.  Thank you Lord!
Now, to get back home to surprise our kids with a new puppy...

we need a puppy!

"We need a puppy!!!"  These were Kep's words shortly after he got back from fishing this summer.  Yay~ I was thinking the same thing since our kids had been asking for every sort of pet while we were visiting my sister's "farms" in Montana!  I knew one of my friends had a litter of 11 puppies as the first fundraiser for their adoptions~ how cool would it be to support their adoptions AND get a puppy!?!  So, I got right on calling my friend to see if any of them were left.    

Lucy, the champion momma, and her HUGE litter.

Here's all 11 with the Coke's guinea pig!!!  I'm pretty sure our puppy is the one on the far left.

Yep, 2 puppies were left and one just happened to be a... yellow, MALE, bigger build and mellow LAB!  woohoo!

I thought it was super cute that Kep was so excited about getting this puppy but also that he wanted the puppy to be a surprise for our kids!  So, we dropped the kids off with Mo-mo and headed on over to check out our new puppy!  There's our li'l yellow guy chewing on a bush!  We fell in love instantly and knew our kids would do the same!

Here he is with his sister, Ginger, and all the Coke kids that took awesome care of him until we could bring him home!  Unfortunately, we already had our Kenai Lake campout on the calendar and I really didn't want a brand new puppy along for the adventure!  So, we had to wait for the BIG surprise!

10 years= wet bike ride 2 dinner

10 years already!?!  It's difficult to believe it has already been 10 years.  But, then I think of the fact that our eldest is 8 years old and I guess that would make 10 years of marriage more believable!  I am incredibly blessed to be able to say that my love and respect for Kep is stronger today than it was in 2002!
Two of the MANY things I love about Kep are his love for exercise and the outdoors!  Which means... he was so excited when I mentioned that we should go for a ride on our anniversary!  It was a rainy afternoon and we got soaked BUT it didn't matter because it was warm and we were together.  We biked for 14 miles to a little town of Talkeetna where the fish 'n chips were the best EVER... or we had worked up a serious appetite!?!
Although, I was wet from head to toe... THIS night will always be one of my favorite memories with my man!  And, I look forward to many warmer memories when we celebrate our 10th anniversary in "Rachel style"... 9 days in Kona in January!  woohoo!

LOVE those Lovejoy boys!

What fun it was to reconnect with this awesome family.  We wish they lived closer as all our kids had a blast for the short 4 hours that we got to hang out.  

meet Noah and Noah!  ha~ aren't they adorable!?!  They're both... 5, second borns in a lineup of 3 children, similar in personality and named NOAH!  The only thing different is one lives in Utah and one in Alaska!

6 kids, a slip 'n slide and a frog... poor FROG!  It was (cruelly) entertaining watching these 6 kids give the frog a ride on their slip 'n slide!

Parker and Jack would also be good buddies as they are only a month apart!  We love any time we get to spend with the Lovejoys and we look forward to the next visit!