the boys ski... the girls sled

We've worked out a great little system on these blue sky days.  The boys climb with Rosco while the girls go sledding!

Any day in Hatchers is a perfect day for our family BUT a blue sky day and smiles all around is a BLESSING and another fun MEMORY!

Alyeska with friends

 We waited until the end of February to head up to Alyeska because the snow was slow in coming this year!  We had a great time skiing the slopes with our good buddies... the Smiths and Novaks!  Savannah and Owen had a blast hanging out together~ they spent the whole day on the magic carpet!

Savannah's girl peeps dropped by for a visit which was perfect timing!  She was ready for some friendly smiles since her legs were getting "tired"!

Noah, Noah, NoAh!  This boy has more entertaining stories than anyone I know and he's only 6!  So, Noah skied down to the magic carpet to show me his new backward skiing skills!  Well, he wasn't looking where he was going so he backward skied through a rope, over a snowbank and plopped onto the magic carpet.  He landed on his back with his skis and poles landing nearby!  Ha~ we were rolling and couldn't gain composure to ski down and help the poor guy up!  Fortunately, he landed right in front of Pam and Owen who did help!  Noah has a such a great sense of humor so after he got up and skied back down to me... he exclaimed "that was awesome!"

  Pool~ it's the main attraction for our kids when we visit Alyeska.  They swam in it for about 3 hours at night and then jumped back in for more first thing in the morning!  It's pretty handy now that all of them are independent swimmers (thanks to the Elmo tube!)~ Kep and I just sat in the lounge chairs sipping on our mochas!

More GoPro footage from our day at Alyeska... here!

Rosco pulls!

Our kids are great mushers and Rosco has gotten big enough to do a fun job pulling them for short distances!  

 Owen got to join in on the sledding fun one afternoon, too!

hot cocoa/mocha date!

Annika, Savannah, Miss Amanda and I (oh, and Kit!!!) enjoy meeting at Mocha Moose for some hot cocoa and mochas!  These 2 lil girls are so "adawlabing"(Annie's word for adorable) together!  They find so much JoY in each other and works out pretty well since the feeling is mutual amongst their mommas!  We are blessed! 

And this is a random addition to this post!  I stopped to get the mail after our coffee date BUT this momma moose would not budge!  I tried driving towards her, honking my horn and I rolled down Savannah's window so she could have her try at convincing the "cow" to move!  Nope, she won and we drove home without our mail!

Noah's first backcountry ski

Noah was pumped for his first climb up to "Minidot", in Hatcher's Pass, with real backcountry ski climbing gear!  Here is Kep with his mini~me taking more footage on his GoPro!

The 3 generations of skiers LOVE doing this together!

Way 2 Go buddy!  You were a tough climber and you amazed us with your skills since it was your first time skiing in deep powder!  It's fun to add another climber to our Hatcher skiing adventures!  And, we are glad he loved it even though it is a TON of work!

these 3~ oh how we missed them!

Kep and I LOVED, loved, LoVeD our time in Kona!  It was so refreshing for our marriage and for each of us personally.  The trip also made us realize how much we love being WITH our children!  After loving our time alone for 10 days, we could not WAIT to get back to them!  It was torture to leave them as each of them cried (out loud) for about an hour before we put them to bed BUT the time apart made the reunion~ oh so sweet!  We came home on a Sunday night and even though Kep had to work in the morning... we had a family sleepover downstairs to share our funny Kona stories.  The kids were roaring at Kep's version of my paddle boarding experience and it was great to be back and hear their giggles.  We didn't get much homeschooling done the next morning as we just enjoyed playing games and being back in our home... together!  I thought it was so sweet when Parker randomly gave me a hug mid~morning and said "Mom, I couldn't have lasted another day without you.  I'm so glad you're back!"  (Oh my, that meant the world to me since he's not known to be my sentimental one!)  To which the other 2 piped in "me too!"  

more fun times in Kona

The main reason we chose to go to Kona for our 10 year anniversary trip was so we could see my brother and his little family!  It was so sweet to; love on their new little boy, worship with them at the new church plant they are a part of starting, see their home in Kona and play with my fun little nieces and nephew (whom I hadn't seen in way TOO long!).  I think it's adorable that they all have the big belly pose going on~ are they siblings, or what!?!

Kep and I loved every part of our time alone on this island but the BEST part was our freedom to take off and do whatever activity we desired with very little prep!  We love doing adventures with our kids but it was sure a TON easier doing it ~just the 2 of us!

Our adventures included:

• hiking twice to the Captain Cook monument to snorkel in one of the best snorkeling spots in the world~ wowzers, that was a hot climb back to the car but so worth it! (another GoPro video here)
• renting paddle boards~ that was hilarious!
• hiking to an awesome turtle nesting cove and swimming with them
• boogie boarding~ that was hilarious too!
• walking to town for yummy dinners and pretty sunsets
• sunbathing at gorgeous beaches
• grilling by the ocean 
• shopping while Kep rode his bike...

Kep rented a bike for 6 of the 10 days that we were in Kona and he loved taking a one to two hour ride on those days.  And I loved soaking in more rays by the pool or at the beach!  Ha~ we are so different!  I am always so impressed by his love for biking!  He doesn't do it as an exercise fanatic but because he loves to ride!  I would not find it exhilarating to go on a 2 hour climb up a switchback road in 80 degrees but this man does!

 Keplan Morgan~ I love that I get to spend every day with this man!  It was fun to spend "24-10" with him and never tire of our time alone!  I am so blessed to be married to a man that: encourages me, inspires me, loves me unconditionally, teaches me, respects me, humors me and...!  Oh man, we spent so much time laughing out loud together during those 10 days!

10 year trip to KONA!!!

10 years!!!  My how time passed so quickly~ just "yesterday" we were sitting on the Maui beaches and planning our 10 year anniversary trip to come back!  Well, we feel so blessed to have a marriage that is stronger today and to have been able to return to Hawaii, only Kona this time!  I had so much fun touring around Kona three years ago with my sisters and mom so Kep also wanted to try out a new island for our anniversary trip!  

It was fun to be his tour guide and take him to all my favorite spots.  Here we are at the "Blue Lagoon"!  It was a windy day but the skies were blue and the turtles were everywhere~ Kep had fun using his new Christmas "GoPro" toy filming the turtles, while I soaked up all the rays! (turtle video here)

this shot is for the kids~ Kep and his classy snorkel gear!