Ew!

So, McKell, this might just top yours. Well, except for mine was outside and yours was inside! Jeremy was out in the driveway tonight helping Spence weld something and Shelley pointed out a tarantula running across the driveway! It was so spooky! They caught it in a box and then drenched it with bug spray. Seriously. So yuck!

Green Show!

Our crew.

Cute smiles!

Brea and Spence

Totally enthralled with the show. ;)

Every year during the Shakespearean Festival, they put on free green shows outside the theatre. I have been wanting to go forever and since we had no plans (a rarity for us!) I rounded up some of my fave people and we headed out! We hit the newly reopened GodFather's Pizza for the buffet and then went to the show. We were a bit early so we took some pics of the kids in the great scenery that is at SUU's campus. The girls were more than willing to pose for pictures and I even got a couple cute ones of Payton too! The Green Show was fun and the weather was awesome. I was just happy to hang with friends!

Day #7--homeward bound!

Luckily the AK airport had some toys to entertain these kids while
we waited for our delayed plane!

Tuesday morning I ran to the gift shops with Vicki one last time and Jeremy and Ron went to pick up all the fish that was getting packaged and stuff so we could bring it home with us on the plane. We went back to the house and bathed the kids and finished packing up! I'm sure the Taylor house is lots quieter without our rugrats running around! They took us to the airport on the ferry and we said our good-byes. We had such a fun time with them and are so thankful that they let us stay with them! They were great hosts! Once we got settled at the gate waiting for our plane, an announcement came overhead that said our plane was delayed. Over an hour. We had to book another connecting flight from Seattle to Vegas. AGAIN. We finally left Alaska around 3:00 or so their time. Turns out they were having trouble with their fuel gauge and weren't sure how much gas they needed. That freaked me out! Thankfully they got it all straightened out which was good because our kids were already getting antsy so I knew we were in for a long day! At least this time in Seattle we got to take our time and eat some dinner and stuff. The flight to Vegas was pretty uneventful except we had the MOST annoying flight attendant ever. She was all over us to buckle the kids seatbelts and turn off the Ipods. I wanted to slap her. Anyway. Bubba slept the whole flight home so it was wonderful! The girls were really good too. We were so happy to finally land! We rode the tram to the baggage claim and found all of our bags. When we walked outside, the hot air was stifling! It was so hot and it was 10 o'clock at night! Luckily Jenn had the car all cold when she picked us up. We took her home and dropped her off and headed home. Finally at 2:30 a.m. we got home. My bed has never been so nice! Love it. All in all it was a great vacation---but I'm glad to be home safe! Thanks again awesome Taylor fam!At the baggage claim in Vegas. Bubba and Brea were mesmerized!

Day #6--Last chance to do it all!

Monday Jeremy went on his last fishing expedition. Had to cram one more in! They went salmon fishing out on a boat and he loved it--of course. It was a better weather day so it was a bit more enjoyable. :)After the guys got home, we loaded up the kids and went to Buggy's Beach (not sure if that's how they spell it.) Again, it was beautiful. The kicker was seeing water shooting up in the distance from a whale spouting from his blow hole! We were hoping he would come closer so we could see the actual whale but the spray of water was all we got! It was super hot and humid that day so
being able to wade in the COLD water was nice!

Brooklynn with her buds Jake and Brent.

In the scenery pic below, you can see an piece of land out a ways and it is full of trees. Those trees are full of little paths to walk through. It's awesome! Brooklynn loved it. She is on that 'island' in the pic above.
Just some scenery pics; Jer with a sleeping Brea; Bubba and Sam.

That night we went to Ocean View for our THIRD and final time. Can ya tell we liked it? It was yummy as usual. We decided to walk off some of our dinner and hike up a little trail that has some amazing views. Seriously. The views were so pretty. It's just such a neat way of life up there right on the ocean. Love this pic of Travis posing. So GQ.

Crazy beautiful!

Me and my hubby on top of the world!

We decided to go check Herring Cove one last time for more bears. We were definitely rewarded for our drive! There were 4 in one area. We even got to see them chase fish. It was so crazy! I got a little nervous because the bears were too close for me but it was so neat to watch them.

Day #5

Some scenery pics. Unreal, isn't it!

Tuckered out.

Cheese!!!!

All along the trail there were salmonberry and raspberry bushes. Yum-a-lish!

Brooklynn with Jake, Jaden, and Brent. Best buds,

This was a Sunday. I was so excited to get to go to church in Alaska! They seriously have the most amazing chapel I've ever seen! The whole interior of it is a beautiful cedar wood so it just smells and looks awesome! They have a good size ward (there is only one there) and the people were very nice. Even ran into someone who has a brother here in Cedar that Jer is friends with! Small world, eh? As I was looking for a picture of the chapel to post, I came across a New Era article done on the ward there in Ketchikan. Check it out! I should have taken my own pics. It is hard to describe the uniqueness of this chapel! Vicki, you should hook us up with some pics of it! ;) Anyway, after church, we went home and had lunch and naps. Ahhhh. Then we loaded up the suburban and went out to ward lake for a beautiful walk. It's about a mile around the lake and the trail is unbelievable. (I'm sort of running out of descriptive words to use!) It's covered by trees so it's nice and shady but you can still see the lake. It was a happening place! A great Sunday activity. We then drove around to a couple of more lakes and attempted a hike. It was a neat day.

Day #4 bonus post

The lovely fishing attire! He he.

Hooking one up!

Little Missy looking for shells. She is always on a shell hunt!

Fish eggs. Yuck! Some people that caught it cleaned these out of their fish.

The awesome scenery.

Looks fake.

The white spots are eagles heads. They were all over the place!

That black spot in the distance is a bear. This was on the opposite side of the over pass from where we were fishing.

I did this post separate because there were so many wonderful pics I wanted to include. We went out to Herring Cove which is BRIMMING with salmon. It's nuts. The men had a great time fishing and made quite a haul. It was crazy. There were dead fish all over that people had caught and laid aside while they finished their fishing. I wanted to sit on a rock and watch but there were fish heads and blood everywhere! Sorry for the image but it was a hot spot for the fishing! Luckily, Vicki had enough galoshes for everyone so we were all outfitted in some rubber boots. And I was so super glad we had them! The area was so mushy. And that way we could go out into the water a little too. The scenery was amazing with a ton of bald eagles flying all over the place, fish swimming everywhere, and bears not that far up the river! We visited that place a few times while we were there and I loved it!

Day #4--Bird's Eye View, Anyone?

Saturday was a busy day. It was sunny and beautiful so we definitely took advantage. First off, we went ziplining. Ron and Vicki got us the hook up again with a gift certificate they had for the zipline so we got to go free. Awesome! I was pretty nervous. I'm not a huge heights fan. And one of the guides doing it was a dink so he didn't help my nerves at all! But once you're up there above the beautiful scenery ya just sort of let it go and enjoy. The views were unbelievable. At one point we could see a bear below us! This was probably my favorite part of the whole trip!Pre-zip getting to the top of the mountain and getting our gear on.

Vicki zipping like a pro!

After we were done zooming through the trees, we picked the kids up and headed out to Refuge Cove. Their ward was having a 24th of July picnic there. We missed most of the festivities but the kids enjoyed looking for shells and playing in the water. Well, most of the kids. My babies weren't very appreciative of the fun activity! What's new. It's just so amazing to me how everywhere ya look in Alaska it's pure beauty. It's great!That night we got to go to dinner at Cape Fox Resort. We could look down through the windows and see the cruise ships and the docks. Loved it!

After dinner we rode a tram that just goes down a hill and back up but the views were amazing!

Day #3--Yo Ho!

The group waiting for the show to start.

Brea was a butt the whole time but took a moment to say Cheese!

The lumberjacks doing the log roll. They both ended up going in at least once!

Getting the wood chip signed.

Yo-Hooooo!

On Friday things started to dry out. We decided today would be a good day to hit the LumberJack Show that is quite a hit up there. Our friends that went up there on a cruise last month suggested it and I was so happy we'd get to go check it out. Being there with locals instead of on a cruise is totally great for stuff like that--the tickets are usually 30 something dollars but we got them for 5.50 since Vicki and Ron live there! How awesome is that! I totally loved this show and thought it was way cute. Four loggers come out and compete in some lumberjack games like chopping and sawing, climbing the tall logs, and the log roll (this was my fave.) After each event, a 'team' would be awarded and the audience on that side would get a point. A logger would give an audience member a piece of wood as the point. Brooklynn got one and was so excited to have them sign it after the whole show. Yo Ho!
After the show, Ron had a softball game so we took the kids to the park that was right there. These pictures don't do it any justice. The view was beautiful! It was just an amazingly peaceful park! The kids had a blast and it was good to let them run around and have a blast. Ron's game didn't last very long though--someone got a compound fracture in their ankle. Yuck!

Day #2--Rain, rain go away!

Thursday was a rainy day. Vicki told me they get a lot of drizzly days but this was a downpour sort of day. It was unusual for them. We decided to do an indoor activity and take the kids to the Discovery Center. It's a neat museum about Alaska and it's wildlife. The kids all got a clipboard with a scavenger hunt paper on it so they were totally entertained as we walked through looking for items on their checklist. It was so fun! The only crazy part was Brea tripped on her way in and landed in a puddle so she decided she needed to take her pants off. Now. So she went through the whole center in her diaper. Gotta love stubborn kids!

Little Miss No Pants

That night, Jeremy got to do what he had been hoping to do on this trip. A friend from Ron's ward took Jeremy, Ron, and two of Ron's kids out on his boat to do some halibut fishing. It was still totally raining so the trip 'to sea' was a crazy one. Lots of boat rocking and rain. It was not the best of conditions but Jeremy had the best time ever! He was so excited to show me his catch when they got back! (Luckily I just got to see the picture and not the actual fish. They dropped those off to be packaged to ship home with us!) Pretty sure his fishing bar has been raised to the max and nothing will be able to compare!

Day #1--Flying

I couldn't sleep Tuesday night because I was so nervous about making our flight and just flying with the kids period. We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We checked our bags and then made it to security. Our kids did good going through the whole airport but they were just SLOW! Brea was totally lolly-gagging and just taking it all in. I understood how exciting it was for all of them but I was also frustrated because the airport is a nutty place and we had to move along fast. Anyway, we rode the tram to our gate and hung out until our plane came. On the tram.

At the airport. Killing time.

On the airplane! Thank goodness for snacks and Ipod's!

When we boarded, Brooklynn had to sit across the aisle from me and the babies and she was not happy to have to ride by a stranger! Jeremy sat in front of me so we were all pretty close together. The first leg of the flight from Vegas to Seattle was smooth sailing. We made it to Seattle with what we thought was plenty of time but when we were walking to our gate (which was in BFE, by the way) we heard our names on the loud speaker. We were freaking out so I stopped by the nearest Alaska Airlines counter and told them to tell the other gate that we were coming. She told us we had plenty of time and not to worry. B.S. When we finally made it to our gate, the plane had been closed for boarding and they wouldn't let us on! I have never seen Jeremy so mad! It was nuts. And those lame Airline people were so rude about it. They booked us on the next flight for an hour later so we had to hoof it back to the original gate were were at--which is no small feat with all of our carry-ons and three uncooperative children! It just really put a damper on the whole stinkin' day! On our next flight, Brooklynn, Bubba, and I were all together and Brea and Jeremy were a few rows back. That was a great travel plan. The kids did pretty good this leg. When we finally got close to Alaska it was amazing to see the views. Alaska is such a beautiful place! We were excited to see the Taylor's in the lobby waiting for us to get off the plane! We had to get in their car and then take a ferry to the island of Ketchikan. Crazy! We went to their house and the kids picked right up where they left off two years ago! It was so fun to see them all playing together. We had their older kids watch the younger ones and hit a local restaurant call 'Ocean View' and it was yummy! And true to it's name we could just look out over the Ocean! Loved it! And we were glad that travel day was behind us!

Checking out the ridiculous amounts of salmon in the river!

Brooklynn and Jaden.

Here comes a whole lotta posting!

I'm apologizing in advance for the detailed footage you are about to receive about our Alaska adventure. But I want to make sure I get it all jotted down so I can remember it all!

Tuesday night we loaded up in the van and headed to Vegas--my fave place ever! :) We hurried down there so we get some Galleria mall shopping in. Man, I miss that place! It was so fun. Jeremy's sister, Jenn, and her kids met us there. Brooklynn was super excited to see Isabella. They are so cute together! We shopped until the mall closed and then headed out to Jenn's house. We hung out with Jer's sisters and kids until we hit the hay. (Well, some of us hit the hay. Brooklynn and Bella stayed up until 4 a.m.!) It was fun to catch up with them and hang out. Jenn was also nice enough to drive us to the airport and keep our van at her house so we didn't have to pay for parking! Sweet!

Celebrity sighting--in Cedar!

At Wal-Mart even! Yesterday Brooklynn and I were grabbing a few things at Wal-Mart. I glanced down the baking aisle and noticed a guy there who looked way familiar. It took me a second to place him but then I saw his wife and it all came together! It was the cute Hinkins from The Newlywed show! I was so excited and so was Brooklynn (yes I do realize this show is probably not very appropriate for her! But she loved loved loved it!) I said hi to them and they were just so nice. I am a big star-struck goober. It was definitely the most exciting trip to Wal-Mart that Brooklynn and I have EVER had!

Another fab day at the lake!

Pretty much we don't do a lot of different things so this summer you've all been lucky enough to see LOTS of camping and lake pics! We always have a different crowd with us when we go so I like to keep posting the pics--so sorry! he he. Saturday we were at the lake from like 9-5. It was great! It was super hot and the water was awesomely warm! This time we had my cousin Ang and her kids, The Smith's, Spencer's parents, Justin and Payton, and Jerett. As usual things didn't go smoothly (had to tow two jet skis back to the dock!) but it was still a lot of fun. Nothing is more relaxing than cruising the lake in the Party Barge! We loved having the Smith's join us!

You can sort of see Jerett diving off the cliff.

It was way fun for our kids to have more kids to play with. They were all tuckered out by the end of the day!

Brea's latest appointment

She was so cute in the waiting room. Went right up to the table and said hi to everyone there!

Little Cheeser. She had to be naked so they could check out her button and stuff. They are always a bit shocked to see all of her scars!

Yesterday morning, my mom, Brea, and I headed to Salt Lake City. Brea had an appointment with the dysphagia (medical term for the symptom of difficulty in swallowing). I was so excited it was finally time for this appointment--I made it clear back in like April! We met with 4 different specialties. First was a psychologist. He wants her to have a neuropsych evalution to determine her development cognitively as well as with all of her fine and gross motor skills. This evaluation will help us a ton when it comes time to place her in Kindergarten. Next on the list was the actual dr. of the clinic. She was such spunky little lady! She dove right in and was super excited to meet Brea and to help us with her feeding problems. She felt that Occupational Therapy is going to have the most influence for now so we saw her next. I loved this OT gal! She was way fun and gave us lots of new ideas for getting Brea used to just touching new textures and getting used to 'using' food. Not necessarily forcing the eating yet but just getting comfortable with food and getting it close to her mouth. The last gal we met with was a dietitian. She said all was well with Brea's calorie intake and such (we are supposed to up her water intake though) but suggested that we start getting her off of her nightly feed and doing 5 daily feeds instead. That way, hopefully, Brea will wake up hungry and we'll have more success with trying foods in the morning. All in all it was a great appointment and I left feeling very encouraged that we now have a plan to help her. I am excited to start trying all of these new things. I am also very overwhelmed and discouraged with the amount of work and time this is all going to take! The OT said that this whole process could take up to two years--maybe longer! I know two years isn't that long but it seems like forever for such a seemingly simple issue! Eating is just something that is taken for granted and yet it is such an obstacle for Brea. But we're grateful to have a starting point and a great support system up at PCMC.

After a draining appointment like that, I needed a shopping pick-me-up. So my mom and I hit the mall. And it sucked! We hit like the most ghetto mall in all of Utah! It was terrible! So we trucked out of there and then just went to a Target. I love Target! I got some fun stuff and probably could have done a lot more but Brea is NOT a shopper! She was so done so we headed home. Hopefully no more trips up there until December!

Camping in Tropic!

The fellas.

Watching a little Monster House.

Proof that boys never outgrow the need to play with fire.

The kids caught lots of frogs and one horny toad.

Bubba adopted this four-wheeler and rode it until the battery died. Twice.

Spence and Shelley came with us. They were fun to have around and a great help with the kids! Our kids loved having them there.

Just chillin.

Just seeing how many people they could cram on.

A few families in our ward invited us to go camping with them in Tropic. I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to go since Brea and I had just gotten over the flu but we ended up making it. We all met up at Hermie's to eat before we left and then all headed over the mountain. Yesterday was in the broom tell someone was eve. And let me tell ya, those people are nuts! They were double pulling with their trailers and it was crazy! I was so nervous the whole time behind them. Turns out we were the only one that would have an incident on the ride--our bike rack fell off our trailer and Jeremy's bike did not survive! :) Mine did though. Good thing since I ride it so dang much. Anyway . . . .

We set up our camp in a huge meadow. We had a whole ring of families. It was awesome! There were tons of kids so they all entertained each other and the adults got to actually visit! It was a fun time. Lots of four-wheeling, eating, chatting, and watching a little bit of reality tv in the trailer! Good times.

4th of July weekend of fun!

This weekend we get a bit of a jump start on the 4th by spending Friday at the lake. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the water was amazingly warm! Luckily this time everything ran smoothly and we even remembered our canopy for the beach so we were set! It was a lot of fun.

We finally learned that Brea likes the water! She did so much better this trip than any other's cause she could cool off in the lake. And the canopy helped a ton too!

Awesome Brooke, Foster, and Brea

We took the boat out and all jumped off and swam around. It was a blast! I even jumped off a ginormous cliff! (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

My boys.

This was Mary's first time to come on the boat. Doesn't she look like she belongs at sea? ;)

The 4th of July started out right with a fun parade down Main Street. Brooklynn and Bubba had fun getting candy with Lexus and Payton. Brea didn't like the sun so we stayed back in the shade of the van. It was a great parade!

Later in the afternoon, we had both of our families and a few friends over for a bbq and to play on the water slide. I was worried the water slide thing wouldn't be happening because it rained for most of the afternoon. But by about 5, the sun came out. The kids were excited to get the slide out for the first time this season. It was so funny to watch them all hurry up the ladder and cruise down the slide--knocking down whoever might be in their path! Their were a few crying episodes but no real damage!

(I'm really hoping this collage lets ya click on it for a bigger view--the faces are hilarious!)

For the main fireworks of the night, Brooke's family had a bunch of people over at their hangar. This worked out so great since the fireworks were set off like right by us at the airport! It was so fun. They had a dj playing Patriotic songs and even rootbeer and snacks. It was amazing. They are a generous, cool family!

This holiday is one of my fave of the whole year. I am so thankful to live in America! I am so blessed with family and friends and I love spending these holidays with them. Can't wait until next year!