My Little Girl (#1)

I was feeling a little nostalgic this evening. Looking at pictures of Caitlyn I am still having a hard time believing that she is 16. Here are a few pics of my first-born.Caitlyn 9/2/94 This was 2 days after Cait-Bug's 2nd birthday. She had fallen while playing outside and had a nice busted lip for her 2 year picture. Still ADORABLE!!

Caitlyn with sister Haley and Great-Grandpa Kale when G'ma and Pa came for a visit. (Sumter, SC February 1996)

Cutie-pie at age 4 (1997)
Caitlyn and Ed on the day she graduated kindergarten from Willow Drive Elementary School, Sumter, South Carolina, June 1998. (Yeah...I cried)

11 years later...Caitlyn is a junior at Palmer High School.

Where has the time gone?

Rliey's 10th B-day (I know...WAY late)

We had a party for the cousins and a few friends for Riley's 10th birthday. The theme? Well..since "That Hannah Montana is SO hot right now," that's what the theme was. I am definitely Hannah Montana'd out! Riley had fun though.

The kids started out by making mini pizzas and then we moved to "Pass the Hannah Bear." They had fun with that. We took a little "fashion" liberty with my adorable nepnew Aiden (who would make an equally adorable niece). And then cake, ice cream, and play time ensued!

Pass the Hannah Montana Bear to, yup, you guessed it, HM's (AKA Miley Cyrus) latest CD.

Aiden can even wear the shoes from Riley's HM Bear (From Build-A-Bear)

Aiden likes the Hannah Montana wig. I wonder what the name of his alter-ego is...

Riley is all smiles as she looks at her b-day cake complete with HM guitar!

Riley opens her presents as her friends look on.

The melodious sounds of children "cha-cha-chaing" their best wished to Sarah Riley!

Twinkle Toes

Riley started taking ballet in January 2008, after months of nagging mom and dad! After her first recital in May, she decided that she wanted to add tap to her repitoire as well. So, beginning in June, she had 2 hours of dance every Wedensday. She didn't go to Midnight Sun Bible camp this year, because she wanted to dance. She even made sure that she could go to dance when her Grandma Cook came up to visit! She now has dance 2 afternoons a week. 2 hours on Tuesday and 1 hour on Thursday! She's lovin' it!


I wanted to put a video on here, but both the tap and ballet are too big. In an update, however...Riley had auditions for the Nutcracker last Saturday and she got 2 (TWO) parts! She is VERY excited. I am going to try to figure out how to edit the videos to get them down to a smaller file size.

Until then...

Last Full Day... =(

On the 5th day of the visit, we went back to Wildberry Products, Wildberry Park, Sourdough Mining Co., the 5th Avenue Mall, and ended to day with the World Famous Bread Pudding of the Glacier Brewhouse. Yeah...no pics that day. However on the last full day of Mom and Aunt Linda's visit, we went to the Friday Fling in Palmer. We tried to keep the day low key because they flew out Saturday.

Here's Aunt Linda and Mom with a musk-ox in the Palmer visitor's center. We also were able to walk (hobble) around the flower gardens just outside of the visitor's center.

After we left the "Fling" we drove out to Knik to the Iditarod Headquarters so Aunt Linda could see some real sled dogs. Aunt Linda and the girls got a ride on a dog sled pulled my real Iditarod Dogs!

Haley, Aunt Linda, and Riley

Mom and Aunt Linda

It was a great visit that went by WAY too quickly. Hopefully next summer, we will head down to the lower 48 for a visit!

Mom's Visit: Day 4

Day 4 was great! We slept in. I started physical therapy and Riley had ballet and tap classes for 2 hours. After we picked Riley up from the dance studio, we drove up to Hatcher's Pass and Independence Gold Mine.

Here are Haley, Caitlyn, Aunt Linda, Mom, and Riley at Independence Mine.
Some of the rebuilt and some of the broken down/rotting buildings of Independence Mine at Hatcher's Pass.
We had a ground squirrel make an appearance. Just popping in to say "Hi!"
Caitlyn was our tour guide around the mine again this trip!
Look Ma! No crutches! I think the girls were holding them. But here is a pic of me and my handsome hubby with the beautiful natural landscape providing a great backdrop!

We ended the day with Ed sparking up the grill for dogs, brauts, burgers and corn on the cob! I love it when he cooks!

Day 3 of Mom's visit

Sorry it's taken so long to get back to posting. School started up and I kind of fall of the radar for the first few weeks. Anyway, back to the summer (ah...chilly bliss!)

We stayed a little closer to home on day 3, after all, we were still kind of tuckered out from day 2. Our first stop was the "Chocolate Factory" (AKA Alaska Wildberry Products in Anchorage).

We began with a tour of the kitchen, complete with hair nets (and beard net). My favorite part? The samples, of course!

After filling a bag with 2 pounds of Jelly Belly's, we posed for pics in front of the Chocolate "Waterfall" that flows with 3,400 pounds of chocolate! Here we are sporting a 10 pound bar of chocolate.
After hanging out at Wildberry Products, we crossed the street to eat lunch in a "gold mine" called Sourdough Mining Company. We LOVE that restaurant. Great corn fritters...YUM! (insert a photo of the Cook family drooling). We followed lunch up with a trip to the Bear and Raven Experience Theater. We watched a movie about the Iditarod and on about bears. Then the girls took part in some adventures! Haley and Riley caught a virtual 35 pound king salmon. We then hopped into a "hot air balloon" and "floated" over the Prince William Sound. The girls then put on their parkas and "mushed" their little doggies!

We ended the day with new haircuts for Haley and Riley.

Now these girls are going to look sharp for the new school year!

Day 2 with Mom and Aunt Linda

The second day of Joan and Linda's visit began VERY early. We took the train from Anchorage to Seward, and then went on a Kenai Fjords Cruise in Resurection Bay. We had to check in at the train depot in Anchorage at 5:30 AM. That meant leaving the Valley at about 4:30 AM. You can do the math to figure out when Ed and I had to roll out of bed. The girls stayed home for this trip. They got to sleep in. We got home around 11:45 PM or so.

Linda and Joan on the train, ready for a great adventure!
We passed some great scenery that you can't access from the road.
It's hard to see, but there are a bunch of Stellar Sea Lions on the rock, basking in the sun.
Thankfully, near the end of the cruise, a humpback whale popped up to say hello! It put on quite a show for a while.
On the way home, we followed Turnagain Arm, and were welcomed back to Anchorage with a beautiful sunset.

What a long, fun-filled day! Stay tuned for day 3 pics and postings.

Tagged, Revised Edition

Dawn tagged me. However, she neglected to mention that I needed to answer with a single word. So...here are my NEW answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? nightstand
2. Your significant other? sleeping
3. Your hair? bun
4. Your mother? dead
5. Your father? somewhere
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your favorite drink? DDP
9. Your dream/goal? Happiness
10. The room you're in?bedroom
11. Your hobby? many
12. Your fear? lots
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
14. What you're not? Tall
15. Muffins? blueberry
16. One of your wish list items? car
17. Where you grew up? Alaska
18. The last thing you did? Blogging
19. What are you wearing? clothes
20. Favorite gadget? phone
21. Your pets? four
22. Your computer? laptop
23. Your mood? content
24. Missing someone? tomorrow
25. Your car? blec!
26. something you're not wearing? shoes
27. Favorite store? open
28. Like someone? Yup!
29. Favorite color? green
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? Saturday

I will tag....everyone I know has already been tagged!!!

I was tagged!

Dawn tagged me. Here are my answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? on the window sill
2. Your significant other? sleeping
3. Your hair? ponytail
4. Your mother? Both have passed away
5. Your father? good question!
6. Your favorite thing? my family
7. Your dream last night? don't remember
8. Your favorite drink? diet Dr. Pepper
9. Your dream/goal? live, love, learn everyday!
10. The room you're in? dining
11. Your hobby? I have to have just 1?
12. Your fear? Again...I can only have 1?
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
14. What you're not? Tall
15. Muffins? blueberry
16. One of your wish list items? A new car
17. Where you grew up? Alaska
18. The last thing you did? logged on to my blog
19. What are you wearing? tan shorts, rose colored Hard Rock t-shirt from Cabo
20. Favorite gadget? Cell phone, I think
21. Your pets? Max, Layla, A.J., and Tom (or Jerry...it's a fish...one died)
22. Your computer? laptop
23. Your mood? content
24. Missing someone? every 2 weeks!
25. Your car? blec!
26. something you're not wearing? shoes
27. Favorite store? The one with a big SALE sign
28. Like someone? Most of the time
29. Favorite color? kelly green
30. When is the last time you laughed? earlier today
31. Last time you cried? Saturday

I will tag....Ester!!!

Day 1 of Mom's AK visit

The whole crew went to the airport Saturday night to greet Joan (Mom) and (Aunt) Linda after their long flight from New Jersey. Since it was about midnight East Coast time, we took them to their hotel to rest up before the VERY full week of activities that we have planned.

We began our Sunday with a trip to Portage Glacier. We spent a little while there. The girls climbed on the rocks,we checked out the exhibits that were inside the Begich-Boggs Visitor's Center, and we took in the beautiful scenery.

An ice berg floating in Portage Lake

Caitlyn, Riley, and Haley climbing on the rocks

After we left Portage Glacier, we drove back down the road to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC). I recommend this side trip to anyone, even lifelong Alaskans! There was a variety of wildlife, obviously, but the really neat aspect of the AWCC is that they are trying to rejuvenate the population of Wood Bison in Alaska. They have 65 acres for the wood bison to roam. These are big animals that look similar to the plains bison which the AWCC also has.

A wood bison. He was scratching/sharpening (?) his horns against the tree to the left just moments before this picture was taken.

When we had had our fill of wildlife and tourists, we went to Alyeska to visit the Jade Shop. Well, not just the Jade Shop, we went to Girdwood to celebrate Mom's birthday at the Double Musky. As we were driving to the Jade Shop at Alyeska, we saw a black bear on the side of the road. That was very exciting for our car full!

A black bear coming to the road to meet and greet!

We got there shortly before 4:00 in order to be in line when they opened at 4:30. We sat in the car for a while and ended up being the 4th party in line. I can't believe how long the line was to get in! With our bellies full, we began the long ride (ok...about an hour and a half) back to Palmer for cake and presents!

Mom's birthday cake

Mom showing off the scarf I knitted (it took a year!...don't ask...) Aunt Linda is looking on.

It was a great birthday. We got to see beautiful country and wildlife, eat good food, and most importantly, spend time with each other!

Frustration has set in!

Ok. So here I am, trying to be a good blogger, and I can't get any of my photos to upload! My goal was to post each day that Ed's mom and Aunt were here. Alas, I hit a roadblock of epic proportions, when you consider that this how I have chosen to share updates with friends and family. At any rate, the week went well. I would love to show you how well. Has anyone run across this problem? Let me know how to fix it, please. Gracias!

Caitlyn's New and Improved Smile

Today was an exciting day for Caitlyn. She actually woke up before 11! It was 8:30 and my baby was awake. The day she had been eagerly awaiting for two years had finally arrived. With mere hours to go, she was giddy with anticipation. Today was the day her braces were finally taken off.

We left the house at 11:30 to head to south Anchorage for her 12:40 appointment. AS you can see, gentle reader, she was all smiles.
Dr. Julien has seen Caitlyn since she began her phase 1 braces in 2nd grade. She's great! (Hence the nearly 50 mile drive to see her).
After about an hour in the chair, Caitlyn shows off her new smile. She was given a red cup full of foods that she wasn't supposed to eat for the past 2 years. The cup contained: microwave popcorn, Air Heads, Starburts, Skittles, and Bubblicious bubble gum. She managed to stay away from Air Heads and Starbursts, but there were a few Snicker bars and a bit of popcorn that passed through those braces over the past 2 years. Thankfully, I no longer have to worry about breaking brackets. Now we have to worry about breaking retainers!

My knee novel?

As I sit here, "chillin' out" (literally. I have the cryo-cuff on the knee as we speak/read/type), I am pondering Cousin Dawn's suggestion of writing a novel. Well, it won't be a novel, but a brief reflection.

My mother-in-law, Joan, is coming up on Saturday. I absolutely love her! I am so happy that she is coming as I haven't seen her in a year and Ed and the kids haven't seen her for 2. I am hopeful that I will be able to walk a bit faster than the slow snail's pace that I am at right now. The hopefulness comes from the fact that I am completely off the crutches. (YEAH!!!!)

Mom and I, June 27, 2007, Bayonne, NJ. RA was held in Philadelphia, so I flew to Newark and rented a car. The ticket to Newark was a better price than the one to Philly & it gave me a not-so-much needed excuse to see Mom!

Anyway, she is flying up with her sister, Linda, who is also a wonderful person. I really lucked out in the in-law department. Ed has a great family! If I didn't love Alaska so much, maybe we would move to New Jersey. Maybe not...

Aunt Linda and I, June 27, 2007, Bayonne, NJ.
Linda and Joan 6/27/07

We have a week planned that is PACKED with fun. They arrive on Saturday. On Sunday we are driving to Alyeska Resort in the morning so that we can take Mom to the Double Muskey for her birthday. It is a world-class restaurant and they don't take reservations. We want to be there early, plus we'll have an opportunity to have a nice drive. On Monday, the "grown-ups" are taking the train to Seward for a Kenai Fjords cruise. I have never been on one of these, but I hear there is a lot of wild life to see. I already know that the scenery will be worth the trip. Tuesday, we will drive back to Seward to take the kids to the SeaLife Center. Wednesday will be a late start as Riley, our budding ballerina/tap dancer, has back-to-back classes. Afterward though, we plan to go to Hatcher's Pass. I think we have shopping in there Thursday with dinner at Sourdough Mining Co. followed by a trip to Alaska Wildberry Products (more Jelly Belly's for me!!!! hehehe)

Whew! I am exhausted just thinking about everything we are going to do! I know the girls will have fun (I did mention shopping, right?) and Ed will enjoy the time with his mom and aunt. I just hope that me moving a little slow won't put a damper on the visit.

The girls have taken good care of me over the past week and a half since surgery. They have put up with cranky, needy, mom, without TOO much gripping.

School pics from the 07/08 school year.

Ed comes home 2 days before his mom gets here. He is excited and nervous all at the same time. It's his Aunt Linda's first trip to Alaska and he wants to make sure it's a good one. Since this is such a big state, and they are only here for a week, we can't share ALL of Alaska with her, but we can squeeze in as much of the South Central region as possible.

My Honey.

Well, it isn't a novel, and this is a rather abrupt ending, but it is coming to a close nonetheless. I will try to post pics and what-not of the Great Alaska Visit of 2008.

RA 2008 in Washington D.C.

I left for D.C. on the 29th of June, for my 5th RA (Representative Assembly for the National Education Association). It was 8 whirlwind days of policy making, fundraising, and reconnecting with friends from across the country. Oh yeah, and a little bit of sight seeing. I think I worked more during this RA than I did in the previous 4! I went to the Holocaust Museum, but didn't take any pictures. That was one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had. When you think that some things in your life have been bad, just look at the persecution that occured during that time.

The Alaska delegation was originally supposed to get a tour of the White House, but that didn't happen. Instead we went on a V.I.P. tour of the Capitol Building. We began at Senator Murkowski's office and proceeded to the basement of the Hart building. It's supposed to be good luck to walk across the star that marks where George Washington's crypt was supposed to be. As we know, his wife, Martha, honored his wishes and had him buried at Mount Vernon, rather than in the Capitol Building. My foot is the white tennis shoe at the bottom of the pic. Can good luck be far off? Hhhmmm...who knows! There was so much to view in the Capitol Building, so much history (I know...Duh!), so many people!!!!
Outside of Sen. Lisa Murkowski's office in the Hart Sentate Building.
I also stopped by Senator Obama's office. Of course he was not there. He did speak to the RA via satelite from Montana on the 3rd of July. Last year he came to speak in person, along with 7 other people that were presidential hopefuls. Huckabee was the only republican that came. All of the democratic candidates came. This year, an invitation was extended to McCain. He declined, just like last year. I wonder if he realizes that there are voting republicans that are members of the NEA...
I went to Sen. Hilary Clinton's office as well. She has spoken to the RA, in person, twice. Once in 2004 and the second time was last year in Philadelphia. While we didn't hear from her this year, I thought it would be cool to stop by her office. I am such a nerd when it comes to this kind of stuff!

Each of the 50 states has 2 statues within the Capitol Building. Alaska's statues are Senators Bob Bartlett and Earnest Grueining. Being the good wifey that I am, I took a picture with one of the statues from New Jersey. Unlike a good tourist, I forgot who it was. Oops!

After the sightseeing, Speedy Gonzalez style, we got down to the business of making policy for the National Education Association. I was actually on the speaking order, standing at microphone 4 (in the center of the photo). I was so excited, because what I had to say was VERY important, and NO ONE could vote on the issue without hearing my 2 cents worth. And, as fate would have it, someone moved to close debate!!!! ARG!!! The first time I finally get the nerve up to speak in front of over 9,000 of my close, personal friends, and I don't even get to speak! Oh well, at least I got the courage up to speak. Isn't democracy great?
I was able to reconnect with good friends. It's phone calls and emails for Miss Anna-Maria and I until RA. She is from Maryland. She has promised me for the past 4 years, that she will make it up to the Last Frontier one day.
As the chair-person of the fundraising committee for Alaska (A.K.A. the Giveaway Captain) I need as much help as I can get. It's a huge job! One of my minions/helpers this year was the Alaska member of the NEA Resolutions Committee, Jerry! I could not have done my job this year without the help of Deanna, Ilona, Jerry, Kelly, and of course, Barb (from NEA-Alaska). Thanks much guys! We actually made it into the top 10 for "per delegate contributions" We actually were #7!!! YEAH!!!!!
Lisa was my roommate at my first RA, which was also in D.C. We did many things together, including designing the logo for the Anchorage Education Association. We have presented together at Pacific Regional Leadership Conference as well as the NEA-Alaska's April Leadership conference. I am often called Lisa. I am not sure how frequently she is called Jessica anymore, but we decided to lable ourselves "JoCo" (Her last name is Johnson).

Kelly and I hung out a bit. We went to eat Ethiopian food with Ilona at a restaurant in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of D.C. We went back a few nights later with Jerry and hung out and did some people watching at Meze. Definiely not a neighborhood to have a baby. There seemed to be a constant stream of emergency vehicles going down the street. Police cars, fire trucks, ambulances...and of course many taxi cabs were all over the place. It is a very multi-ethnic area. It was interesting watching the people. Since one can only watch people for so long, we ended our evening back at our hotel in Arlington, VA.

Next year's RA is in San Diego. I am hoping to attend. It would be really cool if the man and offspring could join me!