Springtime in Alaska

Ok, so once again it has been much too long since I last posted.  There has been a lot going on in our lives and I always seem to find something else to do other than post.  I can't sleep tonight, so thought it would be a good time to catch up!

Kadlin is 7 1/2 months old now.  She is still our toothless wonder without much desire to move.  I know  I will look back on this time and wish to go back to it, but I can't wait for her to start crawling and moving.  We go walking about every day and she loves being out in her stroller.  The other day a friend and I were out and doing short bursts of sprints, and Kadlin really liked the going fast!  Her other favorite activity is to ride in her wagon that Grandma and Grandpa Humbracht got her.  She will sit in that for hourse and play with her toys while I work in the yard and flower beds.  She especially likes to ride in it while we walk over to get the mail.

Kadlin and I will be flying into Billings next week to attend my brother's wedding.  After the wedding, my parents and I are going to drive all the way back to Homer to bring up our pickup and camper.  This may turn out to be the trip from hell, but I am looking forward to spending some time with my family.  And I can't wait to be able to go camping!!

I was able to get Kadlin on a horse finally.  Well, it was a mule and I had to get led around on it and pay to do it, but fortunately they didn't make me wear a helmet.  They put one on Kadlin but it was way too big.  She looked a lot like Toadstool from Mario Bros.  She enjoyed the ride and petting WillaMae, but what she liked most was watching the big ears moving around.  It is kind of ironic that her first equine ride was a mule, considering that the joke the whole time that I was pregnant was that we were having a mule instead of a baby.  Brad says I am stubborn like a donkey and his nickname in high school was Hoss.  I am sure you get the picture :)

I had a wonderful Mother's Day and birthday in May.  Brad is so good at making my days special.  He and Kadlin got me a beautiful orchid corsage to wear for Mother's Day and he took care of me and pampered me all day long.  For my birthday, he made me a delicious German Chocolate Cake (my favorite) and got me flowers!

I have been busy getting my greenhouse set up.  It doesn't get warm enough for a long enough time during the day to have much of a garden, so most growing is done in a greenhouse.  We are fortunate enough to have one with our rental house.  I have several tomato and pepper plants, and am trying some peas and beans too. I also have a couple cucumbers and squash plants growing on the deck.  I am not sure how any of it is going to turn out.  Hopefully we will have some produce later this summer.

We finally saw our first baby moose calves, and they were just as cute as I was hoping they would be.  From what I have been told, they cows come into town to have and raise their babies as there are less bears.  It makes sense, but seems odd to see these wild babies right in the yard.

Brad has been getting some fishing in.  He went out with some friends and caught some halibut and has been working hard at getting a King Salmon out of the river.  So far he has had two bites, but no luck in landing any yet.  He is headed out again tomorrow, so hopefully he will have some better luck.  He is also going to be going out on another halibut charter in July.  He is still enjoying his job and is excited about the traveling he will get to do this summer.

Well, that pretty much sums up our lives since the last post.  We hope all is well with everyone, and as always, feel free to come visit anytime :)

Kadlin and I on Mother's Day with my beautiful corsage



Sandhill Cranes taking a stroll across our driveway



The mighty fisherman with all his gear

Kadlin and I riding WillaMae.  It is unfortunate I couldn't find a horse for her to ride, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and she had a really good time!



Sweet sleeping baby girl



My birthday cake!  And only 4 candles instead of 27, alright!!

Twin moose calves

Mama moose and her babies

Kadlin is 6 Months!!

Holy moly, where does the time go.  I can't believe Kadlin is 6 months old already!  Her activities these days include sitting up on her own (with the occasional face plant), bouncing in her Johnny Jump-up, and "talking" to Millie.  Millie still isn't too sure about her, but tolerates the ear and fur pulling well.  The dogs love Kadlin too, but they kind of scare her when they are up in her face. 

We have been spending lots of time outside in the stroller.  Somedays we walk for a couple of hours just soaking up the sun and enjoying the outdoors.  The weather has been pretty nice.  Somedays it is pretty drizzly and gloomy, but when the sun is out it is absolutely beautiful.  The sun is not going down now until about 11:00 at night!  It is pretty deceiving and there have been a couple of times where it has been three or four hours later than what either of us was expecting.

We spent Easter with some friends in Sterling and had a great time.  I think there may have been more dogs than people, but it was really fun to watch them all play together.  Each dog spent a small amount of time checking Kadlin out, then decided she wasn't much fun and left her alone.  The dogs ranged from a mini dachsund to a doberman, so there was quite the variety.  The funniest thing about the situation was that out of all the dogs, only one of them actually lived at the house!!

After Easter dinner, Brad and I drove on to Seward for an early Anniversary/Mother's Day/Birthday present.  We took Kadlin swimming in the hotel pool and walked along the docks looking at the boats in the harbor.  On Monday, we went on a whale watching cruise.  We didn't see any whales, but we did see lots of other wildlife.  The highlight of the trip for me were the porpoises.  The captain saw where they were feeding and took the boat over closer.  Then all of sudden there were 2 or 3 of them riding the bow and playing in the wake of the boat.

On April 29th, Brad and I celebrated our five year anniversary.  We put Kadlin to bed early and grilled up some steaks and potatoes.  With our meal we had a 15 dollar squash!  Brad couldn't find the price of it before he checked out and got a bit of surprise at the register.  Sure was good, though.  It was the first meal that we have had together without interruption since Kadlin was born in October!

Brad has been very busy at work and is happy in his new job.  Him and some friends are renting a boat next week and going halibut fishing.  I am pretty excited and hope he catches a couple of big ones.  Maybe he will catch one that will be worth a lot of money in the halibut derby. 

Well that pretty much sums up our life for the last month.  We are looking forward to the summer and all the activities that it brings.  Here are some new pictures.  Enjoy!

So serious.  She refused to smile while wearing her Easter dress.  She smiled in all her other outfits and poses, except for this one.  Go figure  :)

Easter bunny from Grandma and Grandpa Humbracht

Ginormous teddy bear from Grandma and Grandpa Kalstrom. 

Kadlin in her formal from Grandpa Chuck

This is as close as we got for a smile!

Millie kept trying to eat the Easter grass in the basket

Sea otter

Sea lions soaking up the sun

Porpoises riding the bow

Kadlin ready to be done with the cruise

Easter morning

Under the Tucson Sun

Let me start off by saying "I LOVE being a stay at home mom!"  Brad had a three week training for work in Tucson, AZ in March, and since I had no job tying me down, Kadlin and I packed up and went with him.  We had a fabulous time lounging in the sun and taking in some of the sights.  We walked several miles each day and just enjoyed soaking up all that Vitamin D.  Unfortunately, we were only able to stay for about 10 days, but that was long enough.  We actually looked at changing my ticket to stay a bit longer, but after the sticker shock of 500+ dollars, we decided it would probably be best if I just went home as scheduled.  Kadlin did as well as any 5 month old baby would do flying all day.  The only major issue we was in Denver on the way back when the plane had some mechanical issues before take off and we were stuck on the tarmac while the plane quickly heated up to a very uncomfortable temperature.  With the help of the flight attendants, I was able to get her cooled down and calmed down and then she slept the rest of the flight.  Waking up the next morning in Anchorage to snow was a slight slap in the face, but as I made my way down to the peninsula, the weather cleared up and the sun was shining.  I was actually really surprised to see how much snow had melted while I was gone.  The other big surprise was how long the days are.  It is now 9:30 at night before it begins to get very dark!!

We celebrated Brad's birthday on the 9th.  We had a wonderful day just spending time as a family with a quick trip of taking me to the ER for what Brad calls "an incident with an apple slicer."  Turns out those Pampered Chef apple slicers are REALLY sharp.  Fortunately, I didn't require stitches and we were in and out in about an hour.

Today it is snowing a heavy wet spring snow.  It is a little depressing, but I know that green grass is under there and it will only be a short time before it is back.  Miss Moose has been back in the neighborhood enjoying the spring by eating all the tender new grass and resting under the trees.  It is still an odd sight to me to see these huge animals nonchalantly hanging out in my front yard.

There isn't much else going on in our lives right now.  We are just anxiously awaiting summer to see if it is as wonderful as everyone claims.  At the very least, we have quite a bit of company planned for throughout the summer, so that will be nice.  So without further ado, here are some new pics.

Soaking up some rays poolside

Brad has been wanting to take this picture since Kadlin was born.  He finally got his opportunity!

Trying out the swimsuit for the first time.

First time in the pool.  She loved it!!

Little Lolita sitting in the window of Rosa's Cantina at Old Tucson Studios

First carousel ride.  She loved it too!!

Brad's birthday cake

Catch Up!!

It has been quite awhile since I have last posted, so here is a quick rundown of what has been going on with the Alaska Humbracht's!  Kadlin is coming up on 5 months and is continuing to grow, which is a good thing I guess, but it is kinda sad.  But it is also a lot of fun to watch her develop.  She is finally getting big enough that she is starting to figure out how to jump in her jumperoo, which makes her very happy.  She has also started solids, and is eating like a champ.  It is kinda like feeding a little bird; she has her mouth open and squawking at me if I don't keep it coming fast enough.

We went to Anchorage at the beginning of March to take in all the festivities of the Iditarod and the Fur Rendevous.  Of course, the real reason I wanted to go was to go shopping!!  We had a lot of fun and wound up buying a new camera.  The store was warm and conveniently located near the start line of the Iditarod and it was a little cold that morning.  Bad combination!!  So now we have a nice camera, but don't really know how to use it.  I guess a Photography for Dummies book is probably in order.

We continue to take frequent trips out to the Spit to check things out.  Coming from where we come from, seeing the ocean is just fascinating.  This weekend is the Winter King Salmon Derby, so I am sure we will be out there again watching the boats come in.  Since it has been warmer, we have been able to take the dogs and Kadlin out on the beach.  Wallace LOVES it, and runs all over like a crazy man.  Gracie, on the other hand, would be happier on a white sand beach where she could just lay around in it! 

On one of our trips out on the Spit we found the Time Bandit, the crabbing boat from Deadliest Catch.  That prompted a quick walk on the docks to get pictures.  It was really cold and windy, and Brad's ugly hat that I hate flew into the water.  I was pretty excited, but Brad decided it was "littering" and that he needed to get it out.  So as the hat slowly made its way to the dock, I was holding on to hope that it would sink, but alas, it did not, and Brad was able to rescue it.

We are headed to Tucson next week as Brad has a training.  He will be gone for 3 weeks, and Kadlin and I are going down for the first half.  I am excited to have a break from the winter landscape and to soak in the sun.  Kadlin will also have her first experience with a pool, so we will see how that goes!

Well I guess that is about all for now.  Here are some pics and I hope you all enjoy!

All dressed up for church

1st and last big snowstorm

Miss Moose-I heard snow crunching and looked up thinking someone was pulling in the driveway.

Snug as a bug in a rug

Happy St. Patty's Day

Finally...Alaska Weather

We have been here for about 2 months now, and have been a little underwhelmed with the weather (not complaining).  The temperature hangs out in the 20s to high 30s, and there has been little snow.  So while the rest of the US was getting hit with terrible blizzards and bitter cold, we were graced with snow.  Three days of snow to be exact.  The temperatures have been around freezing, so it isn't cold, but we have snow.  I wore Brad's irrigation boots (which come to my knees) out to take these pictures thinking they would be tall enough.  I was wrong.  The snow was up to my mid thighs, which isn't saying much, but still, it seems like lots of snow to me!  Anyway, the important thing to notice in all these pictures is how level the snow is.  That's right, no wind equals no drifts.  In fact, I think the snow is rather pretty the way it lays heavy on the trees.  And it is nice to not see a 10 ft drift right next to a bare spot.  And the snow is still soft and fluffy, not wind blown into hard pack.  So after our dose of snow, I can say I am still truly happy to be here even though I am a little happy that the snow has stopped for now.  Hope you enjoy the pics.

That gigantic blob is our car.  Notice how much darker the sky is over the bay.

Disclaimer-Her snowsuit is very warm and we were only outside for about 5 minutes :)

Her Bumbo chair is such handy helper for taking pictures.

I love this picture!