Trip to Utah 2009

Our kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Mounteer, while we went to Alaska. You can tell by Stockton's face that not only was he DRUGGED but he was very frightened (understatment) to fly. The Pilots were great and gave them a tour of the cockpit and let them both sit in Co-Captians chair. Here they both are safely at Grandma's and playing on the cool rope swing Grandpa built , down by the creek at their house. And here's Tater with her new darling little cousin Jonathan. I've never been more traumatized leaving my children, although they were in fabulous hands, it didn't make it any easier. It was a great great trip and would've been even that much better with our kids with us. We all survived being away from each other. Our 1st trip EVER, for more than overnite, in almost 11 years! :)

At Sea aboard the Princess...

One of the days at Sea, there was a dance competition which my Mom and Dad took 1st place! Yay! It was so super awesome and even took place LONG after their bedtime, so we were very proud! Way to go Mom and Dad!

Skagway, Alaska

Skagway was very cool. This Whites Pass Train was HUGE! And Yes, that is a snowblower on the front of the train! Quite appropriate for Alaska. Of course we had to take Brians pic by the Skagway Harley dealer! Some day, he hopes to be an owner of one, but I am stalling that from happening.

Victoria, BC

Victoria was just absolutely gorgeous! It was gorgeous the second we walked off the boat. We went to Butchart Gardens which was amazing. Makes the temple grounds look pathetic, for sure. It was really cool because as soon as the boat entered Canadian waters, the little yellow boat in the pictures, came up and pulled along the side of our ship....yes, both of us still moving, SLOWLY, but moving....and a Canadian pilot got on the bow of their boat and jumped on ours, to steer our boat into Victoria. It was amazing and definitely had to be a Kodak moment. The copper "statue" in the pics was actually a real lady. It freaked everyone out because she looked SOOOO much like a statue...until she smiled at you and moved ever so slightly. Her gorgeous turquoise blue eyes stood out fiercly too, against all her copper. Definitely memorable.

Tracy's Arm, Alaska

Tracy's arm was a really small fiord between Juneau and Skagway. We couldn't believe our huge ship went in there because it hardly seemed like we'd fit. There were icebergs and everything everywhere and canyon walls as high as you could see on both sides of the boat. We didn't go all the way to the end of the Fiord because there was a huge Iceburg in our way, but it was great to get to see it.
At lunch later that afternoon, as we were just out at sea, Brian and I were sitting eating and watching for dolphins and whales. We saw just pods and pods of dolphins and watched them swimming in and out of the Ships wakes. It was the best thing ever! I LOVE dolphins. I mean we probably saw, 40 dolphin in about 30 min, as we ate, the sun was going down and it was gorgeous.

Juneau, Alaska

Juneua was awesome! We saw the great Mendenhal Glacier which is in the photo behind Brian and I. It was super cold the closer you got to it, obviously because its a huge chunk of ice! And I have NEVER seen leaves as big as they were in Juneau. That is truly 1 leaf, that I am standing next to. Just humongous.

Seattle

We stayed in Seattle the nite before we boarded our ship. I LOVE Seattle. Brian had never been before so it was neat to take him to Pike's Street Market, the home of the famous throwing fish market! I had my brother brad hold up the baby octopus that the had there. It was very dead and very sad. :( I also found out where the term "Holy Mackeral" came from! Ha ha. At the Market they always have the freshest produce ever, and the most amazing flowers to sell. Just buckets and buckets of them. And of course, because of all the sports fans we were traveling with, Brian included...we had to drive by Safeco Field.

Boarding the STAR Princess in Seattle, WA

This is the day we boarded the STAR Princess. The ship was sooooo HUGE! It was awesome and shocking to see in person. I can't even describe its hugeness. Once onboard, each passenger has to attend Muster Training, and demonstrate knowing how to use a lifevest. I was very willing to do that, so no argument there. Then we put our stuff in our room and went up to the Top of the Ship as we pulled out of Seattle. They had tons of stuff for us to do. We golfed (yes, on the ship), ATE, had family round the world PingPong tournaments, swam, hot tubbed, ATE, played family board games, went to shows, watched movies on the deck outside by the pool, ATE, you name it, they had it and we did it! Brian and I had never been on a Cruise, and hadn't really had a strong desire to. Now, thanks to Princess CruiseLine...we are Sold and want to do a Cruise every year....WITH our children, preferably. :) Oh ya, we also watched them make Ice Sculptures. The one pictured is of a swordfish.

Ketchikan, Alaska

Ketchikan had to be my favorite Port of all. Everyone that WANTED to, fished for Salmon. Brian, my brother Brad and my Dad caught the biggest Salmon ever. They were sure ugly fish, but watching these guys reel these huge fish in, was definitely worth attending the fishing trip. My Dad has always had the dream to someday fish for Salmon, which he loves soooo much! So, it was awesome to be there with him when his dream came true, and neat to see him so excited and emotional about it. I love my Dad. In this collage are several pics of the guys catching fish left and right. Theres also a pic of my dad blowing a seaweed horn that our fishing guide sliced apart and made, right there off the boat like stinkin' Grizzly Adams. He was amazing. While we were just sitting still fishing, I hear this loud BLOW and just off the bow of the boat were whales it was soooo cool! We saw a ton of them between ports on the Ship, but this was upclose and personal and was amazing. There were bald eagles EVERYWHERE too. We passed 2 trees that were just chuck full of them, seriously probably 30-40 bald eagles purched on the branches. Its hard to see in the pics but if you click on the pics it will blow them up a little bigger so you can see how many we are really talkin' about. It was so awesome too, because our little Grizzly Adams guide.. whistled at them, then threw fish over the side of our boat and those dang things swooped right down by us along top of the water, dropped their talons, snatched the fish and flew off. He was nuts. He did the hole "eagle feeding whistling thing" several times, to show he was for real. It was awesome!

Back at it!

Oh my goodness, it has been a seriously crazy 3 months, sooo much has gone on and I am so seriously behind on my blogging, I will NEVER catch up! Actually, I will catch up...and within the next few days too...which is why I am letting you know that there will be ALOT posted from us very soon. We have over 3 months of events, 2 super fun vacations, parties, you name it.....I'm going to be blogging it. FINALLY! Sorry for the delay in updating for you all to see. But...have no fear, you will get to see all the fun shortly. Thanks for faithfully reading and keeping up on our blog, and thanks to those of you that have a blog for keeping us current on the happenings in your lives.