Kayaking/Strawberry Smores

There are many reasons why I love Matt as much as I do:
*He is SO patient and kind with me
*I love that he puts me first and is always making sure we do things together
*He gets my humor and I try and understand his too :)
*It's just so good to be with him- no matter what we are doing
*He supports me in what I do and encourages me through school/work
*We have fun together and enjoy doing the same things
*He gently reminds me when I've had a little much icecream or fudge.. I'm working on it.
*And I love that even when I dropped our precious camera in the ocean while kayaking this last weekend... he was so calm and understanding.


It was the worst nightmare. Especially after such a serene morning of sea kayaking with a friend. It was such a beautiful day in Juneau and most perfect for what we were doing. I took TONS of pictures trying to capture the adventure and beauty as much as possible. I couldn't wait to get home and show Matt. Well, we all know the end of this story. On my way back to shore, my camera slipped out of my wet hands and into the deep dark sea. Ever seen Titanic? I just watched as it sunk so quickly and while I reached for it and even thought to jump in after it- I guess it was a good thing I didn't. Luckily we had taken all the previous pictures off and were just out all the ones from that day. And they were some awesome pictures. Beth had taken some pictures also, so it wasn't a complete loss.

That night we went with some friends out to the "island" and found us an awesome place to have a campfire. There are endless places to do this and here was definitely one of the best we've seen so far. Some hiking trails have board-walks which I love. The tide rises and falls so quickly here- we had fun tide pooling here while it was low. We found a bunch of little sea creatures including star fish, crabs, and other little guys. After a little hand sanitizing we roasted some delicious strawberry smores- which was a new one for us. But before that, we cooked some tin foil dinners in which Matt and I were very proud of because they turned out to be so delicious! It was after 11pm before we left and still light outside. It's so crazy here!

Thank goodness again to Matt's iPhone for these pictures.

Because everyone likes a video- This is my first strawberry smore. VERY messy and as you will see, I end up losing half of it. Dont worry- I made another one :)

ATTENTION all little ones...

Matt and I have been talking and we would just like to say a thing or so to all the little ones in the family. You know who you are. This includes Ryan, Spencer, Jenaka, Allie, Sara, Matt, Rachel, and Jake. Also involved must be Bradley, Isabelle, Taylin, Orry, and Kate. And, of course, Orry's future baby sister.

So to all of you kids- just please STOP growing up so fast!! Just stay cute and sweet and little and innocent for as long as possible. It's too hard to be away just knowing you get older everyday and not being able to watch all the fun and crazy things you do. So please just put a hold on your little lives until further notice. Thank you.

LOVE,

    Uncle Matt & Aunt Stacie

p.s. I promise your moms won't mind keeping you at your current age for a while-  I know you all are always just as sweet as you seem ;)

Wedding!!

I guess amongst the commotion of getting married and moving to Alaska, I forgot to do a post on our wedding! I must have just been too excited to post Alaska pictures.. so many new and exciting things have been happening!

Matt and I were married April 6, 2010, in the Bountiful Temple. And besides the freezing temperatures.. it was perfect. The fresh snowfall the day before made for beautiful temple pictures- though no one wanted to stick around long. Including me :)

The luncheon was held at the Canterbury Place with our close family and friends. We were so lucky to have so much support from everyone and were so glad to have them all there.

The reception was AMAZINGLY put together by some talented members of the Hunt family of whom I am forever grateful to for all their hard work. My family also helped so much with the tables, pictures, and getting food all put together. We had been looking forward to this day and were so happy to be able to share it with our loved ones.

*This last picture just doesn't do justice.  There were white lights streaming with all the material and it was awesome when the lights were turned down*

Saturday Night Events

Last night we thought we should go try a new restaurant downtown. I had heard so much about this place called El Sombrero so we decided to try it out and it was SO yummy! I think half the experience was eating on the balcony on such a nice night. I sure hope this weather last as long as possible- it has been almost perfect weather the last couple weeks. On the right was our walk up Gold Street. We live almost at the very top of the street.




I really has been awesome weather here with a light jacket required at times. Matt took this video while waiting for me to get off work. I have it pretty good as I just work across the street from the Wharf. This is where I come to eat my lunch on the nice days. Here I can people watch, soak in the warmth of the sun, observe the sailors, and be amazed by the beauty of this place. They were having a Maritime Festival yesterday, which was kind of fun.




Here is a short video of part of my workplace. This is the kind of store you can close your eyes and follow your nose down the street to find. And it drives me CRAZY. I wonder if I will ever just get used to the smell of the warm stirring fudge and homemade waffle cones...

I will have to get some better pictures, but this gives you an idea. Again, Matt is just waiting for me to wrap up at work so we can walk home. I always hate it when he turns to "video-mode", but am always grateful after.

Dog Sledding

Last week Matt had the opportunity to go dog sledding(just one of the perks about being a heli pilot here). Here is some video of the adventure brought to you by none other than his iphone:

Don't mind the random guy's head in this one...




This one shows how excited these dogs get to pull the sled. They are bred to want to pull and run with a huge lung capacity and a heart 4x larger than the average dog!




Up, up, and away!! The dogs live up here all summer along with their mushers who live in the wall tents you see- they're equipped with stoves, heaters, and the works. And no, Matt is not flying and recording at the same time.




This is the flight back to Juneau from the dog camps. The flight takes you through Salmon Fork to Salmon Creek Reservoir. Era is located on Douglas Island aka "the island". It's about ten minutes from downtown(where we live).

Camping with the Harrison's

A few more pictures from hiking are in order. There are hiking trails everywhere you look and they are all so amazing! This one is called Sheep Creek Trail- it was a LOT of up hill, but so worth it. I went with my friend, Mary, last Sunday while our husbands were working. I'm so glad to have friends here! It was a perfect day. We ran across old mining stuff and walked along the creek.(fyi- this is also the creek the Matt follows on his tours to the glaciers).



Pizza is obviously a favorite in this town and we are loving it! We thought we would try out Bullwinkle's- just down the street. Matt met me on my walk home from work and we made our detour to fill our bellies. It was pretty good, but I'm still sticking with Pizzeria Roma in the Wharf.



Last night we went with some friends to have a campfire on the beach-aka Auke Bay. We roasted hot dogs, marshmallows.. and more marshmallows. It was awesome to sit and watch as eagles swooped down into the water; the seals would pop their heads up and one came almost to shore putting on a show for us(i wish i could have caught this on video!); waching all the porpoises jumping throught the water was an awesome sight; and the cruise ships in the distance take off to their next port. It was a fun night with some good friends, good food, and some amazing scenery.

HaPPy MoTHer'S DaY!!

I hope all you mothers out there got breakfast in bed and foot massages(if you're into that). Matt and I are so blessed to have THE BEST moms in the world! We wish we could have been home to celebrate with them, but hope they know how much we love them from clear up in Alaska.

A few things we've been doing:


Like I said, awesome hiking trails start just minutes away from our apartment. The other day I went with my new friend Beth up Perserverance trail, which is full of awesome views.





It really is just so amazing here. I hope to be able to hike lots more in these next few months. Just after this hike I was to go and meet with the "fudge lady" down the street about a job. I didn't shower and honestly I thought it might have been a waste of my time. But I went anyway just as you see me here in these pictures. Turned out she liked me enough to offer me a job paying me more than expected and with some benefits. Imagine that! :) I'll say it again- I am one lucky girl.


My first day at work! Now, who wouldn't want to work in shop with fudge, candy, and icecream?? It totally fulfills my childhood dream of working at Baskin Robbins. I still have tons to learn there and it is overwhelmingly busy at times with tourists, but I think it will be a fun summer job. It takes about 5 minutes to walk here from our apartment- which is awesome! The people I work with are so nice as well, which makes the job easier to go to.


Cinco de Mayo brought the pilots together for a little celebration that night... Yummy fajitas, homemade salsa and queso dip was much delicious.

Alright, let's take a closer look at this picture to see what a hit my "muddy buddies" were..


Amen.





We just had our one month anniversary and how else would we celebrate but with giant cheese pizzas, brownies and icecream! Mmmmm.. Our most favorite. We are sure lovin' every minute being together. I don't know how I ever let Matt go for weeks at a time! I'm SO glad we are able to experience Alaska together and I hope we can make the most of it while we're here.


Who's ready for a tram ride?


We are!


Last night we went with our friends Jeff and Beth(Jeff is a pilot with Era also). We went downtown and took a tram ride followed by dinner at the Wharf. Since it was "Juneau Day" we got discounts on our tram and the icecream that soon followed our dinner.

More pics of tram ride/lookouts up top:


A look at downtown Juneau(where we live). Have I mentioned how awesome it is to be right in the middle of everything?!


Mom, you would NOT like this.


We just LOVE it here!!



Matt loves posing for pictures!






Dinner are the "Hanger". The view is awesome here- we watched at the float planes came in and out.. also watched as the cruise ship take off later. Can you imagine how much power it would take to get that thing going??