Picture Post!

They Grow Up So Fast...

Everyone says that, and now I see why. It's crazy to think that Gabe has only been with us for 14mos when I can't even remember what it was like B.G. (before Gabe). I imagine there was less Yo Gabba Gabba! and diapers.

However it is equally crazy that he has grown so big so fast; he is, indeed, a big boy now. He walks, runs, and climbs with the best of them. He is saying new words every day. Most recently he started saying "Pump-o" for pumpkin, "Taco," "No," and "Hah!" for hot. Each "Hah!" is accompanied by an emphatic pointing in the direction of the hot item. He has become a Parrot, which, at all the wrong times, is hilarious and adorable.

Gabe also enjoys...no DEMANDS to feed himself. There are all kinds of fits that are thrown when Mommy or Daddy try to feed him. This is becoming less of a problem since he is getting better at using eating utensils therefore more food is actually reaching his mouth and not just the front of his shirt. Although he still wears a disproportionate amount of his food.

On a Halloween note, Gabe was Darth Vader for Halloween. His move from the Light Side (he was Yoda last year) to the Dark has coincided with much more tantrum throwing; the costume proved appropriate. He loved having candy, although we were very good about how much we gave him (he only has had a few pieces).

Beth has jumped right in as a 1st grade teacher and is doing great. I am preparing for Graduate School Auditions in January, and staying busy teaching cello, band, orchestra, and trying to help our at-risk student population. On Sunday I taught cello for 6 straight hours then had to run to our Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra Concert! It was a long day.

Gabe isn't the only one growing up fast. It was weird to see how much Aaron has grown up since I moved from Washington. I taught him how to drive a stick...where did the time go. Here we are paddling for our lives together.

Like Sands Through an Hour Glass...

Gabe's first birthday is almost upon us. Since I haven't updated in... a while, I felt it was time to give an update on our goings on.

Gabe started walking at 8mos, and has continued on the fast track. He runs, spins in circles, flirts, gives kisses, asks for more, chases the dogs, drives a mini 4-wheeler, and (worst of all) climbs everything!

Gabe is a master climber. He climbs onto our coffee table like it is the easiest thing in the world. At first he would stand on random things to get a little elevation, then get his knee up and over and pull himself up. Now, he needs no aid. He now gets his belly over the edge of the table, and then lays his upper half on the table and reaches his arms out as far as they will go. He then lifts his legs into the air, and uses his arms to slide his lower half onto the table. He usually sits triumphantly on the table with his hands in his lap...and then promptly stands up and tries to walk off the side. That is just one of the many things that he likes to scale in our living room.

On a non-Gabe bit of news, my brother Aaron came up in May to spend the summer with us. We have been doing our best to get him out of the house and into various Alaskan Adventures. One of the most fun things we have done was the Nenana Paddle Boat tour at Denali. My good friend Miguel also came up for 10 days and he got in on the action.

Denali was Gabe's first camping trip as well. It went great! Gabe had so much fun running around the woods; up, down, and over rocks. He particularly liked walking through low hanging branches (he loved pushing the branches out of the way).

Preparations have begun for Gabe's Birthday Carnival. We have a Bouncy House, Balloon Animals, and much more. It's all going down Aug. 1st at 12:00pm. If you are interested in going, shoot me an email; the more, the merrier.

More pics to come later.

Secret Trip To Washington (Part 2)

We had every move planned out for our 10 days in Washington. In the middle of our 10 days we took a trip to Spokane to visit friends. Anthony, Dave & Alicia (and Alexander), and Kevin. Kevin was gracious enough to let us stay with him in his awesome house (I can't wait until its finished).

It was really great to see everyone. Alexander is a very good walker now. He knows where he wants to go and makes it happen. Dave and Alicia are doing a great job. Anthony took the day off and didn't complain about shopping for baby stuff all day. I even got to have a lesson with my favorite teacher and visit my Alma Mater.

Visiting Spokane made us a little home sick for the city we lived in for so long. It was a great trip...and we took some pictures.

Secret Trip To Washington

(These pictures are from the whole trip. Just click on the link and then hit the Slide Show button in the upper left hand corner.)

P.S. We ate at P.F. Chang's... Delicious!

The Ice Park!

One of 2008's highlights was the Ice Park/World Ice Carving Championships. We went at night and it was all lit up with different colors...and we left the battery to our camera at home (so we had no pictures). This year I made sure we had both a video camera and the picture camera.

With the wind, it was approximately really cold, so we didn't spend as much time there as we wanted. Its fairly early in the competition so many of the carvings are still being worked on. Beth and I will head back at night (sometime) and focus more on the carvings ...and giant slides!

BEST PARTS OF THE DAY:
1) The spinning ice top actually works this year!
2) Ice phone booth (it worked).
3) The warm up building.
4) (Lost first, then) Found camera case.
5) Skateboarder carving
6) Stepped over vomit in ice maze.

Gabe sitting in the train as happy as can be!



At the Fortress of Solitude's Chapel.



Another view.



How Gabe and I got there.



One of the many slides.



Look at the JOY in his face.



Gabe Spinning in the Top.

For a few more pictures, take a look at my Flickr page.