Our Visit with Mike and Aubrey

Mike and Aubrey came to visit this summer. We had a great time and had lots of fun Alaska adventures. This is Savage Creek, one of our favorite little hikes because we see lots of small animals, one of whom allegedly tried to bite and attack Mike's big toe. We think it was just trying to kiss him!

These photos are grossly out of order but blogger and I are just not friends this week. So please accept my apologies. Petting an Anchorage bear! There were lots of wildlife sightings - real and not so real.

No trip is complete without some yummy meals - Baked Alaska from Seven Glaciers restaurant on Mt. Alyeska!

Aubrey's yummy crab legs!

Sweet Balto in Downtown Anchorage! Yes, he has a book written about him!

Mom and Dad near Horseshoe Lake in Denali National Park.

Mike and Aubrey came with us to the temple. I missed the flowers!

A nice little bear we found on our way back from Girdwood!

Breakfast in Seward on the 4th of July! Bakery at the Harbor. Don't even thing about ordering french toast if you are even remotely staving or in a hurry!.

Mike and Aubrey at Exit glacier.

Getting ready to take the boat out to the bay! Reports were that there was a lot of sea life that day!Self portrait compliments of the new iphone 4! Taken in Denali.

The Alaskan huskies - the working dogs of the park!

Horseshoe Lake - a lovely spot to hike. Usually you can see moose and beavers.

And the Lodge - wonderful rooms, hot tubs overlooking the river, lovely lodge, loads of beautiful flowers, and huge cinnamon rolls! Very little parking and very weird hot chocolate.

Dinner at the Salmon Bake near the park. Great halibut taco's, burgers, and burritos!

We have to go back and eat at the great pizza place - not sure how we missed that this time.

Anyway, we had a wonderful time, wonderful weather, and can't wait to see them again!

Sister Harrell Arrives in Missouri

Today we got the "thank you for giving us your daughter, write to her once a week, keep it uplifting, don't call us we'll call you" letter from the mission president and his wife. Okay, maybe that's a little harsh, but those words really are in the letter, somewhere. They look like a sweet couple and Megan is so happy to be there. We are certain she will be the best missionary they have ever had the privilege to work with! We love you Meg!

Blogger is being stupid!

Blogger is giving me a bit of a fit but I did manage to get a few more pictures on. The Westerns at Megan's mission farewell lunch in Logan. The newest addition to the family. I don't think I am allowed to call him by his name yet.

Megan Savvy having a moment.

I don't know what they are looking at but it must be good!

Megan spoke in her ward last Sunday prior to packing up and leaving us for 18 months. The gang at Megan's after church for lunch.

I am hating blogger right now.

Cute baby Hudson can submit his mission papers in 17 years!

Sweet Savannah!

Lunch was wonderful! We'll have to do it again in 18 months!

Happy Birthday Relief Society

In March we celebrate the birthday of the Church's women's organization, the Relief Society. This week we had our dinner and service auction, which is always a fun event. Each sister is encouraged to bring a service idea or item to auction and we bid with points earned from a check sheet of various items.
Here a sister put together a stationary caddy complete with stamps, cards and even some small mailing containers! I wish I had gotten this since I am going to be sending mail to a missionary in the near future!Another sister makes really cute hair clips.
There were so many cute handmade items, aprons, baby quilts, bonnets, crocheted pot holders, knitted mittens, scarves, knitted headbands, doll clothes, gourmet food items ...

I loved this little emergency FHE kit!

Baby quilts!

I ended up with this nice handmade bread basket! Complete with bread and some lovely hand made paper dolls for a special little girl!

Other service items included: private Zumba classes, photography sessions, yard clean up (which is a big deal here if you have a pet going outside all winter!), airport rides, dinners and baked goods on demand, singing telegrams, carpet cleaning, and custom jewelry.

We have so many talented sisters in our ward!

And I can take a deep breathe until next month when we set up for Women's Conference. But I'm not thinking about that right now.

My Latest Addiction

This little outfit is the one that disappeared from the end of the blog. Start reading from the next line.

A friend of mine asked me to make her a doll outfit in exchange for this adorable knitted sweater. She had seen the ones I made for Savvy's birthday and thought they were cute. What could I say but YES YES YES! So I stitched up a cute pair of bell bottom jeans to match (not the mom jeans we started out with!) and a cute shirt is on the way. So cute! But it led to sort of sewing frenzy where we just couldn't stop ourselves.

Most of these are outfits for Savvy's new doll,

but these last two are for tomorrow night's Relief Society Service Auction, an annual event where all the sisters bid on services, or items up for auction. So these cute jammies.....

and this little outfit (see first photo) are going up for auction. I'm having a hard time parting with them, but hopefully they will make a little girl happy and my part is over! Yay! Oops.

My blogging skills are very rusty!