a weekend of skiing

We went downhill skiing on Sunday(something we're both a little more graceful at). It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Juneau. Our last run of the day we hiked the ridge on the west side of the mountain where we were able to capture a couple of photos from the beautiful view!

x-country skiing

We had a very un-graceful day x-country skiing today. Both Johnny and I haven't gone since we were quite young but it was a gorgeous day and we thought we'd give it a try. Despite our embarrassing form and strange looks from those who passed by we had a great time :)

Though it was a clear day...you can tell it was cold because my lips are blue!

Trying to get a good photo of the both of us but it's a little hard to move quickly in Nordic ski's to beat the 10 second timer! I feel like this photo illustrates the awkwardness of the day.

We left with smiles though!

Thanksgiving

Giving Thanks!

There are many things to be thankful for this year, to only name a few:

*opportunities-the freedom to travel and relocate to areas near family

*travel-the excitement of the possibility of living overseas next year

*technology- the ability to skype 3/4 of our family on thanksgiving

*employment-something we realize we should ALWAYS be thankful for

*healthy new babies in our family

*a loving and growing marriage

*the blessing and well being of family and friends

*the freedom to openly acknowledge and grow in our understanding of God's peace and grace.

Post-Turkey Camping

We were invited to go to another cabin with some friends the day after Thanksgiving. It was only a 3.4 mile hike in and a gorgeous ocean view from the cabin.

eagle glacier cabin

A couple weeks after we arrived in Juneau we went with some friends to Eagle Glacier cabin which is located just outside of town and a good 5 mile hike in. We had pretty decent weather hiking in but it had rained several days before so the trail was wet, filled with roots, and slippery board walks. Johnny and I were the only ones not wearing Alaskan tennis shoes (rubber boots). Our hiking boots were not equipped with type of traction needed for Southeast Alaska. Despite sliding around, and being really sore after the hike...we had a great time! We didn't bring our camera but fortunately some pictures were emailed to us. Enjoy!

Dungeness Catch

We set the crab pots out on Saturday and picked up 23 dungeness and 1 snow crab on Sunday. We forgot the camera Saturday which was a shame because we ran across three different pods of Orca whales. One pod had a baby with them maybe a year old. It was pretty amazing to get up close and watch them emerge from the water. We remembered the camera on Sunday and were able to snatch a couple good photos of the day.

Moving to Juneau

We made it safely to Juneau early this week. It was a long 56 hours on the ferry but we couldn't have asked for better scenery and weather. We boarded the ferry Friday evening, stopped in Ketchikan for a couple of hours on Sunday and then made it to Wrangle and Petersburg prior to our Monday morning arrival in Juneau.

Waking up an hour before we arrived.

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The people we hang out with on Friday nights!

On Friday night we went to support our good friend Andrew's high school football team. Andrew and his brother (who is the head coach) coach Skyline who won the state championships last year (which we also attended in the Tacoma Dome) This Friday they played Oaks Christian, CA a team that has Will Smith's son, Joe Montana's son, and Wayne Gretzky's son playing for them. We of course went to cheer on Andrew and his brother's team...but snatched a couple of photos in the meantime :) Both schools are nationally ranked teams so it made for a competitive match!

Tim and Kim's wedding

We were blessed to be around family and enjoy in the celebration of our cousin Tim and his beautiful bride Kim's wedding a couple weekends ago. We met mom and dad Roth and John and Alex in seattle and drove to Portland. It was a very emotional wedding. They both wrote their own vows and had just about everyone in the audiance in tears...very touching. They both have a real joy for life and a vibrant sense of God's love for others and especially eachother. Here are some pics from the celebration!

Tim in awe of seeing Kim in her dress for the first time :)

The happy couple is off!

A "Whale" of a Trip to Vancouver

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to visit our friends in the Vancouver area for a weekend trip. Part of our trip included viewing workers pulling a dead whale off the front part of a cruise ship. The cruise ship had inadvertently struck the whale as it was making it's way to Vancouver. We came to find out that this sort of thing wasn't just a one-time random occurence, but actually happens several times a year.

The whale got stuck on top of the the bulbous bow (which is below the water- designed like this to make it more aerodynamic apparently.)

Not exactly great PR for Princess Cruiselines....

Anyway, the way we found out about this occurence was because one of our friends, Ben, was asked to comment on the incedent by a local news channel. He works for a company called Current that sells nightvision products and was asked to speak about the prevention of this sort of occurence from happening with vessels that make use of nightvision. It was somewhat suprising to me that more boats that travel at night don't use nightvision.

Later that night, we went to a fireworks show that the city puts on annually. We watched from a distance to avoid the crowds, and were able to watch a lightning storm at the same time.... I thought the lightning was a more entertaining event since we rarely get them in the northwest.

This is a picture Ben took- got it at the right time!