Summer Adventures

Wow, what a summer.  We have had a great one that is for sure.  A little rainy all around, but it was spent with wonderful people.  Uncle Michael was home for the summer, and sadly he is back a school.  We aren't going to see him again till October, but that is going to be here before we know it.  We have missed Papa so much this summer.  He has been off in Afghanistan all this while and has missed his little granddaughter becoming mobile.  He is heading back to Alaska the first few days of September.  He is scheduled to leave Afghanistan on September 1st, but we will see how long it takes him to get home.  Those planes have been working hard all summer so there is bound to be some repairs needed on the way home.

We have been to some weddings this summer, and have one more coming up on Friday.  I am so excited for all my friends who have gotten married this summer.  I know that God has some great plans for them together.   Jaleen only has a few more days left as a unmarried lady and she has been doing a wonderful job maintaining her cool.  I am so honored to be a part of her wedding.

Mary-Brenna has had a lot of fun seeing people this summer and learning how to play with others.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the summer!  

Mary-Brenna has discovered the joys of looking in a mirror.  She had a ton of fun at this one in particular.  She talked to and kissed this mirror for a good ten minutes!

Mary-Brenna had a great summer with Uncle Michael.  Here is a cute picture of them with Mary-Brenna in a beautiful sweater made by Ms. Janeen!

Mary-Brenna had a great time playing with her cousin Max the other day.  Here is a sweet moment between the two of them.

The Brown family came over the other day.  Miss Charlotte helped give Mary-Brenna a bottle before her nap.

After dinner with the Hunners and the Olsens, Mary-Brenna decided she had a lot of energy and climbed up the roof of the car.  Silly girl!  Thanks Mr. Ryan for keeping me safe up there!

Here is Mary-Brenna enjoying a bath.  Splashing is so much fun!

I am looking forward to some more adventures before snow comes!  Till next time!

Bye Aunty Chrysa!

  
My dear sweet friend Chrysa is leaving today for Virginia with her family.  I am going to miss them so much while they are gone.  It has been great knowing them here in Alaska these past 10 years.  Chrysa has been such a wonderful friend to me since we met at the beginning of our 8th grade year at Teeland Middle School .  Chrysa and I played volleyball together in 8th grade, and were soccer rivals in high school.  It was the green versus red for those 4 years.  Chrysa went to college out of state (in Virginia actually), and she graduated in May 2010!  She came back up here after a trip to Peru!  She found a job and has been enjoying Alaska life here ever since.  This past winter/spring her family decided that they were ready for their next adventure and are heading out to Virginia.  We are going to miss the Meaney family so much!  But I know that God has a great plan for them while they are down there.  Chrysa, I love you so much and am going to miss seeing your smiling face here in the AK. 

Meeting Ryder Josiah McGinty!

On May 7th Mary-Brenna, Mom and I got to go into Anchorage to visit my dear friend Shayna and her sweet new precious little boy, Ryder Josiah McGinty! It was wonderful to see Shayna looking so well after having little Ryder. She had him 3 weeks early (which I think she was completely okay with). She had a hospital birth, and everything went well for her. Little Ryder was only 6 pounds and 13 ounces. It had been a long time since I held a baby that small. Mary-Brenna was 8 pounds and 11 ounces. The last baby I held that was that tiny was my cousin Aiden who is now 3 1/2. He is so big! But anyway... back to Ryder.

I loved being able to snuggle him and talk with my good friend Shayna. She is an amazing mom and I know she loves being a mom already. I believe that her brother Alan is coming back to Alaska here soon (maybe even today). She is so excited to share her little one with him. And I know Alan is so excited to be an uncle. My brother Michael was the same way. He had to wait until Mary-Brenna was over a month old before he got to see her. Such a long time!

In my eyes, Mary-Brenna is so small. I primarily see her next to her older cousins or older babies at church. So seeing Mary-Brenna next to Ryder was a bit of a surprise. I didn't realize just how big she really is! Here is a sweet picture of the two of them at Shayna's house.

We had to make sure Mary-Brenna was gentle with Ryder.

Time with Friends

On Saturday Mary-Brenna, Mom, Jaleen and I all went in to Shayna's baby shower! My dear sweet friend Shayna is expecting a little boy in May. We had an absolute blast at the baby shower, and Shayna was very well spoiled with a mountain of wonderful gifts for her little guy. I am so excited to meet him here in just over a month.

While we were there, Mary-Brenna got to play with her buddy Adalynn. My friend Amanda had her little girl 3 days before I had Mary-Brenna and it is so much fun for us to have girls the same age. My dad is already planning on coaching a soccer team when the girls are old enough.

At the baby shower, the girls had a lot of fun playing with each other, and talking to each other. I wish I had my video camera with me while we were there to be able to catch the interaction between the two. Pictures just don't do the cuteness justice. I have a feeling that Mary-Brenna and Adalynn are going to be fast friends.

Adalynn and Mary-Brenna playing on the floor at Shayna's baby shower.

On Sunday we were surprised by a special visit from my friend Suzanna when we got home from church. I was so excited to see her, she is working up in Fairbanks now for the Fairbanks Minor and it has been way too long since we have been able to see each other. This Sunday was the first time Suzanna got to meet Mary-Brenna and it was evident right away that they were going to become fast friends. Mary-Brenna was full of smiles while Suzanna was visiting and was also showing off her tricks.

Thank you Suzanna for your special visit. I have missed hanging out with you and can't wait to see you again soon.

Seeing so many friends this weekend shows me just how truly blessed I am by having so many amazing friends in my life! Love you all so much.

Growing Up SOOOO Fast

My sweet little girl is growing up so fast, it is hard to imagine that she is already 4 1/2 months old. She is doing so many different things now. She absolutely loves to jump around in her jumper (thanks again Angela for passing this down to us). She has rolled over from her back to her front. She is reaching for things and gaining a lot of control over her arm movements. She can successfully put her pacifier in her mouth and leave it there. Mary-Brenna has a favorite toy right now, it is her little giraffe, Sophie, that her Great Gran gave her for Christmas. This giraffe goes everywhere with us. Mary-Brenna is also drooling a ton! She can polish off at least 6 bibs in the course of a day with how much she is drooling. We went to see her pediatrician yesterday and she said that Mary-Brenna's gums looked like they were getting swollen. I am afraid that it looks like teeth are on their way soon. Mary-Brenna is still sleeping really well (thank you baby girl), and she can always make me smile. She laughs all the time and has a great smile that she loves to share. Mary-Brenna has started to chatter a whole bunch. We have decided that we aren't going to sit in the downstairs service with her at church because she would try and compete with our pastor. Very cute but not all that great when you are trying to listen to the sermon. I love seeing all these changes in her, it is a whole lot of fun to see what she will do next.

Mary-Brenna and Sophie

Two weeks ago, we had Mary-Brenna's 4 month well baby visit and vaccinations. On that visit my sweet baby girl had to get poked, but she was a trooper! We also learned that she dropped from the 70th percentile in weight to the 40th percentile. Her pediatrician really wanted to nip that in the bud and see if we could get her gain some more weight. On that visit she weighed in at 13 pounds 5 ounces. In these past two weeks I have been taking Fenugreek, and herbal supplement to help increase my milk supply. We have also been giving Mary-Brenna some supplemental formula for when I can't give her enough. She has been having anywhere from 4-10 extra ounces of formula a day. Her pediatrician didn't want us to add in any solid food yet due to the fact that Mary-Brenna has a few eczema patches. Apparently starting solid foods to early when they are showing signs of eczema can have children develop food allergies that they otherwise would not get.

Mary-Brenna in the bonnet that Marie gave her!

So we went back to the pediatrician to have her weighed in again and see how she was doing. My sweet baby girl weighed in at 14 pounds 8 ounces! She gained 1 pound and 3 ounces in two weeks! I was amazed, I knew she had been feeling heavier but I didn't know it was that much! Mary-Brenna's pediatrician told me that the average baby her age gains about 15-25 grams per day. When she broke down what Mary-Brenna gained, it turned out to be around 40 grams per day! My little girl is a growing machine! Her doctor was very happy with this amount of growth and really wants us to keep it up! She will go back in for another check up and another round of shots in the first part of May. I hope she has just as good of a report then as she does now.

Mary-Brenna playing with Reese and Jordan Sande.

Mary-Brenna with Angela, Aiden and Nathan.

Donut Saturdays!

My Mom had an amazing idea! She realized that we do not get together with the families that we love nearly enough. So she started thinking of a way in which we could try and get together with these families more often. She decided to take a leaf out of our Pastor's book and suggest donuts! I mean, who doesn't like donuts? No one I know, that is for sure.

We started by taking donuts over to my aunt and uncle's house to enjoy with them and their two sweet boys. It was a great morning full of yummy donuts and a lot of great play time! It is always fun to get together with family.

We continued adding families to our Saturday mornings, and have even extended this to Friday evening movie nights. For Saturday mornings, we are now bringing over pans and batter to make donuts fresh at our friends houses. And for Friday evening movie nights we let the family pick the movie and we bring over everything to make some yummy freshly popped popcorn (via my mom's stove-top popcorn popper).

My dear brother loved this idea when we told him what we were up to. He wants to make sure that we do this as much as possible while he is home this Christmas. I think we can accomplish this for sure Michael!

Time with friends and family

Wow, I love the holidays! Well I love any time I get to hang out with people I love and care about. This holiday season I have been blessed with time with both family and friends.

Michael (my dear brother) is home from school until the 7th of January. It has been great to hang out with him and spend some time together before he goes back to the states and then Botswana.

This past week we as a family have been able to hang with all of my Alaska family, my aunt, uncle and cousins here in Wasilla and my Grandma, uncle, aunts and cousins in Eagle River. We have also been able to spend time with friends. Yesterday we spent a fun filled say with our neighbors, the Hunners. We don't get to spend near enough time with them and it was a great time of fellowship yesterday, plus amazing food and a crazy game of Guesstures (I don't know how but I got Mom to guess "larangitis"!) And tonight we went over to our dear friends the Grindles, where we enjoyed wonderful food (cooked by Michael), games (Farkle) and conversation.

My life would be so dull without these amazing people to spend time with. Friends and family bring so much color and meaning to my life, that I wouldn't know what to do without them. I love having time to hang with them and spend quality time together. I wouldn't trade that special time for anything!

Missing My Dear Friend

My dear friend Cathryn just relocated down to Virginia. She is working with a pain specialist down there, and saving up enough money to get a place of her own. I am so proud of her for doing this for herself, but I miss her terribly. I know that this is where God wants her to be, and it will take a while for me to get used to not seeing her every Sunday. I love her so much and cannot wait to see what God has in store for my dear friend in Virginia. You go Cathryn!

Mitchel and Emily

The beautiful bride Emily and her very happy husband Mitchel.

Congratulations Mitchel and Emily! I am so happy for you both! Well for those who don't know or who weren't able to be there, Mitchel and Emily got married today! It was so beautiful, beautiful decorations, smiling people and one GORGEOUS bride (yeah that was Emily for sure). I am so blessed to know these two amazing people, and I am so glad they found each other. They both have a love for life and the Lord, it is so refreshing to see two people running after God full speed. They truly are amazing and I am blessed to be able to call them friends. Here are some pictures of the wonderous day!

Their first kiss as husband and wife, so special!

The girls: Diana Ryan, Natalie Greenstreet, Mayerly Fischer and Charlotte Brown

The guys: Mitchel, Drew Tracy, Dan Bruzas, Luke Fischer and Drew Bacon.

The bride and groom's first dance together! (well as a married couple that is)

The couple got an amazing present from Emily's brother Joe. A two seat bike!

Mitchel and Emily trying out their new bike! LOOK OUT!

We found out that the bride and groom were going to "sail away" into their new life together. The sail says, "JUST MARRIED Mitchel & Emily" accompanied by a picture of the couple.

Mitchel and Emily getting ready to sail away together.

Sailing off into their new life together!

Mitchel and Emily, you two are some of the most amazing people I have ever met, I wish you the best together. I love you both and am so happy for you. God is going to great things in your lives and bless you to no end. Have a great time in Hawaii! See you when you get back.

Necklaces

From a very early age my mom realized that I have a very high sensitivity to metal (mostly the cheap kind). When I was a baby I would get red circles on my stomach from the snaps on my jammies. Since then I have had to be very careful of what I wear, because too much metal contact and I get red rashes wherever the metal rested for too long. Most of my friends are aware of this and because of it I am a bit harder to shop for. Cute necklaces, bracelets and earings just don't work for me. One of my dear friends Megan (commonly known to us as Red) is very talented at making jewelry. Two summers ago Megan made me a beautiful necklace that I can actually wear, and have been wearing ever since. It is a beautiful stone necklace on string. I wear it with everything (sadly even if the colors don't match all that well).

The one Megan made for me is on top, the other two are the ones I made.

Today while I was out with my mom and grandma we stopped into Jo-Ann Fabrics. I was looking for string to make another necklace similar to the one Megan made me. While looking I found these beautiful glass beads, flat with an off center hole, perfect for hanging for a necklace. I picked out two that I thought would go well with my "teacher clothes". Grandma bought them for me, she is so sweet, and left the string (which I didn't find) for me to pick up. At home I found some string that I think works well, and made some necklaces (again while working on dinner). I think they are beautiful and I hope they work for my outfits!

Congratulations Anita and Ben!

Wedding bells ring in the air as many of my friends are getting married. Today was a very special day for Anita and Ben Mosier. Congratulations you two, I know that God will do great things in your lives. Here are some pictures from the amazing wedding this afternoon.
The beautiful matron of honor Sarah Brown and her daughter Charlotte who was a flower girl.
My brother Michael with the beautiful bride.

Anyone who knows Anita will tell you that she loves John Deer, so it was only fitting that she and her new husband Ben rode on one after the reception.

To top the day off the couple drove away in Hal Grendel's car. I think they might have got a little wet on the drive, it was raining quite hard and they had no windows!

The wedding was beautiful and one that we will all remember for a long time to come. Anita, I am so happy you found someone to share your life with, I know Ben will treat you like the princess you are. Congratulations again. Love always ~Katie

Summer Fun!

I have truly been blessed with wonderful people in my life. Everyone has been so supportive of what I have been going through recently, they truly are a gift from God. Earlier this summer we had a bunch of people over for a barbecue. My Grandma came out from Eagle River to spend the evening with us. My awesome neighbors the Hunners scooted over from down the street, and my Aunt and Cousin joined us as well. We had an awesome time enjoying each others company while watching Michael try not to burn anything on the grill, and soaking in some much needed sunshine.

Twins!

Well almost. My dear friend Joe had recently shaved his head after experimenting with a mohawk. We decided to have a photo shoot to show off our new looks.