Our Life in Alaska and Beyond

A few extras of my favorites from May '24! Welcome summer! 🪻🏔️🖍️👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏻 

Lupine just starting to bloom along WFH at the end of May. I took these pics on some of my runs around the neighborhood! 5/29/24

The last few weeks of school are always so busy, but so much fun too! The girls had some fun activities, and then their official last day was Thursday, 5/23/24. Ruby got to hike the butte with the rest of the 6th grade on her last day, and Noelle and Robyn had a movie day. Earlier in the week the littles had a giant slip 'n slide and field day. Yay for end of school year celebrations!

Ready to hike the butte! It was a little cold and rainy this day, but if I remember right I think she said she didn't get rained on while hiking! (Also wish I had some actual pics of her hiking!) 5/23/24

Right after moving here I got Noelle and Robyn signed up for ballet to continue working on what they had started in Utah. It was a great studio, and they had a fun time, (although I definitely miss Studio 1!) In the spring they had a nice recital. It's a bigger studio so they had many recitals during the day, and Noelle and Robyn weren't in the same one, but I had fun watching all the other classes as well, haha. Both Noelle and Robyn are such beautiful dancers and I love seeing them on stage! Great job girls!

Ruby also had a spring choir concert with her school. I was so impressed with the program! Her music teacher is so good with the kids and puts in so much work. I don't know that much about music, but the songs were great, and the lights on the stage were so cool too! I loved the concert! Great job Ruby!

4/27/24

Noelle joined choir shortly after we moved here, and she has loved it! The music teacher at her school is so amazing, and I'm so glad she's had the opportunity to learn from her! They had a spring concert with the band, and Noelle did a great job! Yay Noelle! 🎶

A few extras from Feb. '24! ❄️🩷

Beautiful sunrise from our front yard. 2/15/24, 8:18 am

Noelle turned 9 shortly after we moved to AK. Her birthday was on a Sunday and we kept the celebration pretty simple; sledding with family, a few presents, and instead of cake she opted for hand dipped cones and ice cream. It was a fun day, and we're so happy to have our sweet Noelle Belle! 👸🏼

We really were in such a whirlwind moving back! Two days after arriving in AK the girls started school. Ruby had the biggest transition, going from 6th grade in elementary to 6th grade in middle school. She had to quickly learn how to use a locker, and go from having one classroom to multiple, with multiple teachers, and making new friends. She handled it so well though, and we're so proud of her! Noelle and Robyn also did great with starting at a new school in a new classroom with a new teacher. We've been so happy with the schools here, knowing they're in such good hands, learning to the best of their abilities! ✏️📚❄️

Had to get used to packing snow gear everyday again!

The girls had their photos taken by a couple different professionals for the Nutcracker and I wanted to share on here. These first few were taken at the studio a few days after the performance, and a few days before we moved. I absolutely love how they turned out! 🐭🗡️

These first few were taken by Hello Dancer Photography. I love having both girls in them together! 12/7/23

Ruby and Noelle performed in their school play, The Lion King! They worked really hard, going to early morning practices for weeks, and they did so good! Ruby was a lioness, and Noelle was part of the ensemble, as a bird and a wildebeest. I was amazed at how professional it was for an elementary school production! The costumes and set were amazing, and all the kids did such a good job. It was so fun to see! They performed two nights in a row, and I'm so proud of them! Most of our family came to watch them the first night, and then I think just Chrissy and I went the second night. Great job girls! 👏🏻👏🏻 

A few extras from the busy month of beautiful October! 🎃🍁 

Beautiful sunset from my parents' front yard. 🌅 The spider pumpkin decoration is so cute too! 10/12/23

Ruby again wanted to play soccer for Fall '23. She had an amazing coach who she'd already had a previous season, and one of my friend's daughters was on the team, so it was fun to see him at the games. Go Ruby! ⚽️

9/19/23. Such a beautiful evening!

All too quick we're at the first day of school! (But we still had plenty of fun adventures after school started too!) Ruby started in 6th, Noelle in 3rd, and Robyn in 1st. It was seriously so nice to have them all in the same school and going for the same amount of time. (Unfortunately this only lasted a few short months before Ruby started middle school in AK, but we'll get there!)  These girls are the best little students and we're so proud of them!

Farmington Festival Days had a chalk art contest to go along with all the other festivities, and Noelle decided she wanted to enter! She worked on her entry for a couple days, and come judging day, she won 1st place in the kid's category! Yay Noelle! She's our best little artist and we're so proud of her! She came up with the under the sea design all on her own, and she did a few practice drawings on our patio before starting her entry. Grandma and Grandpa actually took her to the final judging because Scott and I were both working, and we were so happy to hear that she won! Way to go Noelle! 🥇

Just getting started before swimming lessons, haha. While working she told me, "I feel like an artist." 🥰She loved getting this little knee pad and some oil pastels to work with.

The girls took swimming lessons at Farmington Pool again, and they did great! I'm so glad they were able to take lessons and become so much more confident in water. They're the best little swimmers! I took these pics on the last day of their lessons. 🏊🏻‍♀️

The girls finished up the school year before Memorial Day, which was so nice! The previous year in Utah (and when I was growing up) it was always after, so we loved getting out before! So happy to be done with school and so ready for summer! Good job girls!

Near the end of the school year I got to go on a few field trips with the girls! I went with Ruby's class to a Salt Lake Bees game (5/18/23), and I went with Noelle's class to the SeaQuest aquarium (5/4/23). They were both so fun, and I'm so glad I was able to go!

It go pretty hot, and we were sitting in the sun, but it was still so fun! This ballpark is so pretty! (We also didn't stay the whole game.)

Noelle's dance studio had a spring recital and they performed at Weber State. Noelle's class danced to this rainbow song, and it was so beautiful. I love watching Noelle dance and perform. Both sets of grandparents were able to come watch, along with Aunt Chrissy too! So grateful for all the support!

Noelle turned 8 a few weeks earlier, but I still wanted to take some 8 year old pictures for her. Turning 8 is a big deal in our religion, and while Scott and I don't currently practice it as "faithfully" as we used to, I still wanted to get some beautiful pictures of Noelle at this milestone. 🤍

I picked out this beautiful white coat for her to wear, and with her being our only winter baby, I knew I wanted to take these pictures in the snow. Finding snow wasn't hard due to the record amounts we got, haha, but I also wanted them to be in the mountains, so we drove up to Jordan Pines. (We had our family pics taken here a few years ago and I love how they turned out!) We got some great shots, and I wanted to share them here. Happy 8 years Noelle! 

 A few pics from my February camera roll. 💗💗💗 

It's always so fun to go swimming at Chrissy's apartment! The rooftop pool is so cool! 🏊