Our Life in Alaska and Beyond

Just a few extras from July 2024. Such a fun month!

Friday Fling in Palmer. This peony was huge and so pretty! 💗 7/12/24

Ruby and I had another mommy/daughter hiking date, and this time we did Reed Lakes! We had great weather, but unfortunately, the lower lake was almost completely clouded over, so we really couldn't see it that well. We still hiked to the waterfall, and it was so pretty, despite the low clouds. Such a fun hike (and pretty big, over 8 miles!) with my sweet Rubes! She's the best hiking buddy!

Just a few extra pics from the beautiful month of June! We had so many beautiful blossoms and blooming flowers, especially lupine. So pretty! (I took all the flower pics while out running!) 

6/10/24

On Sunday we drove down to Portage and went to the AWCC. It was a little rainy, but still fun to see all the animals. Enjoy these pics!

Elk

I wanted to get some 12 year pics for Ruby, and we thought it would be fun to get take them in some beautiful blooming lupine. I took a few pics of her the day after her birthday, but then about a week later I found an even prettier lupine patch while running, so we ended up going out again and taking a few more pics. We also had Noelle and Robyn with us the second day so I got a few of them too. (The lighting was also better the second day, lol.) Enjoy these pretty pics! 💜🪻

The best and prettiest 12 year old! 6/14/24

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

Scott and I had so much fun running Flag Rock the day before, we wanted to take the girls hiking on it the next day! Unfortunately, Noelle hurt her foot biking and wasn't up to doing a big hike, so Scott just took Ruby and Robyn, and I stayed with Noelle. I love the pics Scott got of their hike, and wanted to do a post! Enjoy!

I loved living so close to so many trails while in Farmington, and towards the end of May I went on several different trail runs. These are some of my favorite pics from those mornings!

BST/Davis Creek Trail 5/25/23

After a coupe long days of driving we made it to Glacier National Park! We arrived in the afternoon on 7/22, but our reservation to enter through the West Entrance didn't start until the next day. I thought we would be able to just visit the visitor center in Apgar near the West Entrance, but not without a reservation. 

We had a few hours so we decided to drive over to the East Glacier/Two Medicine area. It ended up being one of my favorite areas of the park so I'm so glad we did! We hiked to Running Eagle Falls, which was just a short walk, but so beautiful. This waterfall used to be called Trick Falls because depending on the time of year, the flow changes between the upper fall and lower fall. (Spring has heavy flow from the upper fall, covering the lower fall; and late summer has heavy flow from the lower falls.) 

We wanted to do another hike while we were here, but the trail was closed due to recent bear activity. So after just a short time here we started our way back to West Glacier. (I definitely want to plan on spending more time in Two Medicine on our next trip!) That night we stayed in a nice lodge just outside the west park entrance. On our drive back we stopped at the Goat Lick Overlook. We saw lots of mountain goats, which was so cool! We especially loved seeing all the little baby goats. Enjoy these beautiful pics from our first day in Glacier! 

One of the last things we did with Andy and Ali before they went back home to Alaska was go to the Tracy Aviary. It was a beautiful day, and it's always so fun to see the amazing birds. Enjoy these cool pics!

Also, I didn't get any pictures, but one of my favorite things we did with Andy and Ali while they were here, was play pickleball. We would play during the day while the kids played at the park, or we would get the kids to bed, and then go play at night. It was seriously so much fun! Ali played tennis in high school so she's really good. Can't wait to see them again and get some more pickleball in!

Green-Winged Macaw

On our way home from Yellowstone we drove through Grand Teton National Park. One day was definitely not enough, and we'd love to come back again for a few days! The Grand Tetons are so pretty and we loved the stops we made here. 

Colter Bay Visitor Center

While camping in Moab we spent part of one of our days in Canyonlands National Park. It was so beautiful and I'd love to go back and spend more time here. We only saw a little bit of the park in the Island in the Sky section, but we loved it! It also didn't seem quite as crowded as Arches, but they're both so beautiful and definitely worth a visit! Enjoy these pics! 

Mesa Arch at sunrise. Got up super early for this! 😍

My parents arrived in Alaska on Saturday afternoon on the 4th of July. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day, and it was so nice to be together! We had a yummy BBQ with burgers on the grill, and then late that evening Scott and I decided to go on an 8 mile hike, haha! We got the girls all ready for bed and then let them fall asleep watching a show with my parents. (We hardly ever get babysitters so when Grandma and Grandpa come we get to go on lots of dates, haha!) 

Scott and I got to the trailhead by about 7:30 pm and then finished just before 11 pm. We love the midnight sun! (It's kind of sad because now, about a month later, as I'm writing this, it's pretty dark by 11 pm. We're still definitely enjoying our summer though!) We hiked Reed Lakes up Hatcher Pass and it's one of our very favorites! The snow was a little slower to melt this year, so the lower lake was still mostly frozen and we were just able to make it to the waterfall. Upper Reed Lake is about 1/2 mile farther, but the whole hike was still so pretty! We love Hatcher Pass! Enjoy these pics!