North to Alaska

Tomorrow we head to Alaska for a much needed two week vacation. We have been planning this since October and it is finally here! Of course, the time will go by much too quickly but we are both very excited for some time with Peter's family and some time in that beautiful state.

We have all our stuff in our new place and we are completely finished with our old place. I can't explain what a burden has been lifted from my shoulders just having the old place cleaned and done with. We are staying with some friends this week so they can finish some things in our unit and completely finish the building. Our unit is the only one occupied right now and the only one finished. It will be nice to come home and not have any workers in the halls. At least we hope!

Baby is doing great. We have enjoyed watching my stomach do amazing things and I wish that I could see what he was doing to cause the movement! I went to the doctor on Tuesday and everything is perfect. They tested me for gestational diabetes and to see if I am anemic and I tested negative for both. I guess all the candy I eat every day hasn't caught up to me yet! Now I just plan on eating well and relaxing in Alaska! We'll post some pictures when we get there!

Busy Busy

My parents and my sister came to visit us last weekend and go to a wedding. I didn't know Vanessa was coming so it was a great surprise. It seems our time together is always too short but worth it to see them.
Although you can't tell, this is twin Mason. Unfortunately, they are not big fans of the carseat.
This is Smith. I am getting lots of practice with babies, which I love!
We have been pretty busy lately getting ready to move and getting the new place ready to move into. We close on Friday morning and then we are moving on Saturday. Next week we get ready to go to Alaska on the 29th for two weeks! I cannot wait! I can't wait to be in Alaska and have a vacation and being there means that we are in our new place and our old place is empty and clean!

pop!

Here are a couple signs that my belly has "popped":

1. Complete strangers are now asking me when I am due and such. It is fun that I am noticeably pregnant and fun to say, "What are you talking about?" I have only done that once to someone I knew at the bank and I felt so bad about how he must feel that I don't know how much I will use that line!

2. I tried to kind of squeeze behind Peter in the bathroom the other day and ended up pushing him into the sink with my belly! I better be careful from now on.


There are other signs too but those are the most fun. I am feeling great and my biggest problem right now is feeling full. It seems I can't get enough to eat! I had a doctor's appointment last week and everything is perfect. Blood pressure, size, heartbeat, etc. He's moving lots and lots and Peter and I have enjoyed watching my belly dance and move. The other night Peter exclaimed, "I think that was a triple karate kick!" We close on our condo on June 20th and I am excited to move in and get settled and set all the baby's stuff up.
Nest, nest, nest.

A Much Needed Fishing Trip

I can not remember the last time Matt and the "brothers" went fishing together; perhaps it was the frigid Hyalite trip, but it has been too long and much deserved. We were blessed to have the opportunity to borrrow Sam's raft and float a section of the Madison river, something we hardly ever get to do. So for a day Matt, Josh, and myself felt like we were living the Montana dream - today we owned a raft... and with a cooler full of treats, dries on the tippet and visions of landing the "big one" we felt invincible.

First fish of the day - caught by Papa Matt. We consistantly caught fish this size all day. Small, but Matt kept repeating "come on guys - size doesn't matter!"

Towards the end of the day I happened to glance over at Josh as he plucked this huge rainbow out of the water with a Royal Wulff. The picture doesn't do the fish...the battle...and the shear joy on Josh's face justice. Josh said later,"That was the biggest fish I've ever caught on a river!" Glad we could share the moment with you buddy.

We couldn't get a good picture of the fish because Josh wasn't about to let his "prize" go. Notice the excellent execution of the "Oberly Death Grip" Josh has administered on this 18 inch rainbow. Perfect form ol' chap!

Team work. It's a good thing Matt scrambled to catch this trout. Low and behold, after closely examining his tackle after the fight the fly just fell off the line. Close call

You can't tell but Josh is grinning inside ear to ear - he's just so scared right now from the thought of loosing his fish.

I also hooked up on a nice brown later on in the float. I didn't think it was big because it wasn't putting up much of a fight. It was in fact swimming towards me and it wasn't until I saw and felt the tension on my rod that I knew we had a "keeper" on the line. I won't ever forget Matt netting this big brown...looking down in the net (could barely fit - even folded in half) and yelling "MONEY!"

The mouth on this fish was just gynormous. I was scared of pulling the hook out for fear of loosing my finger to the huge teeth this guy had. A pretty fish to end an amazing day.

The release - Looking at this photo and remembering this amazing day...Matt said it the best "Guys...God's just looking down on us and He's just laughing ' look at my boys - they are just having a ball!!'"

Thanks God, and thanks Sam for a day that I know we'll all be comparing the rest of our fishing days to for a really really long time.