Layover in Anchorage

Sam and I are sequestered at the Anchorage airport waiting for our flight. We're on our way to Sacramento for EIGHT DAYS (as Sam puts it). We found some cozy seats in the corner of Starbucks and we're camped out. 

Blogging seemed like a good idea to help pass the time. But you know how I hate to blog without a picture. Enter iPhone pictures...

Although there are close to 1000 of them, my iPhone pictures hardly see the light of day.  Occasionally I will upload one to Facebook, but other than that they remain tucked away where no one sees them. 

I started scrolling through from the beginning, but then quickly jumped ahead to some of the more recent images, and selected a few of my faves.

Sam and Miss B at the Anchorage 5th Avenue Mall. April 2010.

Dad and Miss B. April 21, 2010 at IHOP after Miss B was sealed to our family at the Anchorage, Alaska Temple.  Because nothing celebrates an occasion like pancakes.

The boys.  Anchorage to Kodiak. April 2010. All dressed up after attending the temple.

Fast forward to this year... May 2011. Miss B studying the fish at the Touch Tank in Kodiak.

 Sam brave enough to handle the sea star. 

Miss B keeping Santa's seat warm for him. North Pole, Alaska May 2011. 

Miss B and Daddy and Boo Bear at Java Flats, Kodiak. June 2011.

Miss B and her BFF Noah. June 2011. Kodiak Commissary. 

These two are trouble.

Miss B is spending the morning with Noah today. Jacob and Josh had online classes at the same time and so Noah's Mommy is watching over her. I got a text saying they were eating chocolate chip waffles and watching the Disney Channel. Miss B will never want to go home!

June 2011. Kodiak Ward Nursery. Miss B in her favorite spot at church, the airplane in the nursery.

Each week about halfway through sacrament meeting, she loudly asks to play with her friends and the airplane. She has a thing for airplanes. (Can't imagine why.) Last week during sacrament meeting, the church got buzzed by a small plane. Miss B gasped with glee and shouted "Airplane!!"

Miss B and her daddy. Walking to the commissary. July 2011.

Miss B's first trip to the movie theatre. August 13, 2011. Mr. Poppers Penguins.

She did wonderfully, chomping on popcorn and Red Vines. And then she peed all over daddy's lap.

Her first Build a Bear August 24, 2011.

She was fine until the machine started to fill fluff into the bear. Then she cried and wouldn't go near it, until Daddy held her in his lap. Teddy Bear is now her constant companion.

Miss B and Mr. Israel Young on the C-130 flight from Anchorage to Kodiak, August 2011.

Mr. Young is also Brother Young and our next door neighbor. He's possibly the funniest men I've ever met.  My boys will knock on the wall that separates our living rooms and sing "Israel, Israel, God is Calling...". Don't you wish you lived next to us?

Just call her Imelda.

Puddle jumping in the rain outside Walmart. One of life's little joys. September 2011.

I finally got the pictures printed from Miss B's Tea Party Shoot. 

These gorgeous frames were on clearance at Pottery Barn at the beginning of the year and I snatched them up. Jake filled the frames for me yesterday (including the one in the center from The Organic Bloom) and I'm in LOVE. 

We tried a few layouts on the living room floor before coming up with one that worked.

(The biggest pictures are 20"x30")

The finished product.

I'm thinking our next home will need a nicely painted wall behind these frames.

Which brings us to today. 

Mr Sam-a-lam and I are heading out on our Big Adventure. He is so excited he can't stand it. He's been packed for days and carried his suitcase around the house worried he might misplace it and anxious to leave. 

He just told me that this (our Big Adventure) was even better than when Dad took him to The Crab Festival all by himself. Those are big words my friends. I've definitely grown in his esteem.

We just spent $17.00 at Starbucks buying hot chocolate (for me), a Vanilla Bean (for him), a pastry, and a water. Spendy.

Now he's playing on the iTouch and I'm blogging.

We hurried out of the house today as the sun was rising and I've already begun to make a list of the things I've forgotten. Like Sam's church shirt and socks. I meant to grab them this morning and didn't. And I forgot to get my sunglasses. They weren't at the forefront of my thoughts. We don't wear sunglasses very often in Kodiak. But I have a feeling I'll want them in California.

I know that our time in Sacramento is going to fly. My hopes for the trip include a pedicure, a trip to IKEA, and a visit to the movie theater to see "The Help".  (As well as a trip to the mall to get Sam a church shirt and socks... and perhaps a haircut for him as well.  Ya think?!)

I'm wishing I brought some wipies. Wipies are handy even when you don't have a toddler. 8 year olds can be just as sticky as a toddler.  

I'm also wishing I'd brought Mr. Earle along. I miss him terribly when we're apart.  Heck, I should have brought the whole family. We could have made a detour down to Disneyland. But then it wouldn't have been Sam and I's Big Adventure.  He feels special and loved and that's important when you are the youngest son and have two big brothers and the cutest little sister and they all seem to eclipse you. He's going to remember this trip for the rest of his life.

(Becky, remember when you got to go with Dad on that business trip and he took you to Disneyland?! I do. Boy, we were all so jealous of you!)