Alaska

Pictures, pictures, pictures...and brief captions are about what I have time for at the moment. I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting. I haven't been the most diligent blogger these last few months - many reasons for this, but I'm confident you understand....living life comes first, notes about living life, second.

Our trip back home was fabulous. Wonderful memories were made for the girls. The weather, though less than optimal didn't hinder us from relishing the goodness and rich beauty of Alaska. As for me, I wasn't there for sunshine - I grew up in The Last Frontier, and I know how beautiful it is. But for you, weather would have made for better photographs.

So I'll start with this picture (borrowed from Toursaver) of Anchorage - the magnificent city in which I was raised, and my parents and three of my brothers still reside. Growing up we lived on the hillside of those gorgeous mountains you see in the background. Breathtaking. Had the heavy clouds parted during our vacation I could have taken this photograph myself.

I did get a pretty good shot of this doll sheep.
Our second night there my mother made us all
a ton of Alaska king crab. So scrumptious!

There was no shortage of beautiful flowers.

the ever-striking Alaska blue poppy

(Himalayan poppy)

Lovely columbine

my super handsome (and single!) brothers:
Uncle Larry.....

.....and Uncle Alex.

(Did I mention "single"?)

not such a good shot of a mountain

Sunshine! Stubborn tree wouldn't move for me. :)

We took a hike up near Crow Creek Mine.
Gasp - is littering legal up north?

Not so much. :)

Our hike led us to this super cool help-yourself hand tram

across the Crow Creek gorge. It was a blast, and I love

the fact that some states still allow this stuff. In the state

in which I currently reside it would be a huge liability.

Therefore, non-existent.

That's Gianna and her daddy there.

the gorge

above the gorge

Dinner with my dear friend Marie-Louise

and her husband, Stephan. A lovely and devout couple they are.

Are we bright or what?

Gianna and her favorite horse, Trigger. Trigger belongs

to a family friend who owns horses, llamas (did I tell you

I had a llama for a household pet growing up?), goats and dogs,

and has the most adorable vintage equestrian-accessorized

red barn you've ever seen! As you can imagine

the girls had a blast at Shannon's place.

riding Trigger

That's all for now, friends. The little ladies of the house are vying for my attention, so I'm off to live, and love, and make notes about it later. :)

Go, and read.

Your entire day, perhaps your whole week will benefit from the few minutes it'll take you to read this post. Go.

Now.

You are just so smart, friends.

Yes, we were in Alaska! We're back now, and we had a lovely, much-needed vacation. I'll be sure to post photos and tell you more about our trip as soon as I can allocate myself some computer time. :)

So, why are my girls....

....wearing winter coats with their sandals in the summertime?

From the Sewing Box:

Yes, I'm still sewing. But since the girls are pretty much set for warm-weather clothes (save perhaps another set of nightclothes), most of my projects are for other people now.

These are my first set of summer pajamas. I tried to get the girls to come outside for a photo this morning, but they were having too much fun on the sofa with their stash of books.....and taking turns tickling each other to the point of hilarity. Lots of fun in the living room today. As for the pj bottoms - wispy cotton sateen trimmed with two of my favorite eyelet laces. Tops $4 from Old Navy.

For a friend's sweet little under-two-year-old girl. I don't have a little one to model it for you (sniff, sniff), so you get a hanger view. I'm really sorry about that. Really, I am.

~