Happy Birthday Lois

Lois Turns 70!

She doesn't want us to make a big deal about it - but this is a big deal. She has raised a beautiful family and is a fabulous mom - and mother-in-law. And I realize how lucky I am to say that!

Dave is the cute little boy in the center

Dave and Shawn turn 40!

As a surprise for the guys b-day, Val and I "kidnapped" them and went to Sundance to go Mtn. bking, golfing in Midway and to Park City overnight. The scenery was beautiful.... and that wasn't just them. :)

A "posed" shot from Val and I... no really - we are naturally that curvy!


This was a beautiful trail that took about an hour. It was all single track and took us on a huge loop. We all had some minor injuries - Shawn definately suffered the worst. As the really helpful biker who passed him when he had gone over the handle bars said "Hey watch your brakes, dude!"

Val and I held back a little to allow the guys plenty of room. They thought we were having a hard time...but that wasn't it at all.

Yes, Dave is the photographer here...

For you Pritha! Alaska - finally

A picture of Stacey and I in front of the fountain on the cruise ship. There was a cute little wine steward that asked us if we were sisters. I asked him which one was younger and he guessed Stacey - so I told him if he wanted a big tip he better change that guess. From then on out he would say "Oh, there is Amy... the younger sister" Yes, he got a big tip!

A picture from Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau. The glaciers are REALLY this blue. The pressure of all the weight on top of the them compresses them and only allows blue light to filter through. Truly breath taking! Hiking to the waterfall by the glacier below.

This is the view that we had outside our cabin on the cruise ship - could it be more perfect!!! The weather was amazing. We had record heat - which is always a good thing for Alaska and hardly any rain. A beautiful sunset from the ship below.

The first 5 days of the trip were on land and we had the chance to fly into Fairbanks and go panning for gold, check out some native exhibits (below) and visit a Iditerod dog breeder.

The amazing jump above is me touching the Trans Alaska pipeline. It was amazing what a huge source of income this is for the people of Alaska - especially in the Fairbanks area. The huge pipe goes above ground and below ground - just depending on the permafrost in that area.

Denali National Park was definitely the place for us to see animals. We saw about everything conceivable - except wolves. It was so amazing that we saw this bear because our tour for the morning was almost over, and we turned the corner and he was there! There were a couple of others up stream - play fighting. Pretty amazing stuff.

The moose below is a yearling that the mother is trying to chase off so she can have her new calf. He was like any other teenage - didn't really get the hint that she was trying to lose him.

The only hard part about being someplace so beautiful was not having Dave there to share it with me. It was nice not feeling guilty about being away from the kids - since he was home with them, but the majesty in Alaska is just something I will have to experience again with him.