A year ago this past week...

was one I'll never forget. I was just finishing my first trimester of pregnancy, after having two miscarriages. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I was somewhat "in the clear" as we had made it thus far. And, then, out of nowhere, complications set in.

I remember calling my OB's office that Monday morning, telling them about my stressful weekend and my symptoms. My OB called back, just 10 minutes later, in person. He asked me how quickly I could get to his office.

I called Jerry at work, in tears, telling him that he had to meet me for the appointment. And, I prayed the whole way there.

I was all nerves and tears.

And, then by the grace of God, they put the Doppler on my stomach, and there was a strong heartbeat. Wow. We had thought for sure that this pregnancy might not continue... just as the previous two had ended so abruptly.

My OB put me on bedrest for that week -- it was the week of the Olympics, and the week before Grayson's first day of preschool AND David and Kristen's wedding in Texas.

So, I stayed home and we all did lots more praying. I went back to the doctor that Friday and the following Wednesday. We heard the heartbeat both times.

I got the "go-ahead" to go to Texas. Yippee!!

Carter stayed in... where he was supposed to be... for 39 weeks and 1 day. =)

And, who would've ever guessed that a year later, this sweet boy would be such a special part of our lives.

Happy 6 month birthday, Carter. We love you and we are so thankful that you are here!

Tracy Arm and Sawyer Glacier

During the middle of our cruise, we had a day devoted to just sailing through a gorgeous area called Glacier Bay. At the end of our cruise down the "arm", we came upon a huge glacier, our captain did a 360 degree turn with the ship, and we headed back out. It was pretty impressive! Here we are just heading into Tracy Arm... no ice in the water... yet. Jacey, Grayson, and I decided to take in the sights from the very top of the ship, on the 13th floor in the Viking Crown Lounge. It was windows from top to bottom, and very warm!! Jerry and Darren decided to watch for awhile outside, but then they got so cold that they decided to join us up top!
At the end of our journey down Tracy Arm, we came to this monstrous sight, Sawyer Glacier

The boys got Grayson going on this... never mind that there's icy water right below... =)

I was hoping that they'd pipe in the music from "Titanic" and play it over the loudspeakers, just for awhile. It reminded me so much of the movie, except our ship didn't sink.

The 3 of us in front of Sawyer Glacier -- here's where the captain did the 360 degree turn, amidst all the ice.

After the turn, they lowered a small lifeboat with several crew members, and they went after a floating piece of the glacier. They brought it back onboard the ship, and carved it right on the pool deck. It was pretty cool!! (The boat has 5 people on it... gives you an idea of just how big the ice chunks were in the water!)

Can't miss out on any opportunity to play putt-putt =)

You can see just how blue the melted glaciers made the water -- it was gorgeous!

The captain also did a 360 with the ship in front of this waterfall. They said that the water was so clean and pure, that you could drink it!

A gorgeous day that was a wonderful reminder of just how mighty our Creator is! Wow!!

Next up: Juneau, AK

Skagway, Alaska

We thoroughly enjoyed our day in Skagway. It was on our 9th anniversary -- even more reason to celebrate!! We started off the day, bright and early, for some shopping in the downtown area as we had an excursion planned for the afternoon. But, in the middle of our walk from the ship to the downtown area, we ran into a stream/lake area that was filled with salmon. A very nice guy (even though he was wearing a Mizzou sweatshirt) offered to let Grayson catch a salmon with his fishing pole. It didn't take long at all to catch one... less than a minute!
He was a floppy fish!

Posing with the nice MU guy -- I told him that I went to KU, but we could be friends since we were in Alaska =)

Grayson kinda wanted to hold his prized catch, but never quite got up the nerve to do so.

Jerry was so proud... Are there any pheasants in Alaska??

The Serenade in port in Skagway... mountains all around... beautiful!

So, I'm a bit obsessed with the Travel Channel, and this restaurant was featured as a great place to try some Alaskan King Crab. We ordered a plate of crab cakes and then some peel & eat shrimp. Yummy!

Our afternoon excursion was dogsledding!! We had been looking forward to this for months! We travelled to Dyea, where the dogs who race the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest have their summer camp. It was a blast!! (The guy standing behind me in the gray shirt was our musher, and he and his dogs won 3rd place at last year's Iditarod. Those same dogs took us for our ride!)

Another team of dogs waiting to run...

Fourteen Alaskan Huskies were our guides

This is Spice, another sled dog. She LOVED Grayson and just kept staring at him. I thought she had beautiful eyes.

Then we got to cuddle with the puppies who will be trained soon. Want one? They are $2000.00 each!

Maybe Zoe could be an exchange dog here... haha

If the dogs weren't running, they were all in their "houses". Each one had his or her name above the door.

It was a wonderful and very memorable afternoon in Skagway! We headed back into the downtown area to get on the ship, but not before seeing bald eagles and seals on our drive back. Alaska has such beautiful wildlife... everywhere!

Next post: Our day cruising up Tracy Arm to see the Sawyer Glacier

Icy Strait Point, Alaska

Here we are, just getting off the ship in Icy Strait. It was a tiny town, and the Serenade was too big to actually port there. So, we arrived via a "tender" (also known as one of the lifeboats!). The weather was gorgeous every day, but notice, we are wearing our fleece jackets and jeans -- in August!! The whole area was surrounded by mountains, and we had just seen 3 humpback whales right next to our ship. It was so cool! A great welcome... The big deal in Icy Strait is to ride the Zipline. We chose to just watch! It's the longest in the world, with a 1300 foot drop. It takes 45 minutes to drive up the mountain to the top, and your ride down takes 90 seconds! AND, you're going at speeds of up to 65 mph!! Here are some of our fellow cruisers coming down out of the clouds.
The reindeer chili mystified me...

The flowers were gorgeous... so bright!!

Look at the roots on this tree!!

More pretty flowers... but don't know what these are called...

As we were getting ready to get back on the ship, here came a man pushing a huge wheelbarrow full of Alaskan King Crabs. Anyone for a treat from "The Deadliest Catch"?? They were so big!!

If you look closely, you can see four more people coming down on the Zipline! They were waaaaay up there!

Grayson loved the totem poles!

And, wanted to get a picture next to each one that he saw! =)

Next post: Our day in Skagway, AK

What we did while out at sea...

Grayson enjoyed the kids' pool
We rode down the waterslide together... (this should win some Mommy-points... it was in the 60s outside and we were in the water!! Brrrr...)

We all enjoyed the miniature golf course on the top of the ship... you could see for miles!

Here I am with two of my sisters-in-law -- Jacey and Jenny

Climbing the rock wall -- I was thrilled to get to the top and ring the bell! Ha!

Grayson was taking in the scenery from our balcony stateroom... notice he's standing on a table. I'm not sure how safe this is -- oh well!

Gotta love those rock-climbing harnesses and helmets =)

Jerry climbing to the top... he did it in about 15 seconds.

The boys posing with one of the statues by the outdoor pool. We actually hung out in the outdoor hot tubs frequently. It felt so nice to have the cool, crisp air all around us, but to be warm under the water. Only on an Alaskan cruise!

Next post: Our stop in Icy Strait Point, Alaska

Our Cruise to Alaska

Last week, Jerry, Grayson, and I joined Jerry's family for a week-long cruise to Alaska. We left out of Vancouver, British Columbia on Saturday, August 8th. We had a wonderful time! I thought I'd do a blog post about each stop along the way. Here's our first day...The beautiful Serenade of the Seas

Here we are on deck while the Serenade is still in port in Vancouver... the downtown is in the background. Leaving out of Vancouver -- we had to go under the Lion's Gate Bridge to get out of town! We were just across from the gorgeous Stanley Park. The bridge came so close to the ship... our captain told us that there was a 10 meter clearance. Yikes!! We could see the people standing on top of the bridge, looking down on us.

More of downtown Vancouver... the white pointy area is Canada Place, the other cruise ship terminal.

This welcomed us into the Windjammer buffet... yea for their yummy food! We loved their delicious fresh pineapple, and of course, the frozen yogurt machines!!

Up next... what we did on our days at sea... =)

Out of the mouths of babes...

Today Grayson tells me this:

G: "Hey, Mom. Guess what?"
J: "What?"
G: "Boy boobies are not private parts, but girls' are."
J: "Who told you that, Grayson?"
G: "Nana did!"
(Thanks for clarifying that one, Mom!!)

And, just a few days ago, Grayson looked at me and said very seriously...
"When is Zoe going to lay me some puppies, Mom?"

I just smiled, but realized that Jerry has some talking to do with Grayson. First of all, Zoe is fixed. She doesn't have the parts anymore to have puppies. And secondly, this request sounds like a weird combination of laying eggs and having puppies. Good luck, Jerry, on educating your 4 year old on the birds and the bees of your beloved hunting partner. =)