Dallas & Kimberly

Thanksgiving Happenings...

2010-12-07T13:54:00.000-08:00

Playing catch up! Gotta post about Thanksgiving before Christmas, right!? Well we had a really FUN Thanksgiving!! It was a definitely a "new" experience for us, not having to host a huge party! It was just our little Gordon Heap Family! There was LoTs of yummy food. My mom is the best chef ever! Dallas and I brought our corn-hole game and we set it up in the front yard. No one had played corn-hole before but once they got the hang of it, that was it! Everyone is hooked! We played until the sun went down! Devyn now asks to play corn-hole everytime we get together. haha! Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful. I am so grateful for Family. I'm grateful for loving parents who taught us the gospel and who always showed us unconditional love. I am grateful that our family gets to be together forever!! I love them all and cannot picture my life without each and every one of them. I am grateful for my freedom and for this country I live in and for those who fight to defend our freedoms. I am grateful for a loving husband and for the pure ray of sunshine he is in my life. I am grateful for a roof over my head and for the food we eat everyday. Grateful for cameras that capture the laughter and smiles of loved ones! There is SO MUCH to be grateful for!!! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Halloween & AZ State Fair

2010-11-12T09:03:00.002-08:00

Well... this post is definitely LATE! Playing a little bit of "catch-up". We got to carve pumpkins together for Halloween. I think Mom & Dad were in Alaska so it was all us kids. We had a great time! Good food and messy pumpkin carvin'! Everyone did an awesome job on their pumpkins. After the parents got home, we all went to the Arizona State Fair. I haven't been in a couple years and I forgot how much FUN it is!! We rode lots and lots of rides, played games, watched Shelise get hypnotized and shake her booty (unknowingly) in front of a huge audience, and ate some good old greasy fair food. Haha!

hollis turns ONE

2010-09-13T14:35:00.001-07:00

hollis officially turned the big 1 year on September 7th. celeste & devyn decided to throw him an airplane themed party. It was so cute!

celeste asked me to make some cake pops. i decided to get creative and try making a plane! they turned out great! (gotta give credit to the hubby for helping stick on the candies!)

It wouldn't be a party with out a pinata!!

Happy Birthday to Hollis!

Mmmm... first taste of chocolate cake! looks like he liked it (:

:: proud parents ::

I seriously love this kid. he loves everything about being outside. we always catch him crawling to the back door and pressing his face against the window, looking and wishing he were outside with the dogs! hollis is so animated and makes the funniest faces. i love him!

Yum, cake pop! (yes, i'm a dork)

After a long night of partying, our dog wrinkles had the right idea... (isn't he so cute!)

Camping for the 4th

2010-07-07T11:53:00.001-07:00

We went camping up at Greens Peak for the 4th of July with the Alvey side of the family. It was sooo nice to get out of the heat and into some cool weather. We went & watched the fireworks at the airport in Eagar on Saturday (they are always awesome, loud, and close!) We had a really relaxing camping trip filled with good food, good company, shooting, and lots of corn-hole playing! Dallas & I made a game called "corn-hole" before we went up. It is harder than you think & can get very competitive! Wish we were millionaires so we could stay up there and not have to come back to work! Dang- someday, right!? Next camping trip.... LABOR DAY!

Greens Peak

First time we used the new tent my dad bought us. It was awesome! Even had a front canopy! We love it.

Aren't tent naps the best!?

Dalllas & Colby playing Corn-hole. Pretty sure Colby dominated this game...

Grandma & Grand-PA Alvey

I love ranger rides.

Recognize this fort!? Still going strong after 4 years! My awesome Dad built this fort in 2006 at the "Heap Family" camping spot.

Dallas riding Zander's quad

Until next time...

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Alaska in T-minus 9 days! Boom shaka-laka!

More Birthdays & Fun Stuff

2010-06-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

My birthday is 4 days after Dallas. I turned 26 this year! 26 seemed so far away...how is it here already!? My mom made me my favorite, Pistachio cake! We had a lot of fun at Buffalo Wild Wings watching the Suns game as well.

My little sister Shelise is an official graduate of Gilbert High School! Woo hoo! Lots of family came and supported her on her special day.

We also decided to escape the heat by heading up to the Alpine cabin for the Memorial Day weekend. We enjoyed the nice weather and just relaxed. It was a lot of fun! I love that place!

Mom, Dad & Shelise

Gotta love the bear hugs!

My NOT so little brother Bryson & Shelise

One of Shelise's besties Lena

Herman and my Dad thinking they are SnEaKy, haha!

Some of the gang-

:: Lovely ::

I convinced my Dad & Dallas to come fishing with me to Hulsey Lake. Nothing can compare to Alaska fishing but I still had fun reeling in the "minnow" sized Trout. The boys.. not so much. Dallas caught 1, my dad caught 2, and I caught 10! Hahaha. Who says girls can't fish!?

I have never seen an Elk up close. This one reminds me of the Sloth off of the Ice Age movie!

Until next time...

Dallas turns 27 !!!

2010-05-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

Dallas' birthday was on May 21st! He turned 27 this year... Gettin' old! We celebrated by going to eat dinner at his favorite restaurant, Texas Roadhouse! Dallas was all excited to sit in the birthday saddle haha. He yelled "Yee-Haa" as loud as he could & embarrassed us more than anything ahaha!!! We went back to our place for rainbow chip cupcakes and chocolate covered strawberries. I had decorated a little with some balloons which didn't last more than 10 minutes after we were done singing Happy Birthday to him (evidence below in the video). It was a fun night!

Birthday Boy all SMILES in the Saddle

My cute Mom waiting for the food...

Fiesta!

Birthday Cupcake

My siblings are growing up!

2010-05-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe my baby sister Shelise is going to be graduating from Gilbert High School this year! She still seems too little to be growing up so fast! Booo... time seems to keep going faster. All we will have left is my younger brother who will be a Junior at Gilbert High next year!!! Crazy... anyway, my sister Celeste did a little photo shoot for Shelise's graduation pictures. I tagged along with my camera as well (catching all the "from the side" poses). Thought I would post these. She is so dang pretty!!! Congratulations Shelise! I love you.

A few randoms...

2010-04-22T15:29:00.000-07:00

What is it about warming weather and the need to craft? Dang those craft blogs!!! I have so many "to do" projects on my list. Haha. One of my favorite cousins is having a baby girl in June and my mom & I offered to help with the decorations for her baby shower this Saturday! I made the chalkboards and "Baby" sign.

Chalkboards

My Mom is making her the cutest baby blanket! (so jealous)

Isn't he so cute! I can't get enough of my curly haired pup.

Definitely SPRING TIME

Not sure why, but EVERYTHING my mom plants in here mini side garden gets SuPeR SiZeD! Last year it was the cucumbers and this year...the lettuce!

PS: Working from an office at my parents home = lots of time spent there.

Happy 4th Anniversary!!!

2010-03-08T14:31:00.000-08:00

Dallas & I celebrated our 4th Anniversary on March 3rd. We got to take a weekend trip to San Diego, California to celebrate! We had a lot of fun just bumming around at different beaches & taking lots of pictures! I am so grateful for my wonderful, sexy, hard working husband. He is always so happy and makes me laugh constantly! I don't know what I would do without him. I love you babe!

I want a tree-house in this tree! Wouldn't that be AwEsOmE!?

This little harbor seal (above) was cracking us up. He was laying on his back looking at all the birds flying above him in the sky. He kept getting excited and flapping his flippers. So cute!

LAZY Seals! Dallas had to hold himself back. He wanted to pet them so bad! They were inches away from us on the beach in La Jolla. Don't they look like lazy old dogs!?

Beautiful views!

If only this were the view from my front porch...

Cabrillo National Monument - Lighthouse

Dallas thinks it is hilarious to steal my camera & take a bazillion close up pictures of me! Grrr.

There were these "tidepools" that you could climb down to and check out. It was awesome. There was a storm rolling in so the waves were huge!

We spotted a seal in the ocean & saw him throwing something around...it was an octopus!! I had NO idea seals ate octopus!?

BETTER TOGETHER

On our way back home. Excited for many many more anniversaries to come!!

New Years in the SnOw!

2010-01-04T12:36:00.001-08:00

We headed up to the Alpine Cabin for the New Years. We drove through a blizzard to get there. Dallas thought it was pretty cool that we couldn't see in front of our headlights, me not so much! haha. We had a lot of fun at the ole cabin playing in the snow and hanging out with eachother. Isn't family the best!? I am sad the holidays are over, but excited for a New Year and to see what it brings. Here we come 2010!

Blog Slacker

2009-11-16T13:51:00.000-08:00

Yes, I have been a blog slacker. Figure I better post about Halloween before Thanksgiving arrives next week!

Our Halloween was pretty fun. It isn't as exciting anymore without a "Heap"- driveway haunted house. I miss laying on a wooden coffin, dressed as chucky's bride, screaming on the top of my lungs and making trick-or-treaters run out for their lives.

Regardless- it was still fun. We went over to Mom & Dad Heap's house and had pizza and goodies, then went out trick-or-treating. Somehow I got stuck at the front door passing out candy...
My Dad could never NOT do anything for Halloween so he decorated our front walkway leading to the front door (where I was sitting with the candy). There was creepy music playing, a coffin with a skeleton inside, and the creepie, egore-looking guy, a strobe light and cob webs that the kids had to obstacle course through before they reached me to get their goodies. Most of the little kids had to be bribed and held on-to, in order to get to me. I could hear one kid at the front of the walkway saying, "No way Mom! I am not going through there!" -hahahah

My Dad usually dresses up as a scary monster. He had told me earlier in the day that he and my cousins husband Craig (who works for my dad), figured out what they were going to be for Halloween. When my dad took out his crazy teeth, I naturally thought he was going to be some type of monster. Later, I realized I was mistakenly wrong, when 2 fat dancing ballerinas came twirling through the living room! They won best costumes. Hands down.

Halloween was great and I can't wait til Thanksgiving!! Don't you just love the holidays?

Oh- and these first 2 pictures are from Labor Day weekend...? Is that right Jessica? We drove up to Payson just for fun one Saturday morning. We went thrifting, ate at Macky's Grill, and just bummed around together. It was a lot of FUN!!

The Heap Famillia carving pumpkins. Yes, we get into it!!

My cute nephew Hollis the penguino

"Ya ya, I know- I make a penguin suit look good!"

The Dancing Ballerinas!

Some of my 2nd cousins (except Sydney, she's my 1st)

Anyone want or know someone who wants to buy a sand limo? -Let me know

HOME

2009-09-14T13:17:00.001-07:00

What we call Home: (Some of it)

Hollis Kent Gillespie has arrived!!!!

2009-09-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

My new nephew Hollis Kent Gillespie arrived on his due date! He was born on the 7th of September, at 7am, and weighed 7 pounds! I'm guessing his lucky number is going to be 7!! Oh and he is also the 7th grandchild on Devyn's side. haha. Celeste is doing well and everything went great! I am so excited for them! Here are some pictures of the cute boy:

I love newborn babies! He looked like a little Glo Worm toy! Hollis is such a good little baby. He never cries and he has his eyes open all the time curiously looking around at everything that's going on around him. When you hold him, he just looks up at you. Awww.. I love him! Congrats Devyn & Celeste!

Weekend Cowboy

2009-09-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago Dallas & I got to escape the heat and go on a day trip to Prescott with his mom & dad. We got to play cowboy and watch the PBR (professional bull riding) competition! It was actually a lot of fun! Before the rodeo we shopped around at a bunch of small boutique stores and we ate at a really yummy old fashioned hamburger joint. The bull riding competition was a lot of fun too. It was actually pretty hilarious to see these guys get thrown around like rag dolls! haha. You won't catch me bullriding anytime soon!

Here are some videos from the rodeo:

A Summer Lake Day

2009-07-24T14:11:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we decided to take the family boat out to Canyon Lake for the scorching 115 degree day! It was our first lake trip this summer and it was a lot of fun. I definitely am out of shape or something because I couldn't stay on the tube for very long before getting thrown off! It was nice to be able to relax, get a tan, and stay cool. Hopefully we get to go again this next weekend! Here are some pictures from the day:

Dallas on top of the rock that looked like a lizard

Dallas & I on the "hot dog" tube hanging on tight

Dallas spotted this mountain ram posing for pictures on top of the cliff along with about 6 others who weren't so outgoing and hid behind bushes and rocks. this ram had HUGE horns!

Dallas showing of f...haha. right after this pic he did a barrel roll with the tube and stayed on!

I decided that Celeste is the cutest prego lady I have ever seen! I can't believe she's due in 5 weeks!

Devyn wanted to ride the tube so I drove the boat (:

Devyn & Dallas cliff jumping while I am watching. Celeste took pictures from the boat. On the picture below, her camera focused on Devyn for some reason and it blurred Dallas making them look like they were going over eachother. hahaha!

Me getting ready to jump!

A thunderstorm started to roll in when we were getting ready to head back to the dock

What a GREAT day!

Happy 4th of Joooly

2009-07-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

We got to take a trip up to the cabin in Alpine for the 4th of July this year! It has been raining up there quite a bit so everything was sooo green. My mother in law Leslie came and stayed with me at the cabin while the boys went to greens peak and camped (so they could go shooting...) We met up with them in Eagar on Saturday to watch the firework show. It was awesome! We sat so close you could feel the "boom" in your chest from each firework. haha. I am sad our short vacation is over... I am back in the oven... Here are some pictures from our weekend:

This little cottontail bounced around while I watered trees

I filled the hummingbird feeder and tried to snap some pictures but they move so fast!

Doug, Leslie, and Dallas waiting for the firework show to start

Oooo pretty! You Alaskans didn't get to see these, did you..?! Mwah-ha-ha.
no darkness = no fireworks

Dallas and Me!

Back to the oven.... in the racecar

Attack of the Monster Cucumbers

2009-06-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

Mom- You are growing monster cucumbers EVERYWHERE! There are seriously like 20 cucumbers and counting... here is the evidence:

The dogs say HeLLO -

Fruit of Momma Heap's LaBoR's = Delicious

2009-06-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

So my side of the family left to Alaska for the summer and my mom has been growing her garden and she left me in charge of taking care of it and in return, I get to eat whatever grows! YuM! We have had yellow and red cherry tomatoes coming out of our ears so I kept thinking of ways to make them last...my solution...SUN DRIED Cherry Tomatoes!! It has actually been awesome and they are easy to throw into pasta dinners and you can put them in freezer bags in the freezer and they will last 9-12 months! Dallas and I have had fun so far taking care of the garden and eating the veggies... before they make it to the kitchen... Thanks Mom!!!!

Oh and there are a MILLION Apricots on your tree Mom - literally! I have already picked 2 cardboard boxes full. I am going to be making some jam and syrup tonight. woot-woot!

Greens Peak Camping

2009-05-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

We went camping up at Greens Peak with the Alvey family for the Memorial Day weekend and we had a blast!!! Dallas and I drove up on his birthday (May 21st) and we drove back home on my birthday (May 25th) haha. It was nice to get out of the heat and enjoy some cool weather, beautiful country, being surrounded by nature, & friends and family. I decided these camping trips need to happen more often. I am looking forward to the next one... Until then, here are some pictures from the trip:

Roman kept giving everyone his wink the whole time that I think "big" Devyn (my sisters husband) taught him!

Ben the dog, Dallas, Colby and Grandpa Alvey

Grandpa Alvey all decked out in Camo gear and waiting for a coyote to come in...

Beautiful Sunset

Kalub & "big" Devyn playing ball

Dallas could live here

Family campfire

Leslie trying to prevent the following pictures from happening, but forgetting that her little Colby isn't so little anymore and can basically "hercules" anyone over his shoulder all day long! No kidding, he's HUGE!

Diana, Leslie & Jessica warming up by the fire

Dallas & I saw a red fox in the field while we were driving out of Greens peak. Dallas was begging me to shoot it but it was my birthday so I told him we could only shoot it with my camera. hehe. He was so cute! How could anyone kill cute Mr. Fox...

The latest...

2009-05-13T11:32:00.001-07:00

Busy. Yep we have been busy. Busy with lots of electrical work for Dallas, moving into our own place finally, and trying to set up our home. Dallas works for a new company called Envision Electric. He has been working there for about 2 months now and he loves it! He likes the guys that work with him and they are busier than ever right now (which we are so grateful for!) They just wired one of Dallas' favorite eating places... a Costa Vida! haha. Anyway he likes it and we are so thankful he has a job in these hard times. We found a place that we are renting off of Val Vista Dr and Southern in Mesa. It is a townhouse type place with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms in a gated community and we ReAlLy like it! We got to paint the house, and we are trying to get everything in place and organized. I had forgotten how much stuff we had, it has been in storage for over a year since we were in Alaska most of last year. I decided to not be a pack-rat so I am going through all my stuff thoroughly and getting rid of things I really don't need. When we get done fixing the place up, I will take pictures and post them.

Now that I have my own kitchen, I have been cooking a lot lately, and I had forgotten how much I enjoy trying new recipes and making good food! I am trying to get Dallas to help me plant a small garden in our small yard space so I can have some "FRESH EN-GREED-IENTS!" I will have to keep working on him because it hasn't happened yet...
That is about all that is new with us, so until next time, here are some photos:

My 5 chickens are now laying eggs everyday! Wa-hoo! Fresh eggs! It actually is pretty awesome and they taste so good. I get brown eggs, white eggs, and light bluish-green colored eggs. (:

I found the absolute BEST homemade granola recipe! We are going to make this stuff every couple weeks and keep it stocked in our pantry for a quick & healthy, yummy snack.

I decided to attempt the strawberry freezer jam since strawberries are so cheap and abundant right now!! I had no idea how EASY freezer jam is to make! I am never buying jam again. I plan on making some different flavors like mixed berry, and apricot in the next couple weeks. YuM!

Happy 3 Years...

2009-03-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

Dallas & I celebrated our 3 year anniversary on March 3, 2009. We ended up going on a mini weekend vacation to Redondo Beach, California. We stayed at a Best Western Inn right across the street from the beach. It was awesome!!! We had lots of R&R time and had fun being beach bums. I didn't want to come back....Agghh.... I tried to convince Dallas we could live in a hut on the beach and try our hand at Magic Shows on the Santa Monica Pier to make a living but he wouldn't have it...darn! We had a wonderful anniversary and we look forward to many many more. I love Dallas, he is my bestest friend and I am so grateful for all he does for me & I feel lucky that I get to be with him for eternity! Here are a few photos from Cali:

Santa Monica Pier

Sunset view from our hotel window

Redondo Beach Pier

cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xrDG4PrqUxQ/SbWmw3P1y-I/AAAAAAAAAhQ/1UvzZIEFy8s/s320/IMG_2931.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311334693947689954" />This guy was putting on some pretty funny shows on the Santa Monica Pier. He says he is going to be in the next show of "Amercias Got Talent"

Friendly Pelican

Venice Beach

.....Back to the AZ

Update....

2009-02-15T08:06:00.000-08:00

So I have been quite the slacker in the blogging world, so here is an update! Christmas was awesome, Santa brought us a lot of things we wanted. We went up to the Alpine cabin a couple days after Christmas and stayed past new years. It was really relaxing and a lot of fun! Can't believe another year has already flown by. Not too much has happened in between Christmas and now. Well, one thing.....I am going to be an AUNT!! My younger sister Celste is pregnant! Woo-hoo. The "G-Bean" (their last name is Gillespie) will be arriving sometime around September 7th. Devyn and Celeste are going to be awesome parents and I am so excited for them. Well, we will be leaving to go camping in the next hour so I will bring my camera and attempt to take some photos to blog about. Until then...enjoy...

Dallas + Kimberly

Devyn, Bryson, Preston, Dad & Dallas with their guns attempting to kill coyotes

We found an awesome old abandoned cabin and ended up taking pictures for an hour!

Dallas sledding down Tabogan hill. I love my husband...I love that he is such a little kid and gets so excited about the simplest things. His facial expressions crack me up!

I tried to sneak up on the herd of elk on foot to try and take some good pictures, but I think they heard me. SOoooo...

We CHASED them in the truck until we were RIGHT NEXT TO THEM. Unfortunately you only get the rump view.

We built a snow ramp off the cabin porch and it provided us with lots of entertainment! Here is my Mom trying it out.

Shelise demonstrated what happens when you don't lift the front of the board up when sledding...you EAT SNOW! Yum.

Dad chillaxin on the tube

Magical Christmas

2008-12-01T22:06:00.001-08:00

*** I have been thinking a lot today about Christmas and remembering all the things that made Christmas so magical to me as a kid. I have been listening to Christmas music since before Thanksgiving and I don't want it to end! I thought I would share some of my favorite memories of Christmas:

1. My mom usually had Christmas decorations strung from every nook and cranny in our home by Thanksgiving and that meant the "Christmas Calendar" was hung on the wall. Us kids each took a turn from youngest to oldest getting the small gift that was stuffed in the pocket of our day. I remember how excited we would be to unwrap the small present before going to the bus stop for school in the morning. I remember counting which days would fall on my turn to see what kind of present was in the pocket of my day on the calendar. I would try so hard to not open it until the end of the day, but it usually got unwrapped by the time I walked out the front door.

In addition to the calendar we also had a little wooden Christmas tree on the kitchen counter that had 25 red beads on one side of the tree. Each day we moved a red bead over and we knew that once all the red beads were on the other side it meant CHRISTMAS time. Each morning it was a race to see who was the one to get to flip a red bead over!

2. I remember how exciting it was in elementary to go to Santas Secret Workshop and buy little gifts and trinkets for my family.

3. Helping my dad put up Christmas lights in the front of our house. We had the BEST display of lights by far!!!! It was awesome.

4. Going and picking out a family Christmas tree.

5. Decorating the tree while listening, and singing to Christmas music- especially muppets christmas carols and Chipmunks christmas songs.

6. Waking up in the morning to white dew frosted grass and hoping it was snow!

7. The smell of freshly baked goodies and fudge, and helping dad put together Christmas plates to pass on to neighbors.

8. Going outside to get the newspaper to find out what Christmas movies were going to be playing on TV and begging my Mom to let us stay up late and watch them.

9. Reading Christmas stories to my younger siblings.

10. Falling asleep in a warm blanket under the blinking lights on our Christmas tree will a fire is going in the fireplace.

11. Drinking egg nog and hot chocolate!!!

12. Sleeping with my sister Shelise when she was younger and telling her that if she listened hard enough she would be able to hear the reindeers bells. And also telling her about the time when Celeste and I were younger and saw Santas big black boot underneath our bedroom door!!!

13. Driving around town Christmas Eve while listening to Christmas music and looking at everyones lights!!!

14. All us kids always camped out in one bedroom (preferably Celeste's) on Christmas Eve while we all talked about how excited we were it was going to be Christmas in the morning!!! Falling asleep, and dreaming of opening gifts only to wake up at 5am and find out it was just a dream!!! yes!

15. Being half asleep and running down the stairs to see the "loot" but not being allowed to step off the stairs. We had to yell for mom and dad to wake up and come out of their bedroom before we were allowed in the living room.

16. What made Christmas morning for me, was not the gifts I received but the excitement on my younger siblings faces. Priceless!!

*** I love the spirit of Christmas and hope to one day be able to create the same kind of memories for my children as my mother and father created for me!!! ***

Oh Pretzel Night, Oh Pretzel Night

2008-11-19T18:50:00.000-08:00

So this is what happens when Dallas tasted one of Ploy's white chocolate pretzels that she made at a friends house this weekend. We now established a designated pretzel night once a month to make enough pretzels to feed all of China...oh wait...I mean to feed Dallas. I love the holidays!!!

:: farm fresh egg layers ::

2008-11-18T10:08:00.000-08:00

:: this last week I became the proud owner of 6 baby chickens

:: the coop I wish I knew how to build...

:: sorry chickees, cardboard coop for you until then

Update on Life

2008-10-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

Well, we are now home in Arizona again and it is good to be back. I missed the warmer weather, sunshine, family, my dog, pretty much everything! This last weekend we went up to St. Johns, Arizona for my Grandpa Heap's funeral. My grandpa passed away on Oct. 16th in Mesa. I am so grateful for the plan of salvation and to know that I will see him again. I enjoyed hearing stories of my Grandpa and what a great man he was. It was also fun to visit with cousins we haven't seen in a while and to be surrounded by family. We had fun hanging out at my cousin Clint's house and riding all his horses. Dallas found that he and Clint have a lot in common so now he has already made plans to go up in November to help brand cows, watch some UFC and shoot some coyotes! BOYS....!!!

My dad bought the Alpine cabin from my grandpa and that is where we got to stay the whole weekend. I love that place! I love that I have a million memories in that cabin and that someday I will get to take my kids up there. The leaves on the trees were all yellow and the weather was cool. It made it actually feel like it was FALL! Man, I want to go back....!

Mixed Emotions

2008-09-04T20:19:00.001-07:00

Well the time has finally arrived for us to say 'goodbye' to the Last Frontier and hello to good 'ole Arizona. I find myself with mixed emotions about leaving this beautiful place....

Things I will miss:
1. Filling my lungs with fresh air
2. Looking around and seeing GREEN
3. Moose spotting contests and getting to see all sorts of wildlife
4. Walking outside to complete silence
5. Using my trusty fishing pole almost everyday
6. Watching Dallas fillet our salmon catches on the mini white table on the front lawn.
7. Getting to see and be with my hubby whenever I want 24/7

Looking Forward To:
1. SUNSHINE
2. Seeing my adorable dog Napoleon
3. Being around family and friends
4. Driving my own car again
5. Swimming and the Lake
6. Wearing something other than a sweater
7. Shopping!!! (6 months without a mall or even a Target is WAY too long)

Here is a final picture update of the 3 cabins. I can't believe how AWESOME they turned out! Take in mind, they were built by boys that haven't ever done this before- thank goodness for home depot books and the internet!

All 3 Cabins

Cabin #1 (far left)

Side view of Cabin #1

Cabin #2 (middle)

Side view of Cabin #2

Cabin #3 (far right)

Raspberry -YUM- YUM-

2008-08-31T23:18:00.001-07:00

Sooo, today we had to drive about an hour to go and pick up a friends car because we are going to store it at our place until next summer. We packed our fishing poles because we wanted to hit up the Russian River on the way home. We got to the Russian and the boys went fishing and I went RASPBERRY hunting!!! There were MILLIONS of wild raspberry bushes everywhere and they were ALL full of lusciously, juicy red raspberry yum yum just waiting to be picked! I wandered around like a hungry bear eating them as I picked and picked and picked some more until my fingers turned red. I only had a cup to fill so once it was full, I considered stuffing them in my pockets but Dallas said NO. So I am excited to be eating Wild Alaskan Raspberries in my cereal tomorrow. Scrumptious!!

Blue Skies and Sunshine

2008-08-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

Sunshine and cloudless skies are hard to come by this summer, so I thought I would take advantage of it and stay outside the whole day. Upon watering all the flowers around the yard, I got an itch to take some pictures.

Cabin Building Update...plus some extras

2008-08-27T17:46:00.000-07:00

Here is Daddio's 16 pound beast of a SILVER Salmon he pulled out of the Kenai River right in front of Eagle Rock. He got him on a Quick fish lure wrapped with a sardine strip. YUM.

The decks are up!!! Oooohhh AAhhhh!

All 3 Cabins!

Dallas & Dad roofing the last cabin.

Nice VIEW!! haha

Roofing Monkeys

BERRIES!!! There are berries growing everywhere...not sure which ones are poisonous so i have refrained from eating them.

Pics of the Day

2008-08-09T00:58:00.000-07:00

Well, we went fishing on the Kenai River today in the boat and anchored down in a section called "Mud Island" and we fished from about 6:00pm-9:00pm. The Pink Salmon are coming in so heavily that the river literally looks like it is boiling from all the Pink Salmon surfacing to the top!! It is nuts! It was a fish on your line every 2nd or 3rd cast. This pic is of a male Pink Salmon. They have huge humps on their backs and everyone here calls them "Humpies". haha. This guy weighed a tad under 10 pounds. And in case you were wondering who the Bearded Bohemian is...that's my husband

I thought this picture was cute. Cute, but not innocent, this pesky little squirrel comes onto our porch and rips our garbage bags up! Little terd!

It's not just Salmon...

2008-07-31T23:57:00.000-07:00

Who knew there were so many types of Salmon!!! There are 5 types: KING, SOCKEYE/RED, SILVER, CHUM, and PINK.
Dallas' RED Salmon he caught on the Kenai.

Me and some more RED Salmon on the Kenai River. Yes ladies, fishing waders are the new fashion statement in Soldotna! Ha!

Dad and his CHUM Salmon he caught on Bird Creek today. I love the Calico coloring! So cool!

Another pic of the CHUM. Check out those chompers!

Dallas holding the first SILVER Salmon of the season!

Me and my itty-bitty PINK Salmon I caught on Bird Creek today...

A Beautiful Sunset

Caught on Camera!!

2008-07-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

Well we have been planting flowers and other plants around the cabin and have been noticing lots of plants eaten and flowers missing.....we finally have found out who is doing it!!!! hhahaha....

Cabin Building Update for the Arizonans...

2008-07-12T17:39:00.000-07:00

Well here is some pictures of the 3 cabins. They are getting done faster than I thought! The last cabin on the right will have the roof done and tar papered by the end of today.

Oh yes...and WISHBONE is FREE!!! This poor dog lives across the street from us and his owners are old and boring so he hangs out over at our place everyday. His owners got jealous of him being over here, so they built a pen in their yard and locked him up but he cries so much when he is in there, that they decided to let him be free again. So he is back!

Seagulls & Salmon & Bears...Oh MY!

2008-07-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we made the hike up to the Russian River Falls again to take another shot at Red Salmon fishing (this time with the right gear!) We landed 3 pretty good sized Reds! About half way through fishing, Dallas spotted a momma black bear and her 2 babies coming down the side of the mountain where he was fishing so we had to grab our backpacks and gear and move out of the way. Luckily there were a lot more people fishing the same spot we were at and the momma bear felt out numbered and didn't charge us! Her babies ran up a tree right when they got to the edge of the river and the momma bear just walked around on the trail right where we were at! It made for some awesome pictures! They were so cute!!! We have never been so close to wild bears before!

Halibut Fishing Photos

2008-07-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

Last week we went Halibut fishing out in the ocean with Celeste & Devyn. It was a lot of fun! The bottom photo is a bunch of cute sea otters swimming on their backs in the ocean.

Here fishy, fishy, fishy...

2008-06-28T01:01:00.000-07:00

I took this picture off the side of the road on our way back to the cabin from fishing. Snowy mountains, pine trees, ocean, grass, blue skies, cloudy skies...a little bit of everything.

Attempting to fly fish with his new pole in the Kasilof River (I think he needs a few lessons from his dad..haha!)

Dallas again

The crew getting ready to make the 2.3 mile hike to the Russian River Falls. The hike was awesome!

We quickly learned that we had the wrong fishing gear 2 broken fishing poles and a few snapped lines later... we will get 'em next time. I guess the Salmon aren't interested in eating at this point in their journey so you are fishing to "snag" them. You throw your line out where a big group of them are and yank the line so it snags them in the mouth or head. The trick is getting them in because they are barely hooked and flip off easily.

I took this picture right next to the river. These are red/sockeye Salmon. As they make their way to the "falls" their scales get ripped off and their bodies turn bright red and their heads green! I could have literally taken a net and scopped a dozen of them out of the water. They were everywhere!

The Russian River Falls

The Salmon literally jump up the falls to make it to the calmer water where they go to spawn. I feel bad for the little guys...it looked rough!

A calmer pool at the bottom of the falls where the Salmon are resting and waiting for their turn to make the journey up the falls.

Salmon in action!

This Salmon went aerial like 4 feet and did a back flip to try and make it up the hardest part of the falls! It was intense!

And last but not least, Dallas posing for a picture at the Falls. It is sooo GREEN!

Fishing Fever

2008-06-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

I want to go fishing....!!! (and catch the biggest Salmon)

Let The Games Begin.....I wanna hwinn!

2008-06-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

1st Place: Mike's King Salmon at 20 pounds

2nd Place: Bryson's King Salmon at 14 pounds

3rd Place: Jake's King Salmon at 10 pounds

4th Place: Dallas' King Salmon at 9 pounds

5th Place: Shelise's "Prince" Salmon at 7 pounds

Sooo, we have started a "who can catch the biggest fish" competition here at the cabin. We are currently in the process of making a chart to keep track of the winnings. As you can see, I (Kimberly) am still not even on the Salmon catching chart, why? because I haven't even caught one yet!!!! So I have decided that maybe my fishing skills are to advanced for this "luck-of-the-draw" Salmon fishing here. (at least I like to think so) This Salmon fishing is all based on LUCK and I must be extremely unlucky or something. Or maybe my muscles are being saved for the 70 pounder I am going to reel in...muah hah hah...we will see...

Dallas caught this little guy while fishing the ocean in Homer, Alaska. He is a rock fish, and he is pretty ugly! Check out that grill!

Me, fishing "the spit" in Homer (courtesy of Shelise's photog skills)

Alaskan Adevnture Photos

2008-05-22T17:30:00.000-07:00

Here are the other pictures I was going to post:

This is Dad and Dallas fishing the lake behind our cabin. The water was like glass!!

Mike's hand next to one of MANY bear prints we saw in the mud when we hiked 2.5 miles to get to a "hidden" part of the Kenai River.

Mike pulling out his Pike he caught on the lake behind our cabin (aka Wilson's Lake because there is an eagle that flys around from tree to tree when we are fishing trying to see if he can eat our fish! The guys named the Eagle Mr. Wilson)

Here is Dallas sitting on some rocks along the Kenai River looking like a true fisherman rigging up his fishing pole!

Looks like the waiting paid off! Dallas caught a nice Rainbow Trout!! He was the only one who caught a fish that day and he didn't forget to rub it in at least every couple minutes throughout the day. haha

And last but not least, our AWESOME dingy!!! (yep it is called a dingy) We quickly found out how tiring rowing with paddles was and we now have a nice little trolling motor that putts us around the lake to catch all them Pikers!

Pike or Pirana?

2008-05-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

Here is a couple of pictures of the ugly Pike I caught the other day. I didn't want to hold it because it has sharp teeth and it's SLIMY! They put up a good fight and flip out of the water when you reel them in! I will try and post some other pictures (I have a lot) later because blogger isn't letting me post more than 2 pictues at a time! Ohh.. and CONGRATULATIONS to my little brother Bryson for graduating from Junior High School! Wooh-hooh!! Love ya!

Fishing + Mountain Man + Sunset

2008-04-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

Thought I would post a few pictures from the last week or so. First one is of Dallas and Dad getting ready to fish the Kenai River. Second picture, is of Grizzly Adams, he wanted to show off how long his beard is. He gets all excited about how long it is getting, and I don't know whether to be proud or totally grossed out! I mean...it's long enough that food could get lost in there....! The last picture is just of a pretty sunset.

Shopping Trip to Anchorage...

2008-04-17T22:40:00.000-07:00

Dallas and I made the 2 and a half hour drive up to Anchorage yesterday, spent the night, and just got back to Soldotna. It was nice to be able to shop at stores other than FRED MEYER!! Oh how I have taken for granted the many malls at home we have within 15 minutes of eachother!!!

Anyway, this morning we were going down the on-ramp to the freeway in Anchorage and I looked out my window and there were 2 HUGE Moose walking down the side of the freeway in the same direction we were headed!! It was pretty funny, they were just chillin and walking on the side of the freeway like it was no big deal!! Of course, I didn't have my camera handy (but who woulda thought you would have seen moose on the freeway?) Not ME!

Here are some more animals we saw on our road trip:

Mountain RAMS!!

GEESE in a downtown Anchorage park.

Georgia the MoOsE

2008-04-16T11:53:00.001-07:00

Meet Georgia the moose. My dad named her last June and he has seen her everytime he has come up here. She wanders around our cabin and we saw her for the first time last night. My dad recognizes her by the scar she has above her left eye (you can kind of see it in the second picture) My pictures didn't turn out so well because it was snowing and I was freezing thus making my camera shake all over the place. And I shouldn't have used my flash because it gave Georgia glowing eyes. Hahaha... I will get better pictures of her next time. I took these pictures at about 9:15pm!

Snow + Big Machine to move snow = FUN

2008-04-14T16:52:00.000-07:00

Dallas found his new favorite toy today. He has been on this thing all day and loves bull dozing all the snow. Haha. Thought I would post some pictures of the crazy mountain man at work.

My Pet Skoots

2008-04-12T09:58:00.001-07:00

Dallas named him Skoots!!! I caught him sleeping on the porch last night! He turns into a little poof ball when he sleeps and he even sleeps on one leg! Haha. We can walk past him and he doesn't even fly away. He is here on the porch again this morning as well. He kind of reminds me of fat penguin guy off of batman but I still tell him he's cute.

BIRDS, birds and more birds...

2008-04-11T15:42:00.001-07:00

Dallas and I have seen about 3 moose so far but every time we see them, I don't have my camera! Whenever I take my camera, we never see them...my luck... so here are some more bird pictures.

We spotted this guy hanging out under the back porch steps today. I think he was under there trying to stay warm and dry. We think it is some kind of GROUSE...? He sure is cute though. I put some bird seed under the porch and made a little bed out of dry grass so maybe he will come back and be my pet! Mom can we keep him, please!!?? He can stay in my room! Hahahaha.

My bird feeder has been a favorite hang out for all of the local birds. There were about 7 of them fighting to get a spot on the bird feeder today.

Yes, this does say AVALANCHE AREA

Just some pictures to show how much snow there is up here!

SNOW!!!

2008-04-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning to about 4 inches of new snow!!

Random Shtuff...

2008-04-04T17:32:00.000-07:00

In Arizona, you always hear the phrase on the radio or on the news..., "Watch your kids around water" because of the heat and everyone owning swimming pools. Well as we were listening to the radio today, we kept hearing the same kind of "saying/warning" but it said, "Watch your kids around BEARS!" It also said things like, "make sure your gardens are fenced off, make sure your yards are fenced off, and you may even want to consider getting an electric fence put in the yard where your kids play." Seriously...that's scary! I keep picturing the worst! I am wishing the bears around here will consider HIBERNATING through the summer as well, or at least until I leave!!

Ta-da!! Dallas and I finished panting our bedroom in the cabin the other day. Dallas used the spray machine to quickly and effortlessly apply the base coat and left me to do the time consuming, wrist straining "sponging" of the tan colored glaze. Haha. It wasn't that bad but it did take a long time! Keep in mind, this whole room and ceiling, were previously painted an ugly adobe red color. Hello bedroom make-over. Now all we need is some furniture!

Here is a picture of the wrap around balcony on the cabin.

More balcony, and my bird feeder I just hung up! It has been quite a hit!

Other side of the cabin balcony.

UGggghh! I am so tired of wearing these big boots everywhere. Yes, they have been a life saver in keeping my feet warm and from not slipping and falling on my face in the snow and ice, but there is nothing cute about these shoes!!! Yesterday I decided to get a little dressed up just because I felt like it. We weren't going anywhere special, just to the local Fred Meyers but I was sick of wearing these boots. So, I got some nice jeans, a black long sleeve shirt, and I wore my black Steve Madden wedge heels. When I walked into Fred Meyer everyone was looking at me like I was from some other planet!!! I never really noticed until yesterday that NO ONE in Alaska gets dressed up, and EVERYONE wears some form of big heavy boots. To top it off, when we got home, I went to get out of the truck and slipped and fell on my butt onto the iced over driveway. I guess it is back to the big ugly boots for me....

Eagles!

2008-04-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

Today Dallas was on his way into town to get some more supplies and he saw a bunch of eagles off the side of the road so he got all excited and came back to the cabin to get me so we could take pictures of them. There were about 20 of them flying around. It was pretty neat!

Can you find all of the eagles??

March 30, 2008

2008-03-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

Dallas and I have begun our summer adventure here in Soldotna, Alaska and we are loving it up here!!!
Dallas took this picture from the plane before we were about to land in Anchorage, Alaska.

This is on the highway down to Soldotna. The snow piled up on the small road dividers in the middle of the highway! We couldn't even see the cars on the other side.

Dallas took this picture as well on the 2 hour drive down to Soldotna, Alaska. We thought that these were a bunch of rocks, but we got out and found out that they were a bunch of huge ice pieces floating in the frozen river.

Dallas & I by the frozen over Russian River

Part of the Russian river that wasn't frozen. We saw a bunch of guys fishing and pulling out trout so Dallas and I have decided to go buy ourselves a couple of good fishing poles and try our luck out there later this next week.Dallas the mountain man.

Yesterday, Dallas and I woke up to the sound of chirping birds and we looked out the window and saw tons of these little birds flying all around so I took out the camera and snapped some pictures of them. Cute, huh!