Christmas

We had really good intentions when we took these pictures back in September but since Christmas is in 6 days and we haven't even begun to make them into cards, this is as good as it's going to get. Merry Christmas.

The Road North

Our drive up was pretty sweet. We went to Nate and Erica's house in Oregon on Monday, had dinner, played with the kids and spent the night. On Tuesday we stopped in Seattle and went to the "Pike Place Market" which is this huge farmers market type of place. (Its the place they throw the whole fish across the room when someone buys it.) We kept going back to the booths with fruit and honey samples. We even had some REALLY good smoked salmon to get us excited about Alaska. We crossed the border that night and and camped at some lakeside campground. The next several days all blend together because we drove between 10 and 12 hours each day and stopped every 250 miles in Canadian Towns we've never even heard of. We got rained on several nights in a row and off and on during the days. Each night we camped by a river or lake. We saw some cool things along the way, deer, caribou, bison, and 1 moose. Unfortunately we didn't see any bears.
We got to Alaska on Friday the 14 and spent the night by a beautiful lake that looked even better with the long sunset behind it. Maybe its our American pride that makes us have a biased opinion, but it was the most beautiful place we saw on our journey. On Saturday we went to Palmer (one of John's old mission areas) and spent the night with His grandmother's cousin that lives there. The ward he served in got split right after he was transferred so we had to go to 2 different wards on Sunday to see some of the families that he used to know.
On Sunday night we got to Anchorage and stayed with John's cousin Lindsay. We spent all day Monday calling and looking at apartments. On Tuesday we made our decision and moved in on Wednesday. Its a decent little one bedroom and it costs a little bit less then what we were expecting to pay. Most of all we like the location because it's right between out 2 jobs. (Its only a matter of time before John gets a job at Merrill Field.)
While looking for apartments online, We were also looking for a job for John. (On craigslist, all the pilot jobs are grouped in the "transportation" area.) So while looking for a pilot job we came across a job as a deckhand on a day cruise. The add said they where hiring several people to work full time till the end of September. At first we only joked about doing it but then decided to actually apply. Needless to say, we both got the job. (go to www.26glaciers.com to see more about the cruise.)
While we're working we live in a little town named Whittier and work 6 days a week going out on this boat. In the mornings we go down to the boat at about 9:00, set everything up and make sure that everything is ready for the day. Then we'll go home for an hour or so before coming back for the actual cruise. The boat leaves at about 1:00 and we quickly serve a lunch of fish, chips, coleslaw and applesauce. After cleaning up after lunch our job is to make sure that everyone is following the rules and being safe. We make several different stops at glaciers and wildlife like sea otters, sea lions, porpoises and whales (if we see them). Then its back to the doc at about 5:00. After everyone leaves we clean the whole boat and restock everything for the next day. It's a lot of work but it's pretty fun, and we get a lunch on the boat when we work.
So we're having fun and making a little money before we have to get serious and get real jobs.

G. I. Joe

During our week at the cabin many of us went to the midnight showing of the new G.I.JOE movie. But we couldn't just go to the movie, Tracie's brother Josh insisted that we all dress up like the original figures. (If you aren't familiar with the characters, just look at his blog: http://joshmalrobertson.blogspot.com/) The movie was good and it was fun to see everyone's costumes. The best part was when we showed up to the movie as the ONLY ones dressed up... at least we all did it together.

Gung Ho

Shipwreck

"Yo Joe!"

The Crew

The Cabin!

After moving out of Cedar City, we went to California for a week to spend some time with the Robertson gang. We went to Christy and Rob's cabin for the week and then spent the weekend at the parent's in Oroville. We loved spending time with the family hiking, kayaking and playing games.

Yosemite Pictures!

Yosemite

We were invited on the Oroville 1st Ward Super Activity. We spent the week in Yosemite with Dad, Joel and the boys. Though it may seem weird to have a girl on the trip, it really wasn't that bad. We hiked, climbed and froze in the river. Half Dome was awesome!

Old School

As we were packing some of our belongings earlier this week, we came across the Easy Bake Oven. Yes, it is the same one I had when I was 10. Elizabeth found it at the house before our wedding and was kind enough to clean it and rewrap it for a wedding gift. I think it would have been thrown out if not for her. So, I got my cake mixes down from the cupboard and added the 2 tablespoons of water required to make one chocolate and one yellow cake. It even came with 2 different frosting mixes so that I could swirl them together. Before I started baking, I noticed that the Easy Bake was rattling a little. I couldn't see anything wrong with it until I tipped it just right and out came one of the old baking pans! Now I can make, not only cakes, but twinkies! The cakes didn't turn out very well, but I had fun and John and I definitely enjoyed eating them .

Since the New Camera...

We got our new camera, have taken a lot of pictures....and that's all. So, here is what we have been doing the last 2 months (other than working and doing homework). We spent a week hiking near Buckskin Gulch. We spent the day in Zion, hiking to Deertrap Mountain, seeing the animals and getting Bumbleberry pie for our anniversary. We went fishing, caught a fish, and had it for dinner. We have been climbing, trying to get ready for Yosemite, and we finally hiked the Subway. It has been a fun and busy few months!

Buckskin Gulch

Cobra Arch

Deertrap Mountain

The biggest catch of the day!

Pocket Rocks

The Subway

Here we are 10 months later...

We started a blog thinking that it would be a good way for people to keep track of us and see what we have been doing (apparently that's what married people do). We soon realized that in order to keep people interested we needed to include pictures also..... We finally got a camera, so now we can be official "bloggers"!