Juillet: All the Things

This meme makes me laugh, so let's begin with it:

Ralph Wiggum is the best.

Anders got his mission call to Copenhagen, Denmark! He'll begin in late October. He doesn't like this picture, because he says he's making a dumb face and his "dogs are out" which means his bare feet are showing. I think he's adorable, and his dogs are also adorable. 

He didn't want an opening party- he wanted to open the call when it came in the morning. It came at 9:29 am, but he had a work meeting at 9:30. He managed to step out of the meeting at 10:30 and open it- luckily we were all home and could be there. He then had to go back into his meeting at 10:35. Hence the one picture with bare feet. Oh well. :) 

He's super excited to go to Denmark- lots of family history from both of our families. Obviously, Anders Rasmusson is quite a Danish name coming from the Rasmusson side, but my mom's ancestry is largely from Denmark as well. The mission president sent us a letter stating that most of the missionaries that get called to Denmark have ancestors from there. Pretty cool! 

Got to have breakfast with some old friends. Always good times! 

We went on a cruise to Alaska for 8 days and it was amazing! All I have right now are pictures from my phone, but here's a video Nils put together with good pictures from his big boy camera, as well as video. You know you want to watch 11 minutes of our trip- you can put it on 2x speed if you want, I'll allow it. ;)

Watch here

Anyway, it was really a fabulous trip. Alaska is an incredibly beautiful place. We loved every excursion we did. We also all loved having a break from the heat, I think! Alaska: 10/10 would recommend! 

We kayaked in Hoonah and watched the salmon jumping around in the water, training for when they swim upstream. 

Went to the Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls in Juneau; we also visited the smallest Costco in the world in Juneau, and hit up the Fred Meyer because Nils forgot to bring sneakers on the trip. He only had some flimsy slip on shoes, which is insufficient for Alaska indeed. 

From Skagway we took a ferry to Haines and went on a wildlife adventure tour, saw lots of bald eagles, some swans, salmon, rivers, lakes, glaciers, waterfalls, etc. 

In Ketchikan we drove a Zodiac boat around for a couple of hours and got to see bald eagles, harbor seals, glaciers, and waterfalls.

Our ship sailed through the Tracy Arm Fjord; we got up close to the Stewart Glacier, and got to see the big chunks of floating ice. It was really amazing. 

The cruise was good. We loved our waiters at dinner, Igusti and Tutut. The kids loved 24/7 ice cream and pizza all day every day. The older kids got bored on sea days, but that's their fault because they mostly didn't leave their room. Whattayagonnado?

We averaged around 17,000 steps per day- Nils and I tried to never ride the elevators on the ship, so we did a lot of climbing up stairs, and got lots of exercise on the excursions. 

I loved this trip. It was so fun and we saw incredible sights. Hopefully we'll be able to go back! 

Behold the photo dump! 

Kayaking in Hoohah

We painted these cool bags on the ship

We did Build A Bear on the ship, because we were bored on a sea day. 

The children's cabin was always a mess. Always, always. 

Ava didn't want to hold the crab, but we made her.

'Twas nice

Ate some fresh Dungeness crab. Lots of work for a little meat. 

Gotta love the towel animals

Looking for a shoe store in Juneau- it wasn't up these stairs!

This bear is at the state capitol- the only bear we saw in Alaska, unfortunately.

We hiked to Nugget Falls and skipped rocks in this cold, cold glacier water for like an hour. 

Then Addie started throwing sand and being impressed with how many ripples she could make. :) 

Mendenhall Glacier

Nils doing a jig because he got some new shoes at Fred Meyer! We had to hitch a shuttle to take us there. 

After we left port in Juneau, a passenger had a medical emergency, so they had to turn the ship around and evacuate the person. I watched like a creeper because it was pretty interesting. 

Exploring in Haines

Lunch in Haines- it was coooold and windy!

Downtown Skagway- since we were in Haines all day, we missed all the shops being open, but that's A-OK.

Tracy Arm Fjord, Stewart Glacier. Amazing, amazing. 

Old salmon cannery in Ketchikan

Old Man's Beard, which only grows in pure air. We liked breathing in the pure Alaska air! 

Nils piloting the Zodiac like an old pro

If you've ever wondered if you should go to Alaska, the answer is yes, yes you should.