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. 

Juin

 JUNE. Boy oh boy, crazy times.

Ava has been in the city youth theater camp all month, which has been fabulous for keeping her busy- they just had their performance tonight of HONK! Jr., and it was supes adorbs. Ava was a froglet and a snowflake/blizzard.

She needs to calm down with all the growing. She looked so dang tall tonight. Not okay.

Aani and Ava have held 2 weeks of kids camp, and it's been a little rough. Some of the kids are adorable and love everything! Some kids are not that way and like to scream instead! We decided to take July off, and then we'll have 1 week in August before school starts. 

In addition to kids camp, Aani is certifying to be a lifeguard, and had been hired on by Lehi when she's all done with certification. Busy girl! 

Nils, Aani and Ava went to stake youth camp for 4 days up in Idaho at Camp Bartlett. They had lots of fun! They were missed back here at the ranch.

Nils said that our ward represented well. There was no drama, everyone was pretty well behaved, and lots of kids showed up for things that other wards didn't. Good job, our ward! 

Gotta have the solar panel charging station. There was hardly any cell reception despite their best efforts. 

Polar plunge.

Aani turned 15! She got shampoo and some Dr. Martens sandals. She's growing up! Sniff. 

Also, Addie's hair is FIRE, as the kids say. 

Aani got to share her birthday with Father's Day this year. Here they are with their special lunch re-creation: Extra sharp cheddar cheese, club crackers, cookie dough and Coke. 

She favored us with some bad singing one day. 

But she continues to blow us away with her improvisational dance moves daily, for no reason.

We have good times at church. Irreverent? Never.

Addie: 

Besides crawling on the floor sometimes, Addie is a busy bee. She lifeguards, sometimes doing double shifts because of staffing shortages. She's also still doing her courier services, AND she babysits at least once a week. This girl is CRAY. 

Nils and our neighbor Dave "invested" in this Lotus Elise, to "rent on Turo". Just kidding honey, I believe you. It's a zippy li'l thing, that's for sure! The plan is to rent it out for awhile and sell it. We shall see. :) Nils doesn't mind taking kids places or picking kids up when he's driving this thing. 

We had a fun li'l date to see Ryan Hamilton's stand up comedy show. We drove the Lotus to and from, because why not. Got this pretty crappy shot whilst on the freeway. I do love me some Utah summer sunsets. 

In other news, we're waiting with bated breath for Anders' mission call to arrive. In other other news, he's got a lady friend. THERE'S SO MUCH GOING ON.

Looking ahead, we have Alaska coming up in a couple of weeks. :)

Peace out!