Haines, Alaska

We got off the ferry in Haines, Alaska. Talk about a welcome, it was beautiful! We couldn't wait to see the rest of Alaska. The kids still bummed about not seeing much wildlife in Yellowstone were pleasantly surprised when just down the road from our port, we came across a couple of moose, how exciting, little did we know at the time that moose would become an everyday occurance here in Alaska!

More of our Ferry trip

More Ferry fun...

The Ferry

The last part of our trip..Final destination...North Pole, Alaska!

We were excited that this part of our trip we wouldn't be doing any driving, we were taking the Alaska Marine highway! Aboard a ferry..the Columbia to be precise...

We wished for better weather, but it was still amazing. The views were great, though cold and wet. We enjoyed each others company, staying busy watching movies, playing card games, the kids liked the arcade, we had a wonderful buffet dinner one night (the other nights were pretty much fast food) and did some whale watching.

Washingtonian Family!

We were very fortunate to get to visit my sister Jennifer and her family while passing through Washington on our way to the port to leave on the ferry to Alaska. We were only able to stay a couple of nights, but wish we could of stayed longer, it was very nice there, Jennifer has a beautiful home and we enjoyed their company : )

More Yellowstone..

Yellowstone

Wonderful, Wonderful Yellowstone...

We were so excited for this part of the trip, it is something we have always wanted to do with our children! We didn't arrive at Yellowstone until almost noon, so we were told that is probably why we didn't have alot of luck with seeing wildlife (just a couple of buffalo and elk), but the scenery was still amazing! Hope to go back one day and spend a little more time, we had to do it in just an afternoon.

Cody, Wyoming

Cody, Wyoming..Rodeo Capitol of the world, thought it was Cheyenne, but goes to show how much I know about Rodeos..

We went to the Cody night Rodeo, only a few minutes from our hotel, and enjoyed some good ol' BBQ and a great show!

Thermompolis, Wyoming

The World largest hot spring?? The worlds stinkiest spring...

This was actually a really nice place and it was alot of fun for the kids, but you have to get past the smell of rotten eggs left unfound from Easter 12 years ago...

We were able to swim in it, yeah!

It was just a quick stop to get the kids out of the car before staying in Cody, Wyoming for the night.

Grandpa Rons House

We Spent Sunday at Grandpa Rons (Eric's Dad), it was our last day in Nebraska before we started the next leg of our Journey across the USA..

Grandmas Tree

AKA..the photo tree.. Just outside Grandma Janes house in Gering Nebraska is the picture tree, the kids love to climb it, we love to take pictures of them in it, I think it started with a few good pics while Colton and Dillon were playing in it when they were just toddlers, and now it has become a place to throw a kid on each branch and take pictures... we got a few this time..but it was harder with so many kids to get them each on a branch that we could see them all at one time...

More Nebraska

Nebraska

Okay.. so we did have a lil break from hotels..we made a stop in Erics hometown of Gering Nebraska to spend time with family, we had alot of fun with Grandmas, Grandpas and cousins. While we were there we stayed a weekend at Fort Robinson, we stayed in cabins and had a steak dinner in the bluffs, went horseback riding, tubing and had BBQ's and smores! We also spent a night in Cheyenne and were able to See our friends Stacy and Amber. Colton and Amber were playmates from the time they were just under 2, it was funnt to see them all grown up together, Amber tried to throw in a wrestling move, but Colton was too shy...

More Nauvoo..

This is so easy..why didn't I do this before, I'm totally into this, It took me this long to start one because of my experience with computers behaving badly, but how simple is this?? Come on everyone get on board, I'm telling you if I can find time (I'm cleaning, doing laundry, making grocery list and blogging at the same time) anyone can! And the more pics I post the more time I have to do housework (and a quick board game with Ty) during upload!

Anyway..more pics of Nauvoo...