Arizona, California, Hawaii (Part 1-Arizona)

A last minute decision to try to get down to Arizona to see Grandpa Bub in the hospital turned out to be a great chance for Megan to meet lots of family and some friends too! We left Alaska (flying on military aircraft) and made it down to the lower 48 where we got to Arizona, California, and even made it over to Hawaii (by chance!). In Arizona Megan got to meet Great Grandpa Bub, Grandpa Roger and Grandma Sharon (Darren's dad and stepmom), and cousin Billie.

Happy Easter!

Here we captured some sweet little moments of Megan in her Easter dress! She has really become interested in exploring the house lately, so it is hard to catch her still anymore! She is often much too busy to pause for anything. Megan won a drawing for an Easter basket...and I had no idea an 8 month old could act so thrilled! She waved at the bunny while he was still in the wrapped basket, and then she grabbed it with both hands and tore right in. She is such a fun little girl. God bless you all this Easter! Megan sends her Easter kisses.

8 months old

Sledding in Alaska (baby-style)!

We took Megan sledding in her new sled and she absolutely loved it! I didn't even know if she would want to sit in the sled very long, but she did great. She discovered that if she leaned to the side she could scoop snow up in her giant sleeve and put it to her face and eat the snow! So that is exactly what she did the whole time...thankfully we didn't get our first ash fall from the volcano until that evening. Happy April to all of you in the "Lower 48"-thanks Gov. Palin :). Still snowy in Alaska...

A sweet moment...

Sending you a giggle from her highchair and a big blueberry kiss!

Hey! That's my sister!

Elli and Megan had so much fun this past week during Elli's spring break visit. They just couldn't get enough of each other! Megan was thrilled to have her sister here to play with her...she was just as happy as could be all week. Elli was so good to Megan...changing her diaper, feeding her, playing with her, reading to her and talking to her (Megan talks non-stop and it is truly a challenge to keep up with her). Elli even gave Megan the little baby doll that she used to play with when she was a baby. Elli and Darren went snowboarding one day and you can see by Elli's arm that the trip was cut short. Elli was doing some kind of fancy 180 turn :) and fell and caught herself with her arm. Elli got to experience the emergency room at the base, but luckily walked away with only some torn tendons and ligaments. Despite the snowboarding adventure, it was a great week for everyone!

Shake it, shake, shake it!

Shake it like a polaroid picture! (Ok, I have the song stuck in my head). Here is Megan's latest trick...one toy for each hand...flip back suddenly over the Boppy pillow and shake the sillies out of the rattles! Up for a breather when she gets a head rush....whew! (see middle photo), and then right back at it!