Our overnight Date/Early anniversary get away...

So Josh and I decided we REALLY needed to get away and have a small moment together before baby sister arrived. It has been an crazy summer and with all a lot of our family moved out of town this last year (no guilt really :)) we haven't been getting as many reprieves from our lovely children as we are used to. (As most of you know it doesn't matter how wonderful your children are it is good to have a break once in a while :)) Anyways...our anniversary of 9 years is coming up but about 1 week after baby is due...and we both knew nothing soon after baby comes is going to happen) Soo...we went to Alyeska for a night last weekend. (it is in Girdwood, a small town about 45 mins out of Anchorage.) The lodge is ok...but it was gorgeous and so good to get away...we probably could of been anywhere and enjoyed ourselves. The best part of the date was getting to go out to dinner. Now I know this might sound average to you (and probably a year or two ago I would have taken this for granted...but...due to my multiple and major food allergies in the last year...I am no longer able to eat out ANYWHERE!! (even if I managed to find something on the menu that would work with all my allergies...there is the problem of "cross-contamination"...and really all it takes is one time to ruin all the other work and effort to eat right...anyways this is another post in and of it self...) So Josh found this great restarunt in Girdwood with a chef who had a few dishes on the menu that might work for me (gluten, soy, dairy, corn...free) and had been emailing them about their knowledge, ability, and willingness to cook a meal for me without certain ingredients and cross-contamination issues. They were wonderful! And very willing!! Not only did they have one...but they had three choices for me when I got there, including a delicious salad starter option! This is such a treat for me...and to make it even better...my loving and romantic husband ordered one of the other options, so we could share and I could enjoy more than one dish! I love my husband!!! He is so good to me...constantly!!! He always amazes me...and mostly in the everyday things not the big romantic gestures (though he is good at those too, I would always chose the everyday-love over the occasional big grand gestures)! Plus he is the best Daddy around...our children adore him!!! Before I forget...Jack Sprat is the restaurant if anyone is in Girdwood and wants to try them out!! And if you have dietary restrictions...give them a day or two heads up and they are very willing to work with you! The food was delicious and we had a great time, just the two of us. It was fun to dress up, but being just the two of us it was hard to take a picture together...note the separate pictures...

36 weeks exactly (now I am 37 weeks hopefully only 3 weeks to go!)

Our room came with tram tickets so the next day we rode up the mountain and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery. God made Alaska so BEAUTIFUL!!!

I love you Joshua Cross! Thank you for such a special date!

Some recent family fun...

One family walk/outing to the creek by our house...

After this initial picture I had to ask Daddy to squat so I could get a better close-ups of everyone... :) Daddy is still quite a bit taller than our 4 and 2 year old.

The boys are sporting their new "fall" jackets Granny and Papaw got them...(if Mateo's looks small its because it practically shrunk 2 sizes which we didn't realize until this outing...so Costco let us exchange for larger size :))

We were so blessed to get to see (for a very short time) a hard working beaver, before it went under the water when it heard us and our dog. (Have I ever mentioned my extreme like for beavers? They are amazingly designed animals...you should look them up sometime...of course if you are like me you have tons of spare time to do this...:)*sarcasm* )

The boys on a little adventurous route that Mommy chose to stay on the paved path and take pics. from.

I did make it down this little rabbit trail though...

Noah helping Daddy unload the dishwasher...Our boys love to help and in our house (though we never use this word) "chores" are a privilege and a fun family activity where we "work as a team"together. It is a little funny/ironic that when our oldest is in trouble and needs consequences for a bad choice/behavior or attitude...for him one of the most effective "consequence" is not being able to help and work with Daddy or Mommy.

Look at his proud happy smile!

Helping Daddy make Mommy a treat!! Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Soy-free, Corn-free, banana bread (recipe adapted from the best banana bread ever from Guatemala!!) Believe it or not you probably couldn't tell the difference and it is such a wonderful treat for Mommy right now!! Thank you boys!! Now if only Mommy would share more right? :) (I do share a little...:))

Hello! Remember us :)

Hi! I am not even going start in with the excuses for one of the biggest and worst gaping holes of blog updates...known to man! (was that dramatic enough? :)) We have wanted to update this for a while but...I know....excuses, excuses. :) But I really wanted to get it done before our impending deadline...

On to the fun stuff! Well...we are all doing great! (Mommy has been having a lot of pain issues with pregnancy since the 6 month mark...but in perspective plugging along!) Our summer has been busy with family and friends visiting, Mateo turning 4, Noah turning 2, along with a much needed bathroom remodel (health and sanitation reasons :))--which has taken so much of our time! Trying to do everything as cheaply as possible means Daddy is doing 95% of the work himself (of course with a little help from Mateo) in every spare moment he can find (yes, very much like Superman). But that is finally done, and now we are on to baby's room and to conquer our "To- Do- Lists" of our "To- Do- Lists". Did I mention we only have 5 weeks left!!! Did I also mention we all can't wait to meet our new little daughter/sister? pink pink pink..oops sorry :) some times it just slips out :)

I know this little update does not do justice to the practically 5-6 month hiatus...but it is the only way I could sit down and do this without panicking from how much there is to share, not to mention the hundreds of pictures I want to share...but this is it for now...feel free to ask questions if I have forgotten anything.

Here are some pictures...they are all mixed up and out of order! It has been too long since I have done this...and the lack of a longer than 2 hour stretch of sleep for the last 2.5 months has taken a toll on my brains ability to function fully or care that they are out of order :) Sorry... they are still pictures :)