Thanksgiving 2008

We got to spend Thanksgiving in California this year, with Tim's whole family. We don't get to see much of each other so it was really special, especially for the kids.....Peyton still tells us that when we are done living in Utah we are moving to Virginia to live by his cousins. He misses them and is always begging us to let him call and talk to them. Problem is that he doesn't ever want the conversation to end......which is complete torture for his cousins! But he does love his cousins! This is a collage that Sharon and I had my sis Tina make for us from a little photo shoot we had in Cali. Alanna is always saying that all she wants for Christmas from us is picts......so this is what we came up with. I think it turned out so cute. It was a little tricky getting all 7 kids out at the same time semi color coordinated, without having Grandma or Grandpa knowing what the heck was going on. We tried to tell grandma that the kids were hungry so we asked her to make lunch.....then we very sneakily took them outside.

Then we changed it up to send the rest of the cousins. Thanks Tina!
Enjoying a little sun at the park!


Fun in Papa Kelly's hot tub! Every spare second Peyton had, he was trying to coax one of his cousins to get in with him.
Uncle Dan and Aunt Jill had Thanksgiving for us ALL this year. It all turned out so nice, they had to move dinner out to the garage so we could fit everyone. They really spent a lot of time decorating and cooking and it was GREAT! Thanks for having us!

Hunter family get together. We are starting to get quite the little crew!

This was on the way back from the Hunter party in San Francisco. Peyton wanted to ride with the girls.....little did he know they were going to poop out and that their car DIDN'T have a DVD player! heee heee Life is rough;)

We got the chance to take the kids....(all but Addi, who stayed home for a grandma day;) to the zoo in San Francisco.

Cousin Christmas gift exchange.

The End.

The Last Road Trip From Alaska

OK because I wasn't actually on this road trip I don't have a lot of the juicy details. I do know the one of them getting stuck at the border for like 6 hours. Not good! Tim also said that Peyton just did so good and was such a sport about it all. His friend Eric flew up to help him paint and finish packing us up. I was so glad that he had someone to help him move all of the furniture and help him drive. Kind of weird that this journey we take twice a year is over. I wonder if Peyton will remember it when he grows up.


On the road again

Peyton helping Stella with a potty break or maybe it was the other way around...not sure;)

This was of their big hold up at the border

Lunch Break

This big guy apparently came and rubbed up right against their front bumper.....didn't get a good pic though.

For the life of me I can't remember the name of this place.....I know my dad will see it and know (help dad) but yeah Here's Your Sign:)

Last but not least here is one last pic of the Alaska house all empty and ready to go.

Fall 2008

Here are some pictures that my sister took for us. I know there are a lot. But they are going into our family book, so bear with me:) Thanks Tina Bean!

Halloween 08

OK well since Christmas is almost here......I thought I had better get caught up! We had a really fun Halloween this year, Peyton was a "Brave Knight" and little Addison was "Fi-Fi the poodle". The kids loved trick-or-treating, Peyton was more excited about showing everyone his costume than all of the candy.....which was fine with me. Addison was just bound and determined to keep up with Peyton. We took a stroller along figuring she would poop out and want a ride.....NO WAY! She tried her best to keep up with her brother. By the end of the night she would say "Tick-a-Tree" it was so adorable!

Pumpkin carving night! I loved the pumpkin my sister Tracy carved....it cracked me up. But look at my scary husband with the knife, and the light above it.....kind of spooky!

These next few are of a Pumpkin Walk we took the kids to. There are a whole bunch of different scenes. All with pumpkins as the heads. Tim and Peyton checking out Batman!

Tim told me I had to pose by the witches......ha, ha, ha!

This one was my favorite, check out the patient on the table having open heart surgery!

Baby Kelly #3

Max, here you were in moms belly!!

Finally!

Where to start......well we are semi settled in and I feel like the longer I wait to post, the harder it gets. So I am just going to start catching up with everything that has been going on.

First- we did get our business in Alaska sold. We got an offer in June and to be honest I don't think that any of us actually thought that it was going to happen! But at the end of August everything came together for us. I think we all had mixed feelings about it. Mostly Tim (I am still waiting for mine;) it is something we have done for a very long time. I think Tim said it was 13-14 years for him......it gets to be something that even though you are burned out and sick of going back and forth every summer it is familiar and what your are used to doing. So when we actually got down to handing over all of the keys.....and boats......it was EXTREMELY hard to let go! But I did feel a little relief when I turned that 800# over to someone else.......that thing followed me every where I ever went. As a little tribute to ending the Alaska phase in our lives I am going to make a list of all of the things that I will.....and will not MISS!

Will NOT Miss......

1. 4:00 a.m. check-in (o.k. so at least Katy and I sometimes got to go back to bed....the guys had to work all day).


2. Moving back and forth every 6 months (and I swear to myself that this will help me be more organized instead of having boxes here and there and I don't even know where).


3. As I already mentioned the 800# following me and people calling at all hours.


4. Being afraid and carrying bear spray when you get brave enough to go on a walk.


5. Dealing with Never satisfied, Never happy, Never do anything right customers! Not that I really want to remember the bad stuff, but......there was a lady that called to tell me that I should be aware that she saw the guy packing her fish, and that I should know he stole some of her fish. First of all the guy was my brother Tim, one of the most honest people you will ever meet. Second of all she was counting the pieces that he cut up, then counted her bags at the end......he put two pieces in a couple of the bags. My brother tried to call her to tell her to bring it all back so he could cut the bags open to prove to her that he didn't and would never do such a thing......but she never returned our call. We have so many stories about customers that would give us a hard time. We would usually come home and laugh about it over dinner. Oh and their questions.......My favorite was "So, what is the elevation here"? uummmm lets see depending on the waves 2-3 feet;) Gotta love it!

Will ALWAYS Miss.......

1. The absolutely breathtaking view of the Volcanoes across the Inlet. Especially the sunsets when you are out for a walk (sunsets in Alaska last for hours).


2. The fireweed and all of the wildflowers. Because there is so much sunlight and rain, the flowers grow taller than you are. They are beautiful and I loved the way they smelled.


3. All of the friends that we have made up there over the years. We have met some really good people. Some of the best have been the people that worked for us.


4. Being with and spending time with my siblings and parents (although I know at times we all probably got family overload)


5. This one is mostly for Tim, but the long road trip that no matter what is always an adventure with awesome scenery and a lot of wildlife. This last trek home for him was crazy, he decided to have Peyton drive with him. Well just FYI if you are ever traveling alone with a child across US borders you either need a permission slip from the other parent or a death certificate.......I am not kidding. Poor Tim was stuck at the border for hours because I was out of reach and didn't know about that memo. Anyways it is always quite the road trip, mostly dreaded but I think it was something my dad really missed after he stopped driving.


6. OK, last one is when it was a really beautiful day, all boats were out and the water is really calm. The phone rings, they are on their way in and someone got a big one. They get in and there is excitement all around the office. The customers are happy, the guides are even happier thinking "can you believe we get paid for this"? You have an arm full of cameras and people are stopping by from all over town to check out the good catch NSC got. Those were the GOOD days!!

One fun thing that we did as a family before we came home was taking a Kenai Fjord tour. We saw some humpback whales, sea lions, sea otters, puffins, and a really awesome glacier. There was a lot of little islands every where and Peyton wanted to know if they were "treasure islands" and if we were going to be able to stop and check it out. Here are a few picts from that trip.

Here is Peyton on the look out for any whales:) He got a map of where we would be going before we left and studied it the entire time.

Addison of course was more interested in the party going on inside.