Hamilton Highlights

December/January

2012-01-18T14:50:00.007-09:00

My happy girl!
The 2011 Mullins Babes: James, Carolina, George, Bennie, Adelaide
The 2011 Mullins Moms with Baby:

Rebecca & James, Me & Carolina, Sarah & George, Mandy & Bennie, Heather & Adelaide
me and Rochelle
Me & Raleigh
Me and my hubby
Jackson and Alyssa. Alyssa watched Jackson for us all week while we were at home

Me and Ross
Heather and Carolina
Rom V and Carolina
Carolina and Adelaide...I'm so glad Carolina has a cousin close to her age
Carolina and her Great Grandpaw
4 generations
Bella and Carolina
This was the group that went to the airport to greet Ross, Heather, and Adelaide
the gals
Rochelle and Carolina
me and my sweet baby girl...love her!!!
The Hamiltons: Hugh, Scott, and Jackson
Jackson and all his cousins from Scott's side of the family plus Papa and Grandmomma
check out her finger :)

November and half of December

2011-12-13T21:41:00.008-09:00

Scott and I went out on a date to celebrate his 33rd Birthday.

This is our Life Group at our last meeting of the year.
Jackson with Santa

My brother Ross and his wife, Heather, had their baby Adelaide on November 17th. They flew to South Africa to have her instead of having her in Tanzania. She is my brother's look alike as you can see...Ross, Heather and Adelaide.
Scott cuddling with Carolina.
Scott with a 7 foot icicle.
It looks cold here and it IS cold here!
This picture is taken at Scott's ceremony for having a plane named after him. Also, Scott was on the show Coast Guard Alaska last week after being rescued (because of his friend) on Kodiak Island. And if Scott was not already popular enough, he is also in charge of the entire Air Show here in Anchorage this summer. As you can see, he is NOT flying under the radar here in Alaska. :)

Me with my babes on Thanksgiving.
Carolina at 4months old.

Jackson's favorite thing to do outside is eat the snow.

Carolina has the giggles:

October Highlights

2011-11-02T13:50:00.007-08:00

I finally decided on what type of cloth diaper to go with and this is it: Indian prefolds, with a nylon cover and Snappis to hold the cloth on.We had our first snow October 30th. We had to get my studded snow tires put on today so I can get out an drive. Jackson's favorite part is eating the snow.

Carolina's first time in the walker. She really likes being up and able to look around.
My mother-in-law, Charlotte, came for 2 weeks to help me with the kids while Scott went elk hunting. He ended up coming back early because the guy who went him couldn't keep up then started going hypothermic. He ended up pressing the emergency beacon button and the Coast Guard helicopter came down and picked them up. Scott was bummed, but I was not.

Charlotte was a lot of help and we all enjoyed her visit!
My happy girl!
Jackson did this to himself.
The picture of Jesus that Akiane Kramarik painted at age 9. She and Colton Burpo (Heaven Is For Real) say this is what Jesus looks like.
They did a lot of reading and...
movie watching.
My friend Jessa had Peyton Anne in October. Jessa was full-term and Peyton Anne was 5 lbs!

She is healthy and doing well. We are so happy for them!

I guess the sermon was doing much for her :)

Ross and Heather in Tanzania, Africa. She is 7 months pregnant here. She's due around Thanksgiving.

Mountain Goat Hunt

2011-10-09T21:44:00.003-08:00

Hello everyone! Yes this is another story about my hunting trips in Alaska. Are you seeing a theme? This one was a mountain goat hunt in the mountains behind Anchorage. A friend and I took a plane ride about thirty minutes east of Anchorage to a place called Lake George. The first picture is of the landing strip and me standing there waiting for Dan to arrive. It was some beautiful country but the hardest hunt I have ever been on!

Dan and I getting ready to hike to camp. The scenery is breath taking!

Pictures from the side of the mountain we climbed to get to some goats.

This goat is not one that I killed. I did shoot a goat, but it rolled off the side of a cliff which is right behind me in this picture. I was so disappointed that I went through all that effort to come away with nothing. I guess thats why it is called hunting and not killing. I'm still a little bitter about it!

September trip to SC

2011-10-06T17:30:00.006-08:00

I took the kids home to SC the month of September since Scott had 3 hunting trips and 1 work trip. This was taken when we got back to Alaska and reunited with Scott. Jackson really missed his Daddy!
The 7 cousins on my side of the family: Jackson, Rom, Carolina, Sophia, Bella, Maya, Ryder
Me and Jackson at Chris and Lauren's wedding reception
My sisters were bridesmaids and I was an honorary bridesmaid.
My happy girl
Me and Chris the morning of his wedding
Lauren at her wedding rehearsal
Hugh and Carolina
cheesin'
Jackson's "toy" for about an hour...that poor grasshopper!

Dad and Carolina
Alex, Amie, Suzanne, Liza, Sam, and Ellison came to visit us
Charlotte and Jackson...he was sick
Charlotte and Carolina
Carolina and her great-grandmother
Nancy and Keke with Carolina
Cale and Raegen with the kiddos
Mom and Carolina
Rebecca, James, me, Carolina, Sarah, George
Rhett, Bethany, Bella, Maya, and Sophia checking out Carolina
Jackson playing with a dead frog my brother Rom gave him
the cousins
Raleigh and Carolina
Rochelle and Carolina

My Caribou Hunt

2011-09-10T21:45:00.008-08:00

I just returned from an amazing caribou hunt. I flew to a town called Kotzebue on the west

coast of Alaska. We then flew 80 miles north on a bush plane where we landed on a river bed. What an amazing flight. Then we spent 5 days hunting for caribou. I killed 2 and my friend Ryan killed one. It was a hunt that I'll never forget!! Now for the pics...

Here is the plane we took out into the field.

Ryan and I on the flight out.

This was on the flight out.

Landing can be tricky!

Here is our landing strip. Not your typical runway!

This is what a bush plane looks like taking off!!

This is our camp site. We weren't supposed to have all of this equipment, but Matt Owen the owner of Northern Air Trophy, let us use it. We were living like kings!!

This was our view from camp. Not bad!!

Here is the first caribou that I shot.

Another picture of my first caribou.

This was my second caribou.

Another picture of that one.

Newborn Photo Shoot

2011-08-25T17:33:00.001-08:00

Carolina at 3 & 4 weeks

2011-08-22T18:47:00.003-08:00

Baby dedication at church
Scott's new hunting gear...boy is he ready for his 3 hunting trips coming up in September and October!
Jackson's new Power Wheels. We got him a truck like Scotts.

MAJOR Scott Hamilton!

2011-08-22T17:00:00.002-08:00

I've been meaning to blog about this for months...Scott became a Major in June.

We are very thankful he got this promotion and I am very proud of him!

Jackson @ 3 Years

2011-08-20T18:01:00.002-08:00

This was one of our favorite photos of JacksonThis was our favorite family photo. I was 37 weeks pregnant.

Carolina's 1st Week

2011-07-30T10:52:00.007-08:00

Carolina is now a week old and doing well. She likes to eat and is a very pleasant baby. We are thoroughly enjoying her! My family was here for 3 weeks and they left Friday night so we are on our own trying to get into the swing of things. The visit with my family was great...it's hard to be so far from them. Below are some of the pictures taken over the past week.

Double stroller time!
Rochelle doing some cleaning. While she was here Scott took her on 3 hikes and she loved them! She wants to come back next summer for more hiking.
Raleigh did a lot of movie watching, cleaning, reading, holding Carolina, etc...
First bath

Watching a Beth Moore video
Beautiful roses from my parents

My Babes!

Carolina's Here!!!!

2011-07-27T16:20:00.006-08:00

Carolina Rose Hamilton arrived July 25th around 6:00 AM.

We are so happy and truly praising God for our precious and healthy baby girl!

We were blessed to have a midwife deliver Carolina. She took her time and did an excellent job being very carful to oil and stretch me so I did not tear. It took about an hour and a half to get her out of the birth canal. I am so glad I was able to do a vaginal birth after having a C-section with Jackson!

She weighed 8 lbs 10 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.
Getting to know her Daddy.
Jackson seeing her for the first time. He has taken very well to her and seems to like her a lot!

Doing some "Kangaroo Care" and loving on my sweet girl!

This is a picture of me the day I was born. It is crazy how much Carolina looks like I did...especially in person!

Mid-July Up-date

2011-07-17T16:49:00.005-08:00

We had Jackson's 3 year old pictures taken a few weeks ago at a nearby park. Here are some of the ones the photographer put on her blog. I'll post a couple more when I get them in.

So I am 39 and a half weeks pregnant...due on FRIDAY (July 22nd)!!!! My Mom and 2 of my sisters flew in a week ago to keep me company, to be here for the delivery and to help me afterwards. I have really enjoyed their company and it's helped a lot having them here to pass the time and keep me up emotionally. This waiting game has the potential to drive me crazy! I would love to have Carolina tonight, but who knows when she will will come. I will probably induce if she is not here in 2 weeks.

Scott, Jackson, Mom, Raleigh, and Rochelle hiked Flattop Mountain yesterday. It is a hard hike so I am proud they made it to the top. My Mom nor my sisters had ever been on such a hard hike. Mom said it was very hard, but very cool. Rochelle said she loved it! Raleigh said it really wasn't her thing. They were all impressed Scott carried Jackson on his back the whole way. The weather was beautiful and so was the scenery.
Friday night we went out to eat at Simon and Seaforts Restaurant to celebrate Raleigh's 18th Birthday. We had a table with a view that overlooked the ocean. The view was great and so was the food!
Here we are at the restaurant.
Here is Jackson eating raw onions. He had 2 plate-fulls!
Thursday we went hiking at Thunderbird Falls. I don't know how well you can make it out, but we saw 2 king salmon in the river we were hiking next to.
Here is the bottom part of the falls.
Here we are at the end of the hike. I went trying to induce labor, but it did not work.
A few weeks ago Scott and Jackson went "camping" in the backyard. Jackson loved sleeping in the tent! It was about 9:00 PM when I took this picture.

Happy 3rd Birthday Jackson!

2011-07-07T10:39:00.002-08:00

Where have 3 years gone? It's hard to believe my baby boy is 3! I thank God for giving us these 3 wonderful years with him! For his birthday we took him to Toys R Us and let him pick out the toys he wanted, we took him to a pet store so he could look at the animals, we took him to his favorite park, and we let him have a chocolate Coconut Bliss Bar where we put the candles. And of course we sang Happy Birthday to him several times...which he loved. Lord willing we will be able to celebrate his future birthdays with lots of family.
He got into my jewelry box...notice the pearl earrings IN his ear.
He loves going to the pet store! He tends to spend most of the time looking at the fish.
I bought a Moby wrap to use with Carolina. Scott is testing it out for me on Jackson. Perhaps I should have bought a more gender-neutral color.... Nah! I love pink too much!

June Pics

2011-06-28T17:44:00.005-08:00

I am 36 weeks pregnant here. At my doctor visit yesterday Carolina was still head down so that means it looks like I will be able to try a VBAC and I am praising God for that! Friday I will be 37 weeks and I am chomping at the bits to have my little girl in my arms! My Mom, Raleigh, and Rochelle are flying out next Saturday when I am 38 weeks. I am so glad they are coming as I need their help passing the time...it seems to have slowed down!Here is Jackson with his birthday gifts from Grandmomma and Papa Watson.
Here is something I love to see...my boy eating raw organic veggies!
Really?
Scott did not have to go in to work today so he and Jackson enjoyed some time together wrestling, hanging out, and watching movies.
Jackson was very interested in being with his daddy as Scott cleaned the 3 salmon and 4 halibut he caught over the weekend. He ended up with about 50 lbs of fish to eat.
Scott went on an overnight halibut fishing trip Saturday and caught the biggest fish. It weighed about 45 lbs.
Last week we drove down to the Russian River for Scott to salmon fish. Scott snagged 6 fish, but only caught one. There are 2 salmon runs a year where the salmon swim up river to lay their eggs then die. This is when people are out there trying to catch them the most.
Jackson was very interested in all the fish that other people had caught laying on the side of the river. The problem was he thought all the fish were his so he got upset when we had to leave them. He really liked touching their eyes. While we were there a bear came down out of the woods and took one man's fish. You've really got to watch out for bears around here!
Jackson's job was to carry the net and help Daddy once he caught a fish. He seemed to take that job very seriously.
One neat thing Anchorage does during the summer months is put on a music show for little kids in a park in downtown. It was neat, but Jackson just ran around so its was stressful for me.

May Pics

2011-06-07T18:57:00.006-08:00

I wish I would have taken more pictures while I was home in SC, but these will have to do.

Mom and me. Yes, she's lost a lot of weight and looks great! A shot of the 4 sisters...now that Raegen lives in Dallas and I live in Anchorage, pictures like this one are hard to come by. It was good seeing my girls in May. :)
My very good friend of so many years, Lisa, and her twins.
Jackson with cousins, Bella and Maya.
Jackson taking a nap with Papa and Grandmomma after much play.
My nephew Ryder before his baseeball game.
My nephew Rom after his baseball game.
Jackson with Suzie and Grandaddy.
Grandaddy showing Jackson how to drive a train.
Scott's dad builds trains and we are on one of them. You know Jackson loved getting to ride and drive a real train!
My good friend Lindsay. She lives in Greenville so when I go see Scott's side of the family I usually get to hang out with her as well.
Jackson with Papa. He loves riding the tractor with him!
Our Easter family photo.
Jackson's favorite video:

Carolina Rose Hamilton @ 27 weeks

2011-05-20T10:51:00.003-08:00

These were the ultrasound pictures we had taken 4 weeks ago. I am 31 weeks today.

Currently I am in SC visiting my family while Scott is in New Mexico for Safety School. We both plan on flying back to Alaska next weekend. I have a had a good visit with my family and God has brought about some interesting developments since I've been here. My doctor, Scott, and the Holy Spirit have convicted me to try a VBAC. My naturopathic doc here was able to get Carolina to go head down and Lord willing she'll stay that way so I can attempt a VBAC and get all the health benefits that come with it.

Our House

2011-04-09T09:51:00.006-08:00

Our house is a duplex and this is our side. This house has 3 levels...a basement, main level, and 2nd storeythe yard and deck
entry way
front hallway
kitchen

dining room and part of den

den
backside of hallway
upstairs hallway
unfinished nursery
our bedroom

our bathroom
Jacskson's bathroom
Jackson's bedroom

basement washer and dryer area
extra room in basement

basement bedroom...our "Alaska room" for guests
guest bathroom

Mid-march Up-Date

2011-03-17T14:43:00.003-08:00

There's been a lot going on so I thought I better blog about it before it gets to be old news. First of all we moved into our house on base a week ago. I really like it here (it just feels right) and I am so thankful to God He worked out all the details and we moved in quick! I am already seeing Scott more and it has already been a blessing financially. Please note our new address: 8426 Metzger Ave Unit A; JBER, AK 99506. We are mostly settled in with the exception of hanging some more pictures and curtains. Once we get the house all finished, I will blog some pictures of our "new" place. :)
This was taken right before we handed Lilly off to her new family and the day we moved out.
This is Lilly with her new family.

Here is a picture of a moose who was checking things out the day we were moving. Scott was able to touch him.

This is a picture of me at 20 weeks. Tomorrow I am 22 weeks, so I am a bit bigger now....and feeling it!

This is Scott and Jackson after they had been out sledding on this very big hill for an hour or so. The reason I did not get any pictures of them auctually sledding is because that would mean I would have to go outside long enough to take the picture and with it being as cold as it was that day (and most days) I was unwilling. I try to avoid being outside in the freezing cold if at all possible.

Here is Jackson playing in the basket we got from Ross and Heather for Christmas.

Jackson is starting to color.

Also, Scott's Grandfather died yesterday. He was 94 years old and in poor health so it did not come as a surprise. He had just lost his wife in January as well. Scott was blessed to have such an involved Grandfather who was a big influence in his life. Dr. Hal Jameson was a giver to his family and the community and he will be missed.

February /March 2011

2011-03-03T22:13:00.003-09:00

There has been a lot going on and a lot to praise God for...

1. Found out we are having a GIRL! YAY!!! I'm 20 weeks along and feeling good.

2. We are moving out of our rental house and on base next week! YAY!!! I am excited because this means seeing Scott 1-2 more hours a day, $ savings, community feel, etc...

3. Lilly is moving to her new permanent home sometime this month

4. Scott's drew 3 special hunts from the Alaskan hunting lottery and is very excited!

His planned hunting trips include a spring black bear hunt, a September caribou hunt, an October elk hunt, and a spring 2012 Kodiak grizzly bear hunt. Can you say obsessed?!

5. Scott's going to Safety School for the Air Force the month of May. I'm not sure what Jackson and I are doing yet.

6. Scott's sister and her family are coming for a week in April.

7. We are transitioning churches.

I think that about covers the big stuff. Hope all is well with you and thanks for checking in!

December & January Highlights

2011-01-18T13:45:00.005-09:00

As you know, I am not the most avid blogger, but I do try to do it once a month so those of you who care can stay up-dated for the most part.

This was taken 2 days ago. Jackson, his "Daa-ee" and his dino.
Here is our baby at 12 weeks. The lady who did the ultrasound (bless her!) thought it was probably a girl, but could not tell for sure. I would love that! Do you know how hard it is to get an ultrasound when you want one?!?! Very hard! Who knows how many people and places I talked to before I finally found someone 2 hours away who would let me check on my baby!

It was a relief to find her (?) alive and well. Praise God!
Here we are on Christmas morning at my parent's house. Poor Jackson was sick that day, but I think all the excitement helped to make it better.
Men at the house: 4 of them live there. 2 are son-in-laws. 2 hang out there often hoping to become son-in-laws. ;)
The sisters ready for Santa to come!
I was able to get away for just a quick trip to Birmingham to go see Cortney and her new baby, Sarah Taylor, and Jessa and her older baby, Cooper. Both are so precious and I enjoyed the time I got to spend with them so much!!!

This is what happens when you leave Jackson alone with styrofoam for a little while. If you think his face was a mess....you should have seen the den!
A moose in our driveway.
A moose leaving our front porch.
We threw a Christmas party for the friends we have made here in Alaska. We ate good food and of course, played Dirty Santa. It was a lot of fun!

We also celebrated Scott's 32nd Birthday that night.
Notice Scott's trim jaw-line...that's what happens when you loose 30+lbs. Go Scott!

Notice my full jaw-line...that's what happens when you get pregnant and start packing on the lbs! :)
Our 2011 Christmas family photo taken in our back yard.

Christmas Letter 2010

2010-12-15T12:32:00.007-09:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!
Before I begin to ramble on, I will address the most obvious change to our family: Lilly. She is a native Alaskan who is in the foster care system along with 4 of her other siblings. She came into our lives at the end of October when a family from church decided they were no longer able to foster her. Initially we had intentions to foster then adopt, but over the past 7 weeks we have decided that it would not be the best thing for us or her. The state was not able to get her plane tickets in time to fly home with us to SC, so my good friend, Neve and her husband James are going to take her over the holidays. I know the Lord will make sure she ends up in the right home for her.

Another big piece of news for us is: I'M PREGNANT! I'm almost 9 weeks along and due July 22. Praise God for that! We are very excited about it and would appreciate any prayers as I have had 2 previous miscarriages.

Ok, as for the past year I believe the best word would have to be TRANSITION.
I left Oklahoma in May, went to SC for about a month, moved to Alaska, stayed here a couple rainy months, went back to SC for Raegen's wedding and Ross' farewell, and now we're back in Alaska. Details and pictures on all of that can be found on previous posts.

The cold, dark, and snow has really set in and it has defiantly taken some getting used to. Most people agree it's hard to get out of bed in the morning and with a pregnancy on top of it, I am really having to have some self -talks to get going. We leave for SC in a few days and I think it's coming at a great time because I need a break from the climate up here.

Scott is wonderful as always...such a great husband and dad! He's an Instructor Pilot on the AWACS and enjoys his job here. Being in Alaska has awakened a hunting passion in him neither of us knew existed. Thankfully hunting season is only 2 months long...mid-August through mid-October. Jackson is doing well and continues to be a huge source of joy in our lives! He is into a lot and is the reason there are no pictures attached to this post....he peed on my computer and now it's dead. So you can guess what's on my Christmas wish list. As for me I stay busy as usual taking care of my boys and the house, exercising, Bible study, etc.. Also, God has blessed me with a great prayer group and those 3 girls have been such an encouragement to me...and I am really needing it these days!
Thanks for caring enough to read about us and I hope your holidays are wonderful!

Family Visit

2010-11-27T11:08:00.004-09:00

We went shopping Saturday downtown where there was a large building full of local vendors with booths set up.
Me, Rochelle, Raleigh, Mom, and Lilly We did a lot of hanging out at home since the weather was bad Monday and Tuesday. There was freezing rain instead of snow, so schools were even shut down.
Rochelle and Jackson

We had dinner at home every night. We had salmon, halibut, moose loaf, and kabobs made out of moose steak.

Raleigh and Jackson

Dad did a lot of this. He also exercised a lot too.

Raleigh and Rochelle straightened my hair one day.

Not sure why this picture is turned like this. Anyway, Wednesday we went snowmobiling. Here we are geared up for the cold.

Me and Mom

The whole snowmobiling gang

I was so cold. My fingers and toes were numb.

Being attacked by a stuffed bear

For Thanksgiving we went to Seven Glaciers Restaurant on the top of Alyeska Ski resort. This is the tram we took to get up there.

This is everyone at Thanksgiving. It was a very cool place to go to and eat, the only downer was that is took FOREVER to get our food!

My family left at 5:00 on Thanksgiving afternoon. Because it took so long at the restaurant they almost missed their flight by 4 minutes! The Parks invited us to come over after my family left, so here is a picture of us hanging out with them that night.

November

2010-11-27T10:21:00.003-09:00

Cortney had Sarah Taylor on November 23rd! Check out her blog for more pics, but I had to put one up since I am so excited for her! My prayer group: Neve, me, Lindsay, and Devon.
God has really blessed me with these 3 girls since moving to Alaska. Earlier this month we had a prayer group in Devon's parent's hot tub then went inside and had a wonderful home cooked meal prepared by Devon's mom. I wish I had taken a picture because it was so relaxing and beautiful sitting outside in a hot tub surrounded by snow covered eveything. A winter wonderland here

Jackson in the snow

Lilly & 1st snow

2010-11-04T23:11:00.003-08:00

Lilly is the newest member of our family. She is 9 years old and is a native Alaskan with an Eskimo backgroud. The Lord seemed to just place her in our laps. If you want more details, I'll need to send you and e-mail , so just let me know.

This past week Anchorage has had it's "first snow". Here is a sample of what it looks like...

October Highlights

2010-10-27T12:19:00.002-08:00

The past 5 days we have focused on potty training Jackson. I decided we should let him run around naked so that when he pooped or peed we would know it and also so he would learn to recognize the sensation and learn to go on his potty and not the floor. He took to peeing on the potty very well, and by now he poops on it most of the time. This potty training business is a lot of work, but I'd say we've been successful! Now we have to figure out how to transition him to using the potty when we are away from home. Way to go Jackson! We saw this moose in our neighbors front yard on the way to church. Last week 3 were in our yard but I was not able to get a picture. Apparently the colder it gets the more moose you see in the city limits.

I discovered this place called Bouncin Bears. It is a great way to let Jackson burn off some energy and stay warm!

If we won't rock him, I guess he'll rock his own self to sleep. Poor baby.

Arctic Hunting

2010-10-13T13:32:00.006-08:00

My friend Buddy and I went up the Dalton Highway (Haul Road) to hunt caribou last weekend. We did not get anything, but it made for a really good story. The Haul Road is the same one you see on Ice Road Truckers. Its not as bad as they make it out on TV, but I'm not hauling 40 tons of cargo either. Needless to say, it was an interesting trip, and it allowed me to check off some of the things I want to do while in Alaska. The picture below is me standing at the arctic circle. There is a turn off and a little rest area as well as a sign and some information about it.

The following pictures were taken as we went along the road. In some of them you can see the Alaska Pipeline which follows the road all the way to the north coast of Alaska.

There is one mountain pass that goes through the Brooks Range. It is called Atigun Pass. As you can see it was covered in snow and ice. It was very cold up there!!

This was on the other side of the pass. The weather was beautiful except the temperatures. It was around 0 degrees F.

This was around where we stopped to hunt and camp. This was about 112 miles south of the north coast. The temp was around 0 to -2. On the Haul Road, you cannot hunt with a rifle within 5 miles of the road. This meant we had to walk off the road 5 miles before we could shoot any caribou. It was a hard hike! Later that night I saw -18F on my truck thermometer.

This was a sunset we saw on the way back to Anchorage.

September

2010-09-28T13:09:00.006-08:00

This is my baby brother Ross. He and his wife Heather just left for Africa with 3 other couples. They are on a mission team whose goal is to disciple the Makonde people. They are going to be in Tanga, Tanzania for the first 4 months learning the language then they are going to Mtwara for the rest of the time. Ross plans on going into the villages and wherever else the Lord takes him. Ross is very gifted at evangelism and I know the Lord is leading this team so I am excited to see what happens. Please Please Please keep Ross, Heather, and the rest of the Makonde team in your prayers! Mom, Raegen, Rhett, and I visited Ross the days leading up to his departure. Here Rhett and Ross are spraying Ross and Heather's clothes with something to repel the mosquitoes. Malaria is bad where they are going.

I flew from SC to AL to visit my Grandmother for her 80th birthday. I got to stay with my cousin Gian and his wife Mandy since my grandparent's house was full. I really enjoyed my stay with them. We were able to get our very own tour of the fire station thanks to my cousin Neil who works there. Below: Neil, me, Jackson, Griffin, Alanah, and Mandy

Me and Jackson at Grandmother's Birthday party dinner

Mom, me, and Grandmother

Most of the Kellis cousins: Ryder, Jackson, Bella, Rom, and Maya

My niece, Sophia, turned 3 while I was in SC visiting. so we were able to go to her birthday party at Monkey Joes. Here is Jackson going down the slide.

Little Rom is always good at helping me with Jackson.

Me and the Birthday girl!

Anton is the foreign exchange student that is living with my family this year. He is from Sweden, he is very good at football, he fits in very well with my family, and is a great addition!

After Raegen's wedding we went to Greenville to visit Scott's friends and family. Here Jackson is playing in Scott's parent's backyard.

Jackson with Grandmomma Watson (Scott's mom)

We got away for a bit, just me and Scott, to go to his family's lake house and swim. It was a nice little get-a-way.

The Wedding Day!

2010-09-28T10:28:00.008-08:00

Cale and Raegen got married at my parent's house like I did. Here she is on the front porch. Before the guests arrived

Her shoes...very cool!

My parents hired a professional make-up artist and hair stylist for the wedding party. It was fun being able to hang around and visit while waiting our turn for beauty treatments.

The beautiful bride waiting around

The bridesmaids and bridesman

Me and Raegen

My 2 best friends from college came to the wedding and I was so happy to see them! It was the first time I got to meet Cooper in person. He is such an adorable little baby!!! Cortney is due around Thanksgiving. YAY!!!!

Cale

Raegen

Me and my man! I made the tie for him on Father's Day last year. It's always a hit!

Dad and Mom with Raegen.

My sister-in-laws: Bethany, Heather, and Chelsea

Me and Billy walking together. He was our preacher when we lived in Mississippi.

Coming down the isle

I think she's happy ;)

My brother Ross preformed the ceremony.

The Reception

Their first dance as a married couple

I thought the cakes looked great

Day before Raegen's Wedding

2010-09-28T10:09:00.004-08:00

My brothers and sisters at the rehearsal dinner from youngest to oldest: Rochelle, Raleigh, Raegen, Ross, Rhett, Rachael, RomFriday morning the bridesmaids got pedicures and manicures Friday night was the rehearsal dinner. Our good friends Lee and Cheryl were there so it was great getting to visit with them a while. My parents are at the table with us too.

Rachael and Cheryl...I guess we both got the blue memo This is my cousin's little girl, Savannah...she is such a doll!!! I wish I could see her more often!

I was glad to be able to visit with my cousins Sarah and Rebecca on Friday. I always enjoy hanging out with them. And....Rebecca is in her 2nd trimester! YAY!!!

Raegen's Lingerie Shower

2010-09-28T09:25:00.003-08:00

Raleigh, Rochelle, and I hosted a lingerie shower for Raegen a few days before her wedding.

Rochelle, Rachael, Raegen, and Raleigh...the sisters

We LOVE our Dad!

It was a great turn out and she got a lot of nice gifts!

Walk through the woods

2010-09-28T09:14:00.004-08:00

There are hundreds of miles of trails in and around Anchorage. We decided to walk one of the trails near our house that is in a city park. I only wanted to walk 3-4 miles, but once again we got twist turned around and ended up walking a lot longer. I like walking on trails through the woods and this particular trail was very pretty. We did have to watch out for bears though. There was a creek next to the trail that we stopped at and let Jackson play in. It was so cold, but that did not stop Jackson!

Giant Alaskan Malamute

2010-09-27T18:00:00.003-08:00

Our friends, Paul and Devon, have 2 Giant Alaskan Malamutes. These dogs are popular here in Alaska because their thick coat keeps them warm in the winter. They are also used for mushing. These dogs can get over 200lbs. Devon and Otto. Here the dog is about 8 weeks old.

Back in Alaska

2010-09-26T16:02:00.002-08:00

Well I am back in Alaska after being gone for about a month and I got here just in time for the first snow! On our way to church this morning my car said it was 28 degrees outside and during church it started snowing!!! I was wearing sundresses a couple days ago and now I'm in my winter clothes! Weird.
There was a lot going on that kept me in the "lower 48" (as the folks from Alaska like to say)....my sister Raegen got married, we visited Scott's family and friends in Greenville, I stayed home with my sisters while my parents went out of town, I flew to Alabama for my Grandmother's 80th Birthday then I flew to Arkansas to visit my brother Ross before he went to Africa for 10 years. Busy Busy!!! I am glad to be back home with Scott and settled into my own routine, but I enjoyed the time I was able to spend with many of my loved ones.
As you can see from the post below, Scott made good use of his time while we were gone.
I plan on blogging pictures from the trip soon.

Moose Hunting

2010-09-14T20:44:00.004-08:00

This was my first experience hunting in Alaska. My friend Brad talked to some people and got the best info on where to hunt. We hunted near a town called Delta Junction. It will be on a map if you Google it. We were out hunting for about 2 hours when we saw this moose from a ridge. We went down after it, and after a small chase I had a shot and took it. My first shot stopped it, and my second dropped it. It has a 55 inch spread with 4 brow tines on one side and 5 on the other. After we shot it, it took us 10 1/2 hours to get it back to my truck. Needless to say the work begins once you shoot a moose. An average bull moose weighs 1200 lbs. We almost didn't make it out with everything. It was one of the hardest days of my life! I am going to have it mounted!! Rachael is so thrilled about that!

Here is my Field and Stream pose.

Here is my friend Brad going over the hunting regs to make sure we take all the meat we are supposed to. My trusty Polaris Ranger is in the background as well. If it had not been for it, we would have never made it. If you are in the market for an ATV/UTV, I strongly suggest this model. Polaris made a beast of a machine when they made this one!!

This next picture is a little graphic, but it shows just how much the Ranger can hold. We had the entire moose as well as our gear in the bed of the Ranger and made it through swamps, muskeg, over trees, and through rivers. The Ranger is king of quads!!

Jackson 2 Year Old Photos

2010-08-22T22:37:00.003-08:00

These pictures were taken by Lucas Brown with Kickstand Studio at my parent's house in SC around the time of Jackson's 2nd birthday.

Saturday of Fun

2010-08-16T22:00:00.007-08:00

This was the Saturday of fun (for Scott). Scott went fishing early Saturday morning with a friend from church. They went fishing for Silver Salmon and each caught one!

After Scott got back from fishing we went to the Knik Glacier. We never actually made it to the glacier, but we did ride our Polaris Ranger beside the Knik River. It was a wide open area with a lot of interesting terrain. There were rivers we road through that covered the floor board. The video at the end shows some of the areas we went. There were also a lot of people fishing, four wheeling, and camping. It was a really interesting area. In this picture you can see the Knik Glacier in the background with some people fishing as well.

Some of the wide open river bed areas we rode on.

This is Jackson having fun out on the ranger!

Here was a little stream we crossed in some of the more wooded trails.

Another picture of the river and glacier.

Here are some families out camping

Some more people out on their four wheelers.

Here is the video of us going through some pretty deep water.

Raegen and Cale's Engagement Pictures

2010-08-13T11:51:00.009-08:00

I cannot believe my baby sister in getting married...and to Cale Ferguson!!!! What in the world?!?!?? I introduced these 2 when we were living in Columbus. Cale went to church with us and his dad Billy is the preacher. They did not keep up once we left, but they ran into each other at a Christian college retreat in January and have been inseparable ever since. I'm so excited for them! You can really tell they are IN LOVE!!! The wedding is August 28th. YAY!!!!

First Trip to the ER

2010-08-12T22:14:00.003-08:00

Monday morning I heard a scream from Jackson's playroom and I went running to see what had happened. I freaked out when I saw a gash in Jackson's head and lots of blood. It's one thing when it's someone else or yourself, but when it's your baby......
Scott did not think it was deep enough for stitches so we did not go to the ER right away, but reconsidered later that evening. It was deep and he ended up getting 4 stitches. The doc convinced me that giving him a mild sedative (Ketamine) would be harmless so we did so it would be less traumatic for Jackson (and me). A few minutes after the sedative kicked in Jackson stopped breathing and started turning white. I quickly drew this to the doctor's attention and they had to open his airways and give him oxygen. It scared me so bad because I did not know what was going on. Later the doc told us that he had never seen a child react that way (hypoxia) to Ketamine. Well you better believe we will think long and hard before we ever give him a "harmless" drug again!
My sweet sweet baby boy dazed.

Our House

2010-08-08T22:00:00.004-08:00

This is our rental house Here is the back of the house.

Scott organized the garage

The living area downstairs is one big room, which I really like.

Our bedroom

The guestroom

Jackson asleep in his toddler bed

The exercise/playroom/guestroom

I got tagged

2010-07-20T21:38:00.002-08:00

Cortney tagged me for all these questions, so here goes:
1. How often do you go over the speed limit? All the time, but I'm trying to get better

2. Do you dance like crazy when no one is looking? I have before, but not often

3. If you were going to be stuck on a desert island which book, movie, and which CD would you take with you? I'd take my Bible, a good worship CD and maybe Grease or Dirty Dancing

4. What did you get in trouble for as a kid? beating up my brothers

5. What really gives you the creeps? dead people

6. What was your favorite toy when you were a kid? Barbie

7. You run into a friend while shopping. Where were you? We just moved to Alaska so I have no idea

8. When you fall asleep are you usually on your side, stomach, or back? stomach

9. If fat or calorie intake were not an issue, what food would you consume the most? I'd have to add if health concerns were not an issue then the answer would be CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM!!!

10. If you could hire one of the following, which would it be: Driver, chef, maid, or stylist? CHEF

11. What movie have you watched the most? Shag, Grease, or Dirty Dancing

12. What perfume do you wear? My most recent buy is No Ho by Bond #9 and Very Sexy Dare

13. What was your favorite sitcom growing up? Little House on the Prairie and Fresh Prince

14. What were you doing the last time you had a really good laugh? I laugh a lot with Jackson

15. What was the very first concert I ever attended? I think it was Garth Brooks

16. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list? Scott Hamilton

17. How long does it take you to get ready in the mornings? just me...about an hour

18. When is the last time you went to the mall and what did you buy? A few weeks ago when I first got to Alaska I was not prepared for it to be as cold as it was in the dead of summer so I did not bring any warm church clothes. Therefore I had to go to the mall and buy something to wear to church. I ended up with a black suit from Banana Republic and some black boots

19. Ever go to camp? Sure...Palmetto Bible Camp

20. Do you collect anything? no

So now I tag Andrea, Brooklyn, and Elizabeth. Have fun!

Jackson's 2nd Birthday and 1st poop!

2010-07-19T20:45:00.003-08:00

We celebrated Jackson's 2nd Birthday in a low key fashion this year. It was just the 3 of us, but Jackson didn't seem to care or notice. :) We are so blessed to have had 2 years with this precious boy! God is so Good!!! This was his present. He LOVES it!!! He is obsessed with trains! Of course by now he has destroyed the track and now Scott has to find another way to keep it together. I think he is going to screw it to the table.A couple weeks after his 2nd birthday he had his first poop on the potty! We were so proud of him and he was so happy too! Right after that, we put his diaper back on him then he pooped some more in the diaper..AHHHH!!! One step foward, two steps back! What can ya do?

Salmon Fishing

2010-07-18T16:56:00.003-08:00

This past Friday, I left to go fishing for salmon with a friend from church and his friend from work. We got to go to a private cabin. This was huge because I have never fished for salmon. This means that we would not be shoulder to shoulder trying to get fish. Also the family that owned the cabin were guides on the Kenai River. They helped teach me what I was doing. This is their cabin. We fished right out front in the river.

This is looking up the river at the house next to this one. They were out fishing too.

This is Paul and Derrick fishing. The river was very cold. It is flows from a lake that is glacier fed. We had to take breaks every once in awhile to warm up. The river is around 40 degrees.

These are the three fish that I caught on Saturday. I put my boot in the picture to give you perspective on how big the fish were. The limit on catching Red Salmon are three a day. My boot is a size 12. They had a lot of fight and were really fun to catch.

Here are the three that I caught on Friday evening. We fished until 1 am that night. Once you hit midnight you can catch three more but that didn't happen for us. With all six salmon it made about 45-50 steaks. We will be eating good for a long time!!

Crow Creek Pass Trail

2010-07-15T19:35:00.005-08:00

This is a hike that I (Scott) went on this past Wednesday. It is a trail that goes for over 20 miles. I only did five miles of it (10 miles round trip) to reach Raven glacier. Those pictures are later on in this post. It was another truly amazing hike through beautiful country. This trail was about 50 minutes from Anchorage. This is a picture looking from the trail back toward the town of Girdwood.

This shows some of the beautiful scenery along the trail.

You can see the trail below in this picture.

This shows one of the many rivers that flow through the area. These are all from snow or glacier run off.

This was part of the trail. In the back country, some of the snow has not melted. A hiker can be seen in the distance. This trail had more snow on it than any other I have done yet. Ironically I was wearing pants and a short sleeve t-shirt though.

More scenery!

This is a picture of Raven glacier. I ended up deciding to hike over to it. I have never been that close to a glacier before so I wanted to get a better view. My adventurous side couldn't let this opportunity pass! The steep snow bank on the right of the picture is what I hiked along to get to the glacier. Mom, I know what you are going to say!

Here I am on the glacier. The glacier went all the way up to the top of the mountain. The further up you went the more snow was on the ground. Further down it was more ice and rock. Behind me was a couple who were camping along side the glacier. I think they were surprised to see me!

Here is more of the icy/rocky part closer to me and just ice in the distance.

Here is a beautiful iced lake along the trail. The reflection made for an amazing scene.

This is the river leading out of the lake.

I was blessed to run across some mountain goats along the trail. I was able to get within 15 yards of these three! I hope to be able to hunt them while in Alaska. You can see them along the side of the rough terrain. The are very adapt to climbing.

Here is one up close. He is shedding his winter coat.

Here are the other two. I was amazed at how close they allowed me to get.

O'Malley Hike

2010-07-15T13:01:00.003-08:00

Yes, more pictures from a hike. I told Scott on Monday I wanted to go on a walk somewhere outside where it was pretty since the sun was out. We arrive at the Power Line Trail which is wide and not steep to walk it and Scott sees O'Malley trail off in the distance that goes to the top of a nearby mountain and of course he convinces me we should take the hike instead of the walk. Here we are before our hike...not walk. This is the Power Line trail I wanted to take....it looks pleasant, doesn't it?

If you look closely you can see the O"Malley trail going up the mountain in this picture.

At the top of the mountain there was snow that Jackson played in and ate.

We have learned that Jackson does not get cold as easily as I do (which is like Scott), but when he does get cold, he gets as angry as I do about it! He was screaming crying on the top of the mountain from being cold before we got his coat on him. After that he held the hood down all the way over his face until it got warmer. Here he is peeping out for the picture.

The next 4 photos are views from the top of the mountain. As usual, the view was amazing and quite a marvel of God's handiwork!

You can see the city of Anchorage off in the distance in this picture and the one below.

Falls Lake Hiking Trip

2010-07-10T21:16:00.007-08:00

Scott decided that he wanted to take advantage of the good weather and go on a hike. Jackson was sick so he had to go by himself. After it was over, Scott was glad he went by himself becasue it was a hard hike. He decided to hike the Falls Creek Trail up to Falls Lake. This is the beginning of the trail. It is a three mile hike (one way) with 3600 feet of elevation change. That means really steep! For those that use the incline on a tread mill, that would be the equivalent of being at 23 degrees of slope for three miles. He started hiking at 7:15 pm.

This shows some of the lush vegitation along the hike.

The trail was very narrow at times. For a majority of the trail, it was only one person wide.

This is Falls Creek. The trail followed it all the way up to the lake.

This was the start of a little side trip Scott thought would be cool. He had seen some Big Horn Sheep up in the rocks and thought he could climb up to get a better picture. The mountain he climbed up was so steep he had to climb it on all fours. These were some of the beautiful wild flowers growing on the side of the mountain.

Here are some of the sheep Scott saw from a distance. The following picture shows how far he had to climb in order to get to them. He got within 100 yards to get this picture. He wishes he could have taken a shot at these!

The white dots are the sheep from the other picture. As you can see, it was quite a climb to get to them.

This is a picture looking back at the ocean.

As the trail went higher into the mountains, some of it was still underneath the snow!

The river is underneath the snow coming from the bottom left of the picture.

This shows the lake. It is more of a pond though. It is surrounded by mountains and is fed by the melting snow.

There were areas in the lake that still had ice in it. Scott dipped his head and hands into the water. The water temp was in the 30's!

This is another view as Scott came back down from the lake. This was taken at around 10:30 pm.

This is Scott really glad to be back at his truck done with the hike. He was completely exhausted. He finally finished the hike around 11:45 pm. He is still recovering today!

Scott and Dad's Trek to Alaska

2010-07-07T19:46:00.008-08:00

These are some pictures from Scott and Dad's trip to Alaska. This one is Scott driving through Kansas. As you can see there was a lot of beautiful scenery to look at.

This picture is Scott driving into Estes Park Colorado. The scenery has gotten a little better.

This is a rock that Scott decided to climb that was outside their hotel in Estes Park. The climb was very steep. My brother Ross would be jealous.

This is a picture of the entire rock.

This is a picture of the hotel in Estes Park. The open window is the room Scott and Dad were staying in.

This shows the hotel and the beautiful surroundings.

This is a view from the road through the Rocky Mountain National Park.

Here is a sweet picture of the two adventurers.

Here is Dad standing in front of a bunch of snow at 12,000 feet altitude. This was June 15 and the temperature was 30 degrees.

Here is a picture of the cabins near Dutch John, Utah.

This is a picture from across the lake. You can see the cabins in the background. The scenery was beautiful.

This is the sunset over the lake.

This is the inside of the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park. Scott was in log cabin paradise.

Here is a picture of Old Faithful before going off.

Here is the outside of the Inn.

Here is Old Faithful going off.

This is the view from our hotel room just outside Glacier National Park.

This is the ferry that takes cars across the Yukon River. The highway turns to dirt on the other side of the river. They traveled on the dirt highway for over 100 miles.

Here is Dawson City. It was the last stop before they entered Alaska. None of the streets were paved because of the perma-frost. It was just under 2 degrees lattitude from being at the arctic circle. This was on the longest day of the year. This is as dark as it got the entire day.

Biking the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail

2010-07-07T13:23:00.007-08:00

A popular thing to do in Anchorage is to walk, run, bike, etc....the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. Tuesday the weather was pretty and Scott had off work so I suggested we bike the trail. It runs along the coast of Anchorage. Little did I know that it is 11 miles ONE WAY! So we ended up biking 22 miles total, which is A LOT for me! It took us 3 hours, but hooray for us..we did the WHOLE thing! I was so tired afterwards! That is the most I have ever biked in one day! I wanted to turn around many times, but Scott kept pushing me on. He said it wasn't that difficult to him (biking 22 miles, that is). Here is Jackson at the beginning of the bike ride, but at the end he was screaming crying.

Below is some of the beautiful scenery we saw while on the trail.

Now this as a picture worth taking here in Alaska....PURE SUN!! It doesn't happen too much here.

These were 2 guys on skis that had wheels. It was a weird sight because they did not have much clothing on and they were "skiing". It looked very hard!

Here is a sign for disc golf. I did not know this sport existed.

Jackson is watching a movie on my IPhone to help pass the 3 hours.

The trail goes right under where planes go in to land

A view of the city of Anchorage

A garden off the trail. There were some beautiful homes off the trail as well.

Girdwood Forest Fair

2010-07-07T07:38:00.005-08:00

The drive down to Girdwood was beautiful (minus the clouds and rain). Girdwood is a ski resort town and during the winter months the mountains ahead are used for skiing.

Girdwood is home to "Girdwood Forest Fair" (or hippy fair) during the 4th of July weekend. Vendors set up tents in the woods to sell things like food, clothes, jewelry, wood products, etc..

Paul and Devon are some friends we met at church who took us there.

There was also a live band and some dancing. The backdrop was beautiful.

Alaska Info

2010-07-01T17:44:00.003-08:00

Time Zones:
We are 4 hours behind Eastern Standard time....so if it's noon in SC, it's 8:oo AM here.
We are 3 hours behind Central time...so if it's noon in Oklahoma, it's 9:00 AM here.
Weather:
The weather here has mostly stayed in the 50's. It's cloudy and chilly most of the time. It rains frequently off and on and the sun does not come out much. We've been told that some summers here are sunny and beautiful and others are colder and rainy. I think we have come during the cold and rainy one. We plan on making the most of the sun when it's out.
Daylight:
It is light most of the time here. The sun sets around midnight and rises around 4:00 AM. It is a little strange going to bed at 11:00 PM and the sun is still out.
Bears:
Bears are a big deal around here and are to be taken very seriously. They are everywhere and you must be prepared for them. One black bear attacked an 8 year old girl on base last week! The girl survived and the bear was hunted down and killed. We carry bear spray on us when hiking in case a bear tries to attack us which happens on occasion.

Our 1st Hiking Trip

2010-07-01T16:03:00.006-08:00

Today is July 1st and the weather was forecasted to be good so we decided to take our first hike on the most popular trail in Anchorage called Flattop. We went to REI Tuesday and bought the gear we needed like this backpack pictured below to carry Jackson in and some hiking boots, hiking pants, and a waterproof jacket for me. Jackson really liked the backpack and did not want to get out! The trail head to Flattop Mountain

Just starting out on the hike. The trees are different looking here.

It was beautiful scenery!

There was a lot of steep climbing

A bald eagle flew right above us

Finally at the top of Flattop! We were surprised it was so difficult since it is such a popular hike. It was cold up there and even Jackson said so. The view was so great though!

We couldn't figure out where we came up the mountain so we started down somewhere else and got way off track! We ended up going down on the other side of the mountain where there was NO trail and it was very steep! It was quite an adventure! Jackson passed out on the way down and as you can see in the picture below it did not look very comfortable. Once we finally got back on a trail we met up with a nice man who drove us to our car once we reached the bottom of the mountain. Boy did we get off track and I was very glad to get back to our car!This is taken from one of the city streets...as you can see the backdrop of the city is beautiful.

Our temporary home

2010-07-01T15:47:00.004-08:00

This is the outside of where we are staying until we can move into our house. We are the top left room. This is when you first walk in the door.

Our lovely bedroom with a double bed...can't wait to get my king bed back!

I'm glad we have a full kitchen!

June

2010-06-29T21:34:00.002-08:00

We made it to ALASKA!!! Scott and Dad drove our vehicles pulling our trailers all the way from Oklahoma to Alaska! It was 4200 miles and it took them about 10 days. They arrived last week and I flew in with Jackson a couple days later (I plan on doing a blog of Scott's trip soon). We are now staying on Elemendorf Air Force Base in temp lodging. We are in the process of signing a lease for a rental house off base. We feel very blessed to have found a nice house, close by, in our price range, with 4 bedrooms, 3 car garage, a good back yard and great neighbors! We will not be able to move in though until August 1st, so we will be here in temp lodging until then. Feel free to pray for us to be able to move in sooner! The weather here has not been so great...chilly, cloudy, and rainy. Hopefully it'll get better soon. The mountain views are beautiful and we plan on going hiking on Friday to see more of the beauty here. Asleep on the airplane...yay!

Jackson swimming with his cousins.

Raegen's ring...for those of you who are into rings

Some of the biggest news in my life is that my sister Raegen is engaged!!!! Raegen and Cale have been dating since January and they are getting married August 28th. So that means I will be flying back to SC shortly. I am the maid of honor! :)

More pics to come of Alaska...

Hilton Head and Good-Byes

2010-06-29T20:59:00.005-08:00

Jackson and I enjoying the beautiful beach and weather at Hilton Head. Rochelle, Raleigh, Raegen, and me

The whole gang (except Scott and the kiddos) at Hilton Head.

The last meeting with my prayer group: Andrea, Katie, Brooklyn, and me

Some of the girls who came to our going away dinner at Johnnies.

Travel Plans

2010-05-18T06:05:00.003-08:00

As of now the plan is for me and Jackson to leave OKC and fly to SC on May 24th. I should be in SC for about a month until I fly out to Anchorage. Scott will come and meet me in SC when he gets finished with his Instructor Pilot upgrade program. There is a chance he will not finish in time to come to SC at all...we shall see... At any rate, I am very excited about going home for such a long visit! Scott and my Dad are planning on driving and pulling trailers from June 14th till June 24th from OKC to Anchorage. It'll take about 11 days taking the scenic route. Scott is planning on driving through as many national parks as he can on their way up there. We will look for a rental house once Scott and I both get to Alaska together. Please keep us in your prayers during this transition!

Attachments

2010-04-23T18:03:00.003-08:00

To my recollection I thought kids formed attachments to blankies, stuff animals, etc... But it seems as though Jackson has formed strong attachements with some of his choice toys. We cannot get him to part with them even to go to sleep. See pictures below.

Easter and Scott's Back

2010-04-09T18:34:00.007-08:00

Jackson did not care too much for the Easter Bunny! He's pointing to me...isn't that sweet!?!?!?

This is Jackson's first Easter basket since Scott talked me out of doing one for Jackson last year.
We "hid" eggs filled with "candy" around the den.
He would not put his new truck down!

Letting Da smell the flower

My Mom got him his Easter outfit and shoes and boy was I relieved!

We went to a friends house for an Easter egg hunt. Jackson really did not care about the eggs as much as the playground equipment.

Jackson and Emma squished in that car.

About Scott's Back: The weekend of March 20th we drove to Birmingham to visit friends and family. Scott bent down to pick Jackson up and put him in his car seat and he said it felt like someone shot him in the back. From that point on he could not stand up straight and could barely walk. It did not get any better after a night's sleep so the next day I took him to the ER at UAB in Birmingham. They took some x rays, gave him pain medicine, muscle relaxers, etc... and sent him home. The next day my Dad drove us back to Oklahoma so I would not have the stress of taking care of Scott, Jackson and trying to stay awake for the entire 10 hour trip. He flew home the next morning. Anyway, the pain got lesser and lesser as the days passed so that was good. Scott ended up getting an MRI done that week and the next week a doctor on base told him his spinal column is not perfectly round like it's supposed to be and that maybe causing the pain and sensations down his leg and other parts of his body. He's sending him to a Neurosurgeon so a more trained eye can have a look at it. The doc on base also said he did not think he would need surgery soon, but maybe down the road. Scott is still waiting to see the Neurosurgeon.

18 month pictures

2010-03-14T10:01:00.003-08:00

In January while I was home in SC I had Jackson's 18 month pictures taken by Kickstand Studios. I was happy we got a hand full of great shots!

ALASKA!

2010-02-16T09:50:00.002-09:00

Scott finally got his dream assignment...Alaska! So it looks like we will be moving to Anchorage sometime between mid-April and mid-June. We are both excited for the new adventure. We should be there unitl Septmeber 2013. Also, we found out that Scott is a Major Select! Yay!!!! So hopefully he'll pin-on this summer. God is GOOD!!!!

Picture Project

2010-01-28T06:18:00.002-09:00

For a present for my parents I am organizing all of their photos. My plan is to put them all in chronological order, scan them, then put them all back in photo albums. Since there are thousands of pictures and most are NOT dated, it is going to take me a long time! My goal is to have the project completed by the time we take our family vacation in June. I think it would be neat to bring all the completed albums with me for everyone to look at while we are on vacation together. I am scanning them onto a chip so each of my family members can put the pics on their computer as well. I like this project because I get to learn more about my family in the process and I love pictures. So, this is where most of my "free" time is going in case you wonder.

Booger

2010-01-28T06:15:00.002-09:00

A few days ago Jackson had a large booger in his nose so I picked it out and had it on my finger and showed it to him. He looked at it, took it off my finger, and put it right back in the nostril it came out of! Who does that?!

December 2009

2010-01-18T14:39:00.005-09:00

Scott was able to use the sled I bought for my birthday to slide Jackson around on the snow in our backyard. It snowed 14 inches in Oklahoma while we were in SC for the holidays. I was happy there was still snow left when we got back.

Jackson and Grandaddy (Rachael's Dad)

We threw Josh and Hope a baby shower on January 1st to celebrate their baby boy Jasper. He is going to be able to carry on my Grandfather's name.

Jackson's cousins on Scott's side of the family. From left to right:

Waytt, Mallory, Sam, Ellison, Jackson, Gabbi, and Zachary

Grandmomma Watson (Scott's Mom) reading to Jackson.

My neighbor/friend Kristy took pictures of our house for us after Oklahoma got all that snow. This is the snow drift on the side of our house.

Jackson's 2nd Christmas. We were with Scott's family in Greenville, SC.

Kids love the IPhone kid apps!

Ok. So for those of you who don't know...I40 is closed and I mean CLOSED near the Tennessee/North Carolina border due to a rock slide that literally took out the interstate in that area. Scott and I had driven through the night (making good time) on our way to SC for Christmas. We were on target to get there by 9:00 in the morning after 15 hours of driving UNTIL we came to the road block on I40. Instead of turning around and following the recommended detour, we decided to try the road marked on our GPS that went through the national forest. The road wound it's way deep in the snow-covered forests of backwoods TN. It went from paved, to rock, then to dirt with driving conditions only suitable for 4-wheelers in some places. It wasn't until we came upon a river that my Expedition couldn't cross that we decided to turn back. Thankfully there was enough room to turn around and we almost got stuck...Scott was sweating bullets! There was no cell phone service, so I am very glad we did not get stuck!!! We finally made it to SC...6 hours late!

Below is the creek we crossed towards the beginning of our trek.

At least the scenery was beautiful during our little adventure...

Scott and Jackson both love watching Ice Age.

Jackson with his books

Our house lit-up for Christmas.

My prayer group at Cheesecake Factory celebrating Katie's 30th Birthday!

2009 Christmas Letter

2009-12-14T04:31:00.004-09:00

It is hard to believe that 2009 is almost gone! At the beginning of this year Scott was still deployed, but thankfully he came home in mid-January. We prayed for God to put him in a job position where he would not have to leave home and boy did He provide! A few months after Scott returned home an opportunity came up for him to move squadrons and so he did. Since then his work schedule is the best it has ever been! The hours he works during the week are great and he was only gone 14 days this year since moving squadrons!
This year we did a lot of traveling to see friends and family (as usual). We went to Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Colorado, North Carolina, Germany, and of course South Carolina! :) Lord Willing we will settle down there one day so we can be close to our family.
Oklahoma has been a very good place for us. Our church life here has been great, we have made many friends, and Memorial Road Church of Christ has provided us many opportunities to serve and be served.
Also, this year we found a Naturopathic doctor that I love and has brought all of us needed healing...especially Jackson...he has come so far in his health this year, I can hardly believe it! I am so thankful to God for that! We are trying for #2, but we are in no hurry. I'm sure if God thinks we need another child, He will give us one at the right time.
Scott is still working on his Masters of Ministry. He is getting it through Harding University and most of the classes are on-line so it is very convenient. This past semester he has been taking a class called Hermeneutics and Exegesis. This class has required alot of reading and writing so he is glad it's almost over, although he has learned alot!
Jackson is almost a year and a half old and is growing like a weed! He is over 30lbs now and is about 33 inches tall. It's so hard to believe my baby boy is walking, climbing, and talking (or at least trying to talk). He is a happy baby and brings us so much joy! Scott and I love that boy more than we can express and thank God for him everyday!!!
My days seem to fill rather fast with tending to Jackson, buying and preparing food for all of us, cleaning the house, doing laundry, Bible study, event planning, Church events, walking, talking on the phone, e-mailing, etc.. I am very thankful for the opportunity to be able to stay home and do the things I really enjoy and feel are valuable.
We are heading home to SC for the holidays. I'll be there about 20 days and look forward to seeing many of you during that time! For other details and pictures from this past year, you can just scroll down through our blog. We hope you have a Very Merry Christmas and a Blessed 2010!!!

I think Jackson is excited about Christmas!!....he must get it from his Mom and Dad :)

Jackson's Health Journey

2009-12-05T05:38:00.003-09:00

I am happy to report that for the past few weeks Jackson has been free of any sick-like symptoms!!! This is huge for us since most of the time...and I mean MOST...he has struggled with something. For the first 8 months of his life it was coughing, runny nose, ear infections, fever, eczema, vomiting, etc... As you can imagine, this was all very stressful for me! I had already been to a few conventional pediatricians and a couple of naturopathic doctors, but Jackson still was not well. So in March this year I decided to see another Naturopathic doctor here in Oklahoma City. His methods of diagnosing and treating people were very different from anything I had experienced, but I thought "you can't knock it till ya try it". After the first couple weeks with Dr.Reed, Jackson's eczema cleared up and he has stopped having ear infections all together. Jackson has had the croup about 4 or 5 times in his life and after each bout of the croup his cough will last a LONG time and it is usually accompanied with vomiting. Dr.Reed has been the only one successful in getting his cough to stop after each episode. After this last time he got the croup, Dr.Reed figured out that the persistent coughing was due to allergies. After treating the allergy problem, Jackson has stopped coughing and his nose has cleared up! Yeahh!!!! I am super-pumped about this and pray his great health continues!!! We have prayed and prayed for Jackson's health issues to clear up, and I believe Dr.Reed has been an answer to our prayers. All of his medicines are herbal combinations and Dr.Reed will tell you that his knowledge and treatment methods come from God. He says he could not think of them on his own:) Well, after 9 months of working with Dr.Reed I do believe he has a gift from God.
And on a side note...one reason I am so extreme about Jackson’s diet is because I know that what you eat effects your health and I want to be sure to do everything I can to ensure Jackson's good health.

VitaMix and Juicer

2009-12-02T06:30:00.005-09:00

2 kitchen appliances that I use daily are the VitaMix and the Breville Juicer. These products are great and I don't know what I'd do without them! The VitaMix I have used for months to puree' Jackson's food, but after one of my last visits home, my sister-in-law (Chelsea) got me into making smoothies. This has been great because you can make a super-healthy meal out of a smoothie. Most everyday my smoothie is:
1-2 cups coconut water
1 Tbs Berry Green
1 Tbs Hemp or Flaxseed
1/2 Tbs Fiber
1 Tbs Udo's Oil
1 pitted date
1/8 cup almonds
1/2 banana
5 oz frozen berry mix

All organic, of course

We started juicing this summer after buying the Champion Juicer, but after a while we quit for several reasons...one of which was the difficulty of dealing with that particular juicer. So when I went home and Chelsea came over and showed me how to juice with this Breville juicer, I was hooked. As soon as I got back home, I went out to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought this Breville juicer and it is so easy to use and clean!!! So now, every morning before we eat anything, we drink a super healthy glass of juice. The main ingredients we juice are (all organic): carrots, apples, lemon, Romaine lettuce, spinach, kale, celery, cabbage, etc... The plan is to incorporate more and more vegetables and fruits in time. This has been a great way for me to consume vegetables since there are so few vegetables I will eat and then they are usually cooked which kills all the enzymes and many nutrients.

November Highlights

2009-12-01T08:56:00.004-09:00

The hat Aunt Amie sent Jackson from Germany...Jackson's not sure about all the leaves... Jackson's first 4-wheel ride...

Santa Clause aint got nothin' on me!

Jackson is FINALLY eating more solid foods like mashed-up bananas (as pictured below), mashed potatoes, green beans, etc...

Kyle's groom's cake is probably the coolest we've ever seen...all of it is cake...including the pictures!

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Kyle's wedding in Denver...Kyle is one of Scott's good friends from college. Here is a picture of us from that wedding. We were able to get one good dance in while PK held Jackson, so that was great! :)

Kyle, Carrie, Rachael, and Scott

The 3 buds from The Air Force Academy: Ashley, Kyle, and Scott. I met them all at the same time in Daytona 2001.

At the wedding we talked mostly with PK, Courtney and Ashley...

Because Jackson is into EVERYTHING, we've been forced to put locks on most drawers and cabinets within Jackson's reach. That is what Scott is doing in this picture and I thought it was so cute how interested Jackson seemed to be in what his Daddy was doing.

And on a side note...Jackson now is able to light a match. Comforting. Very comforting.

October Highlights

2009-11-08T10:19:00.005-09:00

Here is Jackson ready for church Sunday morning. Thanks Mom and Dad for pretty much his entire wardrobe. My good friend Laura stopped in for a visit...I think Jackson likes her!

We had some cold days in October and so here is Jackson suited up to play outside. We try to let him play outside for a half hour to an hour everyday since he loves it so much. We think he'd stay outside all day if we'd let him.

Dressed up for the Fall Festival at church. Jackson was not his normal happy self this night because there was so much noise and so many people. He does not like loud noises.

A beautiful sunset taken from our backyard.

Me and Jackson wandering around outside while we were away at a retreat.

One of my very good friends got engaged! Lindsay and I have been friends since middle school....Congratulations!!!!

July Family Photos

2009-11-08T08:25:00.003-09:00

These pictures were taken in July 2009 by Lucas Brown with Kickstand Studio.
This is one of Jackson's one-year old photos.Scott, Jackson, and Rachael

The 7 Kellis Kids (ages)

top left to right: Ross (24), Rhett (26), Raegen (18)

bottom left to right: Rom (29), Rachael (28), Rochelle (14), and Raleigh (16)

top, left to right: Keke', Ross, Heather, Scott with Jackson, Rachael, Rhett with Bella, Bethany with Maya, Rom, Chelsea with Sophia

bottom left to right: Rochelle, Raegen, Raleigh, Mom, Dad, Rom, and Ryder

Scott's Trip Across the Pond

2009-10-07T12:15:00.022-08:00

This is a blog about Scott's trip to Greece and England with the military. As you can tell he really had to rough it while on the road. Hope you enjoy some of the pictures he and his crew took while answering the call of their country ;)

Pictures from Greece

The harbor at Chania (the C is silent)

Market street
My Room
A beautiful view from the hotel in Crete
The water crashing on the rocks

Jolly Ole England

ParlamentBig Ben

The Tower Bridge

Westminister Abbey

Buckingham Palace

Harry Potter's Platform at King's Cross

A well known pub where we ate dinner

The Tower of London

Entrance to the Tower of London

The White Tower at the Tower of London

A well endowed knight

Conversing with some of the local folk

September Pictures

2009-10-04T11:23:00.009-08:00

Well Scott and I are back together in OK again. Below are some pictures from the past month. Scott plans on blogging some of the picturres he took while he was in Crete and England.
This one is a sweet note Scott left for me.
Jackson's Halloween costume...our little monkey!

This was when Scott and Jackson saw eachother after being apart for over 2 weeks...notice Scott's smile!

Jackson passed out on our plane ride home.

Havin fun with Grandaddy! (Rachael's Dad)

Our happy boy!

Ellison, Jackson, Sam, and Papa celebrating Papa's birthday (Scott's Dad)

Grandmomma Watson with Jackson in their new back yard (Scott's mother)Jackson with Grandmomma Sue

Great-Grandaddy Jameson reading to Jackson (Scott's grandfather)

Keke's going-away party. He's going to California and we are going to miss him!

Jackson playing outside at my parent's. My Mom vacuuming Raegen's apartment in Auburn...she is quite the perfectionist!

The whole gang tailgating at the Auburn game.

The Kellis girls: Me, Raegen, Raleigh, and Rochelle

My best buds from Auburn...Cortney and Jessa

Cortney, Rachael, and Jackson. War Eagle!

Being goofy...Raegen, Rachael, and Raleigh

Gettin loved on by Grandmomma Kellis (Rachael's Mom)

Keke and Jackson

Rochelle...the family cross country star!

Emma Cassady...we watched her one night while her parents went to an OU game...isn't she a beautiful little girl?!!

Me with Jackson and Emma.

Our two neighbor girls that come over to visit from time to time...Jaycee and Erin

Travel plans

2009-09-11T11:03:00.003-08:00

Well, it is that time again...time for Scott to do some missions with the Air Force and me to use the opportunity to go home to SC for a visit. I do miss my family and friends back in the southeast and I am really looking foward to seeing them! I leave on Monday, September 14th and return on Saturday, September 26th. Scott is leaving on the 17th and should be back a week later. I sure am going to miss him!

Jackson at 14 months

2009-09-11T10:46:00.003-08:00

Jackson is 14 months old now and I cannot believe how fast he is growing up! I know you always hear mothers say that, but it is so true! The other night I had a dream that I put him down for a nap and when he woke up, he was a teenager! I was so upset that my baby boy was gone, I woke up crying!
This past week he has really taken to the outdoors. He loves to just walk around outside picking up sticks, grass, dirt, flowers, mulch, etc.. He usually gets so dirty I have to give him a bath as soon as we go back inside. I thought little boys started getting into the outdoors around age 3 or 4.... not 14 months! I guess this proves he is Scott's son. :) He LOVES sticks!
He loves being read to and looking through his books on his own.
Gearing up for the winter...
Playing IN his toy box.
Jackson is over 28 lbs now and poops all the time!!!

Jackson's Menu

2009-08-27T12:45:00.014-08:00

I think some of you may find Jackson's menu interesting, so I thought I'd blog about it. I got most of my ideas from The Great Physician's RX for Children's Health by Jordan Rubin and Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. One of my goals is to meet all of the daily food requirements for a one year old which are: 4 servings a day of grains, cereals, breads, or pasta; 2-3 servings a day of beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds; 4 servings of dairy a day or 24 oz of milk; 4-6 servings a day of fruits/vegetables; 3-4 servings a week of egg yolk; and many nutritional enhancers. All the food I use is organic. Also, my Naturopathic doctor thinks I should nurse Jackson until he is 3 years old since it is so good for him, but I think I will quit before then:)
6:00 Nurse one side and put back to bed
8:00 Nurse on the other side when he wakes up
10:00 Super Porridge mixed together with the VitaMix (an awesome blender)
Includes:
~1/3 cup of a grain/legume blend
~liquid vitamin
~1/2 cup raw fruit like peach, blueberries, apple, etc.
~most days an egg yolk that has been hard boiled
~a pinch of kelp
~1 capsule of buffalo liver
~1 tsp coconut oil
~1/2 tsp children's probiotic
~1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
~1/2 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
12:00 finish feeding him what he did not finish at 10:00 of the Super Porridge and then nurse him to sleep on one side
3:00 Nurse on the other side when he wakes up from his nap
4:00 4 oz of a blend of 1/2 avocado, 1 banana, and 1 Tbls of either groud
almond, hempseed or flaxseed. I blend these using the VitaMix as well.
6:00 pureed vegetables...usually from a jar
8:00 Nurse to sleep

There are other good foods and supplements I hope to give him down the road like Sheep's Milk Yogurt, raw goat milk (when I finish nursing), acerola cherry powder, whey protein concentrate, nutritional yeast, cod liver oil, sunflower oil, etc....

First Steps

2009-08-07T13:00:00.003-08:00

A Little Different

2009-08-05T14:55:00.003-08:00

Well it seems as though Scott and I get weirder and weirder as time passes. It started when we got married by not having television. We have not had television in our home for our entire 7 years of marriage and that has been a wonderful decision for us (we do have a TV that we occasionally watch DVD's on, but not television).
A couple years ago we started making changes to our diet like taking supplements, buying organic, drinking raw goat milk, etc...
Another thing is that we have been seeing a Naturopathic doctor...he is awesome by the way! This past week we ditched the microwave. I am currently trying to perfect Jackson's menu and you can imagine how different it is. I may blog about it later. I am very happy about all these decisions even though they are weird! They all have been major blessings for us.

July Pics

2009-08-04T08:03:00.004-08:00

The most recent family picture taken when we were hanging out with my sisters in Bricktown in Oklahoma City. Jackson's thunder thighs barely fit in the booster seat at the place where he gets his hair cut.

Rochelle and Raleigh came to visit me at the end of July while my parents took Raegen and her friend's on a crusie for her graduation. I love spending time with my girls!

Scott won yard of the month in June! Congratulations Honey, you do a great job!

Jackson interested in our new neighbor's tiny dog.

Koen Monahan in ICU in Memphis. He's doing fine now....Praise God!!!

Jackson is 1!!! Thanks Cortney and Jessa for the CUTE romper!

4 generations: Grandmomma, Charlotte, Scott, and Jackson

Our friends from Greenville who stayed the day after Jackson's birthday party to hang out and play...Kevin, Erin, Robbie, us, Katie, and Tee

Some of my family there for our annual 4th of July celebration

Jackson passed out on his Aunt Raegen at church

The Coo Coo clock I brought back from Germany as a souvenir

Happy Birthday!

2009-08-01T04:53:00.006-08:00

Jackson and Raegen share the same birthday of July 3rd so we decided to throw them a joint birthday party. Raegen turned 18 and Jackson 1. Happy Birthday! I love you two dearly!The Birthday Boy and his Daddy

The Birthday Boy and his Momma

My three beautiful sisters...Rochelle, Raegen, and Raleigh

Our table at the Summit in Columbia, SC.

Blowing out his birthday candle.

A view of the SC state capital from the Summit Club where the party was held. We South Carolinians have alot of state pride!!!

Keke and Raegen...the dancing King and Queen!Dancing, dancing, and more dancing...

Uncle Currtis and Aunt Rene'

Raleigh and Uncle Curtis

Ross and Raegen...my brother and sisterDad dancing with Raegen

Doing the Train

7 Year Anniversary

2009-06-22T16:00:00.004-08:00

Today makes 7 years for Scott and I as a married couple. I have been blessed to have had 7 good years of marriage with the man I love.
This was my Dad walking me down the isle.
My Grandpaw preformed the ceremony and we had the wedding in my back yard. It was a wonderful day! This was a candid shot taken right after the ceremony.

Pardon the getto pictures. We did not have digital pictures so all the ones I have are scanned and I'm not sure why I cut this one like I did. O well. You get the picture. These were Scott's groomesmen.

These were my bridesmaids.

This is us on our honeymoon enjoying chocolate covered strawberries. We usually have chocolate covered strawberries on our anniversary since we love them so much. In fact, we are eating them right now.