The Start of June 2024

Happy July!! Yesterday Derek & I celebrated 17 years of wedded bliss...in the air. ;)  After three weeks in Georgia & Ormond Beach, the five of us flew from Atlanta back to Anchorage yesterday. We left the heat & humidity behind and woke up to a temperature of 47 degrees today. We had the very best time on our trip soaking up the sun & enjoying our time with family and friends to the fullest, but it always feels so good to be home again! Walking off the plane to the gorgeous mountain views & cool, crisp air was like a little welcome home hug for our weary souls after two long travel days {we had driven from Ormond Beach back to my parents' house the day prior to our flights}. It's crazy how quickly a place as foreign as Alaska can creep into your heart & start to feel like home. 

We kicked off June with an early 40th birthday celebration because Derek had to take a quick trip to Japan for work. We baked him his favorite cupcakes, and the kids & I made him a little book of 40 things we love about him. We are the luckiest to be able to call him ours!

We sure missed Derek while he was gone, but the kids & I enjoyed our slow summer days together! Lots of sleeping in, runs {such a treat that everyone wants to run and/or bike alongside me now!}, playground time, puzzling, board games, reading, trying out a few new recipes, and playing outside...everything summer should be! We had a couple chilly & rainy days, but we also had a couple days of amazing weather too!

{Sunny & almost 70! The kids filled up two random squirt bottles with water & had the time of their lives. I was above them reading on the balcony when I took this picture.}

{This is how I found Hadley before bed one evening--listening to a Play Away & trying on earrings/deciding which pairs to pack for our trip/organizing her travel jewelry box..she is the best!}

{early morning run with my Shelby-girl!}

One day after lunch the kids & I rode our bikes down to the Eagle River in our neighborhood. This is one of my very favorite parts of where we live. We spent our time in the sunshine skipping rocks and playing in the sand--it was perfection!

Next up is picture overload from our trip to GA & Ormond Beach!