What do I do on my days off? Well, bake and decorate two cakes for my lovely nieces of course. It's kind of turned into a tradition that on their birthdays, Aunt Jenn makes cakes for Chris and Sally's kids. I don't mind. It gives me a chance to try something new. They always challenge me with their requests. This year, Kamorah had a Hello Kitty theme, (please keep in mind, I had not yet added the eyes and nose. I had to make a stop off at the store on the way to the party for those items)

And Christa's only request, was she wanted a flower cake. I took the fondant I had used for the layers, and made some roses. And the pearls? Courtesy of your local Walmart. They had a new section in the party isle with all kinds of cool candy to decorate cakes/cupcakes and cookies with.

(yup, those are candy covered chocolates that look like pearls.)

My two lovely cakes waiting to go party it up at the Christensen's

Happy Fall Ya'll

As you can see I'm a day late and a dollar short (as usual). We headed out to Pyrah's Farm last week, and spent a couple of hours at their annual Fall Festival. The kids had fun.
Here's Chandler trying his hand at ropin' a bull.

Gabe mid-lasso.

Morgan especially had fun. We had to eventual just pull her off the saddle. I think she's a born cowgirl.

The hay maze was kind of fun. It reminded me of the pineapple maze in Hawaii. (on a much smaller scale of course) The kids had 6 circles they had to find 6 different colored markers to color it in, then make their way back to the entrance for a prize.

The kids returning from their wagon ride.

Come on, wouldn't it be fun just to have one of these you could ride around the neighborhood?

Another weekend at Independence Mine

We also just had to head back to Hatcher's Pass on Monday after our train rides. We decided to do some hiking around the mine, and a little more exploring. Here we are in front of the old mine.

If you've never been to Independence Mine (which I hadn't until this summer...after only living in Alaska for the last, um 16-17 years) I highly recommend it. Its chocked fun of history, beautiful views, and Jeniece qua.

Morgan got tired several times, and her brothers and daddy were nice enough to give her rides. And when it got too cold for her, Gabe even gave her the sweatshirt off his back. Sweet, hu?

There were Ptarmigan all over the place. For those of you who don't know, the Ptarmigan is the state bird of Alaska. They're a funny looking bird if you've never seen them before. They have white fur on the lower half of their body, and it even covers their legs and feet.

Trains Planes and All Sorts of Fun

We had so much fun last week, riding the train, that we decided to go on Labor Day...this time we took daddy. It was just our family, so the conductor let the kids choose which train they wanted to ride, and they chose Thomas the Train, over the Alaskan Railroad train.
Matt waiving as we started across one of the many bridges on the train tracks.

And, some more.

I found this one that is also a major contendor for the Christmas Card this year. What do you think?

This is so classic Stastny's.

Morgan on the stairs of one of the old buildings. See what I mean about the red trim perfectly matching our outfits?

Chandler found a friend.

LOVE this one. Even though we're scattered. And I love that Matt's looking down at us, and Morgan's kind of doin her own little cute thing.

This is probably the picture I'm going to hang up in the house this year for the kid's pictures. (I hate the school pictures--they never look natural) And dang, does this kid look good in these colors or what?

MORE MORE MORE!

Getting Ready for the Big Day!

The last day the girls were home before their first big day of kindergarten, Sally, Grandma and I decided to take them out for a special lunch. Their choice? Pizza Hut. So off we went. After that, it was such a beautiful day, and Morgan and I decided to head to the park for some fun.

Morgan on her first day of school. She was getting ready, and feeling awefully grown up.

Morgan getting settled into her desk for the day. She has a wonderful teacher. She reminds of Miss Honey from the movie Matilda.

Riding Thomas the Train.

We got up Saturday, and it was the perfect day to go check out the mini train that runs over by the Transportation Museum. It was so fun! If your ever in Wasilla during the summer on the 1st or 3rd Saturday of the month, you definitely need to try this out!

Morgan, Clayton and Carson claimed the first 3 seats of the train. Along the way, they have built these little miniatures that are so fun for the kids to look at.

I took all of these by holding the camera up, and shooting backwards. We weren't allowed to turn around in our seat, since the movement might make the train go off the tracks.

This was the view in front of me.

Renae and I got really good at taking pictures like this in Utah, so we through in a few just for fun.

One of the miniatures along the way.

At the very end, there was a tunnel we got to go through, and a bridge that passed over a little pond fed by a waterfall. It was so cute that everything was so little. The kids absolutely loved it!

Fair Time in Alaska

Wednesday we took the kids out of school, and headed to the fair for a day of fun, food, and family time.

Flash forward 8 years, and here's my life, with 2 teenage drivers. Scary, hu? I think Morgan and Matt won the race.

This poor pig was a great white breed of pig, and weighed in at a whopping 950 lbs. She was due the day we were at the fair. Makes that 25 lbs most of us gain with our babies seam not so bad, hu?

We could have spent 3 hours, and $30 on food for these stupid goats, and the kids would have been happy as can be.

Gabe insisted on having his picture taken in this cutout. He was so funny!

Can you believe it? An Alligator in Alaska? Only at the fair.

WARNING WARNING WARNING

LOOK AWAY GRANDMA STASTNY!!!!!

Sorry Grandma, but Morgan insisted on having her photo taken with this snake. Creepy, hu?

Morgan and I on the dragon roller coaster. She screamed every minute of it, and had the bes time! At one point in the ride, the guy in front of us turned around, and said, "is she okay?"

I said "ya, these are happy screams"

Matt went on the Dragon ride as Morgan's buddy, and Gabe took Chandler. Loved the fair this day! Every time Chandler came close to me, he'd scream out "mommmmy!"

Gabe was a very good brother, and road the very tame rides with his little sister, so she wouldn't be alone. What a good guy. Yes, I let Chandler ride the Hang Gliders. I allowed a machine to carry my baby up 40 feet in the air, suspended by some metal and a few bolts, and some fabric wings that let's face it, have no prayer of actually gliding anywhere should something happen. But look at his face...how could I say no to that?

This is our spoiled little brat. She received a huge sucker because I felt bad telling her no to every ride she wanted to go onto because she wasn't tall enough. I guess I should've just told her to get used to it. "you didn't get the tall genes princess"