DESSA is home, camping, Father's Day

DESSA IS HOME!!

At 2:45am on Tuesday morning, we received a large bang on the door. What crazy drunk is trying to get into our house? Not that we've ever had that problem before.  Ignore the bang. A few moments later the bang again only louder this time.  Thankful for a security system, I could look at my phone to see who was at the door.  Why is Anchorage Police Department at my door.  Shake Hubby awake.  Confused and wondering what in the world - Hubby comes in and says, you better come out.  What in the world could be going on...  There's my DESSA girl!!  

Oh the smile on the sweet dog's face when she heard my voice!  We were in complete shock.  A man found her back at the trailhead where I had lost her.  After a week of checking the trail both morning and night, we were in a place of thinking she wasn't going to make it home, so we stopped checking.  Well, thanks to a facebook post on the Lost & Found Pets page, a stranger finding Dessa and posting pictures at the exact time a friend of his saw his post and knew of my post and connected us with each other.  The man who found her contacted APD.  Officer picked her up and brought her to the house! Say what?!?! That rarely happens, but they saw that we had lost her 2 weeks ago and wanted to see if she was our dog.  What an answer to prayers!

Other than being hungry and dehydrated, she did have a cut on her leg that required stitches to heal. Otherwise - she's back to herself and ready to go out hiking again!  What an adventure she must have had - if only she could tell us!

We had plans to go camping in Whittier and do some shrimping this weekend  - so Dessa has already had a new adventure with us!  She wanted so badly to go hiking around, but doctor orders were to limit her activity.  Can you see her sweet head behind to two goofy kiddos?

Always a great time shrimping in Whittier

and become more fun as the kids are able to do more in the process. They have so much fun throwing the heads overboard.

We were blessed with some very nice sized shrimp and a catch of 300 after only two sets!  YUMMY!

The view of Turnagain Arm never gets old and 

memories like this fill my heart!

Of course the summer hiking season is upon us too! Yes - I said summer even though we are wear gloves and winter hats.  The wind was howling on our annual birthday hike - but we enjoyed every moment of it.  I originally planned this hike as away to make my favorite trail a positive trail again - as this is the same trail I lost Dessa on.  How wonderful that we were able to hike it the very evening she made it home.  (Trust me - she heard me getting my gear ready and was wagging her tail ready to join me - not this time sweet Dessa - you got to heal up first!)

Happy Father's Day!  Spent the day 'working' by handing out tattoos and Root Beer - I love my new job!  

We hope your summer adventures are in full swing! 

Happy Summer Solstice

Happy Birthday to Me!

Oh be still my heart...

this crazy, energetic, stubborn as his parents - yet will make you laugh when you are trying to discipline him - still sleeps the same - four years later. I couldn't help but stare into his sweet little face and think back to the day we brought him home.  Goodness, even though the days may seem long, the years are flying by!

You'll recall last week was our anniversary on Friday, well this week was my birthday! Yes, by design - make it easy on the hubby to celebrate everything at once- ha, ha, ha...

I loved how perfect this dandelion looked on the golf course.  Did I say golf?  YES!!

Its been far to long since I swung my clubs and it felt great to get out and golf around! 

Otherwise - our world has been busy with me starting the new job and Papa finding creative ways to wear the kids out!

Bike riding is definitely a favorite - and it's great during the work week because our cul-de-sac is empty and we are at the end of the road - so kids can ride up and down traffic free!

Sister and I are also having some fun going for walks and picking the wild daisies!

Using some decor from and old bouquet we created this one today!  Love that she shares her joy of wild flowers like the other women in her heritage. 

Next weekend we are finally getting a camping trip in and some shrimping done in Whittier.  I'm hoping Papa and I can take a few hours and go hike the Portage Trail.  

Until next time...

Sad week but ended amazing!

Tuesday, May 31st, Dessa and I headed out for a morning hike to one of my favorite places - Tucker Peak.

I absolutely love the view of the Eagle River valley from this hike.

We made it to the summit and as you can see, Dessa clearly has her mind on something other than taking a picture with me.  And this is where our sad news begins... on the way back down, I was adjusting my grip on my hiking pole and Dessa's leash slipped out of my hand.  Off she went - on the sent of some kind of mountain animal critters she took off running.  I watched her cruise around the other side of the valley for a good 10 minutes before she was out of sight.

With rescue dogs, you never quite know the full story.  As I have wrestled with the emotions of blaming myself that Dessa ran off, I have come to peace.  I believe something was changing in Dessa's temperament and her running off is a blessing in disguise.   We miss her greatly and still hold some hope that she'll come back to us.  The kids are handling it well and I hear them saying, silly Dessa is up in the mountains still chasing those critters.

The very next day was my first day at my new job. I'm now the office manager for the church I attend (ACF Church).  I was greeted with these amazing tulips on my desk.

Then I received a flower delivery sent from my mom and dad.  So beautiful!!

Flowers everywhere!  We finally did some landscaping and put in some flowers this spring. So excited to see our rose bush blooming and the Dalina's opening up!

We ended the week with Papa and I celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary on Friday!

A little cloudy with some rain showers during our hike - but still a beautiful day together.

We got married in the "mountains" of South Dakota, so fitting today that we would celebrate 10 years out hiking in the mountains.  I've been wanting to do this hike ever since we moved to Eagle River. It's a pretty flat trail, South Fork, that takes you back to two lakes.  Eagle Lake (picture above) is glacier fed and has an amazing turquoise color to it.  Just to the right (pictured below) is Symphony Lake, which is fed with mountain runoff.  So beautiful to see contrasting lake water with in feet of each other. 

After an emotional week with Dessa taking off on her own adventure, it was great to celebrate adventuring with this amazing man!

Even the rocks were sending us blessings of love for many more years to come!