Brent joined the Air Force Reserves.
I couldn't be prouder of him! He's wanted to join the military for so many years now. After much conversation, and I mean much (since the time we were dating), he decided to enlist in the AFRC. I am so happy with his decision. He is super excited to serve his country.
He signed and was sworn in at Hill Air Force Base.
We'll keep you posted on what happens in the future!
Jackson is here! My little nephew was born Wednesday July 15, at 5:57 pm! He weighed 8 lbs 5 ounces and was 20 inches long. Isn't he cute?
Our cruise was beyond awesome! But one of my favorite parts of our vacation was seeing my pregnant sis, Susan. I hadn't seen her in months! She and her husband moved up to Washington so this was the first time I had seen her in awhile. Though our stay was short, we had so much fun!
Here's the quick version...
Susan has a dog, named Sam... and he's big! Actually really big compared to our little terrier. He's a bit rambunctious so we made Brent play with him outside.
While Brent was playing with Sam, us girls thought we'd be "domestic" and bake a cake. Only she didn't have a cake mix, or frosting, or powdered sugar. So we made due with what we had and made a cake from scratch. The cake actually turned out not too bad. The frosting on the other hand tasted like butter with food coloring. But at least we made the finished project look good, right?
One night we went to watch the Seattle Mariners play at Safeco field! It was a great night and the Mariners won. I absolutely love baseball games.
The night before we left, I was lucky enough to get to go to Susan's baby shower! She got a ton of cute things and I was glad I got to be there for her.
After our cruise, we decided we just had to make a trip to Vancouver, BC. The city will host the Olympics in February so we really wanted to see the sights. We rented a car, drove from Seattle and across the border to our northern neighbor. Our hotel was right in the heart of the city. We walked downtown, made a trip down Robson Street (a famous shopping street), saw BC Place, GM Place (where the Vancouver Canucks play) and walked a ways down to Gastown, the historic part of Vancouver. The next day we were feeling adventurous, so we rented roller blades and spent the afternoon blading around the seawall in Stanley Park. I thought I was this awesome blader but apparently that was when I was 14. It took some getting used to, but by the end, we were total pros!
Our last port was Victoria, British Columbia. The city has a strong British influence- and I loved it! The must-see attraction is Butchart Gardens- it's stunning! It is full of all kinds of plants, flowers, trees, shrubs, you name it!- from all over the world. People from everywhere come to visit.
After a walk through the gardens, we made our way downtown to see the Empress Hotel, Parliament (Victoria is the capital of BC) and buy some Canadian souvenirs!
Our last formal night on the cruise was so much fun! The dessert was baked Alaska... yum! To present the dessert in all its' glory, the servers paraded through the dining room. Our server stopped in front of our table and lit the baked Alaska on fire! It was a fabulous night!
Our next port was Juneau, the capital of Alaska! We had a packed day planned so we jumped off the boat and got on the bus. Our first stop was Mendenhall Glacier. This glacier is about 20 minutes outside of downtown. It's not as big as Hubbard but still really cool and off to the side of the glacier was a huge waterfall!
The Macaulay Salmon Hatchery was neat to see. The hatchery raises different types of salmon and we learned a lot about the different types of marine life in Alaska.
We took in a bird's eye view from the top of Mount Roberts. We rode the tram to the top and hiked around the mountain.
Downtown Juneau was fun to see, too. We ate lunch at the Red Dog Saloon, an old saloon that's been in Juneau since the town's mining days.
Before we knew it, the day was over and we got back on the Infinity to sail away. But before we left Juneau we sat in the hot tub and enjoyed the scenic views. Juneau is so beautiful, it's breathtaking. 
One of the highlights of the cruise was sailing to Hubbard Glacier. It was amazing to be that close to a glacier. The area is desolate but the view is gorgeous. The water is green with ice chunks floating everywhere, kind of Titanic-esque. We saw sheets of ice fall of the glacier followed by a loud booming noise. Our cruise director told us if you hear the noise, you already missed the ice falling. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen!
