Mija....

 

 Dear Precious Mija...(my daughter)...

You are 22 years old today! 

 I know I always say the same thing when you and your brothers birthdays roll around...

"where has the time gone??" 

I am amazed by you! You have the strength and wisdom of an old soul...

I guess that is really what you are. You have been and continue to be a great comfort to me...

Thank you for that! You are fiercely loyal to those you love. You seek to comfort anyone or 

anything you see that may be suffering. You defend the underdog. 

 You don't speak badly of anyone, and hate it if you hear others gossip. 

 I love that about you. You try your best to make correct choices. 

 You are constantly setting goals and want to achieve great things. 

You have a deep and strong commitment to Jesus Christ. 

 I think this is one of your greatest traits, one you inherited from your Dad.

 

You have had some great learning experience these past couple of years. 

Some of those experience have been hard to understand. 

 But you push forward with great faith...faith that they will all work for you good. 

I have to admit that I have spent many nights, and days, in prayer for you, 

pleading with Heavenly Father to support you through these experiences that are meant 

to be yours, and He has done just that. You are stronger than you have ever been 

and I know that you will continue to get stronger. I have faith in you!

   

 You light up a room with your smile and your sense 

of humor keeps us laughing! You are a light in our family! 

Oh how I love you My Girl!! 

Happy Birthday to you!!

Day 3...Hoonah, Alaska

 

Such a fun stop!! 

 We hadn't planned a specific tour to do on this day but headed into the 

little city to see what our options were. We quickly figured out that Whale Watching would 

be first on our list. We found a little restaurant that was also an outfitting company. 

 We set up our trip and while we waited for the time to come...we rented ATV's and 

explored the area. The only advice the attendant gave us was that we 

shouldn't bother the bears. The populations of humans is 3,000 in that town and the 

population of Brown Bear was 14,000. 

 He suggested we be careful and stay on the roads.

Off we went...

 

Day 2....Seward, Alaska

 

We arrived in Seward, Alaska mid morning. 

 Again, the scenery was just beautiful and the weather cool but not cold. 

 We wandered the streets and had our first taste of Alaskan Fish and Chips...

with freshly caught Halibut...DELICIOUS!! 

The town was filled with darling artisan shops and wonderful food. 

The perfect beginning to our Alaskan adventure...

 

Alaska With The Darlings...

 

Several months ago The Farmer suggested that we take a family trip. 

It's something we try and do a couple of times a year, but as 

The Darlings get older...it gets more and more difficult. 

 This seemed like a good year for us all to gather together and do 

something really fun. We have wanted to visit Alaska for a long time...

it's a bucket list trip for us, so it seemed like the perfect destination for the family.

 

We decided to meet in Mesa, 

Precious would join us there from Utah, 

and the rest would travel from Mexico. 

 The day we arrived in It was 124 degrees in Phoenix! 

We stopped at Grandma Vicki's to get PreSh and say hi... 

Then it was off to the airport.

   

 Traveling with the whole family was really a great time! 

Lots of laughing...talking...eating...a very good time!

   

 We boarded the plane and headed to Seattle 

and then on to Anchorage Alaska, where we arrived in the middle of the night.

 

Dinner En Blanc...

Last Saturday we celebrated Chelsea. 

Oh how I love this girl! She is like my own. 

Chelsea is going to marry Nick soon...he is a lucky guy! 

After a heavy rain in the afternoon, the evening was nice and cool. 

The yard was fresh and beautiful!

   

 The theme was "Dinner en Blanc"...French and perfect.

 Everyone who attended wore white, 

beautiful for a Summer evening outside.

 

The food was fantastic! 

Uncle Ben and Aunt Amy...who were visiting for the weekend, 

made the most wonderful Cheese Board. 

Every bit of the food was delicious.

 

Dinner Time At Rancho 25...

A couple of nights ago, The Farmer and I headed to Rancho 25, 

 to take some fresh hay to the Longhorn Herd ;) 

The feed on the ranch isn't so good as the weather has gotten hotter. 

 We haven't had our rainy season yet, once that happens, the natural grass will return. 

 For now we are taking feed to them until we can get them moved to a different pasture.

 

They get pretty excited when the fresh alfalfa arrives...

 

After they were fed...

we headed up to the top of a nearby mountain and enjoyed a beautiful sunset... 

It was a very good evening at Rancho 25.