A whole month passed by....

Whew- it's been a long time since I've updated our blog- I know. We have been in Alaska for most of the month of December sharing some much needed time with our families- both Reed's and mine. This trip was some what last minute.We had been considering the trip up around Christmas, but when my Grandmother (Mom's Mom) went into the hospital for surgery early in December, it prompted us to purchase, travel sooner and stay longer. So, Christopher and I traveled together for the first 16 days and Reed joined us after that (once he could leave work) for another 9 days around Christmas. I'll try to summarize best I can without boring anyone, but also getting down in writing a good story for Christopher to read about later in life about what a wonderful time we had!

This trip marks Christopher's first plane ride. The way up was good, as we were blessed with and entire row to ourselves, Christopher and I. This was the first time that CR was able to meet much of our family and so it was quite special. My Brother and Sister, Mom and Uncle were all staying in Anchorage to be with Grandma and Richard (her husband) We were able to see my Grandma and introduce her to her newest Great-Grandson before her surgery - which was very special!

We stayed in Anchorage for the first week to be close to my Grandma and Richard. The surgery was to remove a mass that was discovered in her pancreas. This was done sucessfully and the doctors were able to remove all of it. After a byopsy, we were told it was cancer and that another mass was removed from her lymph nodes as well. The good news is they removed it all and that Grandma recovered quickly in the hospital and has been home walking and eating. We visited with her the day we left and she is just as chipper as ever and looks great too! She'll soon be meeting with a team of Dr's to get a plan for further treatment for the cancer - if any?!

The rest of the month we spent in our home town of Sterling/Soldotna. We enjoyed visiting with the rest of our family. Once there, Christopher met a lot of Reed's family. Everyone bonded with him. He had such a good time playing with all his cousins. It was so neat watching him interact with all the kids. He was just so observant - taking in what all the big kids were doing.

Christopher turned 6 months in Alaska. During this month he began sitting up on his own and also standing (with support) for longer that a couple of seconds. He also caught his first ear infection and a cold bug- which he's still fighting. We took him to his 6 month visit with the Dr. when we got back home and he's 18 pounds! "A very big boy" and "All boy," said the Dr. Christopher has been really active the last week especially. He sees everything and can't seem to grab it and put it in his mouth quick enough. The Dr. called that the attention span of a knat! :)

We were truly happy and felt whole again once Reed joined us on the 20th. We made great memories as a family. We ate a lot of food, played and visited. Reed and I took a couple of runs sledding with Christopher. Burrrrr! Christmas was good and we'll cherish that we were able to spend it at home with our families. We are so lucky to have such a loving family! Can't wait till the next visit!!

Six months old now....

Christophers Cousins....

Playing in the snow....

Christmas Morning....

Aunts and Uncles.....



Grandmas and Grandpas....

Took this one at my Dad's house once we got back home.

Family.....

Christopher's Great Grandma Irene....