Skagway

In Skagway we took a bus tour back into Canada to the Yukon along the route where the gold rush miners went. It was neat to see how difficult it was for them. I don't know how they did it. The had to pack 2000lbs worth of goods over miles of rough terrain and the majority of them never found gold. We had a great time. It was our only day of the cruise that was snowy/rainy. We passed frozen lakes and beautiful mountains. We all got stamps on our passports for crossing into Canada.

Behind us is a frozen lake. It was a really pretty blue.

We had opportunities to get out and walk around. Matthew really loved it at this lake.

Matt and mommy playing on the shore.

The mountains here were really pretty with the clouds

Matthew was trying to walk.

Walking along the beach.

More beautiful scenery.

The Yukon sign was as far as we went.

Up at the top of the mountian pass was really foggy. The trees even though they are really old only grow a few feet tall.

Us as the Alaska sign.

This is the bus we took.

Matthew sitting on the sign that talks of the Klondike Highway. He can say now he has been to the real Klondike when he goes on his Klondike snow campout when he is a scout.

The Inside Passage (Our favorite day)

We got to cruise down a small passage to a glacier on our favorite day of the cruise. The scenery was amazing! We saw 2 glaciers, one just as we were entering the passage and another at the very end before we turned around. There small and large icebergs floating all along the way. We weren't lucky enough to see them but some people in our group saw a couple of bears from the ship playing on shore. There were water falls and rock walls, and gorgeous mountains given to us by God. I am so thankful for the wonderful earth on which we live.

The first Glacier we came to.

At this glacier I went up top to the deck to watch with Matthew because we were on the other side of the ship. He sure had fun jabbering at all the people up there.

This is the shore line near where the bears were spotted.

There were a lot of glacial blue icebergs floating along our way.

I couldn't count how may pretty waterfalls we passed on our way to the glacier.

We were able to see all of this from our own balcony.

We passed a lot of these shear rock walls pretty close to the ship.

All the mountains were show capped like this one.

Another pretty waterfall.

The view of the glacier as we approached.

As we were all watching the glacier Jacob looked up and saw this avalanche. It wasn't a big one but it caught the attention of everyone on deck. It only lasted a few seconds then the rock wall was back to normal once again. It was really neat.

A close up of the glacier.

Juneau

In Juneau we went to the only drive to glacier in Alaska, the Mendenhall Glacier. We took a city bus there and had to walk about 1/2 mile to get to the glacier. It was amazing to see that giant hunk of ice hanging on the mountain. Glacial ice is a beautiful blue color. Recently a large amount of the glacier had broken away so we got to see a lot of floating ice chunks in the water below the glacier.

Our walk to the glacier. You can see it on the left.

Our little family in front of the glacier. Matthew was napping.

Look at that bear!

These ice chunks are so small in comparison to that giant glacier.

A few people in our group hiked pretty close to glacier. Jamie and I stayed back because we had a napping baby in a stroller.

A closer view of the upper part of the glacier.

I love the blue color of the ice.

This one was really blue.

Ketchikan

Our first stop in Alaska was Ketchikan. While Mom was nice enough to baby sit Matthew at a lumberjack show Jamie and I along with Dad, Jacob, Meagan, Ben, and Dylan went deep sea bottom fishing. We were hoping to catch a halibut but we mostly caught rock fish and on sole. I enjoyed it but Jamie thought it was a waste of money. Captain Johnny Gilson of Experience One Charters showed us a great time as we snacked on smoked salmon and crackers. We were fishing right next to a small rocky island that attracted 10+ eagles all at once. It was a pretty site.

Down Town Ketchikan

Me in front of the Norwegian Sun at the Ketchikan dock.

Jamie in front of the ship at the dock. It was really windy.

The view of the ship as we were leaving to go fishing.

One of Jamie's rock fish as he pulled it in.

My first Alaskan fish! That is the captain in the background.

This is Jamie's sole fish. He caught 2 and I caught 4. Of course I caught more, that is the norm for us :)

The Catch. Dad got it shipped home to eat. Yum!

Beautiful Alaska!

My dad was wonderful enough to take us all to Alaska on a the Norwegian Star cruise ship. It was amaizing. Here are a few of the pictures.

The view cruising the inside passage from our balcony.

More from our balcony.

Jamie taking it all in. It was so beautiful.

There were multiple little islands all over. I loved seeing the little round ones.

I love strawberries!

Matthew has really learned to love strawberries. We got a little mesh chew toy for Matthew and put a strawberry and it and he went to town. He made a huge mess. I had to scrub his shirt afterward. I think I learned my lesson, next time, take the shirt off.

My little missionary/home teacher

So one of my great family members (not sure which one, sorry) gave Matthew this darling white church shirt. I put in on him one morning before church and knew it just wasn't right. Well, we were missing the tie. That morning (needless to say I was a little late to church) I sewed a tie from some of my scrap material. This picture was after church on our living room couch. He already looks like a little missionary or home teacher. He is such a smiley guy. He is going to be a great missionary.