Pictures from the last several weeks

The last few weeks have been filled mostly with fun and a little bit of sadness. A few weeks ago the owner of the studio that I teach at, Linda, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Within two weeks of the diagnosis she was in surgery to have a lumpectomy. They were able to get everything and luckily there was no lymph involvement. She will start radiation next week and hopefully she will never have to face this again. She is seeing a naturopath here in town for immune support as well. I'm very lucky to have this amazing woman in my life; she has had a cheerful attitude through it all with a few "F**k's" here and there, as she puts it, and chooses to live in the moment through it all.

A week after she was diagnosed one of the most important people in my life, my VERY VERY dear friend, Sheli, called to say that she was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Okay, now I'm saying F***!! At this point there is a 10% chance that it may not be cancer so we are holding out hope for that. She goes into surgery next Wed. to have part of the kidney removed. When she gets home the week following I'm going to head up to Fairbanks to help take care of her and her family, as she will be unable to drive, lift, etc. WE LOVE YOU SHELI!!! Again, so blessed to have these INCREDIBLE women in my life; she is cheering everyone else up that is feeling sad for her, lol. She refuses to listen to the "Oh, poor Sheli" scenario, which makes it easier for all of us.

And now for the fun that has been happening in our life:) The following tells it all:

We celebrated Jared's 16th birthday. Jared is my nephew who has been staying with us, from Tennessee, since May and we have him until Oct.22! It's been a fun summer and such a great chance to really get to know him. I hope he comes back next summer:)

We took the dogs up to Hatchers Pass to let them run. You can see how much room they have:) And yes, we really do live in this BEAUTIFUL state!

Don't they just look so happy!?

Then on to Homer for Kev's swim meet. We stopped here to see if we could see the Beluga's breeching. Unfortunately, we have not seen them this year- such a bummer! It's still beautiful isn't it? It surrounds us!!

Yes, I do believe someone lives in this houseboat. Very eccentric, I would like to knock on the door and visit:)

And yes, there are beaches in Alaska!! Actually lots of them! I know, not the warm, lay-in-the-sun type of beaches but fun to play on anyway. Homer is one of my favorite places in Alaska.

It was just beautiful while we were there. Don't I look happy too?

Jared says, "I love hanging my head out the window. It's SO refreshing!" Especially when it's fresh ocean air!

We found a driftwood playground!

The boys were having WAY too much fun with this bull kelp!

Always fun things to find on the beach. I think she had just found some crabs here.

Oh, I almost forgot, we were here for Kev's swim meet:) Na, I didn't forget, we were just enjoying the beach in between events. The boys won their Medley Relay, so fun to watch. Kev's butterfly has improved SO much since last year- fun to see!

And finally, we celebrated Kev's 17th birthday! 17!! But I can still pass for his sister so we are good:) I can, can't I? Martin says where the heck did the last 17 years go? I said it went by fast because we were having so much fun with our kids!!