Alaska

Here are a couple of pictures from our trip to Alaska. We had a great time and the kids did great here with Nana and Papa. It is so beautiful up there. Also, a couple of pics of the kiddos during their stay with Nana & Papa.

We went on a rafting trip down the Kenai River while we were in Alaska. We saw 2 black bears and a grizzly bear in the water eating a fish. It was so amazing and beautiful. Here is the best picture of the grizzly bear, we were probably only 40 yards away from it.


Look at the background in this picture. I love it up there.

My brother, Chaed and his new wife Kari, had a beautiful wedding. It was at the Alaska Heavenly Lodge and we enjoyed our time so much. Thanks so much Chaed & Kari, we had a great time. Here's a couple of pictures of the family, for those of you who don't know, it's me, Chawndell, Chaed, Dawn and my mom in the front. I have some great pictures of Chaed & Kari during their wedding on our other camera but it's new and I have no idea how to get them on our computer, James will have to do that and then I'll post them.

Unfortunately, James and I got the stomach flu when we got to Alaska, YUCK. I was in bed with the curtains shut for 36 hours and couldn't even turn the TV on because my head hurt so bad. My hips actually started to hurt because I couldn't lay any other way than on my side because it hurt my stomach so bad. That's no good. James got over his much quicker and when we called home, Natalie, Nana, & Papa got it too. The only one to avoid it was Michael. Here's James and I, after we recovered, at the wedding.

Summer Events!

We went swimming at a friend's pool.
Michael playing on his tummy.

Well, look at this, I'm posting again and it has been less than three months. Crazy, I know. I was just going to post a few pictures and give a quick update on the last couple of weeks. We went back to Randolph to see my family on the weekend of the 4th of July. It was so nice. We relaxed at my mom's house, lit some fireworks that they got for Natalie, (which she loved), went to Rick's farm and rode the 4-wheeler and shot a .357 magnum handgun, went to my aunt & uncle's house for a BBQ, jumped on the trampoline, and then headed down to the fireworks show in Norfolk from their house. It was a great weekend.

Natalie's doll enjoyed riding on the 4-wheeler too.

Natalie loved jumping on the trampoline.


This handgun was so loud! I actually was pretty close to hitting the bulls eye a couple of times, James, of course, was a pro.
Anyone else remember these snakes at the 4th of July, they were so fascinating, Natalie thought so too.
We found out when we were back home that James' Grandma passed away so we headed up to Canada for the funeral on Monday night. We left here at 5:00pm and arrived at 7:00am. I surprised myself and was able to drive about 4 hours!!! Amazing, I know. It was a very special funeral in the sense of how personal it was. There were many special moments and stories shared about her life. It was nice to be able to spend some time with all of James' family. We went to the beach one day with James' sister Michelle and her husband Tim and their kids Daniel, Leigh, & Emma. It sure would be nice to be so close to the beach! It is beautiful.



James and Michael took a little nap on the beach.

We returned to Omaha on Friday and then James' Dad, sister Christine, and her two kids Matthew and Madison arrived on Sunday. They were here for the week for James' hockey camp. His dad helped him with that and Matthew was in the camp. It went well and Natalie loved having her cousins to play with for the week. They were great with her. When Matthew was at the camp, Madison and I would cook the meals together and she would set the table every night. She became quite the food chopper when she was here, it was a fun time. They headed home yesterday and James' dad will remain here, his mom arrives tomorrow night and we head out to Alaska on Wednesday. Natalie and Michael are staying here with Nana and Papa. We will be gone from Wednesday-Tuesday for my brother's wedding. I'm excited to go on a trip with James. We'll miss the kids like crazy but they will be in good hands.

Here's Matthew, Madison, James & Natalie downtown on our walk.

Michael is still doing great. He rolls over both ways all the time with quite a bit of force. He has the most precious smile that lights up his whole face. His eyes completely change when he smiles, it's so sweet. Natalie is still so funny. We were driving today and I was cracking up at her. I thought if anyone was watching me they'd think I was a bit crazy. Some of you know that she won't/doesn't say "baby" with the "b" sound. She says "ngng". We have no idea why. So today I was telling her to say "b b b b b baby" she would say "b b b b b ngng" Then I sang a song with the word "baby" in it and she would say all the words and when it got to "baby" she would say "ngng". Very interesting.

I'm amazed at how much Natalie understands and does. I was changing Michael's diaper today and I told her to go into my room and get one of her cloth diapers from the clothes basket. She came back with the diaper and then I told her to go get the insert for it. She came back with the insert. I told her to put her diaper on her changing table and her water on her bed so we could get her ready for a nap. I walked in her room expecting it to all be thrown on the floor but both things were where I told her to put them. It's so fun to watch how much she grows and learns, she'll be mowing the lawn before we know it.

This is what happens when I try to do too many things at one time. I started filling the sink, left the kitchen for some reason and came back to find it overflowing and Natalie playing in the bubbles. That is very typical behavior of me. To repeat a phrase I've taught Natalie "Oh Well."

Here's a little video of Natalie and James on the trampoline.




Here's a video of Michael. He would only roll over for a while when we weren't looking and in his crib. I was trying to get some video of him rolling over but he wouldn't do it. Instead, he did what he does so well, spit up. He spits up so much, we both need about 3 outfits a day.

Daily life with a 2 year old & a 3 1/2 month old

Wow, where to I begin. It's been 3 months since my last post so there is so much to talk about. Sorry, this is probably going to be a long post with a couple of different slideshow pictures. I guess I'll start by saying that things are going great. I am loving being home with my 2 kiddos every day. We are busy and active and I love it. We also have days where we stay home and hang out only with eachother and I love that too. It's funny how every day as a stay at home mom is different. There are those random days I wake up and from minute 3 things just aren't going well. I had one of those days about a month ago. It was just one thing after another and things were dropping, spilling, breaking, and I felt like I was treading to stay above water. Both kiddos were crying and all I was looking forward to was 9:30 when I was leaving home to go spend time at Neale Woods with some friends. Well, I couldn't find my keys, of course. I ended up canceling and found my keys 4 hours later, on the kitchen counter under my diaper bag. So many things happened that day that were frustrating and I laid down exhausted that night, telling myself that tomorrow would be a better day.

What could be more fun than James surprising me for our anniversary with a night out on the town with the car we drove on our wedding night.
The next day I woke up and it was a much better day. It was actually one of my favorite days so far this summer. Michael was up early so I was able to spend about an hour with him by myself and that was such a sweet time. We coooed at eachother and laughed and smiled and both loved it. He went down for a nap that ended up lasting 4 hours and Natalie and I headed outside. Every day we get our breakfast and head out to the front porch to eat. This particular morning was trash day and street cleaning day. We watched the garbage trucks come by, watched the street sweeper and ate our breakfast. Then it started pouring rain. I got her boots and she played out in the rain and in the puddles forever. She loved it and I loved watching her. I wouldn't trade those moments for anything. Those lazy mornings that we spend together every day just enjoying conversation fit for a 2 year old. It's funny how I don't remember every detail of the "not so good" day but I remember every detail of the next. The worst day at home (the days where Natalie comes upstairs with blue magic marker and you find it all over furniture and stairs) is still better than my best days I spent teaching, and I LOVED teaching, I just love spending every day with Natalie and Michael even more. The things they do every day just melt my heart and make it swell with so much love.


I love watching Natalie with Michael, telling him "Good Morning", helping me change every one of his diapers, giving him his bottle if he's crying, and always reminding me that we have to take Michael whenever we leave the house. I love watching Michael interact with Natalie. I'll watch them when I'm driving and they are looking at each other, Natalie's talking to him and he is smiling from ear to ear. It's so incredible how they already have such a strong connection and they've only known each other for 3 1/2 months. If James takes Natalie on a bike ride or anywhere, the first thing she says when she gets in the door is "Myny go" (the way she says "Michael go").

She is talking so much now, it's crazy how she picks up on things so quickly. She loves running around, playing with her golf clubs, playing in water, riding her tricylce, jumping off anything, and going on walks. Michael is rolling over now from his tummy to his back, eating like a monster, and sleeping like a champ. He's so incredibly laid back and chill and smiles and laughs all the time. He's also a good cuddler which I love because Natalie was never that way.

Here's Natalie, James is already making her a proud 1/2 Canadian


Gardening and Camping

Well, we planted a great garden on Memorial Day Weekend. It was so much fun. Natalie played in the dirt and did her 2 year old version of gardening. I planted 12 tomato plants, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, pumpkin, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, bannana and chili peppers, beets, white and green onions. Natalie and I would go weed and water the garden every day. I would pull the weeds out and Natalie would throw them back in, not understanding why I was taking them out. I had told myself that I wasn't going to have a perfect garden because I was doing it with 2 kids and she was a part of it every day so that was okay with me. It was just so much fun spending that time working together. She would have her little watering can and shovel and work away. Then, Friday, we were pummeled with a storm. We had drifts of hail a foot deep in our yard and needless to say, my garden was destroyed. I was so bummed. James said it looks like someone took a weed wacker to it and then picked up all the weeds, there is absolutely nothing remaining. My tomato plants were up to my waist and so full and in a matter of 10 minutes it was gone. Natalie looked at it and said "uh oh mommy." I guess we'll have to try again next year and hope that the 80-90 MPH wind holds off and there aren't any hail blizzards. I was more bummed about my garden than the part of our ceiling that fell in, our car that has hail damage galore, all of our plants and flowers that we have planted, our roof and siding that has damage and who knows what else, the insurance guy is coming on Friday and we'll know more then. In the midst of all the chaos and the ceiling falling, scaring Natalie, and water pouring in I wasn't able to get anyone in the basement and Michael stayed sound asleep upstairs. James and I were hit with the reality that we cannot get too attached to the things of this world because they aren't what matter anyways. It seems God was teaching us a little lesson to not hold on tightly to the things we have because they are not the things that matter. So many people had way more damage than us, we have a lot to be thankful for.

Here is a little slideshow of some of the things that happened to our house and neighborhood during the storm.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We've also gone on a couple of wonderful camping trips this summer. They were both at new places and they were beautiful. Camping is definitely my favorite thing to do together as a family. It's so peaceful and relaxing. The second child definitely gets the shaft when it comes to "protection." When we went camping with Natalie when she was 10 weeks old she would hang out in the pack-n-play outside with a bug net over her. Michael was just on the ground on a blanket and enjoying life. Both kids did great sleeping and playing and I love nothing more than Natalie being covered in dirt from head to toe. Natalie was drinking a glass of water and actually gave Michael a drink by dumping the whole thing on his face. I heard him gurgling and all he did was let out a little grunt and was fine, he is so incredibly adaptable and not bothered by much.

Here is a slideshow with random pictures from the last 3 months. Make sure you press play and you can adjust how quickly the pictures slide through. Also, for some reason, you have to keep moving your mouse over the pictures for the headings to remain on.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Well, there you have it, a little picture of what the last 3 months have been like for the Chalmers Family. We have a great time together and we're trying to cherish every moment. Hope you are all doing well.

Natalie's 2nd Birthday

Here is a little slideshow from Natalie's 2nd Birthday party. We had a small gathering here with my family. It was a great day and it was so fun watching the kids play together. It's only the beginning of many parties and so much fun. It is so hard to believe that Natalie is already 2 years old. She has grown so fast and is such a little girl. It's fun but sad at the same time. We are hit with the reality that the time we get with her at this age will fly by and we'll never get it back. We're trying to enjoy every part of it.

Make a Smilebox slideshow