Alaska!

Joe and I just returned from Alaska...that's right, Alaska!!!

10 days away, without our children, in Alaska!

We spent the first day traveling (it takes quite a while to get from Maine to Alaska), the next 4 days meeting (with our Lifelines Board of Directors, the next 4 days on vacation (what we are calling our early 10th anniversary), and the final day flying back home.  

It was an adventure for sure and there are a few things that made it possible.

First, our Lifelines Board of Directors (Joe and I are two of eleven) made it possible.  We all meet together once a year and because our team is literally spread from coast to coast we usually end meeting in Orlando (it's cheap to fly to and there is good housing for large groups like ours).  But not this year, oh no, not this year.  This year our team decided to meet in Alaska (which just seems so much more appropriate for an outdoor/adventure ministry)!  And this was made possible by the Lovejoy family!  Mark and Alicia Lovejoy (two other members of our Lifelines Board) arranged everything so that we could meet there.  Mark is from Alaska and his incredible parents hosted us at their house.  It was incredible.  Lifelines paid to fly us there and because our housing was free it actually ended up being less expensive than if we had met in Orlando...can't beat that!  And the Lovejoy family was such a wonderful, gracious host to us.  And the second half of our trip was made possible by using part of our tax return this year.  We didn't go too far away from home for our honeymoon (the White Mountains in New Hampshire), so we figured that this was a great opportunity to celebrate our 10th anniversary (which will be in January) with a little more adventure!

All of this was also made possible by Joe's wonderful parents who graciously watched our children for the entire time we were gone!!!  This was a big deal for us as we have never both left Eli for more than one night and Lily never more than 3 nights.  Watching somebody else's children for 10 days...10 days of feeding them, bathing them, dressing them, entertaining them, and putting them to bed... days that included vomiting and a high fever from a sick little Lily...hot, humid, summer days with two little ones.  This was such a gift from Joe's parents (for us and our children) and I just can't express enough how thankful we are!

We had a fantastic time in Alaska...though we are a bit tired from all of the travel and oh so happy to finally be home for good!  We have lots of stories and adventures to share from our time there...and I'll be doing just that as soon as I am able to edit all of my pictures (and of course settle in a bit more at home)!