Garrett's violin debut

This last weekend we drove up to Corinne's in Pleasant View.

Garrett who is 10 was playing his violin in Sacrament meeting. He asked us if we would come and listen to him play. It was worth the quick trip up. Corinne switched her shift at the temple so she could have the afternoon off on Saturday. We left Saturday morning to drive up.

We went to Arctic Circle for dinner.

Now when we visit with Corinne, I finally understand life with boys. It's just more active, Boys are silly and crazy and loud and do weird stuff. I no longer feel the need to have order. It's much more enjoyable and easier to just let things be what they are. It's nice. 

 Spencer likes to play games with Grandpa and talks to him a lot. Fred is very good to listen and play with Spencer. 

 As always - Spencer.

 Sunday morning breakfast - waffles and strawberry sauce & whipped cream.

 and ice cream......

 Games with Grandpa.

 Games at the table. 1:00 church.

 Richard is playing the clarinet in school. This is Shannon's clarinet. His tone is really good. 

 Garrett played I Stand All Amazed and Corinne accompanied him.

His first few notes were not in tune, but he got straightened out and stayed focused.

We were very proud of him. He really did a nice job.

 Spencer ran off to Primary so we didn't get a picture of him after Sacrament meeting. Henry fell asleep. We left after Sacrament meeting. It's a five hour drive and I like to get home before too late because I have to go to work in the morning. We got home about 8:15 pm.

 I like taking a picture of Fred taking pictures. 

It was a very nice weekend. I'm glad we went. We will go back up in January when Spencer is baptized. 

Ketchikan Alaska

The last port was Ketchikan. 

 It's known for the Totem Poles.

 We did buy some salmon here to take home. 

 We took the bus to a mall here to mail home our souvenirs and extra clothes. We had too much to fit in our luggage and we figured it would be cheaper to mail it home than buy a suitcase and pay the fee for extra luggage on the airline. 

Juneau Alaska

The next port was Juneau. Here is our tour bus. 

Today was the Mendenhall Glacier, Glacier Gardens and Macaulay Salmon Hatchery.

First Stop was the Mendenhall Glacier.

Again with the dirty glacier rather than the pristine white that I've always seen in pictures.

 Here we are at the Glacier Gardens. The people are facing what are called Flower Towers. The are big trees that are up turned with the roots up. Flower planted in the root base. These Flower Towers are planted throughout the Gardens. They are really beautiful. 

A little closer view of one.

Here is the tram we rode on to the top. 

This is a log roadway that was built to help get us to the top of the mountain for the lookout.

Here we are at the top looking out over Juneau Alaska. A beautiful view!

A lot of the Garden forest area looked like it would have been the perfect place to shoot Harry Potter scenes. These scary looking branches are called Widow Makers. 

Creepy.

Of course, every tourist area has a gift shop. Inside this one were these beautiful hanging baskets.

A little Daly family trivia for you. We took our kids on a lot of camping trips. We stopped at a lot of lava caves and fish hatcheries. It seemed as though we never made it to a hatchery at the right season. So when I saw this excursion that included a hatchery, well it only seemed appropriate that we take a tour. Well it did not disappoint. 

If only our children could at last have been here with us to enjoy the wonders of a fish hatchery!!!

Next the town of Juneau Alaska.

Each town is nestled in absolute beauty! 

Bye Bye!

Here is our shrimp & lobster dinner. It was a formal night  meaning you dress up and the menu has something a little more special included like lobster!!

Dessert was a pistachio mousse. Nice presentation....