Six years ago and counting......

We met in Seattle, WA while student teaching. These are some pictures of all of us in the student teaching group. I somehow won his heart when he had 18 other girls to choose from. How did I get so lucky?

We got married on the same day we graduated from college April 24, 2004. It was a busy day but one we will never forgot. I remember being shocked to find out that after spending 4 years at the university I was going to have to say my own name when I received my diploma. I debated saying Kristen Kueser but Peless in a couple more hours. I of course was too shy but those were the thoughts going through my mind. I really don’t remember much at all about my graduation but since I didn’t graduate from high school it was pretty cool to get dressed in the cap and gown once.

 

While in Washington student teaching we went to a Job Fair and got some leads to teach in a small bush village in Alaskas. After a short summer together in sunny California we made our way up to Tyonek.

This picture is one we took of ourselves while driving up the Alcan during Spring Break of that year. What an adventure that was. But we did get pretty lucky with having good roads and weather for our trip up.

After a school year in the frozen tundra we decided that we needed to celebrate our 1st year anniversary in style. We took a Princess cruise to the Caribbean with some great friends and soaked up some sun.

We enjoyed 5 years of  our marriage in Alaska. We made some wonderful friends, learned a lot of new skills. For example: cleaning chickens, fixing up houses and how to raise children.

 

 

   

Our time there in Alaska will always hold a special place in our hearts. Now in Utah we have added sweet Abigail to the family. We continue to enjoy being together. I love seeing Luke take an active role in being a dad and spending lots of quality time with his kiddos.

Now, looking back it is amazing to see how much we have changed and the things we have done together. Luke is my best friend, the best father, has serious house fixin up skills, can change into any animal Micali tells him to(her latest favorite—a walrus) and most of all I just LOVE him.

Looking forward to another year of fun adventure.

 

 

Look! Abigail holding Abigail

This is actually the baby doll that Eli drags around the house these days. He can’t go to sleep without her tucked in right next to him. He calls it his White baby. Micali calls her Abigail though and was so proud one day when Abigail was laying on the couch and she helped her sister hold the baby doll. She thought it was the cutest thing.

Our sweet Abigail had her 2 month check up last Thursday. She weighed in at 11lbs 7oz and is 23 inches long. She checked out healthy as can be. The Dr kept trying to get her to smile for him but he had no luck either. She is still very stingy with her smiling but it sure does melt our hearts when she lights up her face with one.

I am just loving this sweet girl….her smell, her snuggles, her tiny hands…toes, lips. I am trying really hard to live in the moment and enjoy this time I have with her as my baby.

I think back to my time at home and seeing my little brothers grow up so fast. When I was home we called them the “little boys” now the oldest of the little boys in graduating! This time I have with her will go by fast.

A couple more

This girl was being totally cheesy and so not cooperative.

Gotta love it!

Is he not the cutest boy you have ever seen????

Two months already…

Abigail spit up on her dress before we could get her two month pictures but this little girl can even make a white onesie look good!

A photo shoot

Last week was General Conference so we didn’t get dressed up to go to church. We instead enjoyed listening to the church leaders in our comfy clothes on the couch.

So….we don’t have Easter pictures. Today was Stake Conference. We made it through two hours of getting all the kids to sit relatively quiet. We may have even learned a thing or two!

After we got home I wanted to get some pictures of the kids dressed up. They weren’t really in the mood to sit still any longer gut I tried my best bribery techniques. They aren’t exactly picture perfect but they are pictures at least and they make me smile!

  

Green Smoothies

We finally broke down and got a good blender. A really good blender(Vita-mix) that makes great smoothies. I thought it would be a great way to get all of us to eat more fruits and veggies. The blender came with a recipe book that has all sorts of interesting sounding recipes. This week we have been experimenting with it and have loved it. We have enjoyed things in our smoothies like, spinach, lettuce, celery, cucumber, lime, and of course just about any fruit. What a fun way to get some extra nutrients!

---Now what did you say is in this smoothie?

 

----Taking the first drink! Just a little hesitant! But really they are quite tasty!

------As a side note…we do also have a regular Cuisanart brand blender from Costco. We tried this same thing in that blender and it just isn’t the same at all. It doesn’t do a good enough job of blending things to make it edible. Small chunks of lettuce, and grape peel just don’t taste good. Unfortunately being able to do this takes a little bit of an investment but when I think of the health benefits---TOTALLY worth it!

Easter Weekend

Our wonderful friends the Chadwick’s invited us out to Paradox, CO to enjoy some yummy food and let the kids have an Easter egg hunt on Saturday. The drive through the winding roads made me carsick but the valley was pretty when we finally arrived.

In Alaska we never did an Easter egg hunt for Micali because there was always to much snow or cold temperatures to make it worth it. We had to jumpstart Micali and Eli a little to get them going but by the end, they had their baskets full and big smiles on their faces. It was great to spend time with friends and see Micali and Eli play in the wide open spaces.

Faces of Abigail

  Abigail’s first time “camping” with Micali in her tent.

Sweet Abigail on Easter Morning!

 

  I have got Abigail to smile a few times but haven’t caught it on camera. Today I laid her down to change her diaper. When I came back in she was just smiling away. I wasn’t quite fast enough to catch her big smile but her faces are still pretty cute if I do say so myself.