Happy Father's Day!!!

We had our Father's Day Flee this weekend at Shane and Alicia's house with lessons and activities throughout. Today we got family pictures done first thing in the morning, went to church with the Westras, had some free time, and went to the Father's Day party at the Havenmoor house. One of the perks about having Father's Day Flee this weekend was the fact that we had ALL of our family at the father's day party! (Except for Brandon, who wasn't feeling well and stayed at Shane and Alicia's house.) 

The party was at Scott and Amy's House (which used to be Grandma and Grandpa Westra's house). The party has been held in Scott and Amy's backyard in Draper since 2006! Scott and Amy were gracious enough to still host the party this year and we were able to see all the renovations they have done to the house since they bought it. It looks SO different! It looks amazing -- they have really done a wonderful job with it. 

It was fun to see and visit with everyone! The chicken was perfectly cooked, as usual, thanks to Scott's skill on the grill and his meat thermometer. And everyone raved about Christine's amazing gluten free desserts -- even those who were not gluten free! They were SO good! We told her that she really should go into business with it! 

The girls had fun putting together a dance number -- and we got lots of selfies thanks to "Be Real" going off during the party. 

Alicia hadn't brought her camera for a group photo, but I didn't want to lose that tradition just since we were changing locations, and so Rick balanced my camera on a box that was on a table and we took a few with the timer. All in all it was a fun evening! I love my family! 

Keaton with Kate, Callahan, and the newest addition to their family (I'll have to get their dog's name)!  

Grandpa Westra with the Blackham boys

And since Grayson wasn't there, Scott took his place as "father" to the five Blackham boys! 

On The Westra Way blog, Jen added a photo with all of the Father's Day family photos through the years taken from the back porch at Scott and Amy's house in Draper! 

Starting in 2006 in the top left corner, ending with 2021 in the bottom right. Skipped 2011, as while there was a Father's Day photo at the house, that year it wasn't taken on the back porch as all the others were. All of these years have party recaps with additional pictures. Check them out by year (chronologically on the blog archive in the sidebar), or scroll through all the Father's Day posts. 

Cruise to Alaska (Work Trip)

I had done quite a bit of research before this trip, and the internet said to bring a heavy waterproof coat, waterproof hiking boots, wool socks, hat, gloves, umbrella etc. We also had friends who had just gotten back from an Alaskan cruise just last week and they said that it was very cold and rained everyday. So I brought all of those recommended items, and was two pounds over my 50 pound suitcase weight limit!  Luckily they let it slide by, and I did some rearranging for the way home. I had brought Jared's heavy coat from his mission that handles sub zero temperatures and Rick brought Jared's other missionary coat. But as it turned out, I didn't need any of those things. The weather was in the 60's and very pleasant. 

Of course you never know though, the weather can be temperamental! Rick wasn't thrilled about the idea of going on a "cold cruise," but I had always wanted to see Alaska and was really excited about it! I am more of a "mountains" gal than a "beach " gal anyway. Rick is the opposite. He would choose the beach over mountains any day! Of course it wasn't Caribbean weather, but that is to be expected! Sometimes it was cold on the ship outside, but inside it was nice and they had a solarium with an inside pool and hot-tubs!  

First stop -- Ketchikan. It was on a Sunday and so Rick looked up the closest LDS church and it was only a 1.7 mile walk. So we decided to go! We weren't wearing church clothes, but I figured they probably get visitors all of the time who don't wear church clothes, and I was right. I was surprised by how many people came to church from the cruise ships. Many of them did wear church clothes, but others didn't. It was a pleasant walk (except the end where the "street" was actually several flights of stairs) which made me feel really out of shape! After church we walked around and went to see the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. It was a fun show! I had brought coats with me, but didn't need them. The weather was sunny -- and in the 60's. Very pleasant! 

Second stop -- Juneau, Alaska. We bought and bought tickets to the "Blue Bus," which would take us to the Mendenhall Glacier (which was about 30 minutes away). It cost $45.00 a person. The bus brought us to the visitor's center and we were able to walk a mile in to see the beautiful waterfall up close and the glacier (which was farther away). It was so pretty! It was cooler than yesterday since we were closer to the glacier, but I was still warm enough, and had to take off my coat a few times. 

Third Stop: Skagway. We didn't do much here, just walked around and saw the shops for a bit! It was like a little frontier town. We came back and tried out the solarium and hot-tub! 

Fourth Stop -- Victoria, British Columbia. Canada was so pretty! We were able to do this really cool zipline excursion, that had 8 different ziplines. The longest one was 1000 feet! I was really nervous at first, because I haven't done a zipline in a long time, but once I did the first two, I wasn't that nervous any more. It was really fun and exhilarating! 

All in all, it was great to be able to go visit Alaska and Canada and spend some time together! We interpreted quite a bit, but we had plenty of down time also. It was fun!