Super Mommy!

Abby completed an Olympic-distance Triathlon this past weekend at Jordanelle Reservoir. For those of you not familiar with triathlons, this includes approximately a 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike ride, and 6 mile run! (Brad can't do any of those individually, let alone back-to-back-to-back!)

Abby did great--she finished in just over 3 hr and 15 min, despite being really sick the last leg of the run! Ashley and Hammy Shan came to cheer and help with Livie. Here are a few great photos that Ashley took... Thanks, Ashley!!! (You can see a few more on her blog: http://auntashwee.blogspot.com/)

You can see below a very happy Livie reunited with her Mommy after being apart all morning! Daddy and Livie were very proud of Mommy!

Mo Alaska

We've been home for a couple of weeks now, but we thought we'd post some of the pics from the second half of our trip.

We had a great time halibut fishing with "Elder Bennion." We even caught a few fish. Although none of them were huge, they are all a great size for eating. You can see our guide, Dan Brown, and his daughter/deckhand and the boat, the "THUNDEROD." We've never been so worn out "fishing" in our entire lives... we were reeling fish all day long from the minute the bait hit the bottom!

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We went fishing for silver (Coho) salmon on the Kenai river the following day. All four of us on the boat had our limit within 1 hour of throwing the first line in the water. We like to think it's because we're expert fishermen, but it helps to have good guides and hungry fish!

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On the days we went fishing, we stayed at a great little Bed & Breakfast near Soldotna called "The Moose Is Inn." If you are ever in the area, we'd highly recommend it. Here is a photo of Abby and Livie from our balcony.

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In Anchorage, the owners of the home, where Elder and Sister Bennion rent a room, have a pretty dog named Toby. Livie absolutely loved Toby! Toby was a little unsure of Livie. Every time she saw Toby, she would get so excited that she'd squeal and kick. Poor Toby wasn't used to dealing with a crazy, dog-loving, 6-month old little girl! Now Livie won't stop asking us to buy her a puppy of her own.

We were sad to come back home. We had a lot of fun visiting G'ma & G'pa Bennion and seeing the beauty of Alaska!

Eskimo Mo!

Hello from Alaska! We are visiting Grandma and Grandpa Bennion while they are serving their LDS mission here in Anchorage, Alaska. We've been seeing some fun things and spending quality time together. Livie has been so good, even in the car. She loves having Grandma and her friend, Moose, to keep her company.



We've been able to do a few hikes while we've been here. The first day, we hiked to see Exit Glacier near Seward.

Livie wanted a closer look at the glacier...

On our second day here, we went on a day cruise of Resurrection Bay with Grandma and Grandpa.

Livie stayed bundled up tight to keep warm. While we were on the cruise, we saw a humpback whale, bald eagles, dolphins, sea otters and lots of different birds. Livie slept through the whale encounter, but she was more interested watching the seagulls anyway.

We stopped for lunch at a little island. You can see Livie's reaction (below) when we told her that lunch was all-you-can-eat salmon and prime rib!

Tuesday, we spent the day exploring Anchorage while Grandma and Grandpa worked at the mission office. We took Livie to the Alaska Zoo. She wasn't sure what to think of the animals.

Today, we went on a hike above Anchorage. As you can see from what we're wearing, the weather was pretty cold. While we were on our hike, we even got to see a bull moose. That was really cool!

Sticking with tradition, Livie wanted to "dine" with a view.

Livie was a good little girl on the hike. She loves to be outside, so she loves to go hiking. You can see her cute new "winter" clothes that she got for the trip.

Tomorrow, we are off to Soldotna on the Kenai Peninsula for fishing. We're hoping to go halibut fishing on Friday and salmon fishing on Saturday. If we're lucky, we'll bring some fresh fish back home with us.

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If you ever have the chance, you should definitely visit Alaska at some point in your lifetime. The scenery is breathtaking every way you look. We're having a great time visiting Grandma and Grandpa while we take it all in.

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Love you all,

Brad, Abby & Livie

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Savage Lagoon Day

Livie got to attend her first-ever Savage Lagoon Day. (Every year, Brad's work goes to the local amusement park with the employees and their families.) We thought that we'd try to take her on a few of the rides.



Livie wasn't sure what to think of the Merry-go-round...

She seemed to like seeing all the different animals while on the train...

Although, she seemed more interested in Mommy's necklace than anything else going on at the park around her...

With Hammy Shan's help, we even won a cute little monkey for Livie as a souvenir. (In case you are confused by the photo, the monkey that we won for her is the little brown thing in the center of the photo, not the tall one in the red shirt.) :)


We think Livie will like Lagoon a lot more in a couple of years, but we still had a great time!

Mo's 1st Haircut

Livie got her first haircut last week. Mommy thought it looked like Livie had a mullet. Daddy thought it was cute. Either way, Livie looks cute with her new little bob. As you can see, she was a good little sport.