Linc and Me at the Iditarod

Sigh...

We have the cutest video of Lincoln at the Iditarod barking like a dog. Won't upload with our lousy internet here at home. Maybe I'll be able to load it after work tomorrow. But I promised to finally put up some pictures, so here's Linc and Me watching the starting leg of the 2012 Iditarod (Michelle was getting some well-deserved rest):

He really was happy to be there, I promise. It's more obvious in the video.

More pictures, you say? Oh, alright:

 Nothing to see here, Dad. Just me and the dish soap.

Sometimes not even Grandma can make you eat if you don't want to.

 Hey, not everyone who lives here is 17 months old! This is us chilling out after our annual St. Patrick's Day bash.

I thought when we had rappers tweeting about Jimmer, that would be the high point for rappers sending appreciative tweets about Mormons

I was wrong:
https://twitter.com/#!/iamdiddy/status/149670615685677056

Family Pictures!

We took pictures at Stork Park in Anchorage on Lincoln's birthday, October 1.

Finally, more pictures

[Editor's note: Are you wondering why we haven't posted recently? It's because in Alaska there's only one high-quality internet provider, and they won't give you decent internet for less than about $100 a month, unless you get cable as well, in which case it's $150 a month. I am a cheapskate, so we have the $35 internet service which takes so long to upload pictures that , by the time I had all seven photos I wanted to post, the page started to freak out and they were lost. The Internet Gods spake thusly: "What hubris, mortal, to post seven photos with your crappy internet. WE DEMAND AN OFFERING OF $100/MONTH!!! Let this be a lesson." It would have been easier to get these pictures to you if I had carried them to you by crossing the Pacific on a raft built by Thor Heyerdahl. I got these five to load, and now I'm trying to load the last two, but the message on the "Upload Images" page says something like, "Yeah sure, I'll get right on that, pal." So I'm not getting my hopes up. In the meantime, here is a word-for-word transcript of a conversation between Lincoln and me today, illustrated by pictures I took a few weeks ago.]

Me: Hey Lincoln.

Lincoln: Hi Dad, what's up?

Me: Well, ASU has a big game coming up against Oregon next week, and we've had a lot of injuries along the offensive line, and we haven't been run-blocking real well, so they need a third-string right guard. They heard you were gigantic, so they want you to enroll at ASU and join the team.

Lincoln: WHAAAT!!! I can't play for ASU! How can I enroll in college if I can't even read?

Me: Trust me, reading is not required for NCAA athletes. Just ask Kemba Walker: http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/29758/kemba-walker-recently-read-his-first-book

Lincoln: Well, this is exciting. How do I begin?

Me: We need to do some blocking drills and go over the playb-

Lincoln: WHOA, LOOK AT THE CEILING FAN!!!!!!
Me: Lincoln, I'm going to need you to focus; we only have a few days. Let's start with some stretches.

Lincoln: I'm all over it, Dad.

4th of July continued...

We decided to go to the parade in downtown Anchorage for the first time. Normally for the 4th of July we've gone hiking or camping. Um, the parade left something to be desired. But it gave us a chance to snap these amazing photos, so no regrets.

Lincoln, sporting the bib Aunt Becky sent him. That kid knows how to melt any heart.

There was an older couple behind us who thought Lincoln was super cute. Don't blame them. I expect it from people, really. But I was surprised when I was at the grocery store a few days later and I heard from behind me, "Hey! I know that guy!" I continued on my way, not paying any attention to the voice until the guy ran up to the cart and said, "I remember him! I was the one standing behind him with my wife! We were just talking about him yesterday. He is soooo cute!" I was thoroughly surprised that they would remember him and then want to strike up conversation about him at the store. I know Lincoln is cute, but it's always nice when someone else says so and when you know they mean it. Especially strangers because they don't have the familial or friend obligation to say what they know you want to hear.

He's definitely a keeper. We are the luckiest parents in the world. More pictures to come.

Don't be fooled...Lincoln cannot feed himself quite yet. However, one of his favorite things to do after I feed him is chew on his spoon. This is good solid entertainment for atleast 5 minutes. Enough time for me to do a load of dishes, which is working out quite well for us.

A few weeks ago, Matthias made me some sonoran hotdogs (I am spelling that wrong, I am sure). This is what they are:

bacon wrapped around a hot dog

melty cheddar cheese

slices of avocado

AMAZING!

I told Matthias that I never want to make regular hotdogs again. Ever!

We decided to give camping a try. Only instead of packing up and driving somewhere, we pitched our tent in the back yard. This was to ensure that we didn't get to the camping site only to find out that Lincoln would be keeping us up all night from being thrown off his nightly groove. Turns out it was a good decision. The little guy fell asleep all right, but woke up several times and just didn't have a great time all around. By 4:30 I was running inside with him and putting him in his crib so I could get a few winks of sleep before the day began. Oh well! We are talking bravely about going somewhere anyway and just dealing with some fatigue. We'll see if it pans out. This is him all bundled up for the night outside. And below is a picture of him trying on a warm, cozy hat to see if it fit so he could wear it if it got super cold. A typical night in Anchorage is somewhere in the low 40's.

I don't think it gets much cuter than this:

Happy Fourth of July!!!!

Drum roll....

Biggest burger in Alaska and possibly the whole world that you're looking at. It's called "Seward's Folly" on the Menu at a place in Talkeetna that we ate at. We couldn't resist ordering it, after seeing it on "Man vs Food" a couple of years ago. This was about 5 lbs total with 2 lbs of caribou meat (yum) as well as about 12 pieces of bacon, a zillion pieces of cheese, and a special sauce. We both agreed it was a bit difficult to eat and wouldn't order it again, but for the experience it was well worth it. And yes, Lincoln has a look of disgust in the background, if you couldn't tell. He couldn't believe his parents would order something so excessively fatty-mcfatterson. First of many times I predict we will embarrass him in public.

Besides being mortified of our special order, he spent the remaining time staring at our neighbors...

We went on a hike outside of Talkeetna that was gorgeous. It went around a large lake but there was a walkway to a smaller one as well:

Lincoln is a champion hiker. He really loves the backpack carrier. Probably a lot more than Matthias does, although Matthias never complains. He has the muscles of an iron man though.

Though not "mobile" yet, Lincoln has his fair shair of tricks. He really loves to roll over from his stomach to his back. This can be difficult when we want him to stay on his stomach to work those muscles. So sometimes I put him on the boppy pillow to secure him in place...even though it doesn't really work his muscles that much since the pillow does all the work. But still, it feels like maybe his neck muscles are benefitting. Anyway, he found a trick to get out of the pillow:

He kept on going, too, since he was still half on/half off, and he had momentum, he made a couple more turns.

Some mornings before Matthias goes to work we get to do a little bit of hanging out and relaxing together. It's the best. Lincoln loves Matthias and always seems to save his biggest smiles for when he's around.

My favorite hike in Alaska is on the Winner Creek Trail. We took George and Wendy on it this past Monday. Amazing!

Crossing the ravine made me more nervous this time I think because Lincoln was with us. He crossed with matthias and apparently had a great time. This was his face after crossing:

I went first so as they crossed I was biting my nails a bit.

There was a line of people waiting on both ends, so this is us trying to be patient:

So I really love this picture. He was trying to grab the camera band/necklace thing and squirmed a bunch to try and reach it.

I had to make cupcakes for our guests and I decided on a Snickerdoodle recipe. Snickerdoodle cupcake with cinnamon buttercream. Delish. Problem with it was it makes 30 cupcakes. We pretty much binged on them. Well, I'll speak for myself. I binged on them. I loved every second of it, too.

We went out to eat at the Glacier Brewhouse. They have great everything. We hardly ever get pictures with the two of us, so I made sure it happened:

And as I was loading up pictures from the visit from George and Wendy, I was SUPER sad to realize that somehow we never got a picture with the 5 of us--and not even with them and Lincoln!!!!! How did this happen? I'm way bad bummed about it. I guess we were having too much fun to remember? I hate it. I hope maybe somehow we got one on their camera that I forgot about? The only one that comes close is the picture with the 4 of them hiking ahead of me, but that's from behind. Oh well..................................