ALASKA CRUISE

Glacier Bay

We had so much fun on our Alaska cruise.  It was a wonderful present from Nana and Papa to the whole family.  And the Searight clan joined! It was a true reunion!

Alaska was beautiful! We went to Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Glacier Bay National Park, and Victoria, BC.  Mattie and I had already been to Skagway and Victoria many years ago, but it was all oh so breathtaking, once again.  Thank you Nana and Papa for the amazing adventure!

The cute shirts the Searights made for all of us

Nana and Papa's view

One of the best things about the cruise! ROOM SERVICE! BREAKFAST IN BED!

JUNEAU

One of the 10 or so bald eagles in the tree

Mendenhall Glacier

Finally!  The brew tour that we had waited 7 years to go to!

Red Dog Saloon. CHEERS!

SKAGWAY

White Pass Yukon Railway
Sleepy Tia and Tio

Lindsey and Hayley!

Bill and Paulla

BEAR!!

Mattie ziplining in Skagway

Lindsey, Hayley, Jen, and Matt (I was too chicken to do it!)

KETCHIKAN

Watching the lumberjack show.

Yo ho!

what we rented to get around a very rainy Ketchikan

 VICTORIA, B.C.

Happy Harper (before she tripped and fell and bloodied her mouth :(

God bless Canada, a place where 18 (and older) year olds can drink.  Cheers Jen Searight!

28 Days, 4 States, 2 Countries!

We had an amazing summer vacation. And ALL our family was there!! Here is what we did:

June 19-23- Flew to Seattle, WA and hung out in a super cool city. Even got to see Ashley McIntire!
June 23-30- Cruise to Alaska!  We went with Harper's Nana and Papa, Tia and Tio, and the Searight Family.
June 30-July 3- Drove the coast from Seattle to San Francisco.  We stayed in Astoria, OR, Coos Bay, OR and Eureka, CA along the way
July 3-5- We spent Independence Day in San Francisco with Nana, Papa, Tia, Tio and his family
July 5- We continued our coast driving from San Francisco to Monterey, CA.
July 6- 17 - SO CAL!!! We spent the next week and a half with my mami.  We even got to see my brother Ben and his family and my sister Angelica and her family! We were reunited for a few wonderful days!

I am tired from just typing that. WHEW!  We are so glad to be home.  We missed Gumbo dog lots!


Here are a few pics from our travels.  I will do more specific posts at another time. ENJOY!

Pike Market, Seattle

GLACIER!!

Yummy!

YO HO!

Daddy-daughter love watching the sunset over Monterey

Redwood National Park

Elephant seals near Hearst Castle

Harper was SOOO scared of all the characters at Disney land

Beach time with family! Huntington Beach

She's WALKING!!!!!

So our little girl is finally walking. It has taken a lot of hard work, trial and error, and determination.  But it has paid off! We are so proud of her and she is so proud, too!! We can see it in her eyes that she has the confidence in herself.  It's pretty awesome.  Take a look! Oh, and btw, that squeak you hear is her left foot going flat.  Her shoes squeak when she walks heel to toe. She's walking with flat feet!!! FINALLY!

New apparatus

Harper received a walker today from her PT to help her be more independent with her walking. She loves it!  Our hope is that she'll learn to walk well with the walker and her braces, and eventually will not need either one.  Only time will tell!

Brace yourself!

About a month and a half ago, Harper was fitted for AFO's (Ankle Foot Orthotics).  They are braces that are helping her put her little feet flat.  Check them out!

The day she got fitted at Dell Children's

She likes to "help" put her braces on

Some of the therapy we do.  She doesn't like to stand in them because they
force her foot to be in a position she's not comfortable in.

We always say "Feet flat!"  She's doing pretty good with her AFO's!

OH, and Matt picked out the color of the braces. PINK CAMO! We do live in Texas, ya know!

First Steps!

As many of you know, Harper has been seeing a physical therapist since February since she is not walking yet. She has been making tremendous progress! Take a look at what she began doing this Memorial Day.

We are so proud and happy of Harps! We know she'll be walking steadily in no time! YAY HARPS!!!!

Harper's 1st Graduation

Harper went to her first graduation ceremony....MINE (and her Tia Brigid's!)!  We both graduated with our Masters degree on May 10, 2012.  I really wasn't planning on walking, but when I saw my friend Lorin graduate this past summer and take pictures with her family and son I knew that I HAD TO WALK.  I wanted Harper to go to her Mommy's graduation and look back at pictures and smile (like I will). It wasn't easy to go back to school after I had Harper, but I am so glad I did!  I hope one day Harper can look back at the pictures from this day and be proud of her mommy.

Walking in

So happy my two loves were able to be there!

The Graduates

So proud of you Tia!!!

Tio Cesar and Jack came to the graduation too!!