Alaska Marine Highway Boat Shots

Here are a few shots I took from the boat.  I thought they were very pretty. 

Alaska Marine Highway Sidenotes

I've been trying to figure out where I left off so I can update and catch-up all my fans who are waiting on my every hanging word for an update, but the time just seems to fly by.  I did find a couple of things I wanted to write down but they don't need a whole post to themselves.

22 May 2012 {first day on the boat} 

"While at lunch today, Kennie said something that cracked us all up.  We were listening to all the kids talk about who they love & who their boy/girl friend is.  I asked Kennie if he loved someone or had a girlfriend and his response was classic!  'Nope!  I can't date yet so I don't want a girlfriend.  That will just tempt me.'  Haha!"

23 May 2012

"Funny side note about today - we were playing games with one of the other families when a page came overhead asking for a doctor or trained medical personnel to go to the Pursers Desk.  Some guy was having back spasms {not emergent} but it was pretty comical.  Aaron is never really off duty"

Sitka, Alaska

Sitka, Alaska was our first real stop {where everyone got off because it wasn't in the middle of the night} and it was fun.  Sitka is a VERY pretty place and I wish we could have stayed longer.  Here are a few pictures of our fun!

Can you tell we had some fun?  The totem pole was cool but the kids didn't think it was very interesting.  The view from the top of the stairs we climbed was beautiful!!

Let's start at the very beginning,

A very good place to start.  We are headed back to the beginning of our adventure from Anchorage, Alaska to San Diego, California.  31 days, 3,722 car miles, 1,047 boat miles and too many stops to count.  Here begins our trip.  I am going to try to blog at least every other day until I am caught up and our trip is documented.  Keep looking back!! 

**This post has been edited to include a few more pictures I was able to find.

We started our trip Sunday morning, May 20th.  We left

Anchorage and made it to Tok Alaska.  Here are a few pictures of the fun we had while driving.

Here is a picture of our boat.  It doesn't look big, but it was.

Here we are driving onto the boat:

Here is what the car deck looked like:

Our first stop was Juneau at 2 in the morning.  Trey and I got up and got off the boat for the hour we were there to visit with Cameron Blackhurst who served a mission in our ward in Alaska.  It was so fun to get to chat with him.  We had lots of fun when he was stationed in our ward and it was great to see him again!

We get the keys to our house on Thursday and need to paint and then the household goods will be delivered on Saturday so I don't know how much you will see me the next little while.  Sorry!

Traveling & Schwendiman Reunion

One day here in the not so distant future, I will need to sit down and do some serious blogging to document our trip from Anchorage to San Diego. This has been an amazing and once in a lifetime {hopefully} experience. But for now – I wanted to post a few pictures from the Schwendiman Reunion that we had this past weekend. We figured out that there was 68 of us that were there at some point during the reunion. We haven’t been able to attend this annual tradition since 2006. We sure had a good time seeing everyone. With exception to Mom & Dad Lewis, Robin and Dallin – we haven’t been able to spend time with any of this super fun family. Thanks to Facebook we have been able to keep up on everyone’s lives but it’s different to let your kids play and sit face to face and joke. Play a good old-fashion game of kickball, water games and some dutch oven cooking! Enjoy just a few pictures. I’ll probably do a few more posts later about the reunion but some of these pictures I just had to share.

This is a family picture on a rock during a small kid friendly hike at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Grandma Lewis, Maggie & Aaron

Grandma Schwendiman – a perfect example of an “elect lady"!”

Look at this adorable face. I LOVE this picture of Maggie!!!

Well, that’s it for now! Watch for more updates!

Under Construction!

Just a warning.  In the next few days I will be making some changes to the blog.  Hopefully I can update it so it is more current.

Where does the time go?

So, it seems like not so long ago we found out we were headed to San Diego.  Now, we are just over 2 months out and I can't believe our time is drawing near.  There is so much to do plus I am trying to finish school with the kids.  Ya right.  I keep finding things I want to do with them.

Anyway, we are all still alive.  I'll post some pictures of the Aurora Borealis here soon.  I got some good ones.

Slacker!

So, I'm a bit of a slacker.  My parents are here for Christmas/New Years and we have been just enjoying the down time! 

Some small news - we found out that in May/June - we will be moving to San Diego where Aaron will be stationed at Balboa Navy Medical Center.  He will be doing a GI fellowship.  3 years in San Diego.  I'm super excited that we will get a break from the snow.

Speaking of snow - enjoy this!

White Chicken Chili

I was looking for this post for a friend and realized I haven't put it on here.  So, here you go.  My award winning White Chicken Chili.

Lots of ingredients, but Delicious!!


1/4 cup Vegetable Oil (I use EVOO)
2 pounds diced, cooked chicken meat
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic
20 ounces chicken broth
1/2 cup salsa
2 cans petite-diced tomatoes
2 (7 oz each) cans diced green chilies
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed (I usually make without!)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
4 (15 oz each) cans white beans (juices not drained)
2 cans corn (juices drained)
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

Heat oil and and cook onion and garlic until soft. Stir in broth, salsa, diced tomatoes, chilies and spices. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add corn, chicken and beans. You can simmer for 5 minutes, but I have found it best to simmer for as long as possible up to an hour. Serve with toppings for people to choose from: cheese, avocado, sour cream, tortilla chips or cornbread. (Cornbread is my Favorite!!)