Where Are We? Aska!

 

 

There's something uniquely special about watching your sibling be a parent. I love my sister so dearly, and now I get to see her love this little girl who loves her back immensely. It's surreal and beautiful. Needless to say, I was beyond thrilled to have them up here for a whole week! It just so happened to be the coldest week of the season yet (lots of snow and -1 degrees at one point!), but we still had the best time together! Ben joined us later on in the week and added even more happiness :) We played in the snow as much as we could, went sledding, ate really well, drank lots of Starbucks, played games, enjoyed the cozy fireplace, and saw breathtaking views that you would NEVER see in Phoenix!

 

I know how people get really annoyed when people go on and on gushing about their kids, but this is my niece, so it's different. I'm going to gush away.

 

I was amazed at how much Brynley had grown up since I last saw her in September. A month away from her 2nd birthday, she not only repeats everything she hears but she expresses her own opinions so clearly and deliberately in full sentences like "That scares me! It's okay, I feel better now." She doesn't call me Cacky anymore because she can pronounce Cathy perfectly. She is independent and adventurous. She whispers when she's really excited. She loves watching YouTube videos and singing songs. She's really into opposites and pointing out sad vs. happy, big vs. little, slow vs. fast, etc. She has never met a slide she didn't love. I couldn't get enough of her. I was even okay with waking up at 3:30am when she was up and ready to play. Here are some of the highlights of the week.



The Anchorage Museum had an entire children's section that had so many of Bryn's favorite things! She spent a lot of time in this model airplane saying "Cathy come too!"

She LOVES books! I would read one to her and ask her all of the characters' names, then she would go through it and point to each one and "Know name?" just like I did.

                                            Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Enough said.

At first she wanted nothing to do with Santa at the mall, but she eventually got this close to him and danced and sang "Jingle Bells" with him.

She really got a kick out of seeing her breath outside!

There's nothing like having your sister close by, especially when you're this cold!

"My kid brother looked like a tic about to pop." Name that movie!

 

I'm practically walking on the ocean at Beluga Point!

 

Love love love :)

Just when I didn't think she could get any cuter...

"That's a kiss!"

Lots of play time!

 

Ben walked out the door his first night here and said "Hey look! Moose!"

 

Overjoyed to have this wonderful family come all the way up here to visit!