Happy in Montana: Juneau!

We returned home yesterday from a totally amazing trip to Alaska!!

Uncle Phil treated us to airline tickets that would have otherwise been outside of our budget.

We managed to visit 3 cities, had beautiful weather, health, peaceful travels,

and God's grace with us the entire trip.

It was a dream!

We have over 600 photos of the trip, but I will just share highlights here!

First stop: Juneau

Although we never lived in Juneau, for me, it was a childhood destination to visit grandparents and attend family reunions. While Adrian & I lived in Skagway, Juneau (100 miles to the south) was the place we often passed through (nearest airport, better shopping options, health care, etc). Juneau is where we would ferry our car down, load it up with Costco goods, and ferry back home. Juneau is the place Adrian had an emergency appendectomy when we had been married 6 weeks. Juneau is where I traveled for every prenatal appointment, where I lived for 3 weeks while anticipating the arrival of our first child, and where Ella Rose was born. It was the place Grandma Alm came to on a cruise ship so she could meet Ella Rose when she was a few months old.

We spent time in Juneau before and after Skagway.

I was glad to see the familiar sights on Juneau,

especially because

we landed on the clearest, warmest day I have EVER seen in Juneau!!

(And I knew I'd better appreciate it ~ smile!)

5 cuties at the skating cabin overlooking Mendenhall Lake

Our kids' amazing playground for a day:
Mendenhall Glacier

The view of the beach, lake and glacier ~
When I was a child, the glacier extended to the waterfall you see on the right.
It was nice to learn that while some glaciers are currently receeding, others are expanding.