Nate, Jennah, and Aksel in Alaska!: August 2018

Hello again friends and family!

It's been almost nine months since we posted about our trip to Nepal and we've been silent since then. Sorry for not posting as often as we should, life has been quite busy!

So, let's get right to it! As you likely already know, our family of 2 humans and 2 dogs will be growing by an extra human any day now. We are anxiously and excitedly awaiting the birth of a baby boy, due September 7th!

The first thing we bought our son? Skis!

One of several tests, just to make sure.

We discovered Jennah was pregnant on New Year's Eve, and after repeated samples to increase the power of the test and improve the statistical significance in order to avoid Type I error, we accepted that she probably was in fact pregnant! The first trimester included morning sickness, fatigue, and all that fun stuff - even an aversion to coffee (that was a clear sign something was up). But, almost like a switch, by the time she reached the 2nd trimester, most of that went away. Jennah has been feeling great overall and adapting to slowing down just a little more each month while still trying to stay active! There is not much else to report on that front. The baby has grown and so has Jennah's tummy, both are perfectly healthy so far. We think he has Jennah's nose!

Ultrasound capture at about 20 weeks

We've nick-named our son-to-be Terwilliger, after a street in Portland, which was named after a Simpson's character. We thought it was a pretty silly name, but it's grown on us and our friends. Who knows, maybe he'll get it on his birth certificate!?

We think we have everything we need for little Terwilliger, and probably more than we need. We've been given a lot gifts from friends, many of whom had children recently. We had a baby shower with our family while we were visiting them in Colorado in May and just recently had a little party with friends here in AK. Jennah's Mom visited in late July and helped to get the nursery ready. They did a great job painting a mountain mural on one of the walls.

A labor of love!

So that is where we are now, but lots of other things have happened in 2018, so let's back up.

In late 2017 and early 2018 Jennah opened another business called Physio Pilates & Wellness. She taught Pilates classes at a couple locations from January through June. She is looking at expanding to nutrition consulting and more Pilates sometime in 2019 after she is back to working. Check out her website at www.physioak.com.

In May, Jennah changed clinics and now works at Ascension Physical Therapy, also here in Anchorage. This turned out to be an excellent move! She loves her new job and appreciates the small size of the clinic, the relaxed environment, down-to-earth and supportive coworkers, and a flexible schedule.

We had a pretty good winter here, as it turned out, and we spent as much time outside as we could.

Fat biking above town in December

Hiking Bird Ridge in February

Nate and our friend Kyle fat biking at Spencer Glacier.

Kyle biking on a glacier.

Skating at Eklutna Lake

The pups posing for a photo on the bluff in Kincaid Park.

In early March Nate had a training in Olympia, Washington, so we combined that with a short get-away to the San Juan Islands. It was a nice little trip.

In April we made a trip to Arizona to visit friends in Flagstaff and Prescott. We were lucky it wasn't too hot for us Alaskans. Nate got a few big days of biking in, two in Sedona and one in Prescott. It was a blast!

Taking a break in Sedona (rental bike).

At the Grand Canyon, at five months!

Jennah and Sarah, with Elise and Ben.

In late May we visited family in Colorado. It was a really nice trip back home with plenty of sun and relaxing family time!

Tyler and Jennah and the Arkansas River

Back in Alaska, we enjoyed some nice summer weather while hiking in the beautiful mountains that surround our home. The following are from a hike up Hope Point.