Little Explorer celebrated her 1st Birthday with a yellow rose in her hair from her Great-Great Grandma’s back yard! 
There’s nothing more precious in life than watching your child grow and discover new things. She has stolen our hearts and filled our days with boundless joy and fun.
Happy Birthday, sweet baby! We love you!
Home again! Joe and the team have been home for just under a week and it’s great to see them all again. The dogs are in their best form…muscled up like Popeye from head to toe with sparkling, fluffy, snow-washed coats. It’s a beautiful sight to behold.
Little Explorer is thrilled to see her Dada and the very day he got home, she started crawling like a pro. She’s been enjoying her beard-pulling, nose honking sessions with Joe! She’s been showing him all the things she learned and all the ways she’s grown over the past three months. It’s so nice for us all to be together again.
It takes a while to decompress from the expeditions and there’s a lot of work to do to get all the gear offloaded, cleaned, organized and put away. As we get those chores wrapped up we’ll be posting details of the 2012 Arctic Expedition!
In the meantime, have a great weekend and enjoy some sunshine!
Our lead dog Farmer sired three pups. They are shown in the photo below, left to right; Major, Penny and Barney. They are six months and around 70-75lbs. It had just snowed a bunch and they are out exploring the new, white snowy world.
Hey dad, how’d you get over there?
“Follow us Major!”
“Cmon Major, you big sissy. The snow won’t bite you-just hop in!”
“Help…I’m drowning!”
“That’s my boy!!”
Oh me, oh my…it’s been a long time!
No, we haven’t fallen off the edge of the earth.
Yes, we have been completely absorbed in spending every moment with our darling Little Explorer, Elaina!
These past few months have been awesome (that is totally the understatement of the millennium) and we’re so blessed to have such a wonderful, healthy baby.
Melvin enjoys his new little sis. Wherever Elaina is is where he wants to be. The concern in his eyes every time she cries is really sweet. He even respects that her toys are hers and hasn’t once tried to steal any from her, which is amazing because Melvin is a total klepto (but that’s a story for another day). He’s such a good buddy. She loves to feel the soft fur on his ears. It’s love. 
Little Explorer isn’t the only baby we’ve been tending to this summer. Foxy and Farmer had three beautiful puppies just three weeks after our daughter was born.
Two boys…
Barney
…and Major…
…and a girl, Penny.
Of course Little Explorer is the focus around these parts so, documenting the puppies’ antics has taken a back seat to capturing Elaina’s every move on camera. What can I say?
In the wee hours of July 1st, we welcomed a new blessing into our family. Our Little Explorer is finally here!
Elaina is happy, healthy, and she’s by far the cutest puppy we’ve ever laid eyes on!
Love, love, love this little gal…
Melvin has taken quite a shining to her, too! 
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. -Numbers 6:24-26