ALASKA!

Tom was SUPER LUCKY and got to go to Alaska for 8 days for a work trip. If you know me and Tom at all, you know Alaska is NUMBER ONE on his list of places to visit and, well, definitely not number one for me. :)

They flew from Bellingham to Seattle to Juneau . . . this is the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau. The Alaska Pipeline . . . Tom sent this picture to Grace and said, "Grace, look how strong Daddy is!"
They flew from Juneau to Anchorage and then drove and drove and drove . . . one night they stayed in Wasilla and Tom could see the back of Sarah Palin's house from their hotel. They made their way to the NORTH POLE!

Tom sent this picture and asked Grace what she wanted him to tell Santa she wanted . . . she was so excited and freaked out she screamed, "A BOX!" Santa is holding a coloring book that Tom got for Grace and Santa wrote in it, "To Grace, a true princess! Merry Christmas! Love, Santa"

They finally got to the Kenai River near Soldotna . . . the world record king salmon was caught there in 1985-- a fun fact Tom told me. :)
Brady caught one!

Tom was PUMPED to see any and all wildlife they could . . . they saw a moose and her calf and a couple BEARS! Tom took this picture with his phone, which doesn't zoom . . . so they were pretty close to this guy.

HOORAY! We are used to Tom working out of town during the week, but this trip was especially long and we couldn't wait to see him. We surprised him and picked him up at the Bellingham Airport!