Atlee’s First Year

March 26, 2026

Atlee just had her tenth birthday, which is crazy for me to think about, but in honor of her birthday, I’m pulling out an old post I wrote about her first year of life when she turned one, but never published. Come along for a fun trip down memory lane, exploring Atlee’s first year of life packed into one post.

Everyone tells you your kids will grow up quickly, but no matter how many times we heard this, we still weren’t prepared for how quickly time flew by after Atlee arrived. It seems like just yesterday that I realized Atlee was going to be a week old, and I was convinced, even then, that she was growing up way too fast.

Sometimes it seems that life has slowed down in the last year; other times, I look through photos and see everything we’ve packed into a year and wonder if we are crazy (we were). We have had some amazing experiences and opportunities in Alaska this year, and I thought now would be a good time to recap Atlee’s adventures in her first year.

Thanks to an easy labor and a healthy baby, it didn’t take long before we were able to get outside. The day after Atlee was born we headed out to Lake Hood to put the plane back on wheels.

At three days old Atlee had her first plane ride flying out to Wolf Lake with my sister, Brodie, to visit our friends Will & Goldie

When Atlee was 6 days old I traveled with my Sister and our friend Gina to Bethel to visit my parents and to go to Camai; a dance festival that occurs every spring in Bethel.

At 1 month old we headed to visit our friends at Ultima Thule Lodge in The Wrangell St. Elias National Park, and to compete in our 4th geocache. We placed 4th out of 12 teams despite multiple diaper changes.

At the end of May Atlee’s Great Grandparents (from my mom’s side) visited from Wisconsin. Together we flew up to Nome to visit my sister Brodie & her husband Nick.

Early June was spent around Anchorage, but we made sure to get outside and go on a few hikes.

At the end of June, when Atlee was three months old, we headed out on our yearly anniversary adventure. First stop, the Markwood’s fish site near Drift River, followed by a stop in Port Allsworth on Lake Clark to see the Welty’s. Weather prevented us from going straight to the Valley of 10,000 smokes so we waited out bad weather in Naknek and hung out with Jay Stanford, the McMahan Brothers, and a few other new friends. Mug up — free coffee and donuts provided by the cannery three times a day — was definitely a perk.

We left Nakenek and headed down the coast looking for walrus. We found a dead walrus and harvested the tusks before heading to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes for Atlee’s first night of tent camping.

After that, we made the long trip to Gates of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, stopping in Bettles to refuel and break up the trip.

10 days in to our trip (with a week and a half remaining) We had a huge fight with a lot of miscommunication, I was sick of breastfeeding without a chair, and exhausted by a baby completely off her schedule. We threw in the towel early and headed home a little defeated, but still thankful for a safe, fun-filled adventure. With the time off remaining, we met up with Hannes & Julia, our friends from Switzerland, and hiked Palmer Creek Trail near Hope. On the way to Hope, we found a dead whale on the beach.

Later in July I hiked Palmer Creek Trail again, this time with three of my co-workers who had all also had little girls within the last year.

For the 4th of July we flew to Seldovia to hang out with our friends, the Barnett’s, and to experience commercial fishing in Katchemak Bay.

August was spent enjoying our home. We did take a short trip to Soldotna to pick up our cleaned walrus tusk.

In September we camped out at Rabbit Lakes and enjoyed beautiful fall weather.

Later in the month we drove to Valdez for Sara & Zach’s wedding. We stopped at the McMahans on the way there to visit and break up the long drive.

In December, Atlee went for her first back country ski experience up Tin Can, a popular backcountry ski destination in Turnagain Arm. At the end of the month we spent the day on the Snowbird glacier, visiting the Snowbird Hut for the first time.

In March we took 9 days to fly from Fairbanks following the Iditarod trail to Nome.

A few days after getting back to Anchorage we flew with friends to Spencer Lake to explore the glacier.

And on the 25th of March, Atlee turned one. She has added so much joy to our lives and has been such a great trooper throughout her first year.

Atlee’s travels so far:

Bethel, Nome (twice), Soldotna, Girdwood, Mccarthy, Gakona (twice), Port Ellsworth, Iliamna, Naknek, Valley of 10,000 smokes, Fairbanks (twice), Bettles, McGrath, Talkeetna, Hope, Brooks Range/Gates of the Arctic, Seldovia, Homer, Tanana, Ruby, Galena, Huslia, Koyuk, Nulato, Unalakleet.