2013 List

Happy New Year to everyone!  I hope 2013 brings you lots of joy & love.  This year, instead of writing down resolutions which I can never seem to keep, I decided to post our annual "Things to do/Places to go" list instead.  We did pretty well with last year's list & checked off more than half of the items.  After much debate & many vetoes, we came up with the following 20 items:

1.  Multnomah Falls (this has been on our list for several years running & hopefully this is the year we will finally do it!)

2.  New York City/Washington, D.C. (our family vacation this year)

3.  Rutledge Corn Maze (we love going here, but have missed the last 2 years due to various reasons).

4.  Zoo (any zoo will do!)

5.  Seattle Sounders game (they are such a blast!)

6.  Top of the Space Needle (the girls have never been)

7.  Vancouver, British Columbia (we want to get a stamp in our passports!)

8.  Professional Ballet (can you guess who put this on the list?)

9.  Stay at Paradise Lodge on Mt. Rainier & hike (we just got a yearly pass, so I'm hoping we'll get our money's worth out of it)

10.  Concourse d'Elegance (Scott's pick for sure)

11.  Bike trip down the Iron Horse Trail (26 miles, all downhill...yay!)

12.  Snowshoe (so fun!)

13.  Mumford & Sons concert (one of Scott & Corey's favorite bands)

14.  Marching Band Festival (you gotta have more cowbell marching band)

15.  Olympic Swim Meet in Federal Way (Corey's pick)

16.  Beaches (Seaside, Oregon & our old stand-by Westport)

17.  Sea lion caves in Yachats, Oregon (heard they are smelly & loud, but really cool)

18.  WSU Summer camp & Football Game  (Go Cougs!)

19.  Tacoma Rainier's Game (hopefully they will win!)

20.  Meet President Obama when we're in D.C. (well, you just never know!)

Longmire Snowshoe

For Christmas this year Scott bought me some snowshoes, which I just love!  Even though Scott doesn't like the cold, he agreed to go up to Mt Rainier so I could try them out.  With 3 other borrowed pairs, we were all set for our snowshoeing adventure.  The weather called for a dry day, so we were surprised to find it snowing when we got to Longmire.  But we didn't mind at all!  It was just like a winter wonderland.  Scott said that he enjoyed himself a lot so maybe this will be the start of many winter adventures!

This was our first stop to get information about the trails in the area. 

Figuring out which snowshoes went with which person.

The hardest part was getting them on & tightened.

We snowshoed the short, but very pretty Trail of the Shadows.

We did a loop around this beautiful meadow.

I thought the X was cool & was crossing my fingers they would not come down on me as I passed under :)

This cabin was built by James Longmire's son, Elcaine, in 1888. The cedar cabin measures 14 by 16 feet. Restoration was done on it by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1934 and, more recently, by the Park Service. It's the oldest structure in the park.

Snowshoe bunnies

First of several bridges we encountered.

We were not sure how that snow hung on the roof like that.

Corey feeling really tall.

Beautiful Mt. Rainier in the background. 

Corey's icicle.

I thought this picture was funny.  What are Scott & Gabby looking at?

I used my new flexible camera mount (another Christmas gift) to get this photo of us in front of this beautiful bridge.

View from the bridge.

Scott forming a snowball & looking mighty guilty.  A lot of snowballs were flying around today.

View from the other side of the bridge.

I asked Gabby to take this photo of Scott & I.

And I ended up with this self-portrait :)

Corey is looking pretty happy.

Jumping for joy!

They all loved this sign.

Christmas 2012

We were surprised to wake up to snow on Christmas Day!  It's very rare that we get a white Christmas around here.  Our friends who live just a few miles north of us in Lacey didn't get any snow.  I guess Santa thought we were less naughty this year :)  It was cool to open presents with the white stuff coming down outside.  I didn't get very many pictures of us opening presents this year, but we did get some good stuff.  Hope everyone had a great Christmas, too!

Gabby ran outside in her footy pajamas so she could get proof of our white Christmas. 

Winston got a giant bone which kept him entertained while we opened our presents. 

Corey got this really cute hedgehog ornament. 

Scott loves old cars and is always talking about buying one someday.  I always joke that I will get him a Pinto since he says I have no taste in cars.  Corey got him this t-shirt as a gag gift.

A cute nutcracker to add to her collection.

Cougar gear, of course!

Pre-Christmas Fun in Seattle

This morning we made our annual visit to the Seattle Sheraton Hotel to view the Gingerbread Village. The gingerbread houses are always beautiful & there is a new theme every year.  This year's theme was fairy tales & some of the castles were quite elaborate.   We added in a short stop at the Teddy Bear Suite at the Olympic Hotel.  It wasn't quite what I had expected (I thought it'd be much bigger), but the hotel was beautiful & we had a great time looking at all their gorgeous decorations.  Afterwards we had lunch at P.F. Chang's followed by some shopping in the Cougar store at West Lake Center.  A great time was had by all!

I am looking a bit out of it because I am fighting a pretty nasty cold right now.

The Little Mermaid

Aladdin

I thought this Genie looked a bit creepy.

Beauty & the Beast

Grimm's Fairy tales

the backside

Narnia

Alice in Wonderland...I think this was based more on the Johnny Depp version than the original animated movie.

The Olympic Hotel

Patiently waiting in line.  It felt like it was 85 degrees in there.  We were starting to melt.

Nutcracker Tree

Their Gingerbread display.

I couldn't get the girls to step closer to Santa.  They both thought he was creepy.

Scott was braver.

Butch & Gabby

Giant tree outside West Lake Center.

In Macy's