Christmas at the cabin

Paul and I decided to spend a quiet Christmas in Sunriver, Oregon - just the two of us and the dogs. It was snowy, romantic, busy, adventurous, but most of all it was absolutely perfect!


We went ice skating...


took a dogsled ride...






went snowshoeing in the middle of nowhere...

and even relaxed in the hot tub (after Paul cleared a path through the snow).

Christmas date night!

A wonderful dinner downtown and tickets to A Christmas Story at the 5th Avenue. We are so blessed to be able to spend a romantic evening together!

Leavenworth Tree Lighting 2010

We were lucky enough to have some of our family join us in Leavenworth this year for the tree lighting! It was a beautiful, sunny day when we arrived and started snowing in the afternoon, creating the perfect ambiance for the tree lighting. I love that darling Bavarian town!

I love traditions

The Christmas season can get so busy and it's easy to lose sight of what's truly important. That's why the traditions that Paul and I have developed are so important to us, one of which is going to watch the Christmas ships. During our first Christmas season together, Paul planned a surprise date night to see the ships and it has been a very special tradition ever since.

Two down!

My goal today was to not only complete the Jingle Bell Run (without walking) but to beat my time from the Greenlake Gobble. I did it!! I beat my time by about a minute and there were A LOT of hills in this run. I am so happy that I have such a wonderful husband that supports me in every step (literally).

Note: We didn't get a picture right after the run because it was pouring rain and all I wanted to do was get home, shower, and dry off!

3 Generations

I am extremely lucky to have such amazing women in my life! My mom, Grams and I enjoyed dinner together followed by a Christmas program and dessert at Mom's church. It was such a great reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. I am blessed!

Friendsgiving 2010

We hosted this year's "Friendsgiving" and had a great time catching up and spending time with such good friends! We missed you Bucky and Nolan, you better drive up next year!




We are thankful to be blessed with such wonderful friends!

My own snowboarding instructor

Today was our first day on the mountain and it was so much fun! I'm finally at the point where I can get myself down the mountain (without swearing or crying) thanks to my personal snowboarding instructor - who also happens to be my wonderful husband!

So Thankful

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had this year! Paul's mom came over to our place for a lovely dinner complete with a smoked turkey (gotta do things Texas style), stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes, and two pies - all for three people! We were full beyond belief with leftovers to last us till next Thanksgiving. We are so thankful for all the blessings in our life.


Paul and his mom displaying the place cards I made.


Mmmmmm....smoked Turkey - I love my Texan!


Finally relaxing with full bellies!

I did it!!

I am not a runner. I have never been a runner. Today however, that may have changed. I FINALLY completed a 5K without stopping! I've always signed up for "runs" as more of a social event than an athletic experience, but I made it my goal to actually run this one...and I did! It was only a 5K but to a non-runner that feels closer to a marathon. Paul was beside me the whole way (even though he can run much faster than me) and I couldn't have done it without him. My next hurdle is going to be to complete the Jingle Bell Run even faster than this one.

17.92

Our flyball team set a new club record today with a 17.92 run! For those of you who don't know flyball, let me give you a quick overview. That would be 17.92 seconds for four dogs to run down a 51 foot lane over four 7 inch jumps, hit off a contraption that ejects a tennis ball, and run back the 51 feet over the four jumps. 17.92 seconds, holy cow! Savage also set his best time ever at 3.87 seconds. We're so proud of our furry, four-legged boy and teammates! (And I'm so proud of Paul for training him to do this so well)


This is the view the other team sees as Savage zooms past...hehe!

So Proud

He is more than a pharmacist. He is an adviser. He is a friend. He is a comedian. He is a shoulder. He is a boss. He is a hard worker. He is my dad.

Pumpkin Carving 2010

Obviously, one of us is a MUCH more talented pumpkin carver...and it's not me! We had a few friends over to carve pumpkins last night and Shavon trumped us all with her Freddie Cruger pumpkin.


Thanks for coming over guys, we had a great time!

Biker Man

After hours of measuring, drilling, and using lots of tools, Paul has his brand new motorcycle bags installed! Look at that happy biker man!

Octoberfest

What a beautiful day for beer tasting in Seattle! The Fremont Octoberfest did not disappoint with hundreds of beers, brats and pretzels, and lots of crazy people to watch.

Happy Birthday Paul!

Paul's birthday weekend finished up with a family dinner at Marrakesh, a Moroccan restaurant in Seattle. Yes, that is a towel on our lap - almost everything they serve is eaten with your hands, very authentic!


His present from our entire wonderful family was side bags for his motorcycle - can you see the excitement?!?!


Happy birthday to my amazing husband!

Mmmmm....chocolate.....

As many of you know, Paul absolutely LOVES chocolate. So as a birthday weekend activity, I took him to Boehm's candy/chocolate factory for a tour and a little taste testing.


Decked out in his cool hat, tasting single-bean chocolate from South America.


In front of Boehm's chapel.

M's Game

I scored some free Mariner's tickets so we decided to take Brooksie to her first game. As a bonus, it was free blanket night!

Matt & Ashleigh's Wedding

Congratulations to my brother Matt and his gorgeous wife Ashleigh!


It was a beautiful wedding, complete with their dog Todd as the ring bearer :)


Me and Paul after the ceremony <3

Big kid toy

We met Paul's sister and her family down at the beach today for a picnic and a dip in the lake. Since our niece didn't want to use her blow-up whale, Paul decided that it looked like a pretty cool toy and even convinced me to take a ride!

Torture!

Savage absolutely LOVES tennis balls, so you can imagine how torturous it was for him to see this in our backyard. No, we are not trying to anger him, this was the only way to clean and dry the tennis balls without him chasing after them all.

Belize it!

Paul and I just got back from Belize where we spent 10 days scuba diving in crystal clear water and trecking through Mayan caves.


The diving was stunning! 84 degree water with super amazing coral and fish. We did 11 dives, including a 130 foot dive at the Blue Hole. We saw sharks, dolphins, lobsters, rays, a turtle, and tons of beautiful fish.


Another one of our adventures was a 5 mile hike/swim/crawl through a Mayan cave. The cave was used by the Mayans for sacrifices and contained pottery and skeletons that are over 1300 years old.



We did take some time to relax, luckily this was right outside our room.

A day on the farm

We took 2 hour drive to Yakima to see my brother, sister-in-law, and darling nephew. They were up from Arizona staying with my sister-in-law's parents who live on a farm - so much fun!


Cohen and I fed the "dinkey" (miniature donkey).


And he had Paul working as his personal raspberry picker.

It was so great to spend time with family - thanks guys!

Lucky girl

I am such a lucky girl! I was gone for three days for a conference in Denver and what did I come home to? My wonderful husband, a clean house, and fresh flowers everywhere!


On the table...


In the kitchen...


On the bed...


Even in the bathroom!

I have the best husband in the world!!!

Happy 4th!

Our 4th of July tradition is to take the bus down to Gasworks Park, hang out on the grass and watch the fireworks. The weather was not so great this year, but we braved the rain and headed down there anyway. We had fun, but decided that it was not quite as fun to hang out in the rain than the sunny weather of years past. So we packed up and headed home, spread our picnic blanket out in front of the TV and watched the fireworks show from our cozy living room.

Looks like we've created a new tradition!