Favorite Fall Foto

I LOVE this picture so very much.  Trey is jumping for joy and his Grandma admiring it all.  He is a constant ball of energy and light.  

Gobbleness

Happy Belated Turkey Day!  We enjoy two Thanksgiving meals for the holiday.  First my Dad's home...  Kelan and Corey sported one-of-a-kind holiday hats.  The activity ended up with all of us crawling around like animals.  

 Mimi and Baby Cara

Then to Uncle Mike and Auntie Priscilla's where we ate and enjoyed. 

This year I am thankful for life.  I am thankful for each and every one of you who I am blessed to know.  

Trey's Birthday Fun!

Alissa's son Trey turned 2!  Alissa is my beloved cousin and growing up was like a little sister to me- following me around, practically as a shadow, sharing fashion tips and more.  We didn't fight like sisters, but I have always felt a closeness to her.  Her son Trey is such a gift to us all!  

Trey has an aversion to food so he isn't that fond of actually eating food.  We bought him a "Pizza Party" by Melissa and Doug   This toy will quickly become his most favorite toy of all, he just doesn't know it yet.

My Uncle Mike's home is special to me for so many reasons.  I practically grew up in this home and have so many fond memories of this abode.  Since all of the children have grown up, my uncle has created his "Man Cave" which doesn't necessarily fall into the "special" category to me.  But it's still well done.  Can you guess what team he adores?

Family

Grandma and Amalia "writing" together.  Spanning generations, love runs deep here.

Go Seahawks!

Thanks to our sweet friend, Susan, we got to go to a Seahawks game!  What a game!  It was sold out and it was my first game since the King Dome (yes, I am dating myself).  Simon had never been!  Our friend dL organized it all and what a fun day!

Sundari and Elijah's Wedding!

Congratulations Sundari and Elijah!

Simon met Elijah in his Sustainable Builders course and they became fast friends. Turns out- we adore them!  They got married at Golden Gardens in September.  I helped them set up the great event and it was marvelous!  They are both very creative and it showed through out the event.  They built this giant, gorgeous milagro, representing love and meaning "miracle" in Spanish.  This picture does not do it justice- the actual heart was made of shimmering vinyl and the flames waved in the air as a fan blew on it.  The giant piece was quite an effort!  Everyone loved to dance and pose in front of it- including us! 

 Each table had an individual, different decoration.  The balls represented the bride and groom.  Simon and I helped them decorate the balls one afternoon (but there were many more to do!)  Sundari's brother Ben and his wife Maria were the master minds behind this creativity.  One of the ones I made was below- the yarn representing Sundari's craftiness.  The ball with nuts and bolts represented Elijah's building efforts.  He is an architect.  Each decoration had a small ball of a milagro and this particular one had a small turtle to represent their future honeymoon- saving baby turtles in Costa Rica!

 Congratulations to the gorgeous bride and groom!  (Sundari's dress is made from reused kimono pieces.  Gorgeous!)

New Beginnings...

Today, Simon is officially self-employed.  He has been busy preparing for his first project- planning, researching, budgeting, organizing, permitting, and more planning.  We are VERY excited about his first project- condominium remodel!  New pictures to come!  Congratulations, Simon! 

Yurt fun- Happy Anniversary Simon!

A friend recommended we visit the Guemes Island Resort; getting the last ferry from Anacortes we traveled under the stars to our yurt.  This perfectly sized space was a wonderful get away for the long holiday weekend.  We hiked, massaged, rested and soaked in the sauna.  It was BLISSFUL.  

Food storage-squirrel protection!

Guemes Island Resort

Rain barn

Natural rain collector made by a creative local

Atop Mt. Guemes

Si took this mesmerizing photo atop Mt. Guemes.  Not only did we enjoy a nice and mild hike, but at the top we spoke with a co-steward of the Skagit Land Trust.  We learned a great deal about the preservation of the land and what the future plans for the land are.  It was really interesting!

Guemes Island Fall Festival

We visited the community fall festival and just fell in love with Guemes Island-even more!  Everyone was very friendly and talkative.  The small town feel was very obvious and we enjoyed all of it.  We spent a total of $26 and this is what we bought:  2 hotdogs, 5 small gift cards, 1 beautiful bowl and my anniversary gift a special peace pendant necklace.

Sweet woman who sold pottery with her husband: Eikeland Pottery

We bought a beautiful bowl and roasting dish.  It was discounted in price and a perfect fit for our kitchen.

Lovely photographed greeting cards

Local art at the library

Second growth tree

Beautiful San Juan Islands surrounded us

My most favorite picture of all....

Happy Anniversary, Simon!  Here's to many more.

Summer Scoop: In no special order, here are a few highlights of the summer...The A Team

Alice, Adam (Si's old friend) and Arwyn visited us from Paparoa, New Zealand.  They stayed a week, wandered through the city and were the most delightful house guests!  They tidied and bought us a new bbq (as seen here).  A good time was had by all.

Arwyn!

Visit from John and Mary, from New Zealand!

Simon's aunt and uncle visited from Ngatia, New Zealand.  We visited the Snoqualmie Falls and enjoyed a day trip complete with a big dinner at the Crab Pot.  A table full of crab, shellfish, potatoes, corn and more.  A real feed!  We also had them over for breakfast and learned much about the family's farming history.  It was too short of a trip.

Jumping for Alison's birthday!

We celebrated Alison's birthday by playing at Skyhigh.  It's a giant trampoline world where there's much to do in just an hour!

Back flip into the foam pit

Jump!

 In the background there's Laurel, Lexi and Simon on his back.

Meeting Cordelia Violet Swan Wall

My beautifully happy God daughter from Vancouver.  She's an international traveler and sporting the cool onesie from her favorite auntie.

Summer at Lakebay!

Hardcore hammock!

Dance!

Men at work

We decided to do some work to the main kids room at Lakebay.  Here the guys are rebuilding the bunk beds so that a double can fit on the bottom bed.  Better for growing families!  The men were hard at work!

Say Aaaaaah!

Amalia, is our "only" as Kai's babies live back east; so she is like baby TV to us.  At family gatherings, we just can't get enough.  Here she is with the "Anti" Marcy, and they just love, love, love eachother.

Hiking with Peter, Dee and Si...

In July, we spent a day hiking with our great friends, Peter and Dee.  They led us to a trail up in the Snoqualmie area.  The sun was hot as we trodded up the steep hill and the last mile was tricky as it was quite rocky.  But, as the mountain breeze whizzed by us, it was so worth it to get to the top.  Beautiful mountain ranges surrounded us.  The best reward after a big climb!

View from the top!

Neighborly Love of Rainier Beach

Living in an urban concrete jungle like Capitol Hill, in an apartment/condo building, the neighborly conditional love was always a bit edgy- at least in our building.  One neighbor who always seemed to bring baked goods, was often "fishing" for information and/or being nosey.  I will say our neighbors and good friends Ann and Frank, who lived upstairs were the best part of our building.  I always yearn for a community of neighborly love.

Now, that we are in a neighborhood with families around us, some traffic and lots of activity, I have made it a point to get to know the neighbors on our street.  If anyone walks by our home, I'll talk to them, making small talk and hoping to create a more friendly feel.  One young teen walking by commented on how I was being so "cordial" to everyone.  I'm happy he recognized it!

Two houses down lives a really sweet family.  Derrick and his three daughters with their friendly wife, had a garage sale and I ventured down to peek it out.  Earlier in the week, Simon went over to their house for a quick electrical fix that allowed them to use their bedroom light switch which had originally been erroneously installed.  There was no light for 3 years!  They were elated to have the light corrected.

Today, Simon completed the cement pouring in our garage.  As he was nearing the time when  help was needed (and I wasn't home), Derrick showed up, offered his help and the job was done.  Neighborly love.

Visiting the Maryland and DC!

This year, I decided to make an annual trip to Maryland to see Kai, Sarah, Reagan and Campbell.  While visiting, not only did I get lots of babysitting time in and enjoyed great family time, but I also spent one night in DC and loved my days wandering around.  What an incredible city!

Museums!

DC has many cool and *free* museums, which feature so much of our nation's blood. At one small museum, I enjoyed an exhibit called "The Art of Gaman" and featured art from several Japanese American internment camps.  The art was often made of whatever materials were available- wood (for carvings), wire (for making small miniature flowers and sculptures) and many hand crafted sewing projects.  The exhibit was truly moving.  (Unfortunately, pictures weren't allowed- oops, but I got a few).  Not only did I find an emotional place in my heart for these pieces, but I was again, reminded of the great struggle that my grandparents and so many others endured during WW2.

In this photo, a montage of Martin Luther King Jr's work was represented.  I could have stared at this piece for hours!

In the National Museum of Art Gallery, there was an entire exhibit dedicated to the Virgin Mary.  While I am not necessarily religious, I consider myself spiritual and the expressions of the various Mary's was engaging, rich and so beautiful.  I took many pictures of Mary with or without child, but here's one that really spoke to me:

I took so many pictures, I can't load them all...  I ended the day wandering through one of many outdoor art sculpture parks.  I stumbled upon the "Tree of Wishes"