A Coombes Life

Snow Days!

2012-01-19T05:20:00.003Z

Tuesday we made a snowman. The snow was perfect for that. It stuck together so fast and easy!
And today (Wednesday) we tried cross country skiing down the road to Centennial Park. Millie did great. (She thinks she did badly, and cried a bit on the way home, but she did awesome!) I feel better after said she will try it again.

I wonder what the plan is for tomorrow....I already know there is no school again...I think hot cocoa and one last play in the snow before it goes...oh yeah...I have to split more wood again. I feel like I am constantly doing that...but I love my woodstove and it's worth it.

Snow!

2012-01-16T18:20:00.002Z

Living in the NW, I've noticed that even in the winter, everything stays pretty green. Since we are the evergreen state, we don't really have many bare trees..so it is so nice to watch the snow falling (while warming up next to a roaring woodstove) and see the world outside turn white.

I love snow in the winter.

Hoping it sticks around for a few more days...looks like more snow could come our way!

Germany trip

2012-01-13T06:31:00.004Z

I wish we were still back in Germany eating some ice-cream and shopping...

Millie and Oma on the trolley to go into town.

Here we are posing at the Residence in Wurzburg. Millie loved seeing the fancy gold rooms and chandeliers inside.

Off to play in the gardens outside!

Time for some lunch in town on New Years Eve. Everything seemed to close up by 2 pm.

Enjoying the night with some sparklers. There were so many fireworks being lit that night where my mom lived. We stayed up to watch and Millie (who woke up from all the noise) watched the fireworks with us from the balcony.

And then to enjoy some fire wine. You put sugar cubs on the metal spoon, pour rum all over it and then light it on fire to get the sugar to melt into the hot drink. Very delicious!

Gingerbread Houses

2012-01-12T16:44:00.003Z

While we were in Germany, Millie got to make a gingerbread house with Opa.

Hard at work on the design...

The completed project!

Beautiful.

Off to Rothenburg for more shopping and sightseeing.

Opening presents Christmas eve.

We love Playmobil toys!

Christmas goose!

Part 1 of our Germany adventure

2012-01-12T05:12:00.010Z

Well I can't believe we are back already one week from our trip to Germany. Millie and I loved it! Here's one of my favorite pictures of Millie with her Oma and Opa.
Another picture I love is this one of the three of us taken in Wurzburg with the fortress on the hill in the background.
One the train to Munich to visit my mom's friend, Christa. And of course, while we are there, we have to go see some more Christmas markets. We arrived to a city of snow!
I loved the markets because Germany has the most beautiful Christmas ornaments and decorations. I wish I could have bought them all.
Millie and her cute edible necklace!
Enjoying the cute decorated store windows. This was a huge Steiff toy animal display.

It's snowing again! It was so cold this day. We spent hours outside, but warmed up later in a cafe with some coffee and my favorite- apple strudel in vanilla sauce.

On the train ride back to Wurzburg. I will post some more pictures of the rest of our trip shortly!

Happy new year

2011-12-31T18:41:00.003Z

Happy New Year from Germany! Ein glückliches neues Jahr.

Frohe Weihnachten

2011-12-18T19:57:00.010Z

Merry Christmas from Germany!
We arrived safe and sound (although completely exhausted and jet lagged). I am so happy that Millie gets to spend her Christmas with Oma and Opa. Plus we get to visit the Christmas markets!

Oma and Millie at the market in Würzburg. If I didn't have a weight limit for the airplane, I could definitely go crazy shopping here everyday.

Christmas trolley in town.

Warming up with a glass of Bavarian Glühwein.

Hoping we get some snow! It certainly feels cold enough. We had a light dusting when we woke up this morning. I will post more pictures of Millie and me with Oma and Opa (poor Opa, we will put your photo on the next post). My mom has to guide me through the computer programs since it is all in German and I struggle make sense of how to work and understand the computer here. We are definitely having a great time. Tomorrow Millie, me and my mom are taking the train to Münich to sightseeing (and of course, visit the Christmas market there, too!)

Mixed Media

2011-12-12T06:17:00.002Z

Last week I went to a Mixed Media class at my local scrapbook store. I had never tried this before, but it was so much fun. We added tissue paper, paint, paper, stamps, stickers, and buttons to a canvas to make a cool picture.

Millie did not come with me to the class, but when I came home, she wanted to make a picture too. So here is her little creation on a 3x3 canvas I had at home. I think I might even like her's better!

Here Comes Santa!

2011-12-05T07:02:00.009Z

We spent all day in fog today. The clouds never left us, but below is a picture my friend took of how the day looked as soon as you left our town! It was gorgeous out! Who would have known!!

A lot of times, I assume everywhere is foggy and nasty if we are. Often it is pretty nice and sunny elsewhere, we just sometimes get these weird pockets of rain or fog here and then 5 miles away, it is completely different weather....

We ventured out into the fog to track down Santa at the fire station in Preston. Millie wasn't sure what she wanted for Christmas this year, but I told her she still has time to write up that list.

Taking a break from talking to Santa, to enjoy a cookie (or two) with friends.

Millie, Mama and Santa.

Santa's sleigh was on top of the fire truck and we all got to go for a ride.

Brr, it was sooo cold up there!

Thank goodness we had Rudolph's red nose and the fire truck lights to guide us through this foggy day.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T22:48:00.003Z

Mike's mom, dad and his brother, Uncle Jimmy came to stay with us this Thanksgiving. It was really nice to have company since Mike is once again deployed in Afghanistan. It has been two years since we have had a Thanksgiving with Mike home. I am looking forward to the time when he will be home with us for good and not have to miss anymore holidays!

In the kitchen preparing a feast! (and Deli getting groomed by Millie)

Time to sit down and eat! Delicious! (Thanks Lola, for all that cooking)

We love Fall!

2011-11-26T22:35:00.004Z

I can't believe it almost December and I completely forgot to post some of our Halloween and farm pictures. Embarrassing...

So here is a photo of Millie's Kindergarten class and her teacher, pumpkin picking at Fall City Farms.

Millie, Mike and I went to the local Harvest Festival in North Bend. It is perfect for kids, they have a Haunted House (Millie was so scared I had to carry her through halfway), arts and crafts, snacks and of course, lots of games and prizes.

Millie was Snow White this year!

Our local fire department always drives the big firetruck on Halloween night and when they see trick or treaters, they always stop to pass out the coolest flashing glow in the dark necklaces! Secretly I wish I could have one too!

Cutest kid ever!

October

2011-10-30T05:20:00.010Z

This is the first time we have still been picking tomatoes from the garden in October. September was beautiful, but we have already had quite a bit of rain and cool weather this month. The secret this year to keeping our plants healthy and dry was the plastic tarps over the raised beds.

Mike and I also tried canning and pressure cooking for the first time. It is really easy and fun! We have pickles, green beans, tomato sauce, blueberry and peach jam, apple butter, canned peaches, pickled cherry tomatoes, and diced and stewed tomatoes. Almost all the vegetables and fruit came from our garden, our neighbors (thanks Karen for all the cucumbers!) or local u-pick farms.

A few weeks ago, Millie's school participated in a Walk-a-Thon. All the classes got dressed up and ran/walked as many laps as they could to help raise money for technology and the enrichment classes at their school.

Here comes all the classes on the field.

And Millie is off running! I think she did 15 laps! The school raised nearly $30,000.

Earlier this month, we went pumpkin picking at Jubilee Farms in Carnation with our neighbors.

Looking for the great pumpkin.

Millie joined the Unicycle team at North Bend Elementary School. She has practice once a week and is so determined! Lots of practicing how to get on and off and balancing against the wall. Hopefully we will have some pictures in a few months of Millie riding by herself. We are so proud of our Millie!

September 6th-Millie's first day of school!

2011-09-27T05:11:00.004+01:00

Our little 5 year old started school early this month. She was so excited and loves it so far.

It is so nice having the school right down the road. We walk everyday (rain or shine!)

Millie's new kindergarten classroom!

The first ever Coombes family camping trip

2011-09-27T04:56:00.006+01:00

The first few days in September we spent camping. It was our first camping experience as a family....(besides the 2 nights we slept in a tent in our backyard back when the temps climbed into the 100s and no one had air conditioning here...) We stayed at Lake Pearrigyn State Park in Winthrop, WA.

Here we are with the tent all ready for sleeping!

We had beautiful weather the entire time. Millie loved the beach and quickly made new friends! She even got to go on a boat ride with her new friends.

Getting ready for dinner.

Relaxing and reading.

Having fun in downtown Winthrop.

Enjoying a nice cold ice-cream cone. There is a country western theme to the entire town.

Playing a game of croquet near an apple orchard.

Sipping some cider at the Methow Ciderhouse.

Downtown Winthrop. Camping is done for the season for us, but we definitely will be heading back out to the campgrounds when the warmer weather arrives in July and August again.

End of August fun!

2011-09-16T06:39:00.004+01:00

Summer really hit it's stride in mid-August. We had some really hot, sunny days and loved every bit. Millie and I posing in front of a car at the antique car show in town.

Riding a horse and buggy during Snoqualmie Railroad days.

Catching bugs.

Splashing in the swimming pool.

Going to the Everett State Fair...

...and watching pig races!

Millie and Papa going for a ride.

Yeah for summer!

Visiting Mt. Saint Helens

2011-08-23T06:39:00.003+01:00

On Friday we visited Mt. Saint Helens. It took us about 3 hours to get there, but it was a beautiful drive. The volcano is just spectacular to see in person.

It is hard to imagine this once had a mountain peak on it and was surrounded by lush green trees. The 1980 blast changed the entire landscape.

A picture perfect day again!

Enjoying more of summer

2011-08-23T06:05:00.009+01:00

Millie thinks its fun to look for fairies outside. Nanna and Grandpa sent us a book with beautiful pictures of fairy houses. Millie found two she liked and together we made a fairy home.

Here is the fairy house...

and here is their vegetable garden.

Our own garden is growing very tall. The tomatoes are taller than Millie now, but still have mostly green fruit. Right now we are getting tired of eating so many zucchini and beets. We have quite a lot of them!

Playing on the tree swing.

Taking a break in the playhouse.

Lola and Grandpa came to visit about 2 weeks ago and we had a delicious BBQ outside. Grilled oysters, mussels, fresh crab and we even had a Peking duck!

Time for grilled oysters.

A summer feast!

Lots of fresh beets!

I feel like we waited 11 long months to get this beautiful, warm, sunny weather. We have definitely been enjoying every minute of it. I love that we spend so much time at home just playing, gardening and lots of relaxing during our favorite season!

I love August!

2011-08-05T00:08:00.008+01:00

It finally warmed up and we have been making the most of our short summers here. We headed down to the Snoqualmie river with our neighbors and the kids had a great time playing in the shallow pools of water.

Relaxing in the sand.

Our vegetable garden is growing. We have broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, beets and radishes in this raised bed.

Our hostas love our NW weather and the parsley and sage is growing fast too!

Zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber and more tomatoes.

Grown in our garden!

And yes, the sun does shine here. We even warmed up to 80 degrees and had to cool off in sprinklers. It does feels like 100 degrees to us when it gets to 78 degrees!

Mike came home from Iraq 2 weeks ago and Millie and I love having him home with us everyday. We are so lucky.

Clematis on the vine!

Outside BBQ dinners.

Sun setting across from Mt. Si. The sun just makes everything pretty here!

Gearing up for a hike to Denny Creek.

Off we go to Franklin Falls/Denny Creek.

Strawberry picking in the rain

2011-07-17T19:41:00.004+01:00

Well it's a different day, but looks the same. It is still raining and currently only in the 50s! We decided we better pick our strawberries in our yard before they rot with all the moisture.

They look sooo delicious, but sadly do not taste good this year at all. Without any warmth or sun, they never got that sweet taste. We even went to the strawberry farms in Carnation and everyone I know that went, also said that the strawberries did not taste good.

Summer in the North West

2011-07-16T18:48:00.003+01:00

Tuesday morning...waiting for beach weather...

Thursday at 11:45 a.m. on the way to the movie theater...weather seems to be worsening. Still waiting for sun.

Today is Saturday and has not changed at all....may have to wait until August for hopes of a weather change......

Happy Birthday Girl!

2011-07-07T05:29:00.006+01:00

I really can't believe that Millie is now 5 years old! What a happy, fun kid! I want to give presents all the time with an expression of joy like that on her face.

Millie turned 5 while we were in Canada, but I decided to have a small party after we returned home so Millie could celebrate with friends too.

This years theme-Barbie! Here are all the kids working on an art project.

They decorated wooden princesses and also made beaded necklaces.

Our beautiful princess.

Playing Pin the Sunglasses on Barbie.

Ice-cream cake time!

I hope all her wishes come true!

Our trip to Canada Part 3

2011-07-06T06:18:00.005+01:00

Millie celebrated her 5th birthday while we were on holiday in Canada. Janelle and her mom organized a party for Millie and she was so excited.

Yum! Cupcakes!

Opening presents.

Opening the pinata.

Blowing the birthday horn.

Posing in her new birthday shirt and fancy shoes.

The next day we went to Fort Steele, near Cranbrook. This heritage town had lots of fun stuff for the family, train rides, hayrides, interpretive displays, but I think one of Millie's favorites was panning for gold. And she even found a huge nugget of gold (fool's gold.)

Millie, Carolee and Isaac

Our last night in Canada was spent camping at Wasa Lake Provincial Park.

Millie and Carolee getting our dinner ready.

Dinner time camping style.

Millie and I had a wonderful 10 days.

Canada Trip Part 2

2011-07-01T04:50:00.009+01:00

On Tuesday night we had a delicious cook out. Mike roasted our hot dogs over the fire and after dinner, we all roasted marshmellows and ate smores.

Wednesday was such a warm, sunny day. We drove to Lake Louise which is about 1 1/2 hours by car.

First stop was the gondola at Lake Louise. Unfortunately it was not working the day we arrived, but we did get to see two grizzly bears. The two brown spots under the ski slope are a mother grizzly bear and her cub. It looked much better with binoculars! There was a very enthusiastic Japanese tourist who attempted to make contact with the grizzlys by running up the slope towards them, but he was stopped by staff very quickly.

Beautiful Lake Louise!

Brr! That's cold even on a hot sunny day!

Relaxing after a cup of tea and some dessert inside the hotel at the lake.

Still lots of snow along the parking lot.

Our neighbors son loves trains, so we stopped at this train depot outside of Lake Louise.

Spotted another mountain goat on the ride home. We also saw lots of rams, as well.

Millie putting on a performance at the bed and breakfast.

It's Friday and today my angel turned 5 years old!

We went into Golden to ride the gondola to the top of the ski slope. Notice that it is nice and green outside....

...just a few minutes later and it starts to get pretty snowy the higher we go. We rode right over Boo the grizzly bears sanctuary. He had escaped right before we arrived in Canada, but park authorities found him just a few days later.

At the top of the mountain!

This was such a delicious lunch we had at the Eagle's Eye restaurant located 7,700 feet on the mountaintop. Just look at that view!

Happy Birthday Millie!

Blowing out her candles.

Digging in to a delicious vanilla ice cream treat.

Going back down the mountain.

There was a little playground at the bottom of the ski slope, so we all had fun playing and climbing and jumping.

I have just a few more photos I will post from Millie's birthday dinner and our camping trip in Canada...stay tuned..

Travels to Canada Part 1

2011-06-29T05:43:00.010+01:00

Millie and I just returned from an eight day trip with our wonderful neighbors to British Columbia, Canada. Janelle's parents own Farview Bed and Breakfast, which is where we all stayed. They were the best hosts ever and we are now huge fans of Canada! Here we are on our stopping for lunch on our way.

We drove over the mountains, I believe it was Highway 2 and it was still pretty snowy up there.

Here is Janelle's parents home near Golden, BC. It was gorgeous!

I took this picture looking out the front window.

All the kids loved the playground in the backyard. It was a favorite spot to play in everyday.

On our first day we visited the quaint town of Golden. Here we are in front of the Kicking Horse bridge. Golden is in a great location. We were very close to six major National Parks.

We spent the afternoon walking thru town, visiting the local bookstore, and later ended the day with some ice cream.

Millie and Carolee had so much fun on this swing that "Grampy" and Mike (Janelle's husband) made during our visit.

I did not expect to see any bears...but I was hoping we would...and on our third day we spotted this black bear along the highway on the way to go hiking at Ross Lake. We actually saw 4 bears on our trip. Two black bears and two grizzly bears.

Off we all go for a day hike.

First we walked along this road and then the rest of the hike was thru the woods. Can you believe we hiked nearly 4 miles with 4 kids from the ages of 18 mths, a three year old, 4 year old and a 7 year old. The kids did great and we had a beautiful rest along the shores of the lake.

Relaxing at Ross Lake.

I will post lots more photos of trip very soon!

Sunny in Seattle

2011-06-15T01:37:00.006+01:00

So it has been a typical spring for us around here. Not many sunny or warm days in Snoqualmie so far. We've had about 55-65 degrees for a high the past few weeks. However, the weather is often sunnier in Seattle, so a few days ago, we drove to Alki Beach, took the water taxi across to the pier in Seattle and ate lunch.

We had a guest at lunch who seemed very hungry. These crazy birds love Ivar's food as much as we do!

Ah, such a nice day.

Water taxi ride back to Alki beach.

We spent until 3 pm collecting rocks and sea glass along the beach.

Then it was time to drive home and spend the evening in front of the chiminea. This was our first trial run. It keeps us warm in the evening and we having been eating smores and marshmellows...a lot.

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T19:44:00.004+01:00

Wish we had warmer weather, a little bit of sun, a nice BBQ. I don't know of any Memorial day parades in this side of the state.....But wishing a happy Memorial day anyway.

A picture Millie made yesterday.

Happenings in May

2011-05-29T23:20:00.006+01:00

Well it is that time of year again. Millie graduated from pre-school last week and she definitely is excited about starting Kindergarten in the fall. Wow!

We had 2 great years at Alpine Co-op here in Snoqualmie. I will really miss being so involved in her school year and being able to work in the class 4 times a month.

Next step-Kindergarten!!

We found this dress last week at Costco and Millie has been wearing it A LOT since then. I was working in the kitchen and when I came around the corner, I found Millie in her dress, her cowboy hat and riding on her pony. So of course, we had to take some cute pictures for Mike to see!

Another day, (but the same dress!) we are outside playing with bubbles.

__________________________________________________________________

Pre-school Picnic at Centennial Fields

Millie enjoying a picnic at the park with her pre-school friends. Every year the school celebrates the last day with a picnic. (Unfortunately this is the 2nd year of chilly, rainy weather at our picnic.)

But the kids just bundled up and got to play a bit in between rain showers. They always have fun when they get together to play!

Even though we live right down the road, Millie and I had frozen fingers and toes on our wet, chilly ride home.

Despite the slow start to Spring we are still giving our garden a go. Here is our lettuce growing in pots this year to avoid being eaten by our large slug community here.

Flowers are in bloom.

Our shade and herb garden is growing too!

Keeping our garden warm under tarps this year.

The sun is coming out! Yeah

Millie is having fun on her swing! We are so happy on those very rare days this spring when we get some sun.

Commissioning ceremony

2011-05-27T21:03:00.008+01:00

Earlier this month, Millie and I headed over to Spokane to watch Michael (Mike's son) get commissioned into the Army at Gonzaga University. He also graduated from school that weekend with a degree in Political Science. Michael will soon be heading off to Massachusetts as a part-time member of the National Guard.

Michael with Millie (his step sister) and JT (his step brother.)

All the kids posing at the reception.

One last picture of us together!

A beautiful rainbow back home in Snoqualmie. Congratulations Michael and wishing you best of luck on this new chapter of your life!

Nick of Time by Tim Downs

2011-05-04T01:59:00.003+01:00

This was a fun book to read. I don't think you can go wrong with a good crime thriller/mystery. I believe that this is the sixth book in what is know as the "bug man series." It is called this due to the main characters job as a forensic entomologist. Nick studies bugs that are attracted to human remains. His work helps to solve crimes.

In this story, Nick is getting married to Alena. Alena is a dog trainer who he first met when her dogs helped locate a dead body. These two eccentric characters seem to be a perfect match for each other. However, a mere four days before the nuptials-Nick finds himself driving to Philadelphia for the monthly meeting of the Vidocq society. Being among a group of forensic professionals consulting on cold cases will surely allow him to feel useful and normal.

The story takes a twist when Nick finds himself caught up in a murder case involving a good friend. Nick continues his travels to the Poconos all the while becoming more and more distracted with solving his friends murder. So Alena decides to track him down to find out if he really is pursuing a killer or is he running away from something else.

I was immediately drawn to the characters of Nick and Alena. I loved the sarcastic humor and banter that was found through out the story. It made for a fun, lighthearted read that kept me guessing who the bad guys were and if Nick would ever make it down the aisle in time. I did find the ending a bit far fetched. I don't believe for a minute this would ever happen in real life. But I guess that is what makes reading fun. I was also really surprised by the final few pages. The ending is not what I think will happen. I know that there will be more in this series and I would not hesitate to read more about Nick and Alena. They are both two characters that made the book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Easter!

2011-04-25T02:07:00.007+01:00

Yesterday we had the sunniest, warmest day since the summer. We woke up to sun and it stayed that way all day. We walked down the road to the Easter egg hunt. How lucky are we that it was right down the road.

Lots of eggs and no one really around us!

Loading up the Easter basket.

Suddenly the hoard of children made it down to our spot! Luckily we had already filled up our basket!

On the walk home.

Stopping to look at our neighbor's pretty flowers.

Looking into our backyard. I am so grateful for those two days of sun. We really needed it. (Today-Easter-we are back to pouring rain!)

Our tulips finally opened up in the sun.

Our first picnic of the season. We may not have another picnic for a long time, my online weather chart shows rain for the next 10 days +, but fingers crossed that will change. We made it to 67 degrees today and it felt hot!

We miss you Mike, Happy Easter to everyone we love!

Cougar Mountain Zoo

2011-04-24T04:56:00.002+01:00

On Wednesday Millie's preschool took a field trip to Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah. This was our first visit, but we really had a great time. First of all, despite the chilly day, it was really nice out, there were not many other visitors so we got to spend lots of time up close with the animals and we were allowed to feed them.

They had lots of macaws, lemurs, reindeer, deer, alpacas, wallabies, a bengal tiger, cheetahs, emus, and cranes. Unfortunately the cougar had died of old age, so we did not get to see the cougar on this visit.

Class photo.

Time for snack.

The reindeer gets a snack, too.

Millie and her friends.

Sunday, April 17th-122 days to go

2011-04-18T00:08:00.005+01:00

It's 12:42 p.m. on Sunday and we are missing our Papa (Mike) a lot...and we are really sad.

Now it's 2:29 p.m. and we still really miss him, but feel like things will be okay...

Now it's 3:13 p.m. and we still miss Mike and are back to feeling sad..

Stay safe in Iraq, don't work too hard and remember, we love you! Can't wait to pick you up in 122 days!!

April showers...

2011-04-06T01:49:00.004+01:00

Winter seemed to be going along okay this year and then we moved into Spring and things got ugly. Seems it has not stopped raining for weeks. I miss the sun and feel sorry for all our little hummingbirds in this cold. Seems like everyone is sick as well and now its finally caught up with our family. Hopefully some warm macaroni and cheese can help cheer us up tonight. Fingers crossed we may actually get to see some sun soon.

Heart of Ice by Lis Wiehl with April Henry

2011-04-05T02:11:00.003+01:00

This crime novel features Allison, a Federal Prosecutor, FBU Agent Nicole and crime reporter Cassidy. It is the third book in the Triple Threat series but can definitely be read as a stand alone novel.
At the Portland Fitness Center, Cassidy joins the boot camp class run by the seemingly flawless instructor Elizabeth Avery. Elizabeth is a master as manipulating people. The icy sociopath has already had her fellow former inmate, Joey Decicco, committing arson for her. Now she has her sites set on getting rid of her boyfriend's ex-wife and son. However, when Elizabeth ruthlessly disposes of an inquisitive young reporter, her crime catches the attention of Cassidy, Nicole and Allison. What they don't know is that they are already on a first name basis with the killer.
I thought this was a terrific read. It was interesting from the first page. This was my first Triple Threat novel, but I would read more in this series. There was plenty of suspense and mystery. Elizabeth was one of those evil characters who you just love to hate.The other characters were all women with pretty powerful jobs trying to balance work, families, friendship and even a life threatening sickness, as we see in Nicole's situation. A fast paced thriller that I would recommend to anyone who loves to read crime novels. Looks like there will be more in this series as well as a new supernatural series coming from this author.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Hearty Homemade Chicken soup

2011-04-03T18:35:00.007+01:00

We love this homemade chicken soup in the Coombes house so much we decided to share our recipe!

We buy one of those already cooked, roasted chickens that you find at Costco or your local supermarket. I also find that having 2 large stockpots/dutch ovens are needed. Cooking time is about 2 to 3 hours.

1 roasted chicken
water
4 to 5 carrots, peeled
3 stalks celery
2 medium onions, peeled
5 black peppercorns
2 cloves garlic, crushed
10 sprigs parsely (or dried)
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3 cups egg noodles

1.)Make the stock: Pull off as much of the meat from the chicken and set aside. Add the chicken carcass to a large stockpot and add as much water to just cover the chicken carcass. Set stove top on medium heat. Chop all your vegetables-carrots, celery and onions, set aside to add to soup in step 2.
DO NOT THROW AWAY SCRAPS from veg. Add the scrap carrots tops/ends, celery ends, and onions scraps to the broth. Add peppercorns, garlic, 2 sprigs of parsley, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring broth to boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 1 hr (or up to 2 hrs.) Chop remaining parsley leaves, set aside.

2.)Make the soup: In my second large stockpot, I melt the butter. Add all your chopped vegetables and cook until onions are translucent-7 minutes.

Now the tricky part....remove the chicken carcass from the broth and discard. Strain the broth through a metal colander into the pot with all the cooked vegetables.
How do I do that? With the heat on low, I place the metal colander on top of the vegetables I just cooked (to free up both my hands) and then I carefully pour the broth over the colander. I discard all the scraps in the colander.

Add the chicken pieces then the salt and pepper to the veg/broth mix. Simmer until veg are tender-1 hour. Stir in egg noodles and parsley and cook for 10 minutes more. Serve hot!

Another soggy, rainy day...

2011-04-02T00:51:00.002+01:00

Another dark day here in the soggy Northwest. Wondering when we will get some sun.....please....

Thinking positive...

2011-03-31T01:00:00.004+01:00

We woke up today to the sound of rain (again...) and got dressed in our raincoats and waterproof boots since it was a field trip day at Millie's pre-school. Off we went at 10 am to the Cedar River Watershed in North Bend for a talk and then a hike outside. As you can see it was a pretty nasty, dark, rainy day.

Having fun (and staying dry) inside the watershed center.

Some pretty sounding water drums.

Off on our hike. Needless to say, it was fun to be outside(that is my being positive statement...!) but it was also really nice to get back home, dry off and light our woodstove and settle inside for the rest of the day. Unfortunately we are also monitoring the flood situation once again for possible floods from the Snoqualmie River today. Can you tell we are very anxious and excited for sunnier and drier weather around here!?

Dreaming of Hawaii...

2011-03-13T04:58:00.007Z

We got to spend 10 beautiful, near perfect days in Oahu, Hawaii earlier this month. We did not really leave the beach this time. Here is Millie planning a sand castle city in Kailua Beach.

Playing catch in the surf!

Mike and Millie are posing at our beach in Kaneohe Bay. We stayed in a wonderful beach cottage there and this is where we got to go swimming and snorkeling everyday!

Here is our cottage. Millie liked to feed the roosters that wandered around in the morning. She would drop them little bits of bread from the balcony.

Here is the amazing view from our deck (lanai)!

Lots of fun building castles.

The view from the beach of our cottage in the background. I miss this so much! Now we are back in Washington state with temps in the 40's and lots of rain. We had so much fun and relaxation on this holiday!

Stay tuned for more....

2011-03-08T07:43:00.003Z

Coming very soon, will be our photos from Hawaii. We miss the gorgeous scenery, weather and pretty much everything else! So thankful we have these vacation memories.

The Promises She Keeps by Erin Healy

2011-02-22T21:26:00.004Z

Promise is a college student with singing aspirations. However, she has a cystic fibrosis and is not expected to live past her mid-thirties. She therefore wants to leave a legacy of fame behind to keep her memory alive. Porta is an aging sorceress and art collector who is searching for immortality. When Promise survives a series of bizarre accidents that should have ended her life, Porta believes that she has found the girl who holds the key to eternal life.

We are also introduced to Chase, an autistic artist who falls in love with Promise and attempts to help her. Soon Chase, Porta, Promise and several other interesting characters are thrown into a confrontation of finding hope and faith.

I really liked this book. It was a faith based thriller that really seemed to become suspenseful towards the end of the story. The beginning of the book focuses a lot of time and attention to introducing us to Promise and to the other characters. I did not like the character of Porta. She was the definite "villian" in the novel, but it sometimes was annoying to read the passages by her. I also disliked Zack even though Promise seemed to always see the hope within him. The author seemed to be trying to share that eternal love, not life, may be the greatest gift of all. Twists and turns at the end of the book made for a really good read and I'm glad I had a chance to read this.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Scrappin"

2011-02-19T06:28:00.002Z

Okay, this post is for my mom since she is always begging me to post pictures of my recent scrapbook pages. So here is one that I made about 2 weeks ago and I have hanging upstairs in the craft room. I've been on a real reading binge the last week, so have not made anything new since then, but lots of ideas ready to go; photos and paper laying in piles ready for a new page.

Meet Miffy and Nugget!

2011-02-12T04:56:00.002Z

Millie has been begging for a pet for a long time now. Of course, she asked for a dog, bunny rabbits, or even another cat, but we decided to start with something smaller. Then last week, we unexpectedly got the opportunity to adopt 2 sweet gerbils.

We have been having so much fun with them. I surprised myself too by becoming rather fond of them. Nugget, the brown gerbil, will spend hours on his wheel. Miffy loves attention and eating sunflower seeds.

Here they both are attacking a toilet paper roll, probably their favorite pastime!

January 30

2011-02-05T06:08:00.004Z

I had a really nice birthday on Sunday. Millie was so excited to help Mike make homemade frosting for my cake and they got up early to do that.

Later on we got ready to go out on a hike.

Off we go! At least it wasn't raining...

Later that night, a trip to Olive Garden in Kirkland. That was delicious! I am so excited to have a new flip video! Now we can make cute movies of Millie!

The Inheritance of Beauty by Nicole Seitz

2011-02-01T00:15:00.004Z

George Jacobs and his childhood sweetheart Maggie, along with her brother Ash, were just kids living in small-town Levy, SC, when the train brought a magician and Joe Stackhouse into town. What happens next changes all of their lives forever. Eighty years later, George and Maggie are spending their remaining days in a nursing home. After a mysterious package arrives, followed by a new resident at the nursing home whose identity haunts them, Maggie and George are forced to remember a past they'd rather forget.

The story was bittersweet with mix of suspense and even humor. It's told from the point of view of Maggie, George and Annie. Later on, we hear Ash's point of view through old letters written by him. The story goes back and forth between the year 1929 and the present. There is a large group of characters, but the short excerpts told by each one is easy to follow and leaves you wanting to find out more. I so enjoy books that have different characters narrating each chapter. None of the characters are perfect, each have a mixture of good and bad in them and decisions they have suffered over. I was riveted and anxious to find out what tragic event happened to these characters eighty years ago. This book encourages you to speak the truth and believe in miracles. Guilt, grief and redemption are some themes in this tale.

The author did a really nice job inhabiting her elderly characters. I would definitely recommend this book to others. I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Rain, rain, go away!

2011-01-29T23:36:00.005Z

Here is Millie and I dreaming of snow. Or maybe some sunshine in a warm exotic location?

Instead we find ourselves in the rainy blues at the end of January. Growing up in the Northeast, I really miss those 4 seasons. Here we seem to have only two-rainy or cloudy. Those sunny days once a month are just not enough!

This is my view out the kitchen window. If I have to look at all those sheds and houses, a bit of sun might help cheer it up some!

These are the only photos we took this month. What do you do when it rains for weeks on end? Even the ski slope on the pass is wet and soggy these days...

The last gorgeous sunny day we had was just before Thanksgiving. Then we had 2 nice days since then...but this is what I see the rest of the time...

At least the grass is still green and fingers crossed we don't have the same short summer we did last year.

Millie made some beautiful chalk drawings the other morning. We had such a nice morning with about 3 hours hazy sun on Thursday. It had been too long since having some warmth and light in the sky...where are you sun, we miss you!!!

Softly and Tenderly by Sara Evans (with Rachel Hauck)

2011-01-09T21:44:00.004Z

This story is about Jade and her husband Max. Both are happily married and anxious to start a family of their own. However, Jade faces numerous miscarriages which cause doubt and heartache over her worthiness to have a child. Then Jade discovers that her husband had a son by another woman and through an unexpected turn of events, he wants Jade to help him raise his child. Hurting and betrayed, Jade "runs away" to her mom's farmhouse in the country where she must find acceptance with her mom's failing health and her husband's cover up.

This "Southern soap opera" features cheating husbands, an illegitimate son, a supreme court justice, a barren wife, secrets and suits.

I read this book in just a few days, it was that good. The characters in this story all have flaws and are suddenly faced with circumstances that will ultimately force them to come to terms with their situation. I kept wondering how this story would end. Would the characters all find their "happily ever after?" I was not disappointed and it looks like there will be a sequel in 2012.

I also found out later that this is book 2 in the Songbird series, but it was easy to follow and no problem at all if you have not read the first book. Overall, good writing mixed in with lots of drama and a bit of hope and faith. I definitely recommend this book. I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Favorite photos from my mom's trip in October

2011-01-08T23:17:00.006Z

I've been meaning to add these photos from my mom and Detlef's visit to our house in October. We miss them! I am so happy that they were able to spend 2 weeks with us!

My next blog post will be a book review for Thomas Nelson books. In exchange for free books, just have to post a review on my blog. Pretty fair deal to me!

Christmas time

2010-12-31T05:22:00.012Z

I haven't posted an update since Dec. 12th, but had a good excuse. Mike came home on Dec. 17th from Afghanistan and it has been the best (early) Christmas present for Millie and I!

We had the house and the tree all decorated before his arrival home.

Before we knew it, Christmas Eve was here! We decided to open some of our presents that night. Millie got lots of gifts from Oma and Opa, and Grandpa and Nana. Mike's parents (Grandpa and Lola) we here to spend the holiday with us too and so Millie was one lucky girl! Thank you all for some great gifts.

We gave Millie a Playmobil doll house and it came in this box all jumbled together.

I think Grandpa had the most fun assembling all the pieces together and about 3 hours later, it looked like this....

Then off to bed and hoping that Santa arrives during the night to eat his cookies and maybe leave some more presents for Christmas morning...

And, of course he came and we opened gifts and stockings.

Later that evening, we had a delicious dinner of goose with the family and our neighbor! Lola even bought us x-mas crackers and we had lots of fun pulling them apart, finding little trinkets inside and wearing the paper crowns.

We drove up to Snoqualmie Pass later in the week to go sledding but got some snow on Wednesday here in town! (It was so cold up there and Millie wound up with wet boots, so by the time I snapped this photo, we were ready for a warm drink and a heater!) Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Getting ready for Christmas

2010-12-12T23:53:00.007Z

Well, in between making some of our Christmas cards,

visiting with Santa,

and other various Christmas animals,

heading out to the tree farm in North Bend and...

finding another great x-mas tree, it has been one fun and busy start to the season. But now we have slowed down, there are only 3 days left of school, and then we can spend our days doing some fun crafts I have planned, baking Christmas cookies, figuring out which Christmas show we are watching that evening and then on Saturday we get to pick up Mike! Yeah!!!

My beautiful ballerina

2010-12-07T00:07:00.004Z

Millie's first ballet recital was on Friday nite at the Si View Center in North Bend. She was so excited, was not nervous at all, and most important, she had fun!

So proud of her!

Christmas tree lighting

2010-12-05T07:16:00.003Z

Here we are at the Christmas tree lighting in Snoqualmie. The lights only stayed on for a few minutes on and off, so glad we got a picture. I'll be posting some ballerina dance photos soon!

Another snow day....

2010-11-23T22:21:00.008Z

So it snowed last night again and we woke up to a beautiful day. School, libraries, etc were closed, so we rushed outside right after breakfast to play. Look Mike, we got a dog!

So quiet and peaceful. No snow plows out here...

Chateau Coombes

Millie enjoying a sleigh ride with neighborhood friends!

I am definitely in the Christmas mood this year after our early season snowfall. It is only supposed to reach a high of 13 tonight. Brrrrr. Enjoying every moment, cuz I heard we can except rain on Thanksgiving which sounds very sad and dreary.

Gorgeous day and very cold, 23 F.

Snow Day!

2010-11-23T00:44:00.003Z

We were so excited when it started snowing on Sunday. When we woke up Monday, pre-school was canceled and the snow continued to fall on and off all day long! So much fun!

Now if only we had a few hills in town for sledding...maybe we'll head up to the ridge if the snow stays for a while. It is supposed to only be a high of 26 tomorrow (Tuesday)!

Piglets at the farm

2010-11-23T00:12:00.005Z

Millie and I love getting to visit Fox Hollow Farm. Every once in a while, they are open to the public and we head on over to Issaquah to check out all the cute animals and play in the front lawn which usually has toy trucks to ride and bouncy balls. This time they had 5 day old piglets.

They were so cute!

Millie also loved the baby Maine Coon cats.

She got to pet some horses....

and even play with this little creature...a minature horse, maybe??

Then back home to get smoked out by the neighbors chimney....

Halloween was fun!

2010-11-06T04:39:00.004Z

Millie helping me carve our pumpkins into jack o lanterns. We saved the seeds for roasting and I was so happy to find that Millie loves them and gobbles them up like a little squirrel.

Getting ready for the big night of trick or treating with our fellow dragon, Minnie mouse and princess friends. It was so warm on Halloween day. So glad we did not have to dress in layers. Beautiful sun all day long!

I wish this was my front porch. What Halloween spirit in the neighborhood. Next year we will go crazy!

Learning to swim!

2010-10-25T04:37:00.003+01:00

Here is Millie at her Monday afternoon swim class. Today she was learning how to swim on her back.

...Then putting her face in the water.

Off she goes!

Sneak Peek at Halloween

2010-10-24T20:12:00.003+01:00

Millie got all dressed up in her cowgirl outfit yesterday. They had a Harvest Carnival at Mt Si in North Bend and we headed over there to play some games and visit the spooky Haunted House!

Basketball hoop game!

Minature golf.

Arts and crafts room

It was our last "beautiful" day of weather. And of course, we love the way Mt. Si looks on a good day of weather. We are in for a long week of constant rain! Yuck. But hopefully it will dry out for Halloween trick or treating.

I love how adorable Millie looked in her braids!

Fall Colors

2010-10-23T19:57:00.003+01:00

We have been having such a beautiful, mild start to Autumn. Sunny skies and beautiful scenery all make it seem so cheerful around here again.

We made a quick stop before ballet to take some photos of our favorite fall colors in town, just down the road from our house at Centennial Fields.

Wilkommen Oma, Opa and Daisy!

2010-10-20T05:51:00.003+01:00

We have been having so much fun these past 15 days with Oma and Opa (and Daisy dog). They flew over from Germany and Millie and I loved showing them around Snoqualmie and Seattle. The very first day we took them for a walk to Snoqualmie Falls.

We had almost near perfect weather the entire time they have been here (only 2 days of rain). The rest of the time was warm, sunny days. We went to Alki beach one morning and searched for all sorts of treasures washed up on the beach. We found seaglass, lots of seaweed and even a starfish.

It was so sunny, we decided to take a ride on the water taxi over to downtown Seattle. We even got to see a whole bunch of sea lions sunning themselves..(More photos on them shortly. Detlef took a great picture with his camera...)

Can you tell we shopped at Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe?

Pike Place Market

Millie at the famous gum wall.

Another beautiful day! Pumpking picking at Fall City Farms!

Elk

2010-09-28T22:54:00.002+01:00

On our way home from Spokane, we passed our local elk field right here in Snoqualmie. We can walk to the field and see these elk almost every evening from our house. I actually had the camera with me so I could take a photo. Lately they have been so close to the road, but I never have my camera on me when they are that close. They make the oddest noises too..

Weekend in Spokane, WA

2010-09-28T22:35:00.015+01:00

We escaped the wet weather for a bit in Spokane visiting Mike's mom and dad...(although the rain sure caught up to us on Sunday!) Mike's mom discovered this really great Renaissance festival for kids in Manito park. It was perfect. Millie got to do lots of fun arts and craft activities...

Making beautiful hair bands...

Face painting...

Mural painting...

Lots of fun (and it was all free!) Wow!

Later that afternoon the sun popped out and we headed to the park downtown.

That was such a great day!

First day of pre-school!

2010-09-22T02:00:00.006+01:00

We looked forward to this day for a long time now. Millie was so excited to see her teacher again and play with her friends at school.

There was always so many fun crafts, projects and dress up here! So it was fun to get back to it.
I will be helping in the classroom at least 3 times a month as part of the co-op, and get to play and watch Millie with her friends, too.

Millie did great. No crying or anxiousness. She was perfectly comfortable in the classroom. What a big change from last year.

We rode our bike trailer to school today since it was such a nice day around here.

Vacation time!

2010-09-16T04:48:00.010+01:00

No, we didn't fly to Germany, just went with some friends an hour and a half away to Leavenworth, WA. Welcome to a cute little German town in the middle of Washington.
I am pretty grateful to my friend, who decided we all needed some sunshine, a change of scenery and relaxing in her in-laws hot tub...

Downtown Leavenworth. Just a short walk from the house to town.

Less than 2 hrs away, and the weather was so warm and wonderful!!!

Time for a break!

Enjoying lunch at a beautiful location!

Time for some playing!

And then off for a walk along the river.

Then we headed into town for some tasty gelato. Millie had chocolate and blueberry and I tried the panna cotta. Yum.....

Build and Grow

2010-09-04T21:46:00.004+01:00

Last weekend Millie and I went to Lowe's build and grow workshop for kids. They get a cute apron to keep, a sew on patch, a certificate and they get to build and keep a wooden craft kit. Best part....it's all free!

This month, the kids got to make a school bus. They have little hammers the kids can use and easy directions for following along. We will definitely be going back for another project soon!

Millie and her baby (zucchini!) I wish this came from our garden! Our green ones don't get bigger than our thumb before they start rotting for some odd reason. But our neighbor down the road has a garden bursting with vegetables right now (more than they can handle.)
Zucchini bread time! I think we'll have lots of leftovers.

Another visit to Remlinger's Farm

2010-09-03T04:22:00.007+01:00

Millie and I love this place. Pony rides, a hay jump and maze, a mini roller coaster, train ride around the park, cute kiddy rides, old school buses, tractors and firetrucks to climb into, a farm where you can feed the animals and a kid shows and concerts every day-what a great place.

I love that you only pay once and you get to go on the rides over and over.

I love that Millie never gets tired of going on the train.

I love seeing her get excited to go on rides all by herself.

I love that this farm is so close to us too! Maybe we'll have to check out the pumpkin festival this year with my mom and Detlef. Thanks Remlinger's for another fun day.

Snoqualmie Railroad Days

2010-08-29T04:58:00.008+01:00

Last weekend was the annual Snoqualmie Railroad Days. We usually try and catch the parade on Saturday morning and then spend the day visiting the booths, playing at the Kids Area, watching a concert, getting wagon rides and buying cotton candy. Here we are with neighbors at the parade.

It wouldn't be a Snoqualmie parade without a logging truck or two!

A great day, nice weather and just fun to see our friends .

Our crookneck squash is finally producing vegetables. I love having a garden. I hope that if we do decide to move, we will have a nice, sunny spot to grow lots of food. Looks like our garden this year won't produce any ripe tomatoes. We just didn't have a long enough growing season. But really grateful for our radishes, carrots, cucumbers and squash.

Connecticut, here we come!

2010-08-28T02:14:00.016+01:00

We've actually been home a few weeks now, but Millie and I spent a week visiting my dad and Melissa in Connecticut. It was sooooo great to be back "home," visit with friends from high school and have Millie play with grandpa and nana. I didn't realize, but I really missed the place! Here is Millie and nana at Beardsley Zoo.

Later in the week, we got to visit a farm and Millie got to ride a horse, go for a wagon ride and just run around the farm with her new friends. She kept telling me she was now a "farmer girl." I am so glad my dad arranged this with his friend from work. What a great morning. Take a look a that huge horseshoe pile! The owner of the farm is in the business of horse shoeing horses...hope I said that right...

Checking out the horses.

"Farmer girl"

Millie and Grandpa !

Hiking in the park near home.

Playing at the Creative Playground in Brookfield with my high school friend and her children!

Downtown Brookfield (where I grew up.)

Elephant Trunk Bazaar, by far the best flea market I have ever seen. This has been going on every Sunday in New Milford since I can remember. I hardly ever went growing up, but now it was a real treat to visit. (next time I staying for longer and going in with a wad of cash...)

Having fun at Lake Quassy!

We'll be back soon!

July

2010-08-22T05:56:00.014+01:00

It is almost the end of August already and I am getting behind in my blogging. But I did want to include some of my favorite happenings and photos from July. The photo above shows Mike and Millie on a hike the day of July 4th. Another cool, cloudy day, but 2 days later, we finally got our summer weather!

Giggling around with my favorite girl.

Stopping off on the way home to pick up some fireworks being sold under the tent.

Hiking in the Cascades...well, as much "hiking" as you can do with a 4 year old!

Lots of lots of bike riding with no training wheels.

Ballerina camp!

Summertime

2010-07-24T04:41:00.004+01:00

Now this is what summer is all about...eating dinner outside (on the picnic table Mike made!) and later on...

playing an evening game of frisbee in the backyard.

Here is the latest layout I made for our photo album last week.

Making layouts

2010-07-19T23:10:00.006+01:00

Now that Mike is home, I have had more time to get creative and make some 12 x 12 layouts. I decided to add them to my blog after my mom suggested that I take pictures of what I make. These are some that I made awhile ago, but I happened to have in my iphoto album.

The family having fun and getting silly in Germany...

Millie dressed as a ladybug for Halloween this past year...

...and this one has photos from before I even had Millie. (I was 7 months pregnant with Millie.) I found the photos in a plastic baby album for Millie to play with when she was a toddler. After taking the photos out, I was going to throw them away since they were so wrinkled, but they flattened out okay and I made a quick 8 1/2 x 11 layout.

Time to Ride

2010-07-18T23:21:00.004+01:00

On the way to another milestone in life, fingers crossed...

Yeah!!! Good job Millie on your first bike ride!

Happy 4th Birthday, Millie!

2010-07-05T01:58:00.015+01:00

Thursday Millie celebrated her 4th birthday. Millie and I went strawberry picking in the morning, we actually picked 7.5 lbs! Later in the day, Millie first picked out a birthday balloon from the store and then we opened presents. Thank you to everyone for some great presents. Barbies, books, dress-up, games, a zhu zhu hamster and tea set.

Fun books to read for later on!

....lots and lots of beautiful dress up clothes sent by Nana.

Millie is here modeling the princess ballerina dress...

followed by this beautiful red dress!

And of course, this year Millie requested the "Princess Party." We had her party on Saturday when Mike was home for the weekend and Millie invited 4 friends from pre-school over. We had tiaras for everyone to decorate.

Hard at work adding gemstones and other colorful touches to their crowns.

Afterwards we played some games outdoors. The sun was shining that day, a special gift for Millie's birthday! (That was 8 days ago and the last of the sun for the week....)

Millie playing Pin the Kiss on the frog....

Ta da! The princess cake. I am so glad we had gone strawberry picking. Those berries were the perfect touch to the dress and hide all the imperfections perfectly....

Putting the candles on the cake.

Blowing them out and making a wish!

And here she is, our beautiful 4 year old princess birthday girl!

Out and About

2010-06-20T02:08:00.012+01:00

If you remember the tv show, Twin Peaks, then you may remember this waterfall from the opening credits. Every once in a while, we will head over to Snoqualmie Falls, take in the beautiful views, and go for a hike down to the bottom of the falls. It is right in town and a great place to visit.

We dont' have many photos of May and June. We lost a roll of film when we exposed it accidently and then there's the weather. Who is inspired to take photos with such dreary weather? Yes, I have been complaining non-shop about this nasty May and June we are having, but this weather has been non-stop rain and clouds. I was hoping for photos of lazy days at the beach, picnics, swimming in the river and growing our garden, but we have had cold, rainy days instead that remind me of a continuation of fall and winter....(and the garden plants have all died except for our radishes.) We have been housebound most of the past 2 months or simply not in the mood for camera snapping since our days seem pretty mundane....

However, we can't just crawl under our covers and wait for the July sun to appear, so we have been trying to get out and about and enjoy the days (despite the rain.) Here we are posing for a photo at the salmon hatchery in downtown Issaquah.

We had a nice hazy day sometime last month and we rushed outside to play in the yard and finally finish staining our fence. Millie is so cute and happy and loves her swing on the tree again!

There's Millie peeking around our fence and I am all the way at the very end putting on the finishing touches!

In May, Millie received a package of 10 caterpillars in the mail as part of a butterfly kit from Grandpa and Nana. We turned on the heaters in the house, so they would not get so cold, and watched them grow and grow. They all formed a chrysalis and after 7 days or so, turned into beautiful butterflies. I can't believe they all made it! Millie really loved watching the entire process and checked on her "pets" everyday. On June 8th, we had a nice day and decided it was warm enough to release them outside. She was sad to see them go, but we thought it was pretty cool to put them on our hands, blow them gently and watch them fly up high!

Goodbye Painted Ladys! Hopefully, if they were smart, they headed for California!

"Dancin" in the Rain

2010-06-11T04:39:00.003+01:00

So this has pretty much been the scene the last 40 days or so. Rain, rain, rain! But when you've got a kid, you've got to get out of the house or else you'll go stir crazy! End of the school picnics, hikes, playground time, rides on our bike or scooter, it's all been done in the rain this past May and June.

Millie did have fun when she found this huge puddle!

Bubble fun at our end of the year pre-school picnic.

Our Graduate!

2010-06-03T05:04:00.003+01:00

I cannot believe it is the end of the school year! How fast did that go?! We had such a great year at Alpine Co-op. The first few months were pretty tough cuz Millie cried when I left and I wound up staying at school with her in the beginning. But her confidence has grown, friends were made and we love teacher Amy. Millie now waves goodbye to me with a big smile when I drop her off. And at least 2x a month I was a teacher helper in the classroom since it is a co-op. That is one of my favorite parts of being in a co-op.

We are so proud of our graduate. In the fall, Millie will stay at the same school, but move up to the 4 year level. Love her so much!! (PS-Graduation was one of our rare, nice days in May. I believe it was 24th May that the sun made its last appearance....)

Where is the sun?

2010-05-27T05:48:00.002+01:00

Hoping for more sunny days soon, but will always love the view of our mountain. Fresh snow in May! Now if only the rain would stop...

Hawaii, Part 2

2010-05-27T05:19:00.009+01:00

Before anymore time passes, I figured I better get the rest of those Oahu photos on our blog. It has been a very rainy month (going on 20 plus days of rain here in Snoqualmie) so it is a good time to post these photos and remember warm, sunny days! I loved spending the end of the day on our beach. It was so great to listen to the surf and when it got really dark, we discovered lots of little crabs emerging from the sand.

We spent one day at the Polynesian Cultural Center in the northern part of the island. I'm glad we made this trip cuz we all had a good time. Millie got to catch a catfish, got several tattoos and even learned how to play a few new island games....

After we left the PCC, we went in search of the famous Giovanni's shrimp truck. It may not look pretty, but they cook some very delicious shrimp out of this truck. In fact, it is one of the most famous shrimp trucks on the entire island. I highly recommend it!

Millie loves shrimp, too!

...and we can't leave Hawaii without eating some of their shave ice.

The hardest part was deciding on which flavors we wanted!

Mike doing some boogie boarding.

Millie went floating around the bottom of the waterfall at Waimea Valley. The water was SO cold!

Relaxing in our cottage at the end of a very wonderful, amazing holiday! We'll definitely be back again.

Our new gadget

2010-05-04T01:35:00.003+01:00

Here's Mike keeping up with his correspondence on our "new" Remington Rand Model 17 typewriter-circa 1938. Millie did not even have any idea of what a typewriter is; she kept calling it the "big calculator."

Oahu, Hawaii-Part 1

2010-05-03T01:49:00.015+01:00

We spent 2 amazing, beautiful, sunny weeks in Hawaii earlier this month. We stayed at Barber's Point Navy cottages on the SW side of Oahu. The cottages were so close to the ocean. At night the surf was sometimes so loud we had to shut the door . We could not have found a better location for 2 weeks of relaxing. The photo above is our cottage and you can see it was a pretty short walk to the beach.

Our view from the front "lanai." Millie loved the sand and water and we went swimming almost everyday. We would wake up in the morning, put on our bathing suit, then spend the day collecting sea glass, playing, swimming and ended the day with a BBQ on our grill.

The beach was called White Plains and was really popular with surfers and locals. Millie and I loved jumping over the waves and spent many hours in the water.

On our second day, we drove a few miles up the road to check out Ko Olina Lagoons. What a beautiful place!

Millie and Papa at the end of another beautiful day. You can just barely see Waikiki and Diamond Head off in the distance.

Today we headed out to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. I know Millie's favorite was the train ride.

Getting lost in the hedge maze at the Dole Plantation.

...and how lucky were we to wake up one morning and see this sleeping animal on our beach!

This is a monk seal and they are not normally found in Oahu, but if they do show up, it is normally at this beach. He is very much alive, just very sleepy! Later in the morning, the beach lifeguards put up signs and posts around the seal to protect him. They are critically endangered and it is a federal crime to even approach them...We found that out after we took the photo.....

Germaine's Luau tonight! Even though this is a big tourist outing, it was a great show. The food was excellent, the performers were really good and all seemed to be having fun and admission price included 3 free drinks each.

I have lots more photos of our trip, so stay tuned for more later!
Here's to hoping the sun arrives back in Washington, it has been raining for over a week now!! Maybe Hawaii can share it's sunshine with us, too.

March

2010-04-11T02:47:00.010+01:00

So it has been a loooong time since our last update. In the meantime, Mike has returned from Iraq and we have been so happy to have him back home. The best part is that he does not have to work for the next few months and it on a very long holiday. Here we are in Hood River, OR in front of one of the tallest waterfalls I have seen in a very long time. We spent a few days in Oregon while Mike returned his equipment, etc at work.

Millie and her Papa...

Even though it was only in the 50s and 60s, the hotel had a great "heated" pool outside and Millie and I got in some swimming practice before our trip to Oahu.

Warming up in the hot tub...

Millie posing along the river bank. Looks like she is a natural in front of the camera!

All is going well in school for Millie too. Today she was the special Star student and got to sit in a special sparkle chair, wear and crown and talk about her family and some of her favorite things...

What a happy kid...

Millie and Mike in front of the new power tools. Stay tuned for Oahu photos!

Spring is in the Air...

2010-02-19T02:39:00.013Z

...and I hope it is here to stay.

We had about 2 mths of winter this year and then it just seemed to fade into Spring. I'm not used to Spring arriving so early (our first year in Snoqualmie we still had sleet in June!) But today was just one of those beautiful, get outside and enjoy every moment day! And we did....we were joined by lots of other neighborhood kids at the park today and spent over 2 hrs playing, riding bikes and meeting friends.

We took our camera out and snapped our favorite Spring sights around the house. Millie liked these purple flowers the best. They are growing all along the border next to our driveway.

Usually our daffodils are the first things to flower, but this year the other flowers and trees have bloomed first. Looks like it won't be long before they open up!

The cherry tree has made an early appearance, as well.

Even the shadiest spot in our backyard corner has a blooming bush, though it will be a few days before they fully open.

Millie and Deli posing in front of our empty garden plot.

You know it is a nice, warm day in the sun when the cat is passed out in the grass. He is normally huddled in the house these days, but even he could not resist a nap outside.

My view from the front porch. We always get some great afternoon sun in the front yard. It is really difficult to see, but way off in the distance you can see the mountains with a bit of snow on top.

A good way to end our day today was getting some ice-cream at McDonald's. Hopefully this amazing weather continues and my next post is not about a crazy snowstorm....

January

2010-02-08T23:39:00.005Z

I suddenly realized that I took almost no photos last month. We are so looking forward to Mike returning and have been sticking close to home and enjoying the amazing, warm, sunny weather here. But have left the camera in our camera bag. Although I do have some cute photos to share. The above photo is of Millie enjoying a favorite meal for dinner. She can easily eat 3 drumsticks!

The two of us enjoying some tv time before dinner.

Here we are just 5 minutes later, but Millie is ready for bed and I'm off to read her a story.

We have been having the warmest winter ever! January and February have not brought us snow, but instead blooming flowers and budding trees and bushes. I've never had a spring arrive so early. So this winter, we had to drive 35 minutes up the highway to seek out some winter fun. The snowfall has been pretty low at the ski slopes, but at least there was enough to go sledding and even build a tiny snow family.

RIght now it is currently 67 degrees (in the sun) and I'm sitting outside soaking up some Vitamin D.

Christmas Eve presents

2010-01-14T05:14:00.010Z

Even though Mike was not with us this Christmas, Millie and I still had a good holiday. There were decorations, cookie baking, very cold temperatures, present wrapping, candy cane eating and lots of Christmas movies and music throughout the month. The only thing missing this year was snow...and of course, Mike...

Here I am finally wrapping the presents while Millie is snug in her bed hopefully dreaming of sugarplums dancing.

We can't forget to leave Santa some cookies and milk!

We opened most of our presents Christmas Eve while Grandpa and Lola looked on. Millie was so excited to get her very own easel from Grandpa and Nana in Connecticut.

The best part was after Millie opened a present, she would spend time playing with her new toy or looking thru her books before moving on to the next one. So it took us way over an hour to open all her presents. But it was such a good feeling to see her enjoying everything she got instead of tossing it to the side and reaching to rip open a new box. Although, believe me, she does LOVE opening presents!

Modeling her new fancy dress skirt.

Taking a break in the middle of present opening to play a few tunes.

New paint bottles for her easel.

Relaxing with the grandparents after a long night of opening presents!

Making Cookies

2009-12-24T02:03:00.006Z

Well, we've had a delicious cookie making party. Millie loves helping mommy bake and the cookie batter is unanimously the best part!

The next day we rolled out the dough and used our new cookie cutters to make the best looking cookies in town.

We had so much fun rolling, cutting shapes and then for the best part......

...decorating with sprinkles! Chef Millie took over this part and really made sure each and every cookie had a thick layer of blue and red sugar sprinkles.

They didn't last very long either...

Taking a break from baking while talking to Papa on the phone. We talk almost everyday and most of the time get to see him on Skype too. We miss him so much! Love you Mike. I miss my best friend/husband!

Have a very Merry Christmas. One more day and Grandpa and Lola will be here to celebrate with us! We can't wait.

O' Christmas Tree

2009-12-11T01:05:00.009Z

Sunday we headed off to Keith and Scott's Christmas tree farm in North Bend. We went with some very good friends, all of us in search of the "perfect" tree. The best part was the gorgeous views that we are so lucky to have living in the Northwest and we even got to see a bit of falling snow.

Millie posing with her friend Sofia.

Thumbs up to our future Christmas tree. It is so hard to find a tree at these U-pick farms, too many to choose from! But I love the one Millie and I found.

Sawed off, and now to shake out all the hidden squirrels, leaves and loose pine needles!

Millie decided it would be a good idea to relax with some candy canes in front of the fire after all the hard work of tree cutting at the farm. I settled in for some apple cider and watched the horse and rider from the farm greeting customers.

Inside and time to get serious with decorations while rocking out to Christmas tunes.

...and here she is in all her decorated glory. I wish I knew how to take a better photo to show off the glow, but I think that involves a tripod? Any hints on how to take a great xmas tree photo?

Hello December!

2009-12-07T05:28:00.009Z

December is here! We started day 1 with our annual tradition of opening a door each day on our advent calendar. Counting down the days until Christmas!

It is such an exciting time of year we can hardly stand it!

Time to hang up decorations.

Enjoying the fire and coziness of being warm inside. We have had really freezing temperatures here the past week. Only getting up to the mid 30s during the day and low 20s at night. Brrr!

Millie is busy getting our Christmas cards ready.

Thursday was the Christmas tree lighting in Snoqualmie. This year Millie announced very firmly that she "wants to sit and meet Santa." So that is what we did. She only got a bit unsure of the whole idea at the last minute, but was persuaded by the candy cane Mrs. Claus handed out.

Here is Millie getting ready to go out for a night on the town in her seasonal headgear. Stay tuned for photos and updates from our Christmas tree hunt!

The grandparents have arrived!

2009-12-04T05:26:00.006Z

We had a really great Thanksgiving with Mike's parents. Millie is always so happy to have her Lola and Grandpa here to visit and spoil us (and I am too!)

Grandpa is very busy carving the turkey for dinner. Millie and Lola get one last hug and snuggle in before the big meal.

Oops, looks like there's one guest that can't wait for the turkey to be served at the table!

Millie and I get ready to go for a hike the next day with our neighbors. Here is Millie modeling her new winter coat.

November days

2009-11-16T04:49:00.006Z

We had a bit of sleet on Friday (yuck!) but the next day it made for a pretty picture of Mt. Si. Millie and I walked past the other 5 houses on our side of the street to take this photo. Very lucky to have this "backyard" view.

Millie has been very busy lately reading books from the library. Here she is the middle of a very intense tale of Mickey and the Beanstalk.

When she's not reading books these days, she is busy coordinating dresses and accessories from the closet.

Or she may just be wrecking havoc in her room. This ugly scene was created in just under 5 minutes but took triple the time to clean up since "someone" was suddenly too tired to put anything away.

And this cat, Deli, is simply too tired these days to even open his eyes. Although I did get him to lift his head from my blanket. When I figure out how to work the timer on my camera, I'll take some photos of me looking very tired too.

Washed out, grey and ugly

2009-11-07T17:41:00.005Z

So I am feeling exactly like my view off the porch today. Woke up to another day of rain, a cranky kid and no place to go. (Nobody here has attached garages, so I have to look at everyone's run down sheds which does not help with the view.)

I love fall, but November always seems the gloomiest month to me. Winter and cold is just around the corner and summer is forever away! At least December is cheery with decorations and xmas, Jan and Feb may bring beautiful snow and March and April means spring is on its way again.

I think we'll be doing a lot of this today. We need more puzzles just like this Oma!!

New table

2009-11-01T17:55:00.003Z

Dear Mike,
As you can see this antique table looks just perfect in our living room!
Love, Melanie

Halloween

2009-11-01T17:00:00.010Z

Well Fall has arrived and with it cool weather, lots of leaves, Halloween and yard clean up!

Helping mommy carve the pumpkins and save the seeds for baking.

Here's Millie showing off the ladybug costume! Just waiting for the big night.

Millie and all her neighborhood friends dressed up and ready to do some trick or treating. On Friday the stores in our small town gave out candies and treats to kids who dressed up. It was like having 2 days of Halloween!

Collecting goodies from the stores downtown.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-30T19:10:00.000Z

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Posing at the park

2009-10-29T04:36:00.002Z

You are the cutest kid ever!
Millie at Farrel McWhirter animal farm in Redmond, Wa

Fall City Farm

2009-10-19T01:01:00.008+01:00

It's really starting to feel like fall around here. Summer has come to an end, but now I think we are ready for cooler weather, pumpkin picking, Halloween, sitting next to a warm fire...all the fun parts of fall! Millie had her first preschool field trip last week and we all went to Fall City Farms.

The weather was sunny and perfect for being outside.

Here's Millie learning how an apple press works. She had just thrown in her apple to make some cider.

Enjoying the cider!

Millie found a really great pumpkin. Look how strong she is!

Millie lost in the middle of the hay maze. She's standing in the left corner figuring out how to find her way out.

A very fun morning at the farm.

Visiting

2009-10-01T04:29:00.008+01:00

I love this photo of Millie and our sunflowers. We actually grew them from a tiny seed, they went crazy in our soil, must be very fertile from all those floods we've had!

We spent a great weekend with Millie's Lola and grandpa in Spokane earlier this month. The weather was nice and Millie got to spend some time at a festival in town too! Even though the grandparents are 4 hours away, it is so nice to be invited to spend a few days with them in their home.

Round and round we go!

We tried getting a nice smile from Michael....

Here is Millie on her new 12 " bicycle. She LOVES it. We are usually pedaling down to the park every other day on this bike. And I love the size, it is so cute and tiny. Maybe she'll be without training wheels by age 4? She learned to ride her scooter at 2 years, 8mths.

The first day of school!

2009-09-16T22:18:00.007+01:00

Well, Millie and mama made it thru their first day of pre-school with no tears! I stayed the first 45 minutes to make sure all was well, then gave a quick hug with promises to return soon. She did great! School is so close we just ride to school on the bicycle and Millie in the bike trailer. Millie posing in front of the freshly painted, very green, American Legion bldg that is also the local preschool co-op! I like the idea of a co-op since I'll have a chance to work in the classroom 1 to 2 times a month.

Very cool loft area.

Tons of books for reading!

The kitchen/baby doll area where I think Millie spent a lot of time. We are so proud of you!

Nearing the end of summer

2009-09-13T01:08:00.005+01:00

Grilled hatch peppers, garden tomatoes and huckleberries!

The three of us

2009-09-12T06:31:00.002+01:00

I am so proud of this family!

Farms and barns

2009-09-10T05:46:00.008+01:00

So this summer I thought Millie and I would be spending every week at the beach. We had a PERFECT summer for that, but instead we found ourselves at lots of farms instead. Millie loves animals and the farms around Snoqualmie Valley are just amazing. We especially love the open playdates at Fox Hollow Equestrian Farm in Issaquah. For three hours this horse farm/grounds are open to the public. We can play with the animals, swim in the river, bounce on the inflatable bouncy castle, swing on the rope in the barn, have a picnic and ride the kid's tractors on the property. The place looks more like a day spa than horse center!

This is the barn, not the house. The animals are housed inside.

They have lots of cute animals, pigs, horses, baby chicks, peacocks, cats, and of course Millie's favorite-bunny rabbits. This photo was not great, but I could not resist that sweet smile.

Millie relaxing along the fence after bouncing in the castle.

Millie's very good friend, Ronan who joined us for the morning!

And if that farm isn't enough excitment, then we always have Remlinger's Farm in Carnation. We LOVE this place too. It is a kid's amusement park with a farmers grocery store right next door and U-pick fields right down the road. But we like going for the train ride and the pony rides!

Future equestrian?

Mid-July Happenings....

2009-08-19T04:55:00.009+01:00

Well, we sure have been enjoying summer here in beautiful Snoqualmie, Wa. The weather has been sunny and hot. In fact, we had a heat wave in July with temps hovering at 100 degrees for 3 days. I think the record high was 104 one day. We had no air conditioning (although we do now....) and spent the day either swimming in the river or laying next to a fan eating popsicles....
Millie left a crayon on the front porch and it turned into a soggy, melted mess, which is exactly how we felt that entire week!

Michael had his 21st birthday and Lola and Grandpa drove over from Spokane to celebrate his big day. The weather was still hot, so we cooked outside and then ate a yummy cake. Plenty of drinks went around and the party got silly....

A touching father and son moment...

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY!

Earlier in the week Millie, Mike and I took a water taxi from Alki Beach to the waterfront pier in Seattle.

My handsome man posing in front of the "city" as Millie likes to call it.

Millie laughing as the spray and surf splashes her face...

The view from the boat on the way back home. This is a real deal at only $3 round trip, and Millie loved the boat ride (so did I!) Can we go again?