Earthen Vessel

Leavenworth with Aunt Karin...

2012-02-12T17:47:00.015-08:00

MyAunt Karin came up from LA to visit this past week. It has been so lovely having her here and I am very sad to see her head home tomorrow. I think all of my SoCal family needs to come up here and visit more often! :)

While she was here Mom, Dad, Aunt Karin, Daniel and I went and spent the night in Leavenworth. It was a lot different from the last time Rue, Daisy, Daniel and I went at Christmas time. Then it was extremely crowded, no parking and hardly any room to move in the shops. There was much more snow at that time too. This time it was so quiet and there were hardly any tourists and there was not nearly as much snow. The Enzian Inn we stayed at had hardly any patrons. It was quite nice as I don't enjoy large crowds very much. And the town was still decorated for Christmas!

After dinner at Andreas Keller I took Daniel for a swim in the hotel pool. Unfortunately Daniel wasn't too excited about swimming. I had the whole pool to myself. The pool is in the basement of the hotel. It is surrounded by pillars, has a beautiful mural and there was classical music playing. There was a hot tub too! Aunt Karin, Mom, and Dad were kicking themselves for not bringing their swimsuits.

Daniel and Gramma watched cartoons on my iPod after swimming.

Can you tell that they are twinnies? :)

The men. Aren't they cute! No, Daniel is not retaining water in his wrists, I just pulled his gloves up and over his jacket. :)

This was our view at breakfast in the hotel.

During breakfast a man came out dressed in lederhosen, hopped up on the railing of the balcony and played the alpenhorn.

After breakfast we did a little more looking in the shops. Thanks to Mom and Aunt Karin I came away with a wonderful new hat but that is another post for later. We bought some goodies for Rue and Daisy and then headed towards Wenatchee. The scenery was so beautiful and Aunt Karin oohed and awed almost the whole ride in the car. We stopped at the Aplets and Cotlets factory in Cashmere. Aplets and Cotlets are one of my favorite treats. You can buy them in grocery stores here but I always wait to buy them until we are on the east side of the mountains that way they stay a special treat.

Daniel and Grampa walked to the nearby train tracks hoping to see a train.

It was so wonderful being in the snowy mountains for a couple days with my parents and Aunt Karin. Hearing Aunt Karin ooh and awe over the beauty and snap as many pictures as she could was fun. I love sharing the mountains that I love with the family that I love.

Sunny weather...

2012-02-05T17:38:00.000-08:00

We woke up to another gorgeous sunny day this morning. We went to church this morning and after Daniel had a little rest we headed out to enjoy the beautiful sunshine. It was almost warm! Rue had to go to work and Daisy stayed home to finish up some math homework.

We drove out to Manchester, a cute little town on the water. There is a tiny public beach there, probably the smallest, cutest little public beach I have ever seen. The only problem with this little beach was there were no rocks! It was all sand. When I told Daniel we were going to the water he got all excited about getting to throw rocks in the water. This is the first beach I have been to in Washington that had absolutely no rocks! So we walked back up towards the car and found a little dirt patch that had some rocks in it so we gathered up as many as we could and took them down to the beach. They were gone all too quickly but Daniel got to throw some rocks in the water. After the rocks were gone I showed him how to draw in the sand with a stick. He really enjoyed that and kept drawing in the sand until we left.

The view was gorgeous! You can see the full skyline of Seattle. If you look closely towards the left of the picture you can see the Space Needle. This is another moment when I really wish I had a better camera. It's just not that good for distance photos. And we could see Mt. Rainier. I sure can't wait to go do some hiking up there!

My Aunt Karin arrives tomorrow night from LA! She will be visiting for a week. On Wednesday my mom, dad, Aunt Karin, Daniel and I will be heading to Leavenworth and we will be spending the night. I know Aunt Karin is going to LOVE Leavenworth! I just can't wait to see her sweet face! I probably won't be posting anything this week since we will be out having fun but I will be taking lots of pictures and will have a fun post up in about a week or so. Have a good week everyone!

Mmmmmm, chili!

2012-01-30T15:27:00.001-08:00

I discovered my two new favorite ingredients from the grocery store Ro-Tel and El Pato tomato sauce. I now keep my pantry stock with several cans of each. So far I have used them in burritos, enchiladas and chili. I am sure I will find even more recipes to use them in. I love making chili in the winter time and thankfully my hubby loves to eat it. It's probably one of the few meals I could make every week and he doesn't mind eating it so often. My favorite chili recipe is from The Pioneer Woman's cook book. At this point it is the best chili I have ever made. She doesn't add the El Pato to her's but I decided to try and add it to mine and it is so good. It makes it just a little bit more spicy. She serves her's with Frito's and I decided to give that a try and it is very yummy. Even better the whole thing is gluten, dairy and egg free which makes it a perfect meal for me. I love it when I find something we all can eat and I don't have to make something separate for myself. I really wish I could share the recipe with you but I am pretty sure that would be breaking a copyright law of some kind so all I can do is encourage you to buy her book. Or you can just come over to my house for dinner and I will make it for you! :)

More crazy weather...

2012-01-25T14:51:00.000-08:00

A huge windstorm blew through last night. The wind kept me awake but I did eventually fall asleep only to be woken by a huge gust of wind along with a huge crash. It was so loud I was sure a tree had come down. When I looked out the back window I saw that the back fence had been blown into the neighbors yard! Needless to say we have been having some crazy weather here in the Northwest. My hubby had the day off and Josh, our neighbor, took the day off from work so they are both out there right now working to get the fence back up. The people who lived here before put the fence in but didn't do a very good job. The main posts in the ground weren't put into cement but just in the dirt so they eventually rotted away. No wonder the fence blew over last night. Rue and Josh are doing it right this time. :)

A Very Good Idea...

2012-01-22T09:27:00.000-08:00

I saw this idea on Pinterest for salads. I put a homemade balsamic vinaigrette in the bottom. Then some cut up mushrooms, grape tomatoes, then the lettuce. I put a small handful of sunflower seeds on top, you can't see them in the picture. Since the lettuce is on top then it won't get soggy in the dressing. I made up a bunch of these and put them in the fridge. When I am making Rue's work lunch I can just grab one out of the fridge and add it to his lunch. It's so nice to just pull one out of the fridge and dump it on a plate and enjoy. :) They will keep in the fridge up to four days.

Snowy Weather 2...

2012-01-21T09:19:00.000-08:00

Well, this has been quite the week. A huge winter storm blew through Washington leaving massive amounts of snow and ice. The icicles are hanging from my parents' porch. If you can believe it they actually got much longer than this, reaching to almost the bottom of the windows!

This is the pond at my parents', so pretty!

Tuesday night Daniel, Daisy and I headed over to my parents' house in case of a power outage since they have a generator and a wood stove and we have neither.

Daniel loves to help my mom do the dishes. She puts a little blob of soap bubbles on the counter and he rubs them all around. Sometimes he puts them in his hand and then claps his hands showering himself and my mom (and me) with suds.

Daniel even helped my dad fold the laundry. He is such a good little helper. I hope I do a good job of encouraging his helpful spirit. My dad would shake out the towels before folding them. Daniel was very good at doing it like Grampa. :)

Shortly after this Daniel came down with a cold and had a fever and was my little cuddle-bug for a couple of days. And alas, he passed the sickies onto me. Now I have a monster sore throat, the chills and aches.

Even though I have really enjoyed all the snow this week I am looking forward to this next week and getting back into our regular routine.

Snowy weather...

2012-01-17T13:50:00.000-08:00

It has been snowing here and it is suppose to snow for a couple more days. I am loving this winter weather! I wish it was like this all winter long. Daniel was so excited to see the snow when he woke up yesterday morning. I took him outside for a little while. We played in the front yard and then took a little walk around the block. Every bird we saw was a "snow bird" according to Daniel.

It snowed some more last night and this morning Rue took Daniel out to build a snowman.

Not sure what they ended up building but they sure had fun doing it. Daniel saw something shiny and lost his focus. :)

We are suppose to get dumped on again tonight and tomorrow so we are heading over to my parents' now just in case. They have a generator and a wood stove if the power ends up going out. It wouldn't be very fun to be stuck here with no power and no heat. Maybe it will come to nothing but I would rather be safe than sorry. Plus it's always fun to spend the night at my parents'. :)

Baked Chicken and Fennel with Shallots

2012-01-17T07:49:00.000-08:00

I just recently started cooking with fennel. It is in season right now and I am trying to cook more in season. I love the fresh anise smell when I am slicing it and the flavor really mellows when roasted. The roasted shallots are pretty scrumptious too. I got the recipe from Martha Stewart. In her recipe she adds apples but I left them out simply because I didn't feel like adding them. :)

Click here for the recipe. It is such a quick and easy recipe, it's a perfect weeknight meal. I also baked some Yukon Gold potatoes to go with.

Cookies with Momma

2012-01-16T13:50:00.000-08:00

Daniel sure gets excited when I make cookies. When he saw me getting the mixer ready this morning he pushed a chair over to the counter and climbed on up. I let him stir up the dry ingredients while I am mixing up the wet. There is nothing like baking cookies with my little man and snow falling down outside. Where did I put the Christmas decorations? :)

Note his little Starbucks apron. Momma wears one just like it when she makes coffee for people. :)

Into the sunset...

2012-01-14T15:49:00.000-08:00

On Friday we decided to spend a little time outside. It was FREEZING cold but it was so great to be out in the fresh air. We bundled up and headed out. One of our favorite places to walk is the Chamber's Creek Trail. They recently put in a big playground which we are all very excited about.

We started the walk kind of late in the afternoon so the sun was going down. The sunset was gorgeous.
We saw maybe five trains go by on our walk which sure made Daniel a happy little guy. I really wish I had an updated camera for this picture.

Afterwards Rue took us to a Vietnamese Pho restaurant that he had discovered. A hot bowl of delicious Pho sure hit the spot after a walk in the cold.

Good job Daddy!

2012-01-14T15:14:00.001-08:00

Rue decided to put a little plate over the power outlet in Daniel's room because, surprise surprise, Daniel thought it was fun to stick things in it.

Daniel wanted to help Daddy and Rue was more than happy to have his little helper join him. Rue is always ready to have Daniel with him when he is working on things around the house. He wants his little guy to know how to do these things when he grows up and his on his own. That's one of the many reasons why I love that man.

*GASP* Don't worry, about two halves of a millisecond after I took the picture I had grabbed the screwdriver out of his hand. Just one of the many reasons why we had to cover the outlet. :)

Here is a little video of Daniel helping Daddy. "Good job Daddy!" . Call me a puddle of mush on the floor. :)

Zombie Spiders!

2012-01-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

I hate spiders. I hate zombies. Here's how the two became combined in my world.

There has been a spider living in the corner of my bathroom ceiling for a while now. I left him alone mainly because he stayed in that corner and I couldn't reach him to mush him with a tissue. He left me alone, I left him alone. It was a mutual agreement.

Well, one morning that spider was not in his specified corner. I soon discovered that he had violated the terms of our agreement and had traveled down from his corner close to the floor. Sorry dude, you must die. He was then mushed into a tissue and thrown in the garbage. Or so I thought!

Rewind a little bit. My hubby has been trying forever to get me to watch the show The Walking Dead. If you haven't already guessed, it's about zombies. As stated before I hate zombies. This is not just, "I think they are gross and would prefer not to watch them.". This is a loathing all out fear of them. I could watch 5 minutes of a zombie movie and have nightmares all night. No joke! I hate them.

Well, somehow my hubby got me hooked on The Walking Dead. The storyline is very intriguing. Too bad they can't just leave the zombies out. You know, just refer to them without actually showing them. Hey, I'd watch it. So my viewing of the show is pretty much me keeping my face behind the laptop during the zombie scenes. It works pretty good.

Fast forward back to the mushed spider. The next morning I was getting ready for work and who do I see? The spider. But he is no longer a normal spider. He is limping along with two of his legs broken, kind of swerving to and fro just like... a ZOMBIE! Now not only do I have a spider to deal with now I have a ZOMBIE spider. Two of the things I hate most in the world and now the two are combined. Dude, not cool! And before I could grab some tissue to try and re-mush him he limped his way under the bathroom door. I opened it and he was nowhere to be seen. Oh, great! Now I have a zombie spider on the loose going and turning all the other spiders in my house into zombie spiders!

Visitors beware, the Dannells' house has zombie spiders.

Totally real life...

2012-01-07T20:24:00.000-08:00

For those who don't know my hubby works at Fred Meyer. In fact that is how we met. I worked at the Vista Optical inside the Fred Meyer store Rue was working at. He saw the cute little dispensing optician behind the counter, asked her out to coffee and the rest is history. :)

I came across this picture online and it sure made me giggle. It's now my profile picture on Facebook. :)

Daniel's new car...

2012-01-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

My son pulled this empty basket out of the spare room the other day. He discovered that he is able to fit inside it, just barely. First it was his boat but then he decided it's his car and that is what is has remained. He sure keeps me giggling. :)

Highly recommended...

2012-01-06T15:25:00.000-08:00

I sure have been enjoying my new Pioneer Woman cookbook. I bought it for myself for Christmas. Since I received it I have cooked four of the recipes from it and so far each one has been a hit! I am a gluten-free girl so a couple I have not been able to eat myself but my hubby sure liked them and that's good enough for me.

I have cooked her Meatloaf, Chicken Spaghetti (made with leftover holiday turkey), Perfect Pot Roast, and Simple, Perfect Chili. (Plus a bunch I have made off her website.) And I'm not done yet. I plan on cooking as many of the recipes in this book as I can.

She has a lot of beautiful pictures of ranch life in the cookbook which makes it an enjoyable book just to flip through even when you are not cooking.

Her newest cookbook comes out in March. I can't wait!

Yay for good food! :)

Why I love where I live...

2012-01-03T17:38:00.000-08:00

If I had known this is what Mt. Rainier was going to look like this morning I would have packed Daniel in the car and found a good spot to see it. This is why I love living here! God is amazing! The picture is from this article from Komo News.

Lookie what I found...

2012-01-02T15:39:00.001-08:00

I came across Norajane on Etsy today and I have to say I am in love with her stamps!! They are some of the cutest stamps I have ever seen!

I had to purchase a couple. They are really inexpensive and did I mention how cute they are!

I purchased the Tree Trio and the Deer Siblings.

The theme of the cards I create is "simply sweet". I am pretty
sure these stamps will help me with that theme. I can't wait to purchase more of her stamps. I will have a little preview up soon of what you will be able to find in my Etsy shop opening in March.

Norajane's pillows are pretty cute too. :)

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-01T04:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! I know this is a curious picture for a New Year's post but this is how I rang in the New Year, nice and serene. No big fireworks or champagne at my one woman party. (And I would much rather be wherever this picture is than in a huge crowd of people.) My hubby had to work last night and he works 3 to midnight (if not later), Daisy went to spend the night at my parents' and of course little Daniel (2 1/2 years) was in bed at his usual bedtime of 7pm. Even I did not stay up to midnight. I was up at 4:30 yesterday morning to go work my morning shift at Starbucks so needless to say staying up to midnight really didn't sound appealing. And it's really no secret that I am far from a party animal. I turn into mush about 7pm. I am happy morning person. Hence the ability be up around 4 in the morning and serve latte's to people. :)

The past year has been a very shaping one in my life. The Lord used some very difficult circumstances to cause me to rely on Him more and to teach me more obedience to His will for me as a wife and mom. I have to say it has been the toughest year of my life but at the same time I have found much more true peace and joy in my soul and I thank the Lord for that. I still have a long way to go but I know He is not through with me yet. I am looking forward to what the new year has in store.

I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year's!!

Christmas...

2011-12-29T17:15:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone already. We had a very lovely Christmas. We went to church in the morning and I have to say I kind of wish we had a church service every Christmas morning, it just fits. It was a very windy morning and at the end of the service the power went out but then came right back on. The power in our neighborhood is so sensitive that it goes out when someone sneezes. We pretty much expected it would be out when we got home and sure enough it was. We packed all the presents into the car and headed over to my parents'. Their power was still on and they have a wood stove which very much adds to the ambiance of Christmas. We opened presents and had Christmas dinner. Daniel, Daisy and I spent the night and Rue went home to sleep with the dog inside so she wouldn't have to spend the cold, windy night outside. The next morning was so nice. I woke up to Daniel's sweet little face staring at me. I got up and built a fire. Mom got up soon after and I made peppermint mochas for my dad and me. Mom made pancakes with her new Kitchenaide stand mixer (my dad surprised her with it for Christmas) and we just enjoyed a nice relaxing morning. I told mom that next year we needed to just plan on spending the night over there on Christmas whether the power goes out or not. She agreed with me. Our power had come back on some time in the middle of the night so Rue didn't freeze completely. :)

I think heading to Leavenworth at Christmas is becoming a tradition. We went up on Tuesday after Christmas. Leavenworth is a Bovarian Village nestled in the Cascades. It is always so nicely decorated for Christmas with Christmas music playing in the town square and of course there is SNOW! It was snowing when we got there and didn't stop the entire time we were there.

In the middle of town there is a little sledding hill. Rue sent Daniel down it. He was a little scared at first but by the time he reached me he had a huge smile on his face. Daisy went down a couple times too.

Rue pulled Daniel around on the sled. It was too cute!

We went to the Starbucks there and it was CROWDED! We heard someone say it was a 30 minute wait. We decided to find coffee somewhere else. We found a cute little bakery that had lattes and self-serve brewed coffee. It was quiet and cozy. I didn't get my Starbucks employee discount but that was okay. Daisy and Daniel shared a hot chocolate.

We looked around in the shops and then we ate dinner at the Munchen Haus. It's an outdoor grill that serves all kinds of kielbasas. They have outdoor fires and heating lamps. We found a nice dry table under a couple of heating lamps. Rue had been waiting all year to eat one of these kielbasas. Daniel was just as excited but he was more excited about the bun than the actual dog. In the picture of Daisy choosing her condiments you can see some steam. That is from a huge, steaming pot of SAUERKRAUT!! That's my favorite part of the meal. :) The Munchen Haus is such a great place to eat. The cold and the snow coming down with the heat from the heat lamps and the smell of woodsmoke from the fires and Christmas music playing just makes for some great atmosphere.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Pumpkin Patch...

2011-11-06T13:55:00.000-08:00

My Gramma was up visiting from LA and on the 31st we headed up to a pumpkin patch in Buckley. The fall colors are beautiful up on the plateau this time of year.

The pumpkin patch we went to had a little petting farm with goats, a little cow, pigs, ducks, and turkeys. Daniel got to pick out his own little pumpkin.

Gramma, Mom, me and my little pumpkin. :)

It was pretty muddy. I'm glad I wore my Crocs. I love Daniel in his little goulashes.

Fall bike ride...

2011-10-19T08:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a beautiful October day. Rue and I both had the day off so we decided to go on a bike ride. The temperature was in the 60's and there was not a cloud in the sky! The fall colors were so lovely. Rue picked this bike ride because he knows how much I love riding in the country. He likes a good urban bike ride so it was very sweet of him to pick this one for me.

Daniel had the best seat in the house. He was a happy little camper just riding along looking at all the scenery.
We stopped and had a picnic at a small park in Rainier.

I love that you can see Daniel's little face peaking out the side of the trailer. :)
This is the view from a small bridge we crossed. So pretty! I love fall!

He eventually conked out. :)
Riding through the fall leaves. It was truly a lovely day.

My little Bubba...

2011-10-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

Daniel loves to help me around the house. Recently he learned how to pick up the dirty clothes I put out in the hallway and take it to the dirty clothes hamper. He loves it! He also loves to help me put groceries away and my mom just taught him how help her with the dishes at her house. He is such a happy little helper. Here is a little video of him helping me with the laundry. It ends a little tragically when he stubs his toe on a pot he had been playing with, but he recovered quickly. :)

Here is a picture of him helping with the dishes when we were camping in Glacier. He did a very good job too. :)

This past week was potty training! He learned in 4 days! We are so happy to no longer have a diaper expense.

Mmmmmm, bread...

2011-10-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

I am gluten-free. I found out this past spring that I am intolerant to gluten, dairy and eggs. I have not eaten a slice of bread since then. I have been trying the different gluten free baking mixes and flours I have found at Fred Meyer. This week I tried Gluten Free Pantry's French Bread and Pizza Mix. I made the french bread according to the package directions, using my egg substitute instead of real eggs. It smelled so good cooking in the oven with the rain falling down outside. As soon as it was cooled I cut myself a slice. It tasted so good. It has been so long since I have enjoyed a slice of bread with some butter on it. It will only be an every once in a while treat since the slices of this bread have twice the calories of a healthy whole wheat or whole grain bread. But I am very happy that I will get to enjoy a nice slice of crusty bread with a hot bowl of soup.

Card making...

2011-10-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

I am a sewer. I love to sew. But recently my sewing machine has been collecting some dust since I have rediscovered scrapbooking and discovered card making. I do plan on doing a lot of sewing this winter but I am having a lot of fun playing with paper right now. I bought some beautiful fall card stock paper from Joann's.
Here are some of the cards I have made.

On this one I left space on the front for a verse or a sentiment. I used a cute little leaf stamp and some pumpkin spice color chalk ink. I like to leave space on the inside for a nice little note.

I love this little owl stamp. I used brown chalk ink and used an orange marker for the highlighting.

On this one I used a fall border punch. I put a piece of orange card stock behind it so you can really see the the punch. I used a Happy Thanksgiving stamp and used brown chalk ink.

This one is the most simple but it is my favorite. I used a sweet little pumpkin stamp and used a pumpkin spice chalk ink on the pumpkins and then a pesto colored chalk ink on the vines. It is a little smaller than the other cards. I took a picture of it next to a larger card so you can see the difference. I think I am going to make more of this one.
More cards to come! I am really looking forward to making Christmas cards. :)

Back to blogging...

2011-10-10T12:56:00.001-07:00

Happy fall everyone! It's that time of year when less and less time is spent outside and more and more time is spent in the coziness of the indoors. This summer was all too short but I am happy to feel the chill in the air and wake up to rain falling on the roof. It's time for making lots of hearty soups, stews and homemade bread. Believe it or not I am actually getting more out of my vegetable garden right now than I did in the summer. I have all kinds of broccoli, parsnips, carrots, onions, potatoes, collards, lettuce, cabbage and a few sugar pumpkins. My poor little rutabagas and turnips didn't do so good. They ended up long and skinny. Must have been the soil and I don't think I spaced them properly. I will work on that next year. And now it's time to start blogging again.

Unfortunately I didn't get as much hiking in this summer as I would have liked to due to a sprained ankle I received when walking across a small snowfield on a hike up near Mt. Rainier. I wasn't paying attention and walked right over a creek running under the snow, my leg broke through and down I went. This was back on August 15th and I am just now starting to feel like it is finally starting to heal. I keep hearing that by the end of it I will wish that I had just broken my ankle as bone breaks tend to heal much quicker than soft tissue damage. But we did go on a couple of camping trips, the most epic one being camping in Glacier National Park in Montana for a week, all before my sprained ankle thankfully. (My actual x-ray.)

I have started scrapbooking again. I stopped for several years but felt the itch return this fall. Fall is the perfect time to scrapbook all the past summer events. I have been having lots of fun cutting out my own little page decorations. I don't have the money for a big expensive Cricut machine that cuts all the pieces for you so I just cut them all out by hand. I discovered chalk ink which is perfect for putting around the edges of cutouts and picture mats. It gives an almost antique look while also highlighting the image. These are some of the pictures from our camping trip to Banks Lake in Eastern Washington.

I had fun making all the little cutouts. I made several of each so I can use them on my Glacier scrapbook pages too. I still have more ideas for others as well. I think the trees and the little campfires are my favorite pieces.

Uncle Dave's egg seperator...

2011-05-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

My Uncle Dave enjoys cooking and baking. For his host gift I bought him this nifty little egg separator. Guess where the egg whites come out? Yes, it's the perfect gift for Uncle Dave. :)

Great Gramma with her boys...

2011-05-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

The last morning we were in LA we had a photo shoot with Gramma and her three great grandbaby boys.

A little trip to LA...part 2

2011-05-19T06:29:00.001-07:00

For the weekend I was in LA Daniel and I stayed at my cousin Mary Beth and her husband Daniel's house. Yes, there are two Daniels in the family. Mai and Charlie stayed with my cousin Eva-Karin. Once the weekend was over and people had to go back to work Mai and I moved to my Aunt Karin's house.

Uncle Dave and Aunt Karin have a lovely back yard with a little stream and pond complete with live gold fish. It is such lovely little oasis in the middle of the city.

Daniel loved the little pond.Mai and Charlie in the backyard. You can see how lovely the backyard is.

My cousins Lauralyn and Katie. We didn't get to see much of Lauralyn since college finals are coming up.

Lauralyn and her guy Jeff.

For our last outing of the trip we went to Seal Beach and had lunch at Ruby's on the Seal Beach Pier. Afterward we took the boys down to the water so they could stick their feet in the ocean or the first time. Garry (who is on paternity leave while Eva-Karin started back to work) brought Ethan along too. Daniel loved seeing the "big water"!

Daniel said hi to almost every single person we past on the pier. In his little world strangers do not exist, everyone is a friend.

The boys at Ruby's.Ethan's nifty little high chair. We figured out though that his arms were suppose to go the top and the strap around his waist. He still just a little too small for it. But not for long! :)
Charlie checking out the menu. Don't worry, that is milk in Daniel's cup, not soda. :)

Charlie and Ethan discussing politics and the weather. Auntie Annie in the background is in baby heaven. :)

There are simply no words...

Ethan with his Gramma.

Charlie gives Ruby's fries the thumbs up.

My cousin Melanie.

This group of boys were walking down the pier and Daniel spotted them and immediately ran to join them. I think they got a kick out of it.

Heading to the "big water".
Ethan is all set in his cool Oakley shades.
Daniel's toes in the ocean for the first time.

A little trip to LA...part 1

2011-05-17T16:43:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law Mai and I were blessed to have a quickly planned trip down to LA to visit my mom's side of the family. Daniel and my nephew Charlie came as well and they can still fly free. I didn't think we were going to be able to see my SoCal family this year but the Lord provided a way. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to see all of my cousins, aunts, uncles and Gramma. My Gramma got to have her three great grandbaby boys with her on Mother's Day.

I finally got to meet my cousin Eva-Karin's little guy Ethan. He is 4 months old and the cutest little chunk ever! I still can't get over how chubby his legs are. His mom called them tree trunks. I love squishing and mushing on babies who have rolls. Daniel was and still is such a skinny guy like his dad that I didn't get to do much squishing and mushing on him. Although I did and still do shower him with tons of kisses.

Yes, my son managed to step in dog poop in his bare feet on Mother's Day.
The mommas' reactions. :)

We took a day and went to Vasquez Rocks and Placerita Canyon up in the high dessert in the San Gabriel mountains. It was much hotter up there than down in the city but it was a beautiful day. Daniel had fun romping around and Charlie had fun hanging out in the shade. Daniel looking forward to the day when he will be big enough to climb all over those rocks. :)

Placerita Canyon was beautiful! Daniel and Charlie really enjoyed getting wet in the little creek.

And my son decided to sit in the creek. :) And then he decided to sit in the sand on the edge of the creek. :)

To be cont...

Campfire cooking...

2011-05-05T13:26:00.000-07:00

I finally bought the cast iron dutch oven ( 12inch, 6 quart) that I have been eying for a while. (Thanks mom for the early birthday present!) I have been wanting one for camping and even for cooking outside at home. I also bought Camper's Guide to Outdoor Cooking which is a great book with pretty much all the information you need for cooking outside. I want to practice cooking some meals now before we go camping that way I will have the kinks all worked out.

Last night I made my first meal outside. I made the Mountain Man breakfast of potatoes, sausage, eggs and cheese. It's not what I would usually make for dinner but it sure will be good, hearty camping food. It was a big hit with everyone who came over for dinner last night. I used charcoal under the dutch oven to cook up the sausage and saute the potatoes. And then when I added the eggs and cheese I put the lid on and put charcoal on top of it to turn it into an oven.

When we are camping I will be using a mix of coals from the campfire and charcoal. I want to use the keyhole fire pit method when we are camping. The fire pit will look like...well...a keyhole. The big fire will be in the circular part of the pit and then your rake hot coals down the little neck of the pit to where you are cooking. This allows for more control of the heat you are cooking with. I also bought a standing grate to put over the coals.

I am really looking forward to camping and cooking some yummy campfire meals for my family. Summer is on the way!

Finally getting to plant veggies...

2011-04-30T20:02:00.000-07:00

Spring has been such that I waited quite a while to plant anything. Night time temperatures are finally suppose to be warmer so I figured today would be a good day. My veggie garden is at my parents' this year since they have much more space. I planted two different kinds of lettuce, two different kinds of carrots and broccoli. I will also be planting potatoes and celery soon. My tomato plants will be arriving the end of May. And of course I will be planting squash and pumpkins.

My happy little helper! :)

Here is the pretty pond next to the garden. I am looking forward to doing all my gardening with this lovely view.

Here you can see the barrel my brother converted to catch rain water for the garden. It's so great to have water right there in the garden and even better that it's free! He even made one for me at my house for my garden at home.

It looks like spring might actually be arriving finally! :)

And I must give my mom credit for all the pictures. :)

Schoolhouse Tunic...

2011-04-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

I finally made the Schoolhouse Tunic from Sew Liberated. I had such a fun time making it. She included very detailed instructions which kept any hair pulling to a minimum . I made the mistake though of making the largest size in the pattern because I have always found patterns to run small. Well, she is very true to size and it ended up being a tent on me. So then I had to learn how to do some taking in and even then it's still just slightly big but fits much better. I know for next time to make my actual size. I already have more fabric to make another one! I love to wear it with a comfy pair of leggings and the cute boots my hubby bought me for Christmas. :)

Resurrection Sunday...

2011-04-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone! He is risen!

After a wonderful church service this morning that had me fighting back tears we all headed to my parents' for Easter dinner. Mom and I decided to leave it nice and simple so Dad BBQ'd hamburgers, mom made a broccoli salad and I brought fresh strawberries, angel food cake and whipped cream for dessert.

This is the first year that Daniel could enjoy hunting for Easter eggs. I hid some little plastic ones. I left them empty since he is still young enough that he didn't realize there were no treats inside, just finding the eggs was a treat enough. I have no plans of making a big deal about all the secular Easter traditions. Easter is such a wonderful day just celebrating the resurrection of our Savior that I want that to be the focus not the Easter Bunny, candy and Easter eggs. But that being said I don't see any harm in having a little Easter egg hunt and giving the kiddos a chocolate bunny just as long as Christ is the focus.

I had to include one of my nephew Charlie! Couldn't you just gobble him right up! :)

First hike of the year...

2011-04-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

I don't mean to be negative but here in the Northwest we have been having a pretty crummy spring. Rain, rain, rain, rain and cold have been the main theme. On a positive note though my tulips are tuliping and we are getting closer and closer to summer. I will have a nice sized veggie garden at my parents' this year but that is for another blog post.

Thankfully we have had a nice little sunny streak this week which allowed us to go on our first hike for the season. Rue and I had the day off together on Tuesday so we headed out to Green Mountain near Belfair. We last did this hike a little over seven years ago when we were first dating. Time sure does fly. Rue and I both admitted we don't remember much from that first hike probably because we were all oogley about each other.

I carried Daniel in the backpack and I was very happy that the weight was just fine even though he has definitely grown since last summer. It is wonderful that he can actually get out and do some walking on his own now which also gave me a little break. The Olympic mountains had some clouds around them so we couldn't see them completely but the view was still beautiful.

Rue even carried Daniel on his shoulders for a little bit and we got a kick out of Daniel's choice for handles.

A tired Starbuck and Daniel at the top. Starbuck carried my water for me in her doggy pack which helped take some of the weight off my pack. She is such a good hiker.

We could see all the way to Seattle from the top!

We REALLY needed that hike! We have been having some pretty bad cabin fever! Can't wait for camping season to arrive!

REALLY!?...

2011-02-11T18:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I just got an entire post done and it took me a nice chunk of time. Then as I was finishing the power cord pulled out of the computer and shut it off erasing the ENTIRE post. *SIGH* I really don't feel like writing the whole thing over again today so I will try again later. :(

Cabin fever...

2011-01-18T07:58:00.000-08:00

We were feeling a bit of cabin fever yesterday and since Daisy didn't have school and Ruh and I both had the day off we decided to risk any rain that might fall and go on a walk. Ruh discovered the Clearwater Creek Trail in Silverdale this past summer so we decided to go there so we could pick up Daisy's friend Sabrina who just recently moved to Silverdale. It is a very lovely trail although a bit gray right now. Ruh said all the trees, brush and grass are very pretty in the summer. Now that Daniel is a toddler it is so nice that he can get out of the stroller and run around. He had a great time running after Daddy and "Sar-buck" (Starbuck).
Daniel pulled the Taggy my Gramma made him for Christmas out of the diaper bag. At first I was worried about it ending up in the mud but it was just too cute so I let him carry it until we got back to the dirt path.

Ruh and I were chatting about how much we can't wait for camping and hiking season to begin. Until then I am taking advantage of the dreary days with crocheting and sewing which I don't feel like doing when the sun is out. I have actually already started on some homemade Christmas presents! :)

Chorizo Pumpkin Soup...

2011-01-11T15:15:00.000-08:00

I made this scrumptious soup yesterday. I really stocked up on canned pumpkin when it was available during the holidays because stores were starting to run out. Now I have a ton of canned pumpkin in my pantry so it was nice to find this recipe so I could use up a couple cans. This is a very good soup for cold January days.

Chorizo Pumpkin Soup
about 8-1 cup servings

1 lb Chorizo sausage or any other sausage you would prefer
1 medium onion - diced
2 stalks celery - diced
2 medium apples - peeled and diced
2-16 0z cans pumpkin puree
2 to 3 cups low sodium chicken broth to reach the consistency you like
ground cinnamon - to taste
ground nutmeg - to taste (I used freshly ground)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Brown the sausage and add the onion and celery and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion and celery are starting to get soft.
2. Add the apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper and cook about 5 minutes more.
3. Add the canned pumpkin and chicken broth. Keep adding chicken broth until it reaches the thickness you like. I like mine a little thick.
4. Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Enjoy! :)

My electric night and Happy New Year...

2011-01-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! I rang the new year in nice and cozy in bed.

The night before had been very exhausting. I had put Daniel to bed at 7pm and took a shower. I pulled out the blow dryer and when I started using it the exhaust fan in the bathroom shut off and then the outlet started crackling and sparking! Since Ruh was at work I called my dad. He told me to go out to the circuit box and shut off the the switches to the bathrooms. Well, none of the switches are marked so I had no clue which ones to shut off. I called dad back and he said it would probably be best to shut the power off completely and come and spend the night at their house. Mom said she would come over and help me pack up Daniel. While mom was on her way I went to the bedroom to pack some things. The light only turned on dimly and made a humming noise and the outlets starting crackling. I went to the back bathroom and tried turning that light on and the exact same thing happened and the outlets started sparking! I could hear the printer turning off and on in the spare room and when I checked that room the outlet was doing the same thing! Mom soon arrived and we started packing up to go. I went out to the circuit box and shut off the main power. Mom was talking to Ruh on the phone and as we started to leave all of a sudden I smelled something burning down the hallway and my mom started smelling it too. We quickly got Daniel out of the house and into the car and I called 911. I couldn't see any smoke but there was definitely a strong burning smell. Three fire trucks arrived at our house within 10 minutes. They brought a little infrared device in to see if there was any heat behind the walls. Thankfully there was no fire. We figured that the burning smell had been from the burning ozone from the sparking of the outlets. It also caused a weird metallic taste in my mouth. Ruh arrived home just as they were about to leave. They told us to leave the power off of course until we had a electrician come out and check things out.

I was thinking we were going to have to have all of the wiring replaced in the house and that it would cost us several thousand dollars. The electrician checked the outlet in my bathroom first and found that one little wire had come loose and that is what caused the sparking and then all of the other outlets and lights to go crazy at that end of the house. He said that one little wire could have burned down the entire house. So he fixed it and now all is well! It only cost us $141! The Lord was definitely watching over us! This could have gone so much worse in many different ways. I am so thankful to Him for how He took care of us.

So that is why I spent New Year's Eve cozy in bed! :)

Christmas and Leavenworth...

2010-12-28T06:43:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas here at our house. Everyone came over for presents in the morning and Christmas dinner around 1pm.

Daniel got a new taggy blanket from his Great-Gramma that she made for him. He grabbed it so fast and started smelling it. He took his old taggy in one hand and the new one in the other and went back and forth smelling them, it was too cute. Now he carries them both around. :)

One of Daisy's favorite presents! :)

I always buy Ruh and Daisy the next Guiness Book of World Records. They really like looking through it.

I bought Daisy this fabulously fun shirt. She loves random graphics t-shirts. This one actually made me laugh out loud when I saw it so I knew it was the one. :)

Oh Charlie! There is just no way to get enough of that little boy's squishable cuteness!

Daniel was so cute playing with all his new toys. He loves the little truck that you hammer the nails on the top. He loves his little police car and firetruck that have buttons all over that make the sounds. Grampa George taught him how to stack the giant leggos. Those giant leggos are actually George's (my father-in-law) Christmas present. I bought them for the kids he works with. He will keep them in his car for when he visits them at home.

I'm very glad my in-laws, George and Bonita, came over for Christmas dinner. I gave Bonita a gift card to Cabela's, her new favorite store. I can't wait to see what she buys with it.

I sure do love this little family! My brother Ben, Mai and little Charlie.

After we ate Christmas dinner Ruh, Daisy, Daniel and I headed over the Cascades to Wenatchee and Leavenworth. We stayed in Wenatchee since the hotels in Leavenworth are a lot more expensive. It is only about a 20 minute drive from Wenatchee to Leavenworth. There was snow everywhere and it was so beautiful. Sadly this is the only picture I got of our little trip. The next day when I went to take pictures my batteries were dead and my spare set were dead as well even though I had just charged them. Ruh and Daisy went inner-tubing at the Leavenworth Winter Sports Club. There was a little lodge that sold food but no batteries. Bummer! The little ski area is so cute. There are a couple hills for people to ski and snowboard on and one little bunny slope. There are also a cross country skiing paths through the woods. There is no ski-lift just a rope pull that pulls you to the top. And then there is the tubing hill. They attach your tube to a rope pull and you sit in it while it pulls you to the top. The a guy at the top unhooks you and sends you down then tubing track. I had Daniel in the backpack and we watched Daddy and Sissy go down a couple times. I would have loved a pair of snowshoes right about then to go on a little hike.

We enjoyed Leavenworth and we ate lunch at Andreas Keller, an authentic German restaurant that is actually underneath the shops in Leavenworth. (I was able to find pictures on their website!) It is quaint and cozy full of beautiful wood work and German murals all over the walls. A little old man was playing an accordion. We sat in one of those cute little booths. I have never really liked sauerkraut but they brought us some with our bratwurst. This kind was called weinkraut and it was delicious! There was also potato salad with the meal and it was a lot different than American potato salad and it too was delicious. Daisy had the Bavarian Goulash and I am going to try and find a recipe for it. The little noodles are called spaetzle and are so cute. My favorite part of the whole trip was the mountains. I loved seeing the trees all covered in snow. We drove home on Highway 2 and for a while you drive through a narrow canyon next to the river. The rocks in the river were all covered with snow. We really had a wonderful Christmas and couple days after. I don't think I am ready for Christmas to be over! :)

A little wooden sign I saw in one of the shops said, "If you are blessed enough to be in the mountains...then you are blessed enough.". I agree. :)

Merry Christmas...

2010-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

"For there is born to you this day in the City of David, a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:11

Christmas cookies...

2010-12-24T11:53:00.001-08:00

Mom and and my sister-in-law Mai came over on Wednesday to make Christmas cookies. And we sure did make A LOT! By the end of the night there was not an inch of counter space left and half of my kitchen table was covered. We watched Home Alone and Willy Wonka (the original) while we baked and decorated. I took a the majority of the cookies to work this morning where I know they will be very much enjoyed.

Daniel and his cousin Charlie with their blankets Great Gramma made them.

Daniel wearing his little Starbucks apron. My little barista in training. :)

Charlie!!! He was smiling at his Auntie Annie. :)

I can't believe tomorrow is already Christmas! I am very happy I have gotten almost everything done and I am ready to have everyone over for Christmas dinner. After the Christmas festivities tomorrow Ruh, Daisy, Daniel and I will be heading east of the mountains to Wenatchee and Leavenworth. We will be staying in Wenatchee and heading up to Leavenworth on Sunday. It is a quaint little Bavarian Village in the Cascades that makes you feel like you have been transported to a village in the Alps. We will be playing in the snow, window shopping and enjoying the hotel's hot tub and pool in the evening. I am so excited to be heading up to the mountains. I need some good mountain air in my lungs and scenery to feast my eyes on. My husband knows the best gift he can give me is the mountains. :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Gramma and some fun tidbits...

2010-12-11T15:27:00.000-08:00

My Gramma came for a little visit the weekend after Thanksgiving. She was visiting her brother in Portland and wasn't actually planning on coming up here but my parents offered to drive down and pick her up so she could visit for a few days. We decided to go ahead and have another little Thanksgiving while she was here. This time there was no wind or snowstorm and we had power so we had it over at our house this time. We had a blessing and we sang the Doxology before we ate for Gramma. She always gets a little teary when she hears her family singing the Doxology. She definitely enjoyed her two little great-grandsons. It was a very short but sweet visit and I hope she will come visit again soon.

After all of our Thanksgiving festivities I still had 2 jars of my homemade cranberry sauce. I saw an idea in Martha Stewart Living Magazine to use leftover cranberry sauce and extra pie crust to make little mini cranberry bites. I made some pie crust, rolled it out, cut out circles and put about a tablespoon of cranberry sauce in the center of each circle and crimped them up. Some didn't hold their shape in the baking process but they still looked cute and tasted good. I also had been eying that Starbucks mug at work. And yesterday I was surprised at work by getting to pick out a mug for free. I knew the exact one I wanted. I love it because it looks like it is wearing a little sweater! I plan on copying the idea and making some mug sweaters myself. Another holiday find at work I plan on copying are these felt bags. I bought one today and it will be very easy to copy and sew. I will use different colors and maybe even experiment with different shapes and sizes. They make great lunch bags.

I have almost all of my Christmas shopping done and I have haven't even stepped foot in a store. I really like being able to shop online without fighting the crowds. Mom is going to watch Daniel for me on Monday morning so I can go finish my shopping. I am hoping going early on a Monday morning will help me to avoid crowds. :)

5 year blogging anniversary...

2010-12-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that I have been blogging for 5 years now! It really has been a lot of fun. Here's to another 5 years of blogging adventures! :)

Living Nativity...

2010-12-04T18:53:00.001-08:00

This weekend is our church's (Discovery Bapitist, Gig Harbor) annual Living Nativity. It will run Saturday and Sunday night December 4th and 5th, from 5-8pm. Last year Daniel was 6 months old and he and I were Mary and Jesus. (Ruh had to work.) There were two other couples with little boys around Daniel's age so we took shifts which was very helpful when a baby got fussy. This year my brother, his wife and their little Charlie will be Mary, Joseph and Jesus along with four other couples. Charlie is actually borrowing the snow suit I had Daniel all bundled up in last year. I can't wait to see his cute little face sticking out of all those layers of cloth! Miss Daisy is playing a servant in Herod's court this year I believe. I plan on driving through on Sunday evening with Daniel. I hope everyone who is able can come through!

Thanksgiving...

2010-11-27T15:02:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving this year nice and cozy next to my parents' wood stove. The plan was to have Thanksgiving dinner at our house since we have a lot more room but on Monday night a big wind and snowstorm blew in and knocked out our power. Daisy, Daniel, Starbuck (the dog) and I went and stayed at my parents' since they had power still and a wood stove. They also have a generator if their power goes out. Ruh wanted to stay at the house to keep an eye on things. The temperature at one point got down into the teens so we were really happy to have that wood stove. My brother, his wife and their 2 month old Charlie live at my parents but they sleep in the little cabin down by the pond so there were plenty of places for us to sleep in the house. Daniel and I took the spare room and Daisy crashed on the couch. We really had a fun time. I loved waking up in the morning and having breakfast with everyone. One morning I had to work at 5:30am and my dad drove me because the roads were so bad. Dad and I got all bundled up and headed to my Starbucks. When we got there my shift supervisor told me that they had been trying to call me all day the day before to tell me my shift had been canceled because all the ice had slowed business down quite a bit so they didn't need me. So Dad and I got some coffee, Dad an Americano and me an Eggnog Latte, and we headed back home. I spent the morning cleaning my parents' house to keep me busy so I wouldn't get bored.

Our power finally came back on Thanksgiving morning but it just wasn't enough time for me to get home, get the house cleaned and do all the cooking so we decided to stay. My in-laws and my brother-in-law Rahmat joined us and we all had a wonderful time. Daniel and little Charlie were the entertainment.

I made Martha Stewart's Turkey 101 like I did last year. I highly recommend it! (My sister-in-law Mai made the pretty roses from tomatoes!) It comes out moist and tender, even the white meat! I also made her Parker House Rolls, I highly recommend these as well.

This is a picture of some of the damage from the storm. The wind knocked a tree down over my parents' neighbor's driveway. A tree also fell on their house! They are an elderly couple and they are both okay and the house didn't have too much damage. Even our house sustained a little bit of damage. Ruh climbed up oin the roof yesterday to clear off fallen branches and found one had punched a fist sized hole in the roof! There is now a tarp covering the hole and it will be fixed sometime next week. That sure was some crazy weather but it was also very exciting too! Our plans sure did change for the week but they were fun changes. I am very thankful for my wonderful family. :)

Cute, but also very true right now...

2010-11-24T08:55:00.001-08:00

Snow!!...and cranberry sauce...

2010-11-22T14:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday it started snowing and this morning I woke up to more snow coming down. At the moment it is still snowing and we have about 4 inches. I am so glad I have the Christmas decorations up. Everything is so pretty and cozy. Ruh has the day off and we pulled out Daniel's hiking backpack and we went on a little walk before lunch with the dog. I bundled Daniel up and he really enjoyed being out in the snow.

This morning I decided to go ahead and make the cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and put it in some canning jars. It made 5 jars of sauce so I think I am going to have to send a jar home with my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law and my mom. It was so nice cooking up the sauce while there was snow falling outside my kitchen window. I have a pot roast in the crockpot for a meal tomorrow and I am making a chili for this evening. I am just amazed that it has not stopped snowing all day! If it keeps this up we will have 6 or more inches by the time we go to bed.

It's that time of year again!

2010-11-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

I know I jumped the gun a little bit but my husband requested that I decorate for Christmas early this year. He didn't have to try very hard to talk me into it. My sister-in-law Mai is from Vietnam and they do not celebrate Christmas like we do here in the States so she has really been looking forward to the holidays. She asked if she could come over and help me decorate. And of course she brought over little Charlie! In the picture she is hanging up the little bird ornaments I sewed last week. Here are a couple hanging on the Christmas tree.

This is a little video of a couple of very cute boys!

I can't believe Thanksgiving is this Thursday! I am very excited to be hosting again this year. I will be making Martha Stewart's Turkey 101 like I did last year. It got rave reviews and everyone keeps telling me how excited they are to have it again this year. I already got all of my grocery shopping done. There is no way I want to fight those crowds at the grocery store! Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow and Monday. It's not suppose to be a lot but it will still be fun. It would be really fun if there is snow on Thanksgiving but so far the forecast isn't calling for it. It is going to be COLD though!

Happy Thanksgiving!

He's walking!

2010-11-04T19:29:00.001-07:00

Time flies by so fast! My little guy is now walking! For a while he was just standing up on his own without holding onto anything but he wouldn't try to take any steps. Then this past week he finally took a couple steps towards Daddy but didn't try to take anymore steps after that. Yesterday I took Daniel with me to my friend Hannah's house and she and I visited while Daniel played with his buddy Billy. Billy is 3 months older than Daniel and has been walking for quite a while now. While we were in her kitchen Daniel stood up and we cheered him on and he proceeded to walk across her kitchen! We cheered and praised him. Hannah said it must have been peer pressure from Billy that finally got him walking! :) Here is a little video of him walking at home. I would have gotten more but my camera batteries died. I will make sure to get more video soon for all my SoCal family!

Here is a picture for my mother-in-law Bonita! She bought Daniel some cute little bath toys so I took a picture for her. He really has a lot of fun with them Bonita and I am trying to teach him how to squeeze them under water and then bring them up and squirt the water out.

And here are a couple pictures for my Gramma, Daniel's Great-Gramma! When she visited this summer she brought Daniel this little cup with a fun straw. He loves having his afternoon cup of water/juice in it. :)

From old capris to a cute skirt...

2010-11-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

The other day I was browsing through the sewing blogs I like to look at and I came across this skirt tutorial on Homemade by Jill. She turned a pair of old pants into a maternity skirt! I wanted to try it. I had a bag of clothes waiting to be dropped off at the Goodwill so I dug through it and found an old pair of denim capris. She had taken the waist band out of her pants and sewn in an old t-shirt to make it a maternity skirt. (An idea I plan to try when I get pregnant again!) I left the waist band in. After I was done I tried the skirt on but it was like a pencil skirt and I could barely move my legs. So I decided to take some pretty fabric and add it to make the skirt more open. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. But I think all in all I am happy with how it looks. I had a lot of fun and I have pulled out a couple more pairs of pants to make some more. One pair is khaki capris.

I will never make that mistake again...

2010-10-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I pulled out my sewing machine and got a little station all set up at the kitchen table to start sewing the little bird ornaments from the fabric my Gramma gave me. I started sewing and quickly realized that I had cut out the pieces WRONG! And I had used up ALL of the fabric so there isn't any extra for me to re-cut. I sat there just staring at the pieces I had in my hands on the verge of tears.

But all is not lost and I can still use the pieces I cut. I am thinking I will use them to make a little mini Christmas quilt that I can use on the coffee table or kitchen table. Or I could even hang it on the wall as a wall hanging at Christmas time. I am still very determined to make those little bird ornaments so I stopped by the quilting store in the harbor on my way home from work this morning and bought a few very pretty fat quarters that will make perfect Christmas birds. And this time I am going to make extra sure I cut each piece correctly. A good thing is I know I will never make that mistake again! :)

Family gathering...

2010-10-24T16:11:00.000-07:00

My husband's brother Taraz flew in from Colorado this weekend and his sister Ruhiyyih and her husband Matt drove over from the east side of the mountains. We all gathered in Renton at my sister-in-law Laurel's house. We enjoyed good food, good company and Matt and Ruhiyyih's wedding video. Their first anniversary is November 7th. Taraz was his usual goofy self and had us all laughing. He even had himself in stitches! :) I know we all wish he lived closer.

On the drive over the boys were playing some techno music and Daniel really liked the beat. Here's a cute video of it.

Switching gears...

2010-10-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Fall has definitely arrived and with it fall weather. With the changing from summer to fall I find myself switching gears. It's time to hang up the hiking poles and pull out the sewing machine. I have all kinds of sewing projects waiting for me that I put aside when spring arrived. Once the sun comes out and the air warms up I tend to be outside either in the yard or hiking somewhere. Though I do still plan on doing things outside this winter. I hope to do some snowshoeing up at Mt. Rainier and I am sure my hubby and I will do some snowboarding.

Yesterday I pulled out a couple little projects I had put on hold and I finished cutting out all the fabric pieces. They are both from Last Minute Patchwork & Quilted Gifts. I am making a bunch of the little bird ornaments you can see on the front cover. My Gramma gave me a bunch of fat quarter fabric a couple years ago for my birthday and I just couldn't figure out what to do with it. Then when I saw those little birds I knew exactly what I was going to do. The fabrics are different shades of greens and reds. Each one on it's own doesn't look Christmasy but when you put them all together they do. I am working on making a flock of these little birds and I will string them up on a garland when the holidays arrive. They look like a country Christmas. I will post pictures when they are done. I am also making something else out of this book but I can't post about it yet since it is a present for my little nephew Charlie and I don't want his mama to see it yet. :)

I bought this Schoolhouse Tunic pattern from Sew Liberated last spring. I am very excited to try it! I already have the fabric for it. I want to make one that is lined with flannel to make it more cozy for winter time. One of the reviews I read about it said that is also makes a perfect maternity shirt since it has an empire waist. No, I'm not pregnant but when the time comes these will make very cute and comfy maternity shirts. I ordered a big roll of tracing paper so I can trace out the pattern onto a different sheet that way I don't cut into the original pattern. Then I can use it over and over without having to buy a new one.

I also plan on making some more pants for Daniel. I will line them with flannel to make them nice and warm for winter. I am also going to buy thicker elastic for the waist band since the thin 1/2 inch elastic doesn't hold the pants up very well especially on a very energetic little boy who is on the verge of walking.

These are some pictures of Daniel before he was one. I forgot how straight his hair was. It's full of curls now! Time flies by so fast!

Sweet baby...

2010-10-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I had a baby shower for my sister-in-law Mai and little Charlie.

Aunt Karin sent Mai some of Ben's old baby clothes for Charlie.

Charlie is now 1 month old and starting to really notice his surroundings and he has the cutest little smile. Mom did a little photo shoot yesterday.

Charlie with his Auntie Annie. I sure do love that little guy! :)The boys.

I love this mountain...

2010-10-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

(My dad took the majority of these gorgeous pictures.)
Dad, Daniel and I did some more hiking up at Mt. Rainier this past week. We went up to Paradise and then we went to the other side of the mountain to Sunrise. At Paradise we hiked part of the Skyline Trail and the Golden Gate Trail. The fall colors were absolutely spectacular!

The fall colors were spectacular!

We also saw a total of NINE bears! It seemed that each ridge we came across there were bears on it eating berries! It was amazing. The only time I was ever nervous about it was when we were hiking through the woods and some brush for a little bit. I really didn't feel like startling a mama with her cubs. But they were beautiful to look at from a distance. We didn't get pictures of all of them and some of the pictures weren't the best.

We were blessed with another gorgeous fall day so we headed up to Sunrise on the other side of the mountain. Same mountain, different view! :)

Daniel was a happy little hiker as usual. Just the other morning I took him with me when I went to grab something out of the car and he got all excited and kept saying "ike", his word for hike. He thought we were leaving on a hike and got all excited! Too cute! I have a feeling these might be the last hikes for the season. You never know though, if the weather holds we might have to fit another one in!

Just plain ol' amazingly squishable cuteness!!!

2010-09-28T14:45:00.001-07:00

I just had to share this picture my mom took of my nephew Charlie, 17 days old! Don't you just want to squish him all up??!! :)

Canning and hiking and the arrival of fall...

2010-09-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

I have finally surrendered to fall I think. Not that I had any choice! I received the October issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine in the mail yesterday and it had such a lovely fall cover that made me feel all warm and cozy and happy that fall is here.

I tried my hand at canning for the first time. I canned
some peach jam. I was a bit nervous about it but it all went very smoothly with only a couple scorched fingers from some very hot drippings. I took a jar over to my parents and we opened it and tasted it and I have to say it was pretty scrumptious! I can't wait to make some pancakes to spread it on. And I can't wait to do some more canning! :)

On Wednesday my dad, Daniel and I went for a hike up on Chinook Pass near Mt. Rainier. We did the Naches Peak Loop, a lovely 4 mile loop that is very easy going but extremely beautiful. The wildflowers were still out and there were lovely little lakes, meadows and little waterfalls along the way. Plus amazing views of the Cascades and Mt. Rainier. Clouds were covering the mountain somewhat but it still was a beautiful to look at. Daniel was a very happy hiker as usual. My dad was very excited that the trail was part of the Pacific Crest Trail (the trail that reaches from the Canadian border to the Mexican border). He had me take his picture near the sign. We are planning on heading up to the other side of the mountain next week to do another hike near Paradise.

There's the mountain, kind of. :)

Dad on the Pacific Crest Trail.

And I had to include another cute pic of Daniel for his Auntie Ru Ru! :)

Journaling for a year...

2010-09-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

September 15th of last year I decided I needed to start writing a daily journal. Daniel was three months old and growing fast and I wanted to make sure I was writing down all of the memorable moments and milestones in his development. I made the commitment to write something every single night before I went to bed even if it was only one sentence. I started out only writing a few sentences but once I was in the habit of writing every night I soon found myself writing one or two paragraphs. As I look over my entries for the last year I am so happy that I made this a habit. There are some things I had already forgotten Daniel used to do and reading over my entries I am freshly reminded of them. How precious these reminders will be to me many years in the future!

My little nephew Charlie is here!

2010-09-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

5lbs, 15oz, 18 1/2 inches

Daisy's new do...

2010-09-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

(BEFORE)

Today was Daisy's first day of 9th grade! I can't believe she is in high school! She got a new do for school. It's very cute! :)

(AFTER)

How does your garden grow...

2010-09-06T13:12:00.000-07:00

...not very well actually. But since this is my first year having a vegetable garden I am very happy with the fruit of my labor. I have really enjoyed having my first little veggie garden this year. Everyone has been telling me that this year has not been a good one for gardens. I am really looking forward to next year and putting into use all the things I learned this year.

My tomato plants are doing okay. My Tomatoberries have been ripening and they are sweet like candy. They are perfect on salad or just popping them in your mouth whole. I also have Roma, Gill's All-purpose and Isis Candy but none of these have ripened yet. I have lots of green globes and I am waiting anxiously for them to ripen up!

My broccoli seems to be doing okay (even with the little bites on leaves). I planted this batch in the middle of August hopefully for a fall harvest of broccoli. It is a winter blend which is suppose to be very hearty and perfect for Northwest weather.

I am not exactly sure what type of squash this is. Ruh bought a packet of seeds from Fred Meyer that was suppose to be zucchini squash but these don't look like zucchini squash to me! My mother-in-law Bonita said she also bought a packet of seeds from Fred Meyer which ended up being something different than what was on the package. Very interesting! My dad thinks they might be pumpkins or globe squash.

I also have sugar pumpkins, butternut squash and black beauty zucchini that are growing well. At least I think they are growing well. I want to make pumpkin pies from homegrown sugar pumpkins this year and with the number of plants I have I will probably be giving some away and canning some. I can't wait to make Butternut Squash Soup, always perfect on cold fall and winter days!
My little Impatiens are doing really good! I have to say that Miracle Grow flower food does wonders. These plants are seriously about 10 times the size they were when I planted them! I love the ones on either side of my front steps.
I love my roses. There are six different rose bushes. I love clipping them and bringing them inside to enjoy and they bloom all spring and summer.

My mom gave me some money for my birthday and I bought a compost bin and a gardening book. I am looking forward to composting and enriching my soil for next year. The book I bought is Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon. I have been enjoying reading it and marking it up with notes and underlining things I want to remember for next year.

Oh I can't wait for next year's garden!

And I just had to add this picture of Daniel watching Daddy work out in the backyard. He will stand there at the door saying "Daddy!" I know he can't wait until he can go out and help Daddy work in the yard. :)

I just can't pass up a hike...

2010-09-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

(In the picture Lake Cushman is in the background and beyond that is Hood Canal. We could also see Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens.)

I pretty much hit the ground running when we got back from our camping trip this past Monday. I worked the next three days and I planned on going grocery shopping on Friday morning with Daniel and then pretty much relaxing the rest of the day since I had to work Saturday morning.
Well, I was given the opportunity to go on a hike on Friday and I just can't pass up a good hike! A friend from church posted on Facebook that she was going to hike up Mt. Ellinor in the Olympics on Friday and asked if anyone wanted to go. I jumped on it. She has two boys who she usually takes on hikes with her but her husband was off from work so she was going to go without the kiddos. I asked if it would be okay if I brought Daniel along. The last time I went hiking with Camille was up Tiger Mountain before I had even met Ruh. We were under a time crunch to get back so her husband could go to a concert that evening so we didn't make it to the top but we still enjoyed some great views, the smell of the woods and some good conversation.

Camille even carried Daniel for a little bit and I can tell you I felt as light as a feather! I could have run up the rest of the way! She could tell right away that my pack for Daniel was not adjusted right so she took it off and we tried to work on it for a little while to see if we couldn't make it more comfortable. We couldn't really figure it out so if I can't get it adjusted here at home then I am going to take it in to REI (where I purchased it) and see if they will adjust it to me. We did get it adjusted a little bit and it doesn't pull on my shoulders as much but it still needs some tweaking.

It was a good day for a hike in the Olympics! Thanks for letting us tag along Camille! :)

My little hiker in the making. He loves my poles.

Camping at Lena Creek and a hike up Mt. Townsend

2010-08-31T13:37:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful little camping trip to the Olympics this weekend. Thankfully the rain shadow kept our campsite at Lena Creek (between Hoodsport and Quilcene) nice and dry. I can't say the same for our hike up Mt. Townsend though. My in-laws George and Bonita and my brother-in-law Rahmat drove out on Sunday morning to join us for the hike. We enjoyed a nice hike through the woods and up to some meadows full of wildflowers but about an hour or so from the top the clouds really moved in and it started to rain. We all stopped and quickly put on our rain gear. Poor little Daniel started shivering when I changed his diaper so Ruh put him under his poncho and cuddled with him for a little bit to get him warm. Then I bundled him up and put his rain coat on him. We decided then it was best to head back down. The rain picked up and we knew we had made a good decision. We wouldn't have been able to see anything from the top anyway. I am looking forward to doing that hike again when it is a bright sunny day! :)
They joined us for a campfire dinner of hamburgers, hot dogs and baked beans then they headed home. We woke up the next morning to sunshine. We enjoyed a lazy morning around the campfire and I took Daniel on a little nature walk while Ruh packed the tent. Then we headed home. This will probably be our last camping trip until next summer. I am already counting the days! :)

Bonita is all decked out in her rain gear recently purchased at REI. You can see her post of the hike on her blog. :)

Heading out for some camping and hiking in the Olympics.

2010-08-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

We are heading out for the weekend to the Olympic Mountains. Ruh amazingly got Saturday, Sunday and Monday off, a very rare occurrence! We decided to take advantage of it and do some camping. We will be camping at Lena Creek and we plan on hiking up Mt. Townsend. Ruh's parents George and Bonita and also Ruh's brother Rahmat will be coming out just for the hike. It should be a very fun little weekend! I will post pictures when we get back.

Pic of the Olympics by my mom! :)

Montana and Glacier

2010-08-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

We spent the first week of August in Kalispell, Montana with Ruh's family. My mother-in-law Bonita and Ruh's brother Rahmat hitched a ride with us. My sister-in-law Ruhiyyih and her husband Matt met us there. We stayed with Bonita's sister Bonnie and her husband Frank. We had a week full of visiting with family and hiking in Glacier National Park.
The most memorable hike was the Siyeh Pass hike. It is the highest maintained trail in the park at 7700 feet. The trail starts out in the woods then moves up to sub-alpine meadows complete with wildflowers and tiny little pine trees. Then switchbacks take you up to the pass and a ridge with some amazingly majestic views. We had to cut our break short at the top due to a thunderstorm closing in. We were caught in lightening, hail, thunder and wind! To make a long story short we all went as fast as we could to make it down to the treeline. We arrived a little exhausted and damp but safe at the cars after our 11 mile hike. Even though the storm dampened things a little bit we still enjoyed the back country of Glacier and can't wait to do more hiking in Glacier.

We also went to Many Glacier on our visit and did a nice short little hike to Apikuni Falls.

Many Glacier, Glacier National Park. Rahmat pretty much jumped into every body of water he could whether there was sunshine, thunder and lightening or rain. :)

Rocky Point, Lake MacDonald, Glacier National Park.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=469295&id=784720337&l=cd4c5ce4ee

Here is the link to all of my photos of our trip on my Facebook page.

We have internet again!!!!!!!

2010-07-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

My hubby bartered with the cable company to cut our bill in half and then added internet so our monthly bill has not changed! He is my hero! So be looking for me to start blogging again. I am very excited. There is a lot to post! :)

Gone for a little while...

2010-06-12T15:43:00.001-07:00

Well, obviously I haven't posted in quite a while. We are once again without internet so when I am at my parents' I usually check my e-mail, facebook, and my bank account and that's about it. I am hoping to have a few posts up soon of the last few month's highlights. Daniel turned 1 today and of course we have lots of pictures and video. So I am not gone for good just for a little while and I promise to have some posts up in the next couple of weeks! :)

Newest Starbuck size drink...

2010-04-01T11:56:00.000-07:00

Starbucks announced today two new sizes! The Plenta which is 128oz and the Micra which is an ounce. It takes us Starbucks baristas about 15 minutes to make a Plenta sized latte due to the amount of espresso shots we have to pull and the amount of milk we have to steam. So when ordering the Plenta please be patient! To find out more info go to Starbucks.com!

Let the training begin!

2010-03-28T15:39:00.001-07:00

I just registered for the Sound to Narrows 12K on June 12th! I kept going back and forth over whether I should sign up and whether I would be ready in time. I asked my sis-in-law Ruhiyyih's advice and she told me I could do it and encouraged me to sign up. I feel the same nervousness I felt when I signed up for the 5K I just ran. But since I ran that and crossed the finish line I feel confident that with training I can run this race as well. Training starts tomorrow! :)

Daisy and Daniel

2010-03-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

They sure do love each other and I love them! :)

Daniel's sock monkey...

2010-03-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

When we got home from the race on Saturday Ruh had bought a sock monkey for Daniel and left it out for him to find when we got home. Whenever I ask Ruh to leave me a list of what groceries he wants me to get when I go grocery shopping a lot of times he would put "sock monkey" at the bottom just to be silly. Daniel sure does love his monkey! He giggles at it a lot! You can see he is wearing the pants I made for him and I will have to post about that later. :)

Daniel's first sucker...

2010-03-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

Ruh gave Daniel a Dum Dum the other day. He definitely seemed to enjoy it! I only let him have it for about 5 minutes. I also took some video. :)

I did it!!!!

2010-03-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

I did it! I ran a 5K this morning in 38 minutes. I ran the entire way! It was at Magnuson Park in Seattle on Lake Washington. I can't imagine a better day to run a race. The sun was out and the air was fresh and crisp. You could see Mt. Rainier and the Cascades from the park. I was a tiny bit nervous but it was just first-time-race-anticipation. As soon as the starting gun went off all butterflies disappeared and I focused on running. I had already run 3 miles a couple times without stopping so I knew I was very capable of doing this race. I always run with music but today I didn't. I was a little worried it would be really hard to run without music but it was actually no problem at all. It was amazing how clear my thoughts were and I thought about the most interesting things. My favorite thought was about how much I like the name Bode for a boy. The lead runner of the race name was Tahoma. I thought Bode Tahoma Dannells would be a very interesting name for a boy. Maybe the next race I run I will think of the rest of my kids' names! My parents watched Daniel for me and he was there waiting for me at the finish line.

It was such a beautiful day we didn't want to head home just yet so my dad took us to a park on the Puget Sound where you could see the Olympic Mountains and all the sailboats out on the Sound. It was beautiful!

Isn't my mom looking GREAT! She has been working really hard to lose weight! Good job mom! :)I took this one of Daniel and my parents. :)

We had a wonderful day today and I am very excited about running. I can't wait to sign up for my next race! :)

Snowboarding...

2010-03-08T13:24:00.000-08:00

Ruh and I headed up to Crystal Mountain near Mt. Rainier to do some snowboarding this past week. I have only been a couple times before this and I was determined to have a better trip than the last time which ended in Ruh and I not talking on the way home! Well, let me say this trip was a HUGE success and not only were Ruh and I talking but we were kissing and holding hands and telling each other how much fun we both had!

I looked up a bunch of online videos of how to snowboard. It's not the same as having an actual lesson but having someone explain how it's suppose to feel and what to do with your legs and body was really helpful. I was really excited to try out all the tips the videos gave. (Let's just say Ruh doesn't have the patience to be a teacher.) I mainly hung out on the bunny slope and Ruh went with me on a couple runs. I got the feel for what I was doing and even though I am in no way a pro it was going really well. I decided to go up with Ruh to one of the harder runs. It was hard and I fell a lot and even got stuck in one spot and had to remove my board and walk a little ways but I did a lot better than I did last time but was pretty pooped by the time I got back to the lodge. We ate lunch together and then I told Ruh to go and have some fun up on the slopes and I did some more runs on the bunny slope by myself which was nice because I didn't feel the pressure that I was going to slow for Ruh.

I eventually pooped out before Ruh and he went up and did more runs and I read a book for a little while. It started raining and I knew Ruh was going to be drenched when he got back. I went up by the lodge, stood under an eave and watched for my man to come down. The rain started to come down harder and it was COLD. Eventually I saw him coming down and we walked back to the car together. We had a really fun day and I am really glad Ruh had fun too. I think he was nervous about taking me up again. He even said he would take me up again! SUCCESS! :)

Here is a little video Ruh took of me snowboarding. Look out Shaun White! :)

Little creature in my laundry...

2010-02-13T15:41:00.000-08:00

I think one of Ruh's favorite things to do to Daniel is bury him in laundry. Daniel tends to think it's pretty funny too. :) He turned 8 months old on the 12th.

Since I last posted I registered to run a 5K race on March 20th! This will be my first 5K and I am very excited (and nervous) about it. I have been training and working really hard to get myself in good shape. I look forward to each of my training runs. I always feel a little nervous before each new long run because it is longer than the one before. But I do it and each time I finish and am pleasantly surprised at how I am getting stronger and stronger. There is still a bit of extra weight on me and I always thought that I couldn't be in good shape if I was overweight but I was wrong. I am running longer and faster than I ran even when I was my thinnest! I am still working on losing weight and running is definitely helping me with that. I have to give a shout out to my sis-in-law Ruhiyyih. I don't know if I would be running like I am if I hadn't been inspired by her. She has been running for a couple years now and has run the New York and Boston Marathons and will be running the Missoula Marathon in Montana this summer with her hubby Matt. I am looking forward to going on a run with her the next time we get a chance (though my legs are a bit shorter than hers so I might be sprinting while she is doing a leisurely jog.)

Ruhiyyih asked me to take a picture of Daniel's new teeth. Well, I tried and it is blurry but you can see two little teeth, so here you go Ruhiyyih! :)

Miss Daisy came home from school on Thursday and announced that she is on the Honor Roll! The next day we got her report card in the mail and she has all A's and one B! As a reward Ruh let her open an account on Facebook. She is really excited. I thought I would share a random quote she made up as Daisy is the Queen-of-Randomness. "If one pickle is fundamental, imagine a whole jar!" :)

So tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Yes, Ruh and I are going to do the traditional dinner date but we are going to start off the day with a hike! It is suppose to rain tomorrow pretty much everywhere in Western Washington but we decided to take our ponchos and rain gear and enjoy the outdoors anyway. We will be heading up to Mt. Rainier but staying below the snow this time. There are a couple hikes near Longmire that we will choose from. I would like to do the Rampart Ridge Loop. It's a 4.5 mile loop and we could do it pretty quickly. On a clear day this hike is suppose to offer wonderful views of the mountain but I have resigned myself to the fact that I most likely won't be seeing the mountain tomorrow. The point is to go and do something we like doing together even if it is a little silly to do in the rain. We plan on going to the Copper Creek Inn for dinner on our way home. It is a lovely little Inn located just outside the park. I'm sure a bowl of their hot chili is going to be pretty inviting after a hike in the rain. Ruh also bought me a pair of nice hiking poles for Valentine's Day. I ordered them online so I won't have them for this hike. They are really going to help me on hikes when I am carrying Daniel on my back. I can't wait to try them out!

To end this post I will include some cute and funny pictures of Daniel I took the other day. :)

Snowshoeing at Mt. Rainier...

2010-02-04T08:45:00.000-08:00

Ruh and I tried snowshoeing for the first time last week. We rented a couple pairs of snowshoes from REI and headed up to Paradise at Mt. Rainier.

The day started out cloudy and the mountain was hidden a little bit. As we went the clouds started to clear and the views were absolutely breathtaking. Snowshoeing is hard work and I was loving the vigourous effort I had to put into it. Ruh on the other hand didn't have much energy and wasn't enjoying it as much as I was. He eventually headed back to the car and I took a different trail back. There was a point when I was completely alone and I just stopped, looked at the mountain and took it all in. I could have snowshoed all day. I enjoyed my little trek back all by myself (the top picture I took when I was alone) and I wish it was safer for me to do things like this by myself but it really isn't smart. The only reason I was by myself this time was because Ruh knew exactly were I was and I was not far from the car.

I am looking forward to my next snowshoeing trip and I am hoping to go longer next time. Ruh says he will try it with me again.

Little Danny Bob...

2010-01-30T09:52:00.001-08:00

My little guy has a cold right now. He is still as chipper as ever but he has a little cough. My mom watched him yesterday morning while I was at work and these are a couple pictures that were taken.

This week's baking...

2010-01-26T18:08:00.000-08:00

I decided to try my hand at baking homemade bread this week. I want to see if I can save money by baking my own healthy bread instead of buying the healthy stuff at the store for $4-$5 a loaf. I used whole wheat flour, dark rye, a little bit of bran, oatmeal and sunflower seeds. I used about 2 tablespoons of honey to sweeten the bread. My house smelled absolutely wonderful while this bread was baking! Ruh loves it and that's good since this bread will be used for his work sandwiches. I put one loaf in the freezer and stored the other one in the fridge to slice as needed.

I also made homemade energy bars. Ruh and I went snowshoeing this week and I wanted to make something that would give us energy. I have made cookies before when we have gone hiking and all they tend to do is cause a sugar high and then CRASH afterward which is the worse thing to have when you are out on a long hike. These bars have oatmeal, whole wheat flour, Grapenuts cereal, a little bit of bran, applsauce, an egg, 2 tablespoons each of honey and brown sugar, walnuts, dried blueberries, dried cranberries, cinnamon and 60% cocoa chocolate chips. I cut them into bars. These were perfect when we were snowshoeing for a little pick-me-up. I am definitely going to make these for our camping and hiking trips this spring and summer. These taste so much better than granola bars you buy at the store. They are nice and chewy which is what I like.

Just cute...

2010-01-23T20:55:00.001-08:00

I took these pictures about a month ago but never posted them. They are just cute.

My boys...

Ruh buried Daniel in some laundry and Daniel chilled there for a little while.

A delightful day...

2010-01-22T19:26:00.000-08:00

My brother-in-law Rahmat came over last night for an evening of video games with Ruh. He spent the night and was still in bed this morning when I got back from work. So Ruh took Daniel in to wake Uncle Rahmat. Ruh put him on Rahmat's chest and Daniel smiled at first. Then he started looking at Rahmat very suspiciously like he wasn't quite sure about him. It didn't take too long after that for Daniel to lose it and start crying hysterically until I took him. I should have taken a picture of that moment, it was kind of cute. They reconciled later on.

Later that afternoon we took Rahmat back over to Tacoma and went and picked my mother-in-law Bonita up to go walk the Chamber's Creek Trail. I made sure Daniel was bundled up nice and warm since it was pretty chilly today. Bonita and I were walking and talking while Ruh walked the dog. At one point I checked on Daniel and his hat had fallen down over his face and he was doing his best to suck his thumb. I have no idea how long he had been like this because he didn't even whine or protest that his hat was over his face! I had to take a picture, of course! Shortly after that he fell asleep and enjoyed a nice little nap while we were walking.

We had worked up an appetite during our walk so we went back over to Bonita's and she had made some scrumptious soup beforehand that we all enjoyed. We sat, ate and visited. After we said goodbye to Bonita we headed over to REI to pick up the baby backpack that had arrived. I can't wait to use it!

It was just one of those lovely, spontanious days and I can't wait for our next one!

Seeking things above...

2010-01-21T08:28:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share an excerpt from one of my favorite blogs in the whole world, Groundwork for Grace. It is about what it actually means to SEEK things above.

"Therefore if you have been raised with Christ,

keep seeking the things above,

where Christ is,

seated at the right hand of God."

Colossians 3:1

"By seeking the things above, there is also an implication of effort. Seeking doesn't mean that you walk in the kitchen and see your keys and say, "Oh, I found my keys!" Seeking means that you pull up the couch cushions, check the bathrooms, dig through your purse and find your keys on the front hall table. Then you can truly say that you found them. If we are seeking the things above, we are putting in effort to learn God's ways, His thoughts and His Word." ~Groundwork for Grace

What a great idea...

2010-01-20T20:09:00.000-08:00

I was browsing through crafting blogs and I came across a very cool idea (dollarstorecrafts.com) on how to repurpose old t-shirts you don't want anymore. You cut them into strips to make "yarn" and then you crochet or knit them into dish cloths! I know Ruh has quite a few old t-shirts and I'm sure I can dig out a few of my own too. I am definitely going to try this! I will let you know how it goes!

Praying for Haiti...

2010-01-20T11:16:00.000-08:00

I don't know this man's name but he is a pastor in Haiti. My mom's friend's husband was just in Haiti and he met this man. He lost his wife in the earthquake. He told Churches Helping Churches that he wants help so he can continue telling the people of Haiti about Jesus Christ. He has four children. I am praying for this man and for all of Haiti.

I have put a link on my sidebar for Churches Helping Churches.

Out for the count...

2010-01-19T17:53:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning with a massive migraine. It quickly got worse and worse until I was not able to function. Daniel cuddled with me on the couch until it was time for his morning nap. He was such a good little boy while Mama was sick. Once he was down for his nap I was pretty much comatose on the couch. Ruh got up shortly after and new right away I was in misery. He took charge and I didn't even have to ask him to get Daniel up when he woke up from his nap. He even changed a poopy diaper which is usually instantly passed to me! I got in a hot shower a couple times to try and dull the pain. Before Ruh went to work at 2:30 I called my mom and asked her to come over. The migraine had peaked at this point and there was no way I could make it without help. Daniel was down for his afternoon nap. She came over to wait for him to wake up while I stayed in bed. I woke up around 4pm and mom was getting Daniel up. I felt much better and could feel the migraine slowly going away. I usually only get an extremely bad migraine like this every 3 months or so. So hopefully I'm good for a while!

I am very grateful for my hubby and my mom. This migraine was a doozy and it would have been very difficult without their help. I am very blessed.

Daniel also had a second tooth pop in over night! He now has two little teeth on the bottom. I noticed yesterday that when he would chew on something he was very focused.

Here are a couple cute things I found yesterday online. Crobots! Crocheted robots! I thought this was too cute. Daniel might enjoy a crobot.
Here are Baby Bubble Pants! (Click the link to see them) I love the blog Sew Liberated and she made these little pants for her little guy. I definitely want to make these for Daniel. The elastic waist band and the rolled up cuffs make them growable with baby. Love it!

2010-01-15T08:29:00.000-08:00

My little guy turned 7 months old on the 12th! Sometimes I feel like I was just pregnant and sometimes I feel like he has always been here. I noticed one day I was thinking about our old apartment and I subconsciously added Daniel into the memory and I realized, wait a minute, he wasn't even born yet!

He also had his first tooth pop in! Sweet little guy, he didn't even act like he was teething so it was a complete surprise. He has been eating solid food since he was about 5 1/2 months and the past couple of weeks I have been trying to expand the variety of foods he is eating. I discovered he LOVES baked, pureed sweet potatoes and also discovered that he HATES broccoli and carrots. I read that avocados are so good for babies because of all the good fats in them and so I tried to mash one up and give it to him and he wasn't too fond of that either. So I tried mixing the mashed avocado in to some of the sweet potatoes and he gobbled it up! I tried this with the mashed broccoli and carrots and what do you know, he gobbled them up too! I want him to have good nutrition and even if I have to be sneaky about it he's going to eat his veggies! He loves applesauce, bananas, pears and blueberries so I have no problem getting him to eat fruit.

As you can see from the picture he sits up pretty good when you prop him on the couch or with a Boppy pillow on the floor. But of course he is still a bit top heavy when you try to sit him up by himself.

Ruh, Daniel and I went to REI in Tacoma this week to look at baby backpacks for carrying Daniel on our hikes. They only had a couple and they were $250! Way too much money! So we spent some time browsing and I picked up the new runner's pack I ordered online and had sent to the store to save on shipping. Ruh pointed out that we still had to pay for the gas and the toll to cross the bridge so I will rethink that next time. But it gave us an excuse to go to REI which I love doing. I am very excited for my runner's pack as I will start running outside very soon. I am training to run a 5K and the treadmill is getting pretty tedious. I have heard my sis-in-law (who has run TWO marathons by the way) call it the "dreadmill" and I am finding out why. I am very excited about running and I am feeling so good! I have been dieting and running for a couple months now and I have lost 24 pounds! I have lost all of the baby weight and I am back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. I still have a lot to lose but it doesn't seem as daunting now that I have figured out how to lose weight and do it smart.

I did end up buying a baby backpack and I bought it online at REI.com, on sale, for $155 (originally $200). I spent a good chunk of time searching and reading reviews until I decided on the Sherpani Rumba Child Carrier. Thanks to mom and dad for the $100 in REI gift cards for Christmas which helped us to buy it! I can't wait for our first hike! Time for squats and lunges to prep my legs.

I also received my first delivery of organic veggies from Wildy Organic. I will be receiving a bin of organic veggies every other week. It was so much fun opening up my bin and discovering all the healthy goodies inside. I received chioggia beets that are white and pink striped, green onions, mushrooms, broccoli, easter egg radishes that are white, pink, and purple, 2 extra large Hass avocados, red leaf lettuce, salad mix, celery, an acorn squash, garlic, zucchini, cucumber and tomatoes. I've decided I am going to dehydrate the tomatoes to make "sun" dried tomatoes to add to soups and I am still trying to decide what to do with the acorn squash. I am thinking I can roast it, puree it and put it in a soup or use it for Daniel's baby food. We have been like rabbits eating all the salad and radishes.

As I was happily looking over my produce my mind went to all the people in Haiti who would love to have all this produce right now. It humbled me and I prayed right then and thanked the Lord for providing my family with healthy food. I also prayed for Haiti and even though it didn't seem like much I gave a donation to World Vision. I would love to do more and I have a huge box full of Daisy's and my old clothes that I was just going to take to the Goodwill. I would like to send them to Haiti but I don't know how. If anyone knows of people who are going over there or of an organization who is taking clothing donations to send please let me know. I am going to search for one but I want to make sure they are reputable and honest. Also my mom just put up a post about a new ministry called Churches Helping Churches. Her friends husband is working with them. They will be working specifically with churches helping fellow believers who are in need in Haiti.

Lookie what my hubby got me!

2010-01-08T13:36:00.000-08:00

I wrote a post back in May about this little gadget I saw on Paula Deen. A couple days ago I woke up to go to work and there was a little wrapped package for me. I opened it and this little guy (an egg separator) was inside! I giggled with delight! Gross yes, but fun. My hubby is too cute!

How We Glorify God...

2010-01-03T08:15:00.000-08:00

"They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters..." Jeremiah 2:13

"[In Jeremiah 2:13] God pictures Himself as a mountain spring of clean, cool, life-giving water. The way to glorify a fountain like this is to enjoy the water, and praise the water, and keep coming back to the water, and point other people to the water, and get strength for love from the water, and never, never, never prefer any drink in the world over this water. That makes the spring look valuable. That is how we glorify God, the fountain of living water." John Piper

A Year in Pictures...

2009-12-31T09:58:00.000-08:00

Here are 12 of my favorite pictures from the past year. It's always hard to stick to just 12 since I have many pictures from this year that I love, but I did my best.

Family photo, Spring 2009, getting closer to having Daniel. (Pic by mom)
Ruh taking care of Daniel for me in the hospital so I could take a little nap. :) (Pic by mom)

Daniel, a day old. (Pic by mom)
Daniel sleeping in a rubbermaid container while camping at 3 weeks old. He and I slept in the car. (Pic by me)
Hiking up Lunch Creek Basin in Glacier National Park, Daniel 5 weeks old. (Pic by Ruhiyyih)
Changing Daniel's diaper in a meadow at Lunch Creek Basin, Glacier National Park. (Pic by Ruhiyyih)
Ruh jumping into Lake Mary at Two Medicine in Glacier National Park after a hike. (Pic by Ruhiyyih)Daniel used to always sleep with his legs tucked under and his bottom sticking up. LA, 2 months old. (Pic by me)
Climbing the front side of Lembert Dome with Andy, Tuolmne Meadows, Yosemite, California. I'm the little yellow dot in this picture. (Pic by Uncle Paul)

Ruh and Starbuck on a hike. (Pic by Ruhiyyih)

Hiking to Paradise Glacier on Mt. Rainier. (Pic by me)

Daisy at Pike Place Market, Seattle. (Pic by mom)

Daniel's First French Fry

2009-12-31T09:50:00.000-08:00

While we were in Seattle the other day we went to Ivar's for lunch. Daniel got his first try at sitting in a high chair in a restaurant and he loved it. Everyone told me I should give him a french fry. He loved it and just sucked on it until it was pretty much mush.

Eva-Karin and Garry's Visit

2009-12-30T20:34:00.000-08:00

We have had a wonderful visit with my cousin Eva-Karin and her husband Garry (from LA). They celebrated their first anniversary on the 27th.

On Monday we headed up to Mt. Rainier to play in the snow. Sadly, Ruh had to work so he didn't get to come with us. The day was sunny and gorgeous and even though some clouds decided to hide the mountain the majority of the time it would still peek through the clouds occasionally. We took a short walk on some groomed paths and really wished we had snowshoes. I put Daniel in the snuggli and boy is he getting heavy! He is a lot heavier than when we went on hikes this past summer. I'm thinking it's time to buy a backpack for him to be carried in.
You can see part of Mt. Rainier peeking out by my green hat in the picture below. The hat is from Vietnam from Mai Huong, my brother's fiance. I LOVE it!

We also took a day trip to Seattle on the ferry. We walked along the waterfront, ate lunch at Ivar's and walked through Pike Place Market.

Daniel was a little trooper.
(My dad took the last three photos.)

Daniel on Christmas Day - 6 1/2 months

2009-12-28T07:02:00.000-08:00

Daniel with his new toy on Christmas morning and Daisy who he adores. :)

My mom was the photographer.

First Official Post Back in the Blogging World

2009-12-27T19:12:00.000-08:00

As my first official post back in the blogging world I thought I would post the video I made of our trip to Mammoth and Yosemite this last summer. Now that the holidays are coming to a close I really start to look forward to the arrival of spring and summer. Watching this video gets me all excited for that first hike of the season. I know I have a few more months to go and I plan on filling up the winter months with sewing projects, cooking new, healthy recipes, training for my first 5K race I plan on running with my sis-in-law Ruhiyyih and watching my little guy grow everyday. Also the winter Olympics are coming and that is always something to look forward to. Enjoy the video!

I'm back...

2009-12-26T22:56:00.000-08:00

Well, at least I am back for a little bit. I am not sure how long I will have internet but I am in the process of finding a new template for my blog and planning some new posts. I think I really like this notebook template. :)

Summer Update...

2009-08-31T11:22:00.000-07:00

I have lots and lots of pics and video from our awesome summer! Once again we don't have internet at our house so I will be putting up posts when I am able. I am able to check my e-mail at my parent's house and every once in a while I will take the computer to Starbucks to use the free wi-fi there. Plus I am having too much fun being outside so I'm not doing much on the computer anyway! :) I promise I haven't gone away!