Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (in February)

We had a pretty good snowstorm a few weeks ago. Andrew and I were on a hot date at the Stake Valentine's Social/Seminar/Dance. That was pretty fun. Especially because Rachel was at home, sleeping in her bed. We looked at the window and the snow was coming down! Beautiful. We both really miss the snow. It doesn't feel like winter (especially Christmas) without snow or general freezing conditions. We drove home after doing a few donuts in the Church parking lot (CURSE YOU, SUBARU! Not conducive for donuts). And while driving home, we were amazed and laughing and horrified as we watched Washington drivers who did everything you aren't supposed to do in the snow. (I realize that it does not snow here very often and that they don't have these things pounded into their heads, but it was still amazing.) One of my friends described it as "a clumsy ballet." Yes.

We saw:

• Slamming of the breaks
• Overcorrecting
• Sharp turns
• Hitting the gas

Wow. Who knew driving in the snow was such a skill?

The next morning, we went out and played in 2 inches of the white stuff.


Rachel seemed pretty interested.


Her boots collected the snow so she was walking on platform boots. It was hilarious.


Going down the hill with Mom.


Rachel raising her arms in the sled with Dad.


A beautiful baby who loves the snow.

I think Rachel really liked it. Every time we are in the garage and she sees her snowboots, she grabs them and drags them everywhere.

I hope that it snows again soon!

A Day at the Beach

Andrew's mom and aunt came to visit us. We went to Picnic Point one day. Even though it was cold and windy, we all enjoyed being at the beach.


Rachel and Tante Karen


There were a whole bunch of these dead, dried up jellyfish all over the beach. They must have gotten stuck when the tide went out.


Rachel learned how to throw rocks into the sea.


And she loved picking up rocks.


I fell off the log and into the water. No surprises there.


We found a dead salmon.


It was beautiful.


And we watched the train go by. It was loud and fun!

Good day at the beach.

Dash Point Half Marathon

The half marathon is over and done. It was exhausting, grueling, and not really very fun. I mean, as I've been running more, I've enjoyed it, but this was an experience for which I was not prepared. I got the miles in, I should have been able to do it. I just wasn't ready for a trail run that had some really steep parts.

Sarah and I at Dash Point State Park before the race. Ready to ROCK IT!!!

My loves and cheering section.

Lining up in the slow wave.

At the beginning of the race--don't I look fresh and happy to be running?


Running in the forest is fun! Oh actually it isn't because I just ran up a cliff! I'm a good faker.


Daniel running the race (he's Andrew's running buddy).


My friends Sarah and Melissa running. Looking good!


At the aid station--HALFWAY DONE!!!


Now I'm kind of running--don't judge, I'm super pooped.


This is at about mile 8 and I was dying.

By the end of the race, I was ready to cry.

But I persevered and FINISHED.


None of us (me, Sarah, or Daniel) did as well as we had expected to had it been a road race. Daniel was expecting 1:45 and ran it in 2:45, I'm not sure what Sarah expected but she finished in 3:15, and I expected 2:45 and finished at 3:30.

Daniel's wisdom about the race: "Your first trail run should not be a half marathon, and your first half marathon shouldn't be a trail run."

Although I had ran on trails a few times, none of my long runs were on the trails. Moral of the story: train in the race's conditions.

Even though I was dying, I feel like I paced myself really well. My snail pace was consistent and I finished. And, I can say that I ran a half marathon.

Now, to find a good Redemption Race.

Blanca Lake

In July, my brother Matt came to visit and we went hiking to Blanca Lake. It was a really difficult hike and a lot of it was in the snow/cold. Matt is way hardcore at hiking, so I appreciated his patience with me and Rachel.


Ready to go!


I love this picture of us!


Rachel looks like Andrew's aunt Ellen in this photo. Isn't it funny how babies are new people that have all these other people's traits and facial expressions?


Stopping for some lunch.


Crossing some early snow. Rachel is taking a nap. A little further on the hike, we were only on snow.


Some beautiful mountains, Columbia Peak and Kyes Peak.


The first lake, Lake Victoria. Pretty much still frozen.


Good morning, Rachel!


We made it! Blanca Lake was the most amazing aquamarine color! I have never seen water that was actually that color.


That is the Columbia Glacier, which sits between Columbia Peak and Kyes Peak.


Rachel liked sucking on the camelback nozzle while getting her diaper changed.


Milk goatee.


This is actually a better photo of the color  of Blanca Lake.


Love this girl.

And then we hiked back and did not take any pictures.

Golden Gardens

We went to Golden Gardens Natural Reserve Beach in Ballard with the in-laws. We had a great time! It was a really really low tide, so we got to see a lot cool things.


A cool star fish.


Rachel rode in the Ergo carrier with her Oma until she got tired of the wind.


Hannah rode on Glenn's shoulders so her feet didn't get super soggy.


A sea pen (it looks like a quill when it's under the water). These are pretty rare for the area--and we saw three! It was one of the lowest tides of the year.


Rachel sleeping.


A sea cucumber!

We had a great time at the beach. The day was windy but not horribly cold. It was a fun time.

What is your favorite sea creature?

A Clear Day

A clear day in Washington is usually dominated by this beautiful and famous volcano, Mt. Rainier. (depending on the direction you are looking--you may see Mt. Baker to the north)

It really is amazing.

Backpacking Fail #2: Somewhere Near Mt. Baker

We decided to give backpacking another try. I found an area, called up the ranger station, they gave me a recommendation near Baker Lake. There wasn't snow, it was relatively flat, and about 4.5 miles in to the camp spots. The weather was supposed to be clear for the weekend. We had just bought a new, 3-man tent. The trip was going to actually work and it was exactly what I wanted. We packed our packs, loaded our car, and drove towards Mt. Baker. (FYI, Mt. Baker is a volcano, just like Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Adams--all of which are here in Washington. Mt. Baker is in the northern part of the state, though.)

We got to the road and it was closed! Thank you for telling me, ranger station. I was not happy with the rangers. The road being closed because of construction is definitely something they should have known about! So we decided to drive up a Forest Service road, find a new trail, and camp there. This place should be crawling with trails.


Mt. Baker's tippy top


We reached the snow. No backpacking up here!


We found a trail (finally) and followed it for a ways without our packs, just to check it out. We reached a raging river of death and no campsites. No backpacking here!

We were getting tired of this, as we had been driving for about five hours and had not found a place to pack into. So we found a pull-out and pitched our tent. Backpacking fail.


But our  new tent is very nice. There is room for us to play Skip-Bo in! And there will be room for a few babies, too.


And then we lit a fire and ate our dehydrated food and I peed in the middle of the night and did not get eaten by animals and our tent didn't leak. I'd say it was a successful camping trip--just not a backpacking trip.

In the morning, both Andrew and me were happy. Yay! We slept well!


And then we went to look for some hot springs we heard someone mention. We found them!

They were more like warm springs, but it was still nice to soak our legs in sulfury water. (Do you like Andrew's legs? I told him he looked like he was naked in the picture, but he really did have on his clothes.)


See, Andrew has pants on. :) If this blog were inappropriate, I would say, "Darn." But this is an appropriate blog, and I don't ever say inappropriate things like that.


Me in the warm springs. I wished we knew about these before and brought our swim suits!

And then we went to check out Baker Lake.

It was pretty. It is actually a reservoir. I think we are going to plan a fishing trip to here sometime.

On our way back home, we went on an interpretive trail with signs. Andrew had to pick some berries.

He wasn't supposed to get off the trail. Oh well.


Me: "What kind of berries are they?"
Andrew: "I don't know. You have a fifty percent chance with red berries."
Conclusion: These were not poisonous but not tasty.


Me by a huge old tree. Don't let it fool you, it is actually bigger than 62 inches (my wingspan and height). This is just the perspective fooling you. Don't you remember that from art class? It was probably at least seven feet wide.


The sign identified this berry for us! Red huckleberries! Yummy and tart! Don't you just love Andrew's silly face?

In conclusion, this was a much more delightful experience than our first backpacking trip. However, it was more of an impromptu camping trip. I cannot wait to see what our next backpacking fail trip will bring.