Playing Tourist

My sister, Kathryn, and I went downtown Leavenworth today to play tourist. We had a great time wine tasting and visiting with the winery "people." We also tried out a new store in Leavenworth. It is a vinegar and oil tasting shop. The products are aged for 18 years and there are many, many flavor infused oils and vinegars. I had basic olive oil and a Pomegranite infused vinegar mix on my salad for dinner. It was awesome - of course, I love salads.

Sun Mountain Lodge

Rich and I spent the past 3 day weekend in Winthrop, Washington at Sun Mtn. Lodge. We took a sleigh ride and went sledding on Saturday. Sunday was my birthday and we took a snow shoe wilderness tour with some guides. It was lots of fun except for the continuous drizzle. Yes, it rained up there too. Once we got back to the room, we enjoyed cheese and crackers and wine. I drank Champagne to celebrate my day and ate some chocolate decadence cake. Then, I took a long bubble bath. I'm in that picture somewhere. See the champagne. At dinner that night, Rich had a caribou steak and said it was very good. A fun weekend.

Lots of SNOW

This is how much snow we had last week BEFORE the Pineapple Express blew through. This is me and Clarke. It has been cold, snowy, lots of skiing and snowshoeing. AH, winter in the Pacific NW. Then, the South Pacific decided to blow through and with it temps in the upper 40's and warmer winds. This week it is considerably colder and some snow expected. We need lots. The driveway is quite icy now, so we are using the rhino to travel up and down.

Happy New Year

AND especially a big thank you to all our service members around the world. We appreciate you and all you do for the USA.

Great Day of Skiing

Beautiful day up on Steven's Pass Ski Area. Went with my sister, Karlyn and her son Caleb. First ski day in about 12 years and it was fantastic. BUT my thighs are burning even after some very nice Pinot Noir.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas

It is so nice to have both Andrew and Nik here for the holidays. It was quiet. Christmas Eve dinner at my mom's with two of my sister's and their families. We came home and watched a Christmas Story. Christmas breakfast at mom's again and then, a few gifts to open at home. Andrew had to work the afternoon and night shift. Nik visited with his cousins. Rich spent the day snow blowing the road as we got another 4 or 5 inches of snow. More coming this week. I told Rich he is going to have to instruct me on the snow blowing technique as he has a lot of work this week and we are expecting snow every day and night.

Finally, A day to relax.

Yes, I actually worked 3 days in a row this week, but now I'm off until Jan. 3rd. WooHoo as some would say. With all this white stuff, I am planning to do some snow shoeing and I'm strapping on the skiis next week. Now, that should be interesting. Rich is doing a awesome job keeping the mile long driveway clear for me to drive it. We have been using the Rhino though, as sometimes the snow takes over and it is quite a job to clear it. I'm not complaining, the rhino is a blast to drive around. Nik arrived Tuesday to spend 10 days with us and as you can imagine it was a very long day in airports with weather delays, etc. He was supposed to arrive in Seattle at noon and his last leg landed at 8pm. Ahhh, the holidays. Thankfully, this was his last trip home on an airplane. After graduation, he will be driving it.