Random

Well, long time no post. Here are some things that have happened in the last 4 months, I think.

Miles had a band concert. Ok, I think that was in December, but he looks SO cute in his tux with gold lamee accessories. It was about a hundred below zero that night, and all the instruments were so out of tune, the concert took an eternity to get thru because they had to keep re-tuning. Luckily it dumped snow, and we were out of school until after New Year's.


This happened with the Driver family. Don't know, but I love this pic.

I went to Hood Canal with my Super Crafting Coven of Shrews, and our cabin came with a ginormous bag of oysters. We made amazing sauce and ate until we were stuffed. Geni went and threw all the shells in the water. I pretended I was really arty and did some watercolors. Looking out the window at the rain was very inspirational.
Best damn photo I ever took of a sheep.

We went to the Lodge in February, and there was a moderate amount of snow.
At the Lodge, the kids went Tubing, here are Owen, Miles and Stefan.
Caroline on the rope tow.Miles, likewise.

Caroline and Nora, Cousin Fun!!!

NEW YEAR-- NEW ATTITUDE!

OK, I am going to stop going crazy trying to "catch up" and just get some pics and posts up when I can... We have spent the last month buried under snow and school closure lists, and my resolution is to Stop Freaking Out! Whew, I feel better already. Here are some excellent snaps of the snow, taken by my personal photojournalist, my mother:


Saucering in the middle of the street!!
I think this was before the last big snowfall...

Cherry tree.The first time I have ever had to shovel our walk! So many people walk on our street, and it was so icy and treacherous, I felt like a negligent neighbor...

More later on Xmas....

Catch-up...

Well, the last entry was from Disneyland in April. We have actually done some interesting things since then, but I have been busy and distracted , I guess. Here is a short recap:

There was Passover at Peggys.... I once again channeled somebody's Bubbie and made Matzo Ball Soup, here I am checking on it before we go:
It was good. Here are some of the guests:
That's the always-charming Jane, wife of our very own local celeb, Robert Nellems next to her, then Geni, Roy, Kristina and the legs of our host, Jim. I don't have a picture of Peggy!

Me, Geni and Beth in the kitchen. Don't ask, but this was right after we got there, so we cannot blame all the Passover wine.
I think that Nick told us to pose, and as ever, we are compliant.
Then it was Spring:
Rick had a surprise party. And he was surprised!
Then it snowed again.

The novelty of the Spring Snowfall has totally worn off.
Miles won this in a Math Competition:
Nick went to see The Eels.
And Caroline spent a long tiring weekend performing in this show:
This one is called "Storm at Sea"
Shes' in the middle in the light yellow shirt.


In this one she is on the far right:
And in this one she is in the middle. This dance is called "Disaster!!" and this is when the alien spaceship lands.
A busy time we have had!! Hopefully the summer will provide a lot of photos....

Lodge Weekend

Every President's Day weekend for the last 7 years we have gone up to a big lodge at Snoqualmie Pass with my sister and her family and eight or so other families for weekend at the snow. This year there was a ridiculous amount of snow. In fact, the weekend before, we would not have made it, because the pass was closed!

We have been there before when there was almost no snow at all!! This was very exciting.
Also, this year, the weather was gorgeous. Mid-high 30s without a cloud in the sky!
We spent as much time as we could outside--I had borrowed Kristina's snowshoes, which I loved, because the first day, the snow was so soft, you would just sink all the way up to the top of your legs!
Here are the kids making snow angels. The snow was not as soft this day.
Snow angel:
We went for a walk over the meadow and through the woods with Cousin Owen. This seems to have become a yearly tradition....
Here they are on the top of a tractor trailer truck covered with snow:
With the sun so bright, and all that exertion, Miles was hot. So he put his face in the snow to cool down:
Every year we walk to this little cabin to check it out. Normally we can look inside. This year we could walk to the top of the roof!
Owen was mad at Uncle Nick for "making" him get snow in his boots. He had to take them off and empty them, Miles "tried" to help out. Two 11 year old boys in the snow trying to deal with footwear. It was pretty funny. To us.
The sky was so extraordinarily beautiful, you just had to stare at it. Although I was wearing sunglasses, my eyes hurt after this walk....
In the afternoon we went sledding on "The Big Hill". If you asked the children, it was super fun. If you ask the adults, it was borderline unsafe.....Then the menfolk started a sledding contest which became hugely funny, especially when Alec's last run broke his sled.
Stefan, Gabe, Jose, Bob,Zach, Alec (with sled), Hayden,Tom, Miles, Caroline, Me,Scout, Caitlin, Owen

Happy New Year!!

On New Year's Day. We decided to go up to Snoqualmie Pass and go for a walk in the snow. We usually go up in mid-Feb when the temp is right around 32. This day it was in the mid-20's and the snow was so fine. There were no snowballs to be made, as much as this family likes to throw them at each other.

It sure was pretty.
And SUPER windy.

After the walk, we decided to go sledding so we pulled off where we saw others sledding, Nick parked in a snowbank, the kids saucer-ed down the hill for a while in the 30 mph wind, brrr, until the sun went down, the wind picked up, and we could not get the car out of the snowbank, and a guy in a massive truck with a chain in the back happened along and pulled us out, whew! Fun day.

I love Winter

Faithful reader, you may remember this post.

Faithful friend, you may say, What the heck, Elise, you hate being cold! You do not love winter! When the scene out the kitchen door is this:

I do love it. So peaceful and pretty...

Miles' team won their soccer game in it, while I was filming this. Brrrr.

For more meteorological information, check here.