The Chandelier Tree

On our way up to Jesse's grandfather's house, we visited the Chandelier tree which is in the Redwood Forest in northern California:

Here's the sign to make sure you know where you're going...

Stryker posing for the camera {he's looking at daddy}

Jesse & Stryker in a nearby redwood tree

Stryker & me

Driving the CRV through the Chandelier tree.

Yes the CRV fit.

Yes the tree is, surprisingly, still alive.

Crazy, isn't it?

A few factoids:

- Height is 315 feet

- Diameter is 21 feet

- The approximate age is 2400 years old

Here is my photo for the day:

Today we got a nice dusting of snow...My goal in the photo was to take a picture of the small amount of snow on the car, but when I was aiming my camera at the car, I caught a glimpse of the American flag.

And, well, you can't cut the American flag out of a photo.

So everything (minus the car & snow) is a reflection in the window. 

Talk to you all soon!

♥

Lots and Lots of Family

Just a snippet of the family the day after Christmas:

Like I said before...Crazy amount of fam!

And my friends, I forgot yesterday & the day before's photo:

The other night we ate teriyaki chicken & watched Eat Pray Love.

Well, I watched Eat Pray Love.  Jesse fell asleep.

Yesterday was the Sehawks game...

(go HAWKS!)

Where they were AMAZING and beat the Saints.

My dad told me I had to wear my "lucky" jersey next week.

And not to wash it, of course.

He was joking.

Today my big accomplishment was making my grandmother's rolls.

I didn't do so well.

In my defense, I believe my oven isn't working because the bottom coil isn't heating.

Things burn on the top, don't cook the bottom.

It takes an hour to preheat to 375*, and basically doesn't heat to 400*.

You get the picture.

I'll wait a few weeks....Then try again.  I have to master making yeast breads!

♥

Christmas Day 2010

One thing I forgot about yesterday's post...We had a great Christmas Eve breakfast at Jesse's brother's house...And a great Christmas Eve Dinner at Jesse's aunt's house!

Jesse's aunt also makes an amazing Apple Crumble Pie...

So Christmas Jesse's mom made it over early in the AM, and surprisingly Jesse and I got up early too.

Guess who didn't get up so early?

The kids.

When they finally were woken up it was probably about 8 AM.  I'm not sure though, I wasn't checking my watch.  Jesse's niece got lots of princess stuff, make-up, and nail polish while his nephew got lots of Star Wars and Iron Man toys.

The kids opening gifts.

Uncle Jesse wearing one of Evan's Christmas gifts.

Alana showing off her new outfit.

Jesse playing bartender at Christmas Dinner.

Jesse and I did manage to make a Starbucks run mid-day...And picked up some treats for dinner and the next morning.

Stryker and Logan ripping Logan's new toys apart.

Our day was rounded out by playing with the kids, Evan learning lots of new magic tricks, and a big Christmas dinner.

Last but not least:

365 Project Photo!

My focus was to get up early (didn't happen), work out (didn't happen), take the dog out (done!)...Then I got the urge to make some treats (done!) before heading to a battalion meeting to round out the evening.

These pictured are chocolate mint kiss brownies.

Have a good one.

♥

Getting Creative

Hello all!


Can you all believe that it's about a week until Christmas??  Whaaaaaaaat?!?  I can hardly believe it.  Today everyone from the Battalion (and Brigade) signed out for leave.  


We are going to be out of town this year, heading to California.  This is both good and bad, good because we won't have to stress out about some things but bad because it creates a whole set of new things stress about!  This weekend I am focusing on wrapping gifts, cleaning the house, and making my Christmas gifts (more to come on this).  Today I was *supposed* to focus on the cleaning portion...But tend to get distracted by the creative portion.


I am grateful that I'm pretty much done with my shopping...I will say, there are a few more things that need to be done...But other than that I think I'm good.  And of all things, I am happy to say that I am done shopping for my family (we're having our makeshift Christmas on Sunday) and Jesse are taken care of.  So whatever else needs to be done will be done during the work week...Even though I believe so many people are going to have the week off!


So touching on my creative projects, I was searching for things that I could easily make that wouldn't cost a fortune.  If you bake or scrapbook, these things are simple...And you would have a lot of this around the house!


So this all got started on the internet of course....By someone that calls themself Bakerella.  Have you heard?  This is a project she made which is SO CUTE!

If you are interested in making the Cowgirl Cookies and more photos you can see them here.

So of course someone decided that they would make a Christmas edition...I know, not that hard.  But here is their idea:

View the blog and more photos here.

Both blogs do have templates for the labels.  You can print them up on card stock and use double sided tape to adhere them to the jar.  Super cute!  This is just one of the gifts I'm making....I will post photos of my gifts when I'm finished!

If you are interested in more gifts in a jar visit tip junkie who has tons of ideas, not just these cookies.

Best of luck to you all with your shopping & gifts!

Happy Holidays!

♥

Crystal Mountain

Yesterday Jesse and I got up bright & early to go to Crystal Mountain (a local ski/snowboard resort) located near Mount Rainer.  If you're not sure what Mount Rainier is, I can give you a refresher:

No matter what I do, I can never get enough of that Mountain!  It is truly a beautiful backdrop in Washington.  Anyway, I spent time learning to ski (for the 2nd time) with another wife of a soldier in our battalion.  We actually didn't do too shabby!

The boys seemed to have lots of other stories (there were about eight other people there also) that were much more interesting.  I did take some photos, but have to wait to show them off since they aren't digital.  What did we do before digital photos??

Anyway, last night we went to bed early, and it's only 4 pm here and I feel like I need a nap.  Jesse is fishing right now...A fun-filled, action packed, early morning weekend he is having.  I don't think he'd have it any other way.

On a different subject, I am thinking of creating a new blog.  Not one to replace this one, but one to do in addition to this one.  Look out for that one!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

♥