Bellingham

Tyler and I have been thorougly enjoying the luxury of having Dec. 24 - Jan. 4th off of work. Of course, this means extra sleep, time for projects around the house, more time with family, and some adventures as well. On Monday, we headed up to Bellingham to explore the area and splurge on an overnight stay at the Chrysalis Inn and Spa (a Christmas present to ourselves). To mix things up a bit, I thought I would tell the story backwards since I usually blog in chronological order. I guess as a reader, most of you probably wouldn't notice, but it feels a little unusual for me.

My friend Carly suggested the Bald Eagle Sanctuary in Deming, among many of our other stops. We headed East from Bellingham along the Mount Baker highway and saw 5 or so bald eagles. Beautiful animals! Not much action, they were perched in trees just enjoying the beautiful day I guess.

Just some of the beautiful scenery we enjoyed while 'bird watching'. It was very cold. You might be able to see that the creek is pretty icy.

I thought these mini pinecones were cool!

Since I got a little impatient with bird watching, I snapped this photo in sepia. I really like the way it turned out. Tyler is in the bottom left corner.

Along Mount Baker highway, there are some breathtaking views of Mt. Baker and the surrounding Cascade Mountains. I really like this one!

Near Western Washington University is the Sehome Hill park with a lookout tour. This is where we captured this view of Mount Baker...

and the Twin Sisters peaks.

We drove around WWU and Fairhaven for a bit and walked around the Boulevard Park outside of our hotel for wonderful views of the pier and Bellingham Bay.

Trying to stay warm!



More nice views!

a lonely boat

Good thing about having railroad tracks outside of your hotel room: it's cool to look out. Bad thing: the noise. Thanksfully, it wasn't too bad throughout the night. This is the view from the window seat in our room.

And here I am enjoying the window seat!!!! Heaven, I tell you!

The two best things about the trip 1) the Chrysalis, 2) the food! Boundary Bay Brewery and Bistro was the favorite. We went there twice in two days! ;) Beer drinkers agree that their IPA is one of the best in the Northwest and root beer drinkers (like Tyler) will rave over their home brewed root beer. The food is also to die for! Other favorite food places we tried out were Mallards Ice Cream, Old Town Cafe, and La Fiamma Wood Fired Pizza! So good!

On our way up to Bellingham, we stopped at Seattle Premium Outlets for some 'REAL' hiking pants. Yes, after all this time hiking...we still didn't have real hiking pants. Now we do and they are excellent! We broke them in at Larabee State Park outside of Bellingham, the Fragrance Lake hike. It was a fairly easy going hike which was nice for a cold sprinkly day. Here is a view of the lake from our snack stop at the base of the lake.

Rain drops falling on the lake.

Cool boardwalk.

Old growth cedar tree. My first up/down panorama attempt.

Looking across the Puget Sound toward the San Juan Islands.

Very peaceful!

And that's a wrap! Hope you enjoyed the recap. We enjoyed the trip and can see why so many people rave about what a cool place it is to live.

A very merry Christmas!

We woke up to a frosty white Christmas and Christmas Eve this year. The days were spent in Auburn and Bothell with our families, enjoying good food and time together. Not a lot of pictures were taken, but here are a few to share.


We shared our favorite Leavenworth wine and enjoyed Levi and Becca's Pinot Gris.

Tyler borrowed my Santa hat for a photo opp!

All in all, it was a relaxing and enjoyable time!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and blessings in 2010!

More holiday fun!

So much to blog about this time of year! The Albers School definitely knows how to party! We've celebrated the holidays as a faculty and staff, as staff, and within the graduate programs. Here is the graduate programs staff and graduate assistant team (minus one) after our delicious lunch!

I rode the train home with Rebecca on Friday (thanks for the ride, girl) and spent the evening and Saturday morning baking cookies at my parents. Yummm! Found a new favorite molasses cookie recipe for oh so delicious soft and chewy cookies. Check it out here. We also made mint chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, peanut butter blossoms with hershey hugs, and salted peanut cookies! It was nice to see the lights on and Santa waving hello to all.

Christmas Ships are a wonderful way to kick in the holiday spirit. We joined Beth and Dave in Madison Park for some yummy snacks and a walk to the park to see the carolers. Last year, our Christmas Ship date got snowed out and the year before we almost froze to death (ok, maybe I am exaggerating!). Regardless, this year's weather was welcomed despite a few raindrops.
Amazing what a beautiful platter Beth whipped up in just a few minutes.

The weather meant many more boats accompanying the main ship. Here's a panorama of the action.

As Beth predicted, the show ended with a beautiful rendition of Joy to the World!

Feelin' the love!

The Hauck animals were feelin' the love on 12.13.09 when Karlie, Jordan, and Fisch visited. We spent the day eating, showering the animals with attention, enjoying the fireplace, building a gingerbread house which collapsed quite promptly, drinking red eye, and eating some more :)



It was delightful...even snowed in Auburn!
Mom made us homemade caramel rolls (yummmm)...

The horses don't pay much attention to the people...


Yes, this is the same Rocky that was born in April! He has grown up so quickly!

But the cats and dogs sure soaked up the attention!







You all are welcome back anytime...preferably soon, since the animals are starving for attention otherwise ;)

Magical Leavenworth, Washington

Tyler and I last enjoyed a visit to Leavenworth in May for some hiking and relaxation and were so excited to return during the Christmas season. We took a Friday off and ventured out in the cold for our visit. By cold I mean 9 degrees as we travelled over Stevens Pass and a high of 16 degrees in Leavenworth! **BRRR**, I may have been born in North Dakota but my tolerance for cold went away a long time ago :)


Thankfully, all roads were clear of snow but we still got a taste of snow since there was still a dusting from the last snow on the ground.





We enjoyed some Christmas shopping, window shopping, delicious baked goods, wine tasting, amazing food, and comp tickets to A Christmas Carol.


I can't forget to mention a fabulous dinner at Pavz.

We scored a hotel room in Leavenworth at the last minute and were able to avoid the drive to Wenatchee and hassle of finding parking the next day! On Saturday, the crowds arrived in Leavenworth as the town expected 90 tour buses, 2 trains, and a total of 60,000 visitors for the annual tree lighting ceremony. We systematically avoided the effect of the crowds pretty well as we anticipated the lighting ceremony. It was fun to walk around, see the cute doggies, people watch, dance the chicken dance, savor the warmth of each shop and restaurant, and listen to the live music throughout the day.


Kids and adults alike enjoyed sledding down the hill next to the center stage. All day long, this was a happenin' place to be!

So many people waiting patiently in the cold for the lighting ceremony...including us.


The lighting ceremony itself kicked off with Silent Night being sung in English and German and crowds cheering! It was beautiful and magical!

Here are a few videos to share in the magic. I'll just pretend the bad singing in the first video was the girl next to me :)


Merry Christmas to all!