Celebrating Dr. Amy

Jen, Beth, Amy, and I...Seattle University, 2003

Just a few short years ago, we celebrated our Seattle University graduations and livin' the good life in Mexico...

A few things have changed since then, but Amy remained focused on her dream and it was an honor to celebrate her accomplishments last weekend with her family and friends.  

Here we are proud friends of the graduate.

Tyler and I enjoyed spending time with them and the kiddos throughout the weekend.  The celebration moved from UW to Miracle Ranch at Deanna and Darin's where we also celebrated Daisy and Eric's birthdays. 

Here are a few random photos of the party:

Dad enjoyed some good baby time as well.  Here he is with Jen and Joe's youngest, Andie.

Here's Sam (always on the go), Jen and Joe's oldest.

Tyler entertaining Sam (left) and Noah (right -- Amy and Kevin's oldest).

  Jen, Mercy, Joe, Sam and Mom.

Darin and Deanna were wonderful hosts!

The cake is always my favorite part!

Dr. Amy is an inspiration. The love and support of her family is a true blessing!  *CONGRATULATIONS, DR. AMY!*

Rainforest

As if there wasn't enough rain, we headed to the rainforest!  So glad we did.  The Hoh Rain Forest was our destination.

We stopped at First Beach in La Push

and Ruby Beach along the way.  On the next trip, I definitely want to check out Second Beach!

Back to the rainforest...loved the drive and scenery!

We hiked the short Hall of Mosses trail and peaked around at others. It was lovely. Certainly lots of tourists. I could have used a few of the Starving Photographers pointers before we left, but I read his blog afterwords. Check it out! This guys is a radiologist at Becca's work, his work is amazing!

I love my new shoes!

Rain, rain, go away!

And that's a wrap!  Hope you enjoyed our little tour of the peninsula.  In case you are having a hard time visualizing, here's the ground that we covered.

Bellevue to Edmonds to Kingston to Port Angeles to Forks to Rialto Beach to Forks to Neah Bay to Forks to La Push to Hoh Rain Forest to Kalaloch to Aberdeen to Olympia to Home!

Testing 1-2-3

I am test blogging from my phone for the first time. Wanted to share this picture that I took of a flower outside of my office. It is so beautiful!!! If anyone knows what kind it is, please comment or email me!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Out there

Still documenting our Peninsula trip.  So much has happened since then.  Hopefully I catch up this week!

Back to business: remember this trip?! It has been awhile since we have added a new lighthouse to our list!  We were 1 for 2 on this trip.  The goal was to see Cape Flattery and Destruction Island, both offshore lighthouses, but the fog prevented us from seeing Destruction Island on Monday.

On Sunday, we ventured up to the Northwesternmost point of the continental United States: Cape Flattery, outside of Neah Bay, WA.  Cape Flattery Lighthouse can be seen from a really cool trail with many lookout points.

We reached the coolest viewpoint and here's another photo to add to our wall art with lighthouses.

A close-up...

Fun times!  Next trip, we'll hope for more sunshine so that Destruction Island is in plain view!

Rialto Beach

There is something very magical about large bodies of water, in my humble opinion. I dream of living near one someday. We had the opportunity to visit Rialto Beach twice, located just 10 minutes from the resort. The first evening, we went there to experience one of the most beautiful sunsets I have seen. While we waited, I took pictures of course.

Behind us was filled with great beauty as well. Pretty much, we were surrounded by beauty and so grateful for a break in the rain!

I also have no shame in taking pictures of other peoples dogs. This guy was so cute and happy!

And now for the beautiful sunset!

Amazing...huh?!

Our second trip to Rialto was not so pleasant. At 7 am, I hopped out of bed and suggested a hike to Hole In The Wall which we hadn't yet had time for. Online pics of this phenomenon are amazing (over time, crashing waves have worn a hole in this big rock)! Turns out the rain made getting to the hole way more difficult than we imagined so we turned around only to be pounded with wind and rain ;(
 
 

 
 

 
 

oh well, another excuse to go back! I am so thankful that Tyler puts up with my "wild hare" moments as he likes to call them.
 
 
 

Lake Crescent

The trip began early Saturday morning.  The weather at the Edmonds Ferry Dock wasn't so promising, but Saturday turned out to be the nicest day weather-wise.

After a quick ferry ride, we headed West of Port Angeles where we hiked the Spruce Railroad and Marymere Falls trails at Lake Crescent.

We encountered a million shades of green and lots of blue on the trip.  Here we are on a little bridge.

and on a big bridge

Loving the beautiful views!

and the crystal clear water!

Here we are at the visitor center near Marymere Falls:

Got a peak at wildlife...

And I even hugged trees!

All in all, a lovely day!