God Bless America Hike

On a beautiful fourth of July day, Tyler and I ventured up Rattlesnake Ledge.  Don't worry, we made up for the burned calories by eating twice as much as needed at Myles' BBQ later that day :)

Here are some pictures of the lovely scenery.

The ledge that we climbed to -- view from the ground:



Views from the top:

Rattlesnake Lake, at the end of the hike!

Happy Birthday America!

Family Fun

Dear Readers, my apologies for the blogging hiatus.  Time flies here during summer in seattle.  We ended June with a nice visit from the Groves family.  Of course, this meant good quality time with the animals and delicious food :)

Cianna was a great farmer and sous chef and Markus was as entertaining as ever! Basil and Bitty loved the extra attention.

Got any food for me?! :)

The beautiful Barlee!

The horses enjoyed many extra carrots and apples this weekend:

Cousins!

Jager stood still for approx. 30 seconds to take this picture!

Thanks for visiting, guys.  Hope to see you again soon!

Wilderness Peak

I've been craving a good hike.  Despite the soggy weather, we headed out this morning to Cougar Mountain.  It was a lovely day for a hike, the mist was a welcome addition to the muggy conditions.  There are a ton of county-maintained trails through Cougar Mountain and this hike took us up the Wilderness Creak Trail to Deceiver Trail, Shy Bear Pass, Wilderness Peak and down the Wilderness Cliffs Trail: a nice 6.2 miles in the forest.  We saw a lot of slugs, caterpillers and even a snail.  Check out some of my favorite pics!

Misty, cloudy Seattle "summer" day.

Gotta love Tyler's humor.  When he saw this sign he said:  "Well...at least they're not angry bears!"  :)  No worries, we didn't see any bears.


What a great hike.  After working up an appetite, we met up with Becca and headed to downtown Bellevue to one of my new favorite restaurants: Araya Vegan Thai restaurant!  YUM!!!  Added bonus: they can make most of their dishes gluten free. 

Getting crafty!

In celebration of momma's birthday, we decided to take her back a few decades to an old past-time: pottery.  So we headed to Clay Krazy in Auburn for some crafts.  There was so much to choose from.  Here are Tyler and mom working on their projects:

Becca and Isaac: happy crafters!

Ready for the kiln!  Can you guess which one was mine?!

I can't wait to go back!
Happy birthday, momma!

Proud

If I describe the past few weeks, I would say that I am very proud to have been involved in three *big deal* celebrations with Derrick, Amy, and Isaac.  What a blessing to have so many accomplished people in my life. 

First, I headed with the fam to E. WA to celebrate Derrick's high school graduation.  The proud graduate:

It was wonderful to visit with him and recognize his accomplishments.  I must admit I was a bit jealous of his graduating class of 21: what a personalized graduation ceremony!

I also enjoyed meeting all of the cute puppies!

This is Joey:

And this is either Josie or Johanna, I can't remember :)

The following weekend, Tyler and I headed to Lewiston to celebrate with the Eddys for baby Elizabeth Laura's baptism. 

I am not sure I want to drive across the state back-to-back weekends again, but the drive had its moments.  Thank God for Instagram to keep it interesting:

And these are from my "real" camera, love them!

 
Back to the Eddys.  I'll let you read their blog for the baptismal story.  In reflecting on the weekend, it is also a moment of pride but of course a different sort of pride than a graduation.  It is pride in the beautiful, loving, accomplished and fun family that they are (together with the Kaufmans and Altmillers of course).  It was so fun to be there with Beth and celebrate.  Just a few of my favorite photos from our trip:

Just girls:

Ellie is such a good baby!

Auntie Beth!

Las novias y Ellie!

The black cardigan girls with Amysita.

 

Jen and Amy in charge of a fabulous feast, thanks ladies!!!

Watching Noah grow into such a sweet and intelligent boy makes me excited to see the woman that Elizabeth will become :)

And last but not least, we have Mr. Isaac.  I am proud of the strong academics that he has maintained while commiting to a healthy lifestyle and staying involved in extra curriculars like band and newspaper.  Amazing!  Here we are with the happy graduate:



Definitely wonderful memories were made in the last month celebrating these three and their families!  Congratulations to all and thank you for allowing me to take part in your special day.

End-Of-Year Celebrations

Can I just say: I love my job?!  :) 

The end of the year always brings many reasons to celebrate!

The AASC team joined together for a fabulous BBQ at Kate and Joe's house.  The food was amazing as always, and we enjoyed the bit of sunshine.  Here's the team, complete with the GA's, work-studies, and Dean.

It's always more fun with Hersch in the mix!

Our students are amazing as well.  Here we are at the end of the year awards ceremony:

The most amazing event ever was De-Stress With Dogs!  OMG!  Faculty and staff bring their dogs to campus for students to visit with as a relief from the stress of finals.  Super fun.  This is Arthur performing his "bunny" trick.

Faculty and Staff Appreciation is another fun event to wrap up the school year.  I assisted with the flower arrangements again this year which was a nice excuse to get out of the office.  We ate a lot, learned about Father Steve's obsession with Meryl Streep, and celebrated faculty and staff who've served SU for years.  Next year will be my 10 year anniversary as a full-time staff member.  How exciting is that?!

Next up were retreats.  Yesterday, academic advisors from across the university headed east to the SU Homestead, a cabin in the woods of N. Bend.  We enjoyed a planning/reflection based retreat and the peaceful surrounding.  Here are Tonja, Danielle and I with the cabin in the background.

Since we didn't stay overnight, there wasn't a chance to enjoy the "natural" shower.  This shower faces out into the woods...hmmmm...interesting, considering there is a walking trail that goes right by there.

Go team!

Today, I had Kate, Cat, and Tonja over to my house for a planning retreat.  I wish I could start every work week with back-to-back retreats.  They were productive, fun, and refreshing.  On to summer projects and orienting new students!!!!!