Winter Wonderland

Back home in our winter wonderland. We got over Stevens Pass safely Friday night, though it was a longer then usual trip do to an accident closure outside of Gold Bar, but all in all not too bad of a trip. Of course we get home and there is a whopping foot of snow in our driveway plus whatever the plows have pushed into the entrance. So we parked on the road and spent about 20 minutes shoveling out the driveway. Better to do it then, then compress everything and make it ice.

We sure are glad to be back to the slow drag of Okanogan. It's a chore going on vacation now because there are so many little things you want to do that you don't have the opportunity to do in Okanogan. Guess that is more of the life of living in a small town.

Yesterday Shawn enjoyed playing in the snow with his new snowshoes. I have a pair too, but he never seems to want to pause his playing to take a photo of me. They are our Christmas presents from his parents. We have yet to hit a big trail, but our yard worked pretty darn well for Shawn's first exposure to snowshoeing.

The cat also got some play time in the snow. It was much deeper then he remembered and I don't think he appreciated us throwing him into the middle of it.

Today we hit up the infamous Sheep Slaughter Hill. Oh my! Shawn rates it even better then Pilchuck for all you classic sledders out there. There was a jump pre-built that Shawn had a bit too much fun with. I'm expecting some sore back complaints a little later tonight. We hope to return on Tuesday with Amy and her family. I'm sure Shawn would have more fun with other sledders. I braved the hill only a few times, but mostly enjoyed watching Shawn and the other actual kids playing and got a few pictures in :0)

Fancy Family

A little impromptu photo before dinner last night. Of course why would I bring the tripod my brother gave me for Christmas when the cabinet works just as well in the hotel room. I wish I could have spent a bit more time playing with posing the shot, but hey we were in a hurry to get to the complimentary drinks in the hotel lobby.

From left to right is Shawn's dad, Bob; Shawn; me; Shawn's mom, Robin; Shawn's bro, David; and David's girlfriend, Kaylee.

The Other Side

Back on the other side of the mountains and all it seems to do is rain here :0) The sad part is we are missing the snow back home. I think they are supposed to get another six inches. Hopefully it will all still be there when we get back.

We got to Shawn's folks late Friday night and left early this morning for our annual trip to Seattle. I lugged my camera around the first half of the day of shopping in hopes of finding some good photos, but gave up as the rain just kept coming. We did get a picture of all of the family prettied up before dinner which I will get edited and loaded up hopefully this evening.

We stayed at Hotel Monaco which has to be one of the most unique hotels I've stayed in. It is completely pet friendly. You can have any size dog and you can even bring your cat and rent a litter box. Since we didn't bring any of the animals we got a goldfish in each room to help keep us company. Connected to the Monaco is one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle, Sazarac. Their motto is American food with a Southern flair. It is the only place in the NW I've been able to get my favored fried chicken livers. Oh so good... sometimes I can be such a southern gal.

Then we headed to the 5th Avenue Theater for "Jersey Boys." It's a musical about the career of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. It was like being treated to a concert. It was great. Though Shawn and I enjoyed "The Buddy Holly Story" a bit more because I think we knew a few more of the songs, but it was still fun.

After the play we wandered to Purple for a late night treat. Purple is a wine bar with a crazy amount of wine and a staircase that goes to nowhere. It was pretty neat, but by then I was starting to catch Shawn's cold and wasn't feeling my best.

It was a fun night and I'm not sure if we'll be able to pass up this tradition to have a white Christmas at home.

Christmas Spirit and Frost

We got the lights up on the house. The first time we've actually had a house to decorate together. We put a limit of $50 on lights and I think we did alright don't you? We started the afternoon of the 1st and by the time the snow was done Monday morning we had 8 1/2" of it. So sad that it melted as fast as it did, but we had some flurries this morning and there is snow forecast for this week.


Thursday, on my day off, I finally pulled my camera out again. The freezing frost was simply amazing! I stopped down at the Legion park and took some photos. The river is trying to freeze over, but not quite yet. Then I took some more at home when the sun peeked out for just a few moments. I got some blue sky and the ice crystals on the wind spinner, but it quickly fogged over again. I don't think I have ever seen a frost/fog quite as think and long lasting as the one that happed that day. It was very beautiful though.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Six inches and counting. Yup, we have a real winter on this side. It started pretty heavy last night around 5 and the Mickey just wasn't sure what was going on. Of course with it dark, no pictures to really speak of, not for not trying :0) Shawn got up nice and early this morning and shoveled the walkway and our driveway where the snow plow pushed in a good amount of snow. Not that we are really planning on going anywhere. We were supposed to go get a Christmas tree east of Tonasket, but I think neither of us are comfortable with heading up here. We'll see though, if my co-worker is driving, then we might be game. If not we'll walk down to the High School Christmas Tree sale and drag one home.

My picture contribution today is Mickey. He was a bit surprised how deep the snow got when I tricked him to run through the snow.