Look who got married!

June was a month filled with weddings, weekends away and more! Best of all, my little brother got married to his sweet wife! 

I have lots of catch-up blogging to do (as I have been side tracked by other life things over the last few months), but I'm hoping to get back to it and here is the first installment!

Jordan married Kylie on June 23rd... it rained all morning and then the Pacific Northwest skies cleared off and it was a clear evening! (Note the date - they share an anniversary with Chet and I! We celebrated our 6th anniversary that day!)

We almost got Dad to smile for a picture. Isn't my mom's dress fun?

Chet and I with my brother and sister-in-law. Brenda and I were both bridesmaids, thus the purple dresses and Brenda rocked hers with her preggo belly! So cute!

Kylie looked beautiful! She kept us laughing all day. Her veil was so long it kept catching in the wind!

The fam and grandparent pics. I just love my grandparents.

Grandma from my dad's side and Grandpa from my mom's side... both came all the way from Montana for Jordan's wedding!

The cake was one of the best ones I have had in a long time at a wedding! There was a lemon one, a white with raspberry filling and a delicious chocolate layer... you know its good when you go back for seconds!

And they left in a blaze of glory sparklers. It was a great wedding!

For previews of their official pics, click here! The photographer has some awesome pics.

They also had a funbooth... it is hilarious to watch! Click here to watch!

Chelan Weekend

Everyone knows that Lake Chelan is beautiful in the summer with lots of fun water and outdoors oriented activities to experience (oh and there is this thing called the sun that we on the west side of the state don't get). But, we've decided we love it during the winter! Less people, some snow on the ground, a crackling fire in the fire place, curling up with a good book and some wine tasting. What is not to love?

We went last year as well and decided that February is a great time for a get away so we headed back over (used a timeshare week) to Wapato Point in Manson. Though a bit older resort, it works great for us and has a great location. We love the lake views out the window and as we walked around on the point...

 

Not much sun but still beautiful...

Red wine tasting at Karma Vineyards.

On Saturday, we did a bit of wine tasting. Last year this was super awkward for us!!! But this year we actually enjoyed it quite a bit and could even start to tell the different flavors coming out. It was also the Red Wine and Chocolate weekend in honor of Valentine's Day so some of the places had pairings. I think we forgot to eat lunch after all of the chocolate!

We got the fireplace seats for the wine tasting at Karma... 

Outside at Karma. They also have a plaza up on the hill for weddings.

And under this hill/waterfall is actually a cave where they age the wine.

Tunnel Hill Winery... love the stone & their wines!

Nefarious Cellars... yummy wine and...

... a beautiful view. Love the vineyards.

Over to the other side of the lake to Benson Vineyards... very classy!

Self potrait... (by the way, our camera screen wasn't working at this point)

Hard Row to Hoe. Look at their website for the clever origin of the name.

They have very clever graphics... even on their car.

Today we had another fun "first" experience as we went cross country skiing! We hadn't been planning on it but once we got over and saw how much free time we had, we thought it would be fun to get out and do something new. So, we rented equipement and headed up to Echo Ridge for an afternoon of skiing. We both laughed so hard as having our feet in two separate skis instead of together in a snowboard got the better of us! I won't go into it too much, but both of us ended up on the ground just a couple times. :)

The sun even came out for a bit! Lovely!

Thank goodness for grooming and tracks.

We did enjoy it and our muscles feel it tonight.

Overall, it has been a great weekend... some wine, some reading, a little snow and skiing, and lots of relaxing. Do we really have to go back to real life?

Superbowl Treats...

Just wanted to share what we served at our Superbowl party last weekend. We had a few friends over, my brother and sister-in-law and had a nice mellow superbowl party. Being on the West Coast, we randomly picked a team to cheer for (no one was passionate for either the Patriots or the Giants), critiqued the half time show (not the most engaging), and had some tasty microbrews from various local breweries to keep us entertained.

I have to say that it was a huge help to look at all my favorite food blogs for ideas of what to serve! Each of them put together links of favorite recipes that would be perfect for a party ranging from appetizers to soups/chilis, dips and other treats. I think I cook more off of food blogs than I do out of cook books now days! There is nothing like step by step pictures to make me want to make something new.

I know my food pictures and styling is no where near what they have on their blogs but believe me when I say that all these recipes were very tasty!

Chet's delicious guacamole

Pretzel bites with cheese sauce from Two Peas and Their Pod

Smokey Turkey Chipotle Chili from Cookin' Canuck

Cookie Dough Dip from Two Peas and Their Pod

Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta

Unexpected...

So, the weather last week was lovely here in Seattle... mid to upper 50s and sunny! Seriously! Certainly not your average February weather. In fact, it felt like a beautiful May day a whole 5 days in a row!

What to do on a beautiful sunny day? Well, we took advantage of the weather to do some yard work. While Chet trimmed up our lawn moss, I got to work weeding and discovering what was coming up.

I found the rest of the carrots... 

And discovered my garlic is starting to come up!

This is my first time growing garlic so I'm super excited about it.

Oh, and of course the rhubarb... it is starting to sprout as well. I suppose I should get to work on using the rest of what is in the freezer now! Rhubarb pie anyone?

Here's to hoping that we don't get a cold spell and kill off all these cute little plan starts. I also have some daffodils and bulbs that are starting to show. I do love spring... even if we are still technically in winter!

More Snowy Fun

We definitely enjoyed the snow at our house. It snowed consistently for 2-3 days and we ended up with a total of 8 inches. I got to stay at home since my clinic day was cancelled and just relax. Chet still had to go to work but being a good Montana boy he had no issues driving in the snow. 

It was like a winterwonderland though... and quite pleasant. Down south of Seattle there was a ton of freezing rain and power outages, but we just got fluffy white stuff. 

For awhile, it was even hard to keep up with shoveling the snow. Doesn't our Subaru look great sitting in the snow? It got around quite well. We heart you Subaru. ;)

While Chet was sleeping, I got a chance to watch folks sled down a huge hill near our house. It was definitely interesting to see who is in our neighborhood. It is very diverse...

I also went for a walk in a small wetland park near our house. It was pretty covered in snow.

And of course, here is our house in the snow. The mossy grass is covered up... I think it looks nicer that way.

The next day, as the rain was washing the snow off the roads, we head up to Stevens Pass to go snowboarding. I have to say that it was a great snow day. Due to the dumping of snow that week, there was lots of beautiful powder which is something of a rare happening. The snow was light and we got some great fresh tracks. Probably not quite as good as the days prior when snow was dumping everywhere, but still awesome.

Chet also started something with his friend, Jason... snow tailgating! Some brats and caramelized onions in the snow, yes please!

 

Fun snowy adventures this January... we'll have to see what the rest of winter brings!

Snow!!!

I got a wonderful treat today... a grown up snow day! My clinic decided to do a reduce clinic due to snow so only one provider was there and I got the day off! 

This means being lazy and a glorious walk in the snow with Chet, Renee and Luke... oh and hot chocolate... and some book reading with snow drifting down outside.

We all bundled up in our Seattle winter finery (aka waterproof fabrics like soft shell and a lovely Arcteryx shell for Chet) and took a walk from Renee and Luke's house to Carkeek Park.

We also got to dodge lots of sledders and were somewhat jealous that we didn't have a sled. We did consider taking borrowing a garbage can lid from someone but decided against it.

The berries were splendid in their finery. I love how they look with the snow on them!

We hiked the trails at the park... a kind of a beautiful refuge in the city.  

 

I love snowy photos with my honey... even though, because he went for a walk with us, he is going to be really tired for work tonight! Sorry, Chet!

One of the most beautiful things is seeing all of the trees above the Sound dusted with snow and the water was a deep gray green color. 

This bird was hopping like mad from branch to branch... didn't want to be photographed!

Snowy coastline anyone? Yep, it was lovely. 

Loved getting to enjoy a wintery walk with these wonderful people!

I felt like I was playing hooky today from work (though it wasn't my decision, I was told to stay home), but it was a wonderful relaxing snow day! The funny thing about Western Washington snow is that you get it only once or twice a year and it doesn't last for more than a few days. By this time next week, it will be back to 40s and raining and the snow will only be a memory!

So, thanks for the break from normal life, snow!